The Necromancers of Diablo 4 can breathe a sigh of relief as Blizzard Entertainment has heard their complaints and is preparing to issue a hotfix to toughen up their feeble skeleton minions. Class balance in Diablo 4 was always going to be tough to nail down by the time of release, as the game has not only modernized the archetypes from past Diablo entries but also attempted to give its classes an even more distinct playstyle compared to Diablo 3.People who played the open beta found Druids in Diablo 4 to be underwhelming, while many agreed that Necromancers were too powerful. In particular, their unkillable minions trivialized the content in a way the other classes couldn't. Taking player feedback into account, the obvious solution for the developers of Diablo 4 was to strengthen the abilities of the Druid in addition to tuning down the Necromancer's skeletons, but the nerf hammer may have struck a bit too hard in its quest for balance.As the server slam for Diablo 4 carried on, players were starting to realize their immortal army from the open beta was little more than a band of shambling skeletons, breaking apart whenever a Fallen decided to sneeze in their direction. After voicing dissatisfaction on platforms such as Twitter, Reddit, or even the game's official forums, it became apparent to Blizzard that Summon skills lagged behind when compared to Bone or Blood, and general manager Rod Fergusson stepped in with an announcement that Necromancer minions would receive some much-needed tweaks.
Given that Fergusson himself is a Necromancer main, some members of the Diablo 4 community were never worried about the Necromancer shipping in its current state. Prominent streamers such as Asmongold also provided feedback on the current skeletons, ultimately thanking the development team for listening to the playerbase. The hotfix is slated to roll out during the server slam and will hopefully alleviate the health deficiency of Necromancer minions.
In terms of overall impressions, the server slam represents a more authentic Diablo 4 experience, as Legendary drop rates have been decreased to values expected at launch. Despite the nerf in obtaining treasure, Diablo 4 players report that 90 minutes of farming in Kor Dragan still yield at least twenty legendaries, prompting fans to wonder if Blizzard will further decrease the drop rate to preserve their rarity.
Regardless of Blizzard Entertainment's stance on Legendary items, the current experience proved to be suitably challenging, as the infamous Ashava world boss in Diablo 4 has claimed even more victims this time around. With its release date fast approaching, Diablo 4 is likely to release in the state seen during the server slam, meaning that players who are enamored with the game are likely to enjoy the full experience, while those on the fence will remain so.
Diablo 4 will be available on June 6 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
