Blizzard say they've heard Diablo 4 patch feedback, won't release an update like it "ever again"
1.1.1 will make some classes stronger again
Diablo 4's major 1.1.0a balance patch was released this week and was met with sweeping criticism, specifically for the way it seemed to reduce the power and usefulness of some character builds. In a livestream yesterday, Blizzard acknowledged the feedback, calling the patch "not the greatest play experience", and saying they wouldn't release a patch like it again.
As Hayden explained earlier this week, the pre-season 1 patch made Diablo 4 more of a slog. It now takes longer to level, late-game areas are harder, and several popular builds have been substantially nerfed.
On the subject of "reducing player power", associate director of community management Adam Fletcher said, "We know it is bad. We know it is not fun. It's something that we ourselves know, it's not the greatest play experience for players.
"We don't plan on doing a patch like this ever again. We've most definitely heard the feedback from the players on that front," said Fletcher.
Blizzard did try to explain the reasoning behind the patch, saying that Diablo 4 is ultimately a game "about choice". Joe Piepiora, associate game director, said that they felt that certain builds based around cooldown reduction were so powerful, giving players access to instantaneous active skills, that they threatened the usefulness of other builds by comparison. For that reason, they had to go.
In future, Piepiora said they would do better to consider player fun in their attempts to balance the game. Fletcher also said that they would commit to sharing patch notes earlier in future, so that the community had a chance to read and digest updates before new patches are released. That includes another livestream next Friday, July 29th, which will offer more details on the next patch, 1.1.1.
As any preview, Blizzard did say that 1.1.1 would look to revise the Sorcerers and Barbarian classes, with the intent of making them more powerful again. You can watch the full Campfire Chat stream from yesterday on YouTube