Taking down hordes of demons is undeniably exhilarating, but when you’re mowing through hundreds just twenty minutes after creating your character, something feels off in a loot-centric action RPG. The journey of gradually growing stronger is key—you want those steps to be felt. When you bypass this gradual escalation, you’re essentially missing the whole point of pursuing loot. This is a sticking point for many gamers in Diablo 4’s latest season; it’s just too easy.
Recognizing this, Blizzard is shaking things up for season 8. Their goal? To crank up the difficulty without sacrificing the thrill of transforming into a demon-slaying powerhouse. In a recent stream, Diablo 4 developers shared their blueprint for making the climb from level 1 to 60 more deliberate and rewarding, while also beefing up the challenge of the endgame content.
The first expansion, Vessel of Hatred, ushered in a major overhaul of the game’s mechanics. However, as design director Colin Finer noted, players have been blasting through the content at breakneck speed. Achieving max level is happening in less than half the time it took in the past season. To restore some of the early game’s charm, Blizzard plans to stretch the time needed to scale the first 25 levels.
Moreover, those lust-worthy Legendary items will become a tad scarcer during the journey to level 60. Instead, you’ll find that lower-tier items get a boost in strength to bridge that gap. The aim, as Finer explains, is to make the process of leveling feel more rewarding and fulfilling.
Once you’re knee-deep in Diablo 4’s endgame—the stage where your character decks out in gear and tackles increasingly brutal Torment levels for elite rewards—expect some ramped-up difficulties here too. This season, about half the players reached the peak Torment level in about half the time compared to the last season. Blizzard’s vision is for the highest Torment tier, like Torment 4, to be more of a lofty goal, obtained by only around 10% of players. The upcoming season will see the difficulty spikes between Torment levels becoming noticeably more daunting.
Endgame bosses are getting a nasty makeover as well. Instead of cutting through them like they’re demon-themed loot piñatas, these foes have been revamped to deliver a real test for those with near-perfect character builds. Blizzard is also introducing three fresh bosses to keep things interesting, along with reducing the clutter in your inventory from summoning items. You’ll fight each boss without cost, and defeating them yields a chest that requires a key for access. And watch out, because Belial, the new mighty boss, might just crash your demon-slaying fest unannounced.
For those eager to dive into these updates, Blizzard is allowing Battle.net PC players to preview all these changes during a test period on the season 8 PTR, set to run from March 11 to March 18. The full release of Season 8 is slated for April 29.
