Fans who have been following Diablo 4 know that Season 8 is scheduled to officially arrive in Sanctuary at 10 a.m. PDT on April 29. The most anticipated thing in Diablo 4 Season 8 is the return of Belial, the Lord of Lies, who will bring his army of deadly Apparitions to cast a shadow over the world of Sanctuary.
New Seasonal Power
At the same time, the arrival of Belial also changes Lair Boss System and gives birth to a new seasonal power, Boss Power. Like the previous Vampire Powers and Witch Powers, they will not only bring new gains to your character build, allowing you to maximize your character’s potential, but also bring new fun to your seasonal journey. Because next, your main purpose of farming bosses may not be to farm Diablo 4 Gold, but to experience exciting new powers!
Although Diablo 4 Season 8 has not been released yet, players have already experienced the power of Boss Power in this season in the 2.2.0 Public Test Realm (PTR) a month ago! This is exciting because we can enter the new season and experience this new power system in less than a week.
Boss Power Nerf
But a recent blog post by the developer has poured cold water on us and disrupted many players’ plans.
In the article Combat Deception in Season 8: Belial’s Return, in addition to the news that we have known before, Deadly Apparitions, Lair Boss Rework, and new Legendary and Unique Items are added, they also mentioned Boss Power nerf.
We all know that the word nerf is scary, not to mention that this is a nerf made before the new season is released, which will inevitably make many players who have participated in PTR feel an enormous gap.
But before we start to get frustrated, let’s slow down and talk about this. Because these changes may not be as bad as they sound, and there are still many things we don’t know.
Is Power Nerf Really A Bad Thing?
Let’s start with what actually happened. Since Season 8 introduced Boss Power, you can not only get rich Diablo 4 Gold and loot as rewards after killing some Lair Bosses in the new season journey, but also gain power from these powerful bosses. Originally, you might still be afraid of the power of Uber Lilith, but now you think that you can enjoy her powerful power after defeating her, isn’t it less scary?
However, to be honest, during PTR, these Boss Powers were really strong, maybe even too strong, so much so that in the feedback given by all PTR players, the developers noticed that Boss Power began to overshadow class power. In other words, players did not build around their own class, but built around Boss Power.
With these reasons in mind, the developers stepped in. The purpose of doing so is not to ruin the fun for players, but to ensure that class power still matters.
When you choose Sorcerer, Necromancer, Rogue, Druid, or Barbarian, it seems to me that you are not just choosing a shell for Boss Power, but a powerful being with unique powers.
So these nerfs to Boss Power are not coming out of thin air, they are based on feedback from players who have tested them in Season 8 PTR. Once Boss Power really takes over, it creates an imbalance that can destroy builds diversity and class depth if not controlled.
So I personally think that the developers making these changes after PTR is actually a good sign, which means that they will listen to players’ ideas and iterate before pushing anything to the live server. This is actually a very good adjustment. The developers want Boss Power to feel exciting, but not mandatory, and not just a crutch, and they are working hard to get the balance right before the new season is released. We look forward to more context and deeper understanding of these nerfs, and even look forward to balancing other changes.
Now, we have only seen a small part of Season 8. So what if class skills get indirect buffs? What happens if dungeon design or Diablo 4 Gold drop rates change to support build flexibility? These are questions that are often answered in campfire chats or final patch. So don’t panic. This is still early information.
Boss Power Nerfs Are To Extend The Life Of The Game
The developers have made it very clear that this season is about evolving combat tricks and expressions of power, so they won’t nerf Boss Power without planning.
Boss Powers should enhance our seasonal journey, not dominate it. So by nerfing them to keep the class identity intact, the developers are showing a long-term commitment to ensuring the game is balanced. They want you to play a Necromancer with Belial Power, not a Belial Power holder.
This change may sting you at first, especially if you have a dream build planned, but this change will make Diablo 4 more sustainable because your class choice is the core of your seasonal journey, not a short-lived seasonal power.
Now, for a little speculation, what else may be happening? If the final version of Boss Power includes updates to synergy with class skills, if Legendary Aspects and Unique Items get tweaked and we haven’t seen new balance to fill the gap yet, these may be revealed in campfire chats or in the final patch.
They always save the big changes, or surprises for the final patch preview. Because this way the new season can still have huge build diversity, which is the charm of Diablo 4.
So the final conclusion is that the nerf to Boss Power is not the end of the world, and it is definitely not the end of the fun of Season 8. What we are seeing now is a mid-development adjustment that was made based on community feedback. We are still looking forward to more patches and previews coming soon!