Diablo 4 is getting big updates with its Vessel of Hatred expansion, changing both difficulty levels and the endgame.
During a long livestream, Blizzard shared that World Tiers, the current difficulty system in Diablo 4, will be replaced. The new setup will look more like Diablo 3’s system. Players will go through Normal, Hard, Expert, and Penitent difficulties before hitting Torment 1, where the endgame begins. Higher difficulties mean more XP and gold.
To unlock Torment levels, players must progress through the Pit endgame activity from the Loot Reborn update. There are four Torment difficulties total. You can only unlock Torment 1 by completing Pit Tier 20, and each new Torment level unlocks every 15 Pit Tiers after that. The Pit goes up to Tier 100, with each tier becoming tougher than what players face now.
The best items will be found in Torment difficulty. Sacred items are gone; Ancestral items are being revamped to drop only in Torment levels and will be rarer but much stronger. They will have a guaranteed Greater Affix stat and more powerful Legendary powers. Higher Torment tiers give more Ancestral items as rewards.
Blizzard wants to make the game feel more consistent across all its content rather than having wildly different difficulties depending on what you’re doing.
The difficulty changes come alongside updates to leveling and the Paragon system in Diablo 4. Update 2.0 lowers the level cap from 100 to 60. Paragon points earned through leveling will be shared across all characters on a realm (Eternal, Hardcore, Seasonal). This also means a numbers squish for damage and health so it’s easier to understand what’s happening.
Players can earn more Paragon points after the update but there will be a limit of five Paragon boards. Blizzard says this change encourages players to fully use each board instead of just rushing to Glyph nodes. Each class gets a new board and existing boards will be balanced again.
Fans think these changes make sense for balancing gameplay better.
With Vessel of Hatred, you’ll upgrade Paragon Glyphs by doing the Pit instead of Nightmare dungeons, which will now give Masterwork materials instead. Upgrading Glyphs won’t be based on XP anymore; it’s now a chance-based system where higher Pit tiers give better chances for upgrades. Glyphs can reach rank 100 with radius increases at ranks 15 and 46. At rank 46, Glyphs become Legendary with strong stat bonuses.
Other additions include a new class called Spiritborn, new skills for all classes, Mercenaries returning, runewords from Diablo 2 making a comeback, and a new group endgame dungeon called Dark Citadel. Vessel of Hatred launches on October 8th.
