shikamaru317 on 14 April 2023
We got some interesting Diablo 4 news recently:
- It will take about 25-30 hours to reach level 50 and beat the main story, but you will only have done a small fraction of the side content such as side quests and side dungeons on the journey to level 50, and once you get there you will unlock the 3rd world tier and can begin the journey to level 100 on world tier 3 while completing more of that side content.
- Maxing out each season's battlepass will take about 80 hours, while hitting level 100 after unlocking world tier 3 will also take about 80 hours for some people as well, while for others it will take longer to hit level 100 depending on playstyle (rather or not you do optimal XP farming)
- Rod Fergusson clarified some concerns people had about the recent seasonal story content news. This content is not related to the main storyline meaning you don't need to wait 3 months between each season for an installment of a continuing main storyline, instead the seasonal story content is self-contained and related to each seasons new seasonal mechanics. He also also confirmed that the seasonal story content is free, not paid, as well as confirmed that Blizzard will also be working on paid expansions with much larger story campaigns much like previous Diablo games in addition to these shorter, free seasonal storylines.
- You do not need to enter the PvP zone of the map to collect Altars of Lilith in order to fully complete all seasonal content, and also PvP rewards are cosmetic only so that players won't feel forced into PvP
- PvP has scaling for gear to try and create better balance, so min-maxing with optimal gear won't help as much in terms of stats, though the synergies of your equipment with your build can still be a deciding factor alongside player skill.
- Seasonal content will reset each season, including Altars of Lilith, which will need to be found again each season. You will keep the stat increases earned from finding each season's Altars of Lilith (meaning that min/maxers will need to complete every season or fall behind other players in terms of total stats), but extra potions and skill points earned from each season will reset.
- Paragon boards also reset each season. It was also revealed that you can fully fill out the paragon board each season, though doing so will be a massive time sink for something that will reset each season, every 3 months.
- More dungeon variety (one of the chief concerns from the open beta) was confirmed, there will be alot more visual themes and layouts for dungeons in the full game, including each of the map's 5 regions having some dungeon visual themes that are unique to that region.
- Blizzard suggested that respec costs will be lower than in the beta while levelling so that you can try out different builds and change your build based on what item drops you get while levelling, but that once you reach end-game they will remain quite expensive. Blizzard wants gold to feel like it has an impact at the end game and doesn't want players constantly respeccing in the endgame. They said they will adjust the costs post launch if there is alot of negative feedback, but for the time being they believe they made the right choice with the higher respec costs at endgame.
