Hey guys, Diablo 4 Lord of Hatred is releasing in just over a week! We all know that the skill tree in Lord of Hatred will be reworked and become much larger. So, how will this affect our equipment system?
In the current version, a large number of skill points are invested in passive skills, providing attributes, damage, movement speed, damage reduction, etc. In Lord of Hatred, however, there will be no passive skills in the skill tree. This will completely change the source of a character's power, and players will need to readjust the overall balance.
Affected Equipment
Chest Armor
As a Mythic Unique Chest Armor, Shroud of False Death has been the best chest armor for almost every build across multiple seasons, mainly because of its built-in affix that adds +1 to all passive skills.
This piece of equipment can provide a significant multiplicative damage bonus, reaching hundreds for some builds. Even if other affixes are useless, this one alone is enough to make it a must-have chest armor.
Looking at Lord of Hatred, the removal of its passive skill means this chest piece must be completely reworked. Simply replacing it with a standard damage-boosting affix would render it useless. The result is that Mythic chest piece will become a completely new item, potentially gaining new and interesting effects.
This gives other chest pieces, such as Mythic chest piece Tyrael's Might, a chance to shine. Tyrael's Might's high defense might make it a new favorite among players.
Amulets
The skill tree changes actually have a more profound impact on amulets. In Diablo 4 history, excellent amulets have always focused on maximizing passive skill level bonuses. A single passive might provide a 5% multiplicative damage increase. For example, Druid's Envenom can provide up to 10% multiplicative damage increase per point.
The damage difference between an amulet with 2-3 passive affixes and one with only 1 is enormous. This makes top-tier amulets extremely rare, and the repetitive farming process for them each season tedious and monotonous.
Of course, passive skill affixes on amulets will also be removed in Lord of Hatred. The replacement is currently uncertain, but we hope to add new unique affixes specific to amulets that can impact gameplay. If passive affixes are simply removed without new content, amulets will become indistinguishable from affixes on other equipment slots.
Additionally, currently, unless a build is forced to bind a particular unique amulet, players won't use unique or mythic amulets because the passive damage increase from legendary amulets is overwhelming.
However, after Lord of Hatred, many interesting unique amulets will be available for builds. Mythic amulets, such as Melted Heart of Selig, can now be tried, as slots can now accommodate rare items better than before, and you don't have to worry about losing the massive damage provided by legendary items.
Horadric Cube
Players should also note that Lord of Hatred will introduce Horadric Cube, allowing players to actively add an extra affix to their equipment.
If passive affixes still existed, players would aim for an amulet with four passive affixes, then add another affix using Horadric Cube. The problem is, the added affix is actually random, and it's highly unlikely to be a passive affix.
Because you can't guarantee the fifth affix will also be passive, you waste an opportunity to add an affix. This complete waste of effort creates a terrible player experience.
Furthermore, it's currently unknown whether the added affix can be repeatedly reset, so from a certain perspective, removing passive affixes eliminates the frustration of missing out on the perfect amulet.
Better Overall Balance
Removing passive skills from the skill tree and passive affixes from amulets makes balancing the game much easier.
In the current version of Diablo 4, a player who finds an amulet with three or four passive affixes might deal hundreds of percentage points more damage than other players with the same build. This makes balancing impossible. For players with top-tier amulets, monsters are too weak; for players with ordinary amulets, monsters are too strong.
After the changes, the base damage curves for all players will be more similar, and gear improvements will be more reflected in mechanics and gameplay, rather than simply stacking numbers.
Regarding the known changes in Lord of Hatred, players in the community are expressing two different opinions.
Some hope for more powerful affixes or new skill bonuses to compensate for other shortcomings. Others believe that simply increasing damage won't solve the problem; it would be better to have affixes that change player interaction behavior to better create unique builds.
While some may miss passive affixes and the thrill of suddenly acquiring top-tier Diablo 4 items, overall, this seems to be the right direction. Amulets are no longer a gamble for passive affixes, and chest armor is no longer limited to Shroud of False Death as the only solution. Build diversity will be truly enhanced.
So, that concludes the impact of gear changes in Diablo 4 Lord of Hatred. Let's look forward to what surprises await after release!
