After making its triumphant debut in 2023, Diablo 4’s patch notes timeline highlights Blizzard’s quick response to a variety of complaints from players eager to revisit Sanctuary in its most gruesome rendition yet. With its efforts focused on polishing and growing an already great ARPG through updates and hotfixes, we’re likely to see plenty of change in the years ahead.
Diablo 4’s patch notes timeline follows the progress towards those goals, as reflected in the hotfixes and updates deployed following release. The team behind the game has repeatedly stated its intention to keep improving the action-RPG and, with its first expansion already announced, there’s a good chance we won’t run out of demons to slay anytime soon.
Diablo 4 Patch Notes Timeline
- Diablo 4 patch 1.1.0: July 18, 2023
- Diablo 4 patch 1.2.0: October 17, 2023
- Diablo 4 patch 1.3.0: January 23, 2024
Diablo IV’s patch notes timeline starts with its June 2, 2023 early access launch, when the usual set of quick hotfixes was deployed, aiming to immediately address a series of pressing issues.
On June 2, hotfix 1.0.2c, addressed an issue where users of high-speed SSDs encountered freezes during gameplay alongside several causes for crashes.
One day later, hotfix 1.0.2d introduced a series of class tweaks, buffing underperforming skills while nerfing some that synergized a little too well with each other alongside Paragon Glyphs.
As June 4 arrived, hotfix 1.0.2e fixed an issue causing stuttering on high-end PCs. One day later, hotfix 1.0.2f would allow players to no longer encounter problems during checkout in the in-game shop.
Diablo IV’s patch notes timeline continued on June 8, 2023, when hotfix 1.0.2g addressed another checkout error, while hotfix 1.0.2e improved stability while fixing more bugs.
Two days later, hotfix 1.0.2i made it so that Necromancers no longer got stuck at the character selection screen, while ensuring that control inputs didn’t stop responding when players left and entered dungeons.
A bigger set of fixes was then deployed on June 27, when patch 1.0.3 tackled problems regarding dungeon bosses that couldn’t be engaged, events that wouldn’t register as completed, NPCs that could end up duplicating, and more.
June 30 saw hotfix 1.0.3a addressing even more instances that could lead to crashes bringing sessions to a swift end.
After about a week, patch 1.0.4 was deployed on July 6. It made the Barbarian’s Whirlwind ability no longer stop channeling when a cooldown skill was cast, attached a 33% drop rate chance to rare items that were previously guaranteed drops from certain mobs while increasing their sale price, and more.
D4 Patch 1.1.0
Diablo IV’s first major post-launch update was then released on July 18, 2023, two days before the start of Season 1. It introduced 6 new unique items alongside 7 new legendary aspects, denoting the first step towards increasing the number of options available in terms of buildcrafting.
It also made Altar of Lilith unlocks and map discovery progress account-wide, two quality of life changes that would receive universal praise.
Silent Chests yielded better rewards, while the renown earned for side quest and dungeon completion was increased.
Level scaling in higher world tiers was also adjusted, allowing monsters to trail behind the player, which resulted in a better sense of your power increasing as you gained levels.
This was when classes got another significant balance pass in what was always expected to be an ongoing process which responds to how the game evolves overtime.
July 20 brought us hotfix 1.1.0b, which removed the level requirement from higher World Tiers while ensuring that Season 1’s Malignant Hearts always granted armor in line with their actual item power.
Six days later, the game received more stability improvements and fixes as part of hotfix 1.1.0c, including one that added a confirmation pop-up when activating the Premium Battle Pass.
Patch 1.1.1 then went live on August 8, 2023, buffing Sorcerers and Barbarians, while increasing monster density in both Nightmare Dungeons and areas where the Helltide was active.
A week later, patch 1.1.2 reduced the spawn time for Malignant Monsters after a Malignant Heart was activated, while introducing a slate of bugfixes, including a few targeting Druid abilities that didn’t work as intended.
On August 29, 2023, patch 1.1.3 brought changes to monster abilities and elite affixes that apply crowd control effects.
Cold Enchanted elites with quick attack speeds no longer triggered the effect on every hit, the Cannibal Gorger’s stun was made easier to avoid, while the Cold Spider attack applied less chill.
Patch 1.1.4 was deployed on September 12, increasing the experience bonus from the Urn of Aggression season blessing while introducing more bugfixes that helped polish the overall experience.
D4 Patch 1.2.0
Patch 1.2.0 marked the next big step on Diablo 4’s patch notes timeline. The update accompanied the action-RPG’s second season, introducing new unique items and legendary aspects.
This was also when we could start marking items as favorite, more quickly search through our stash, and use the Sell all Junk button to easily get rid of items marked as such.
Gems no longer contributed to the game’s inventory clutter problem, dropping instead as Gem Fragments stored in our materials tab. Jewelers use them to craft the socketable items .
Teleporting to Nightmare Dungeons actually brought us inside them, reducing the number of loading screens we had to sit through.
The layout of these dungeons were also improved, resulting in less backtracking.
Legion events and world bosses began spawning more frequently (the latter close to twice as often), while mounts had their base speed increased and controls improved for drastically smoother navigation.
Following on from there, hotfix 1.2.0a dropped one day later, further improving stability while addressing an issue with cross-platform play that rendered PC players unable to join their console peers.
Diablo IV’s hotfix 1.2.0b went live on October 20, 2023, fixing various issues, including one that saw the Season of Blood Battle Pass rewarding only 666 Platinum instead of the intended 700.
Four days later, hotfix 1.2.0d addressed an issue that stopped players from claiming their Accelerated Seasonal Battle Pass after upgrading to the game’s Ultimate Edition.
On October 31, patch 1.2.1 added a much-needed Refund All button to the Paragon Board.
Kyovashad also became one Training Dummy richer, turning the capital into the go-to place to test out your builds before facing the monsters roaming across Sanctuary.
Patch 1.2.2 went live on November 7, introducing five Malignant Rings that brought back the most popular powers from Diablo IV’s Season 1 alongside several fixes.
One day later, hotfix 1.2.2a addressed an issue that caused crashes when viewing a seasonal stash.
Hotfix 1.2.2b followed on November 15, fixing an issue where virtual currency values did not automatically update for those playing through Steam.
As 2023 neared its end, Diablo IV’s patch notes timeline had update 1.2.3 releasing on December 5, adding the Abbatoir of Zir as a new limited-time endgame dungeon.
It also increased the Paragon Glyphs experience earned from most Nightmare Dungeon tiers while squishing many bugs.
Hotfix 1.2.3a was deployed on the same day, adding several other fixes, including one that addressed active glyphs losing levels. Several other changes were added under the same version, addressing aspects of the Midwinter Blight event, and doubling Uber Uniques drop rates from Echo of Duriel until January 8, 2024.
D4 Patch 1.3.0
Diablo 4’s patch 1.3.0 went live on January 23, 2024, marking the start of Season 3, also known as Season of the Construct.
The update introduces a host of new items that aim to enable new viable builds while tweaking the stats of several others.
Furthermore, it changes the active set of Nightmare Dungeons while making Helltides almost permanent additions to the world map, save for a 5-minute reset break. In addition, WASD movement now offers an additional method of controlling characters.
As expected, each of the game’s five playable classes has received various tweaks to their skills, buffing skills like the Barbarian’s Charge, the Rogue’s Rain of Arrows and many others.
As January 26, 2024 rolled in, patch 1.3.0a went live, increasing the Echo of Malphas’ level from 85 to 100 while introducing Igneous Cores as a new type of item used to access the Uber Vault and Echo of Malphas.
Following feedback that the Seneschal did not feel strong enough, several changes have been deployed, adding more sources to earn Governing and Tuning Stones which help customize and level the seasonal companion.
D4’s patch 1.3.1 landed on February 1, 2024, decreasing the amount of health that monsters with the Vampiric affix can heal across all four world tiers.
Multiple Seneschal abilities had their damage increased. In addition, several bug fixes were deployed, including one that addressed Lightning Floor traps ignoring effects meant to render players immune to harm.
A hotfix was then deployed on February 7, updating the Lunar Awakening reputation reward caches with rewards of appropriate quality for their respective world tier while fixing a set of bugs tied to the limited-time event.
On February 8, Hotfix 2 further increased the experience gained from monster kills alongside overall glyph experience.
One day later, hotfix 3 addressed a bug that stopped Living Steel chests from spawning in Helltides while removing the monster guarding them.
Patch 1.3.2 drops on February 13, allowing us to salvage Uber Unique items while increasing most of their drop rates. The resulting materials, called Resplendent Sparks, can then be used to Transmute an Uber Unique of our choice at the Alchemist’s, in the tab previously labeled as Refine Resources.
You can find all of Diablo IV’s patch notes in a dedicated article over on the official Blizzard website.
Diablo IV’s patch notes timeline is bound to continue into 2024 and beyond, as more hotfixes and updates further improve the action-RPG. For more on it, check out when Season 3 might launch.
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