Diablo 4 Season 8 Belial’s Return is about to make its debut on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (via Steam).
The new Diablo 4 season has an April 29 release date, where it will launch alongside a big new update complete with dozens of changes.
As you can see from a selection of the patch notes below, the huge new update makes changes to Legendary Aspects and Unique Items. Likewise, Blizzard has made dozens of bug fixes and gameplay tweaks, including some quality of life improvements.
This includes the renaming of certain damages, such as Shadow Damage to Corruption Damage, Cold Damage to Frostbite Damage, and Lightning Damage to Sparking Damage.
READ MORE: Diablo 4 Season 8 release date, start time and new Battle Pass details
Diablo 4 Season 8 update patch notes (highlights)…
Changes to Legendary Aspects and Unique Items
Aspect of the Unholy Tether
• Now grants Unstoppable, rather than Unhindered.
• Duration Reduced from 6 to 5 seconds.
Aspect of Service and Sacrifice
• Damage from the Skeleton Warrior’s explosion is now considered Summoning Skill damage.
• Damage increased from 100-200% to 200-300% Weapon Damage.
Sanguivor, Blade of Zir
• Inherent Affix changed from Mage and Golem Damage to Summoning Damage.
• Damage bonus per soul increased from 5-10% to 15-25%.
• Value of the Intelligence affix increased to match other Two Handed Weapons.
– Previous: 160-188 Intelligence.
– Now: 214-242 Intelligence.
• Vampiric Curse souls can now be unleashed only with Army of the Dead, rather than Defensive, Macabre, or Agility Skills, while using this weapon.
User Interface and User Experience
• Adjusted the capitalisation of the words Element and Elemental when referring to a damage type to properly match other descriptions.
• We’ve named 3 damage types that were previously unnamed:
• Shadow Damage over time has been renamed to Corruption Damage.
• Cold Damage Over Time has been renamed to Frostbite Damage.
• Lightning Damage Over Time has been renamed to Sparking Damage.
• Tooltips for socketable items have been adjusted to improve clarity on what items can be socketed into what.
• Automatic sorting in the Inventory and Stash has been updated to be more intuitive. Now, auto-sort will push the most relevant items to the front. This includes better sorting by rarity and presence of Greater Affixes.
• The pip on the Map tab in the game menu will no longer appear if the only new item is a Cosmetic.
• Crafting recipes that do not cost Gold will no longer display a cost, which was always 0.
General
• Fixed an issue where the damage variance toggle didn’t properly function in the Training Grounds.
• Fixed an issue where Aspect of Elements’ bonus could occasionally be removed from the player or repeat the same bonus after swapping weapons.
• Fixed an issue where Crown of Lucion would occasionally prevent other sources of increased damage from functioning properly.
• Fixed an issue where Gloves of the Illuminator would not properly interact with Crown of Lucion.
• Fixed an issue where Ancestral Caches from the Tree of Whispers did not always drop Ancestral items.
• Fixed an issue where climbing a Traversal could fail if the player continuously held directional input while navigating the Traversal.
• Fixed an issue where the Helltide Commander for the Portal Invasion event could fail to spawn if the player was benefitting from Stealth effects when the Commander spawned.
• Fixed an issue where some events and event masteries could be completed by using Stealth effects to avoid monsters.
• Fixed an issue where Echo of Lilith could become invincible during the first phase of the encounter.
• Fixed an issue where Crackling Energy, Volatile Orbs from the Blood Boiling Aspect, and Blood Orbs could not be picked up while Crowd Controlled.
• Fixed an issue where repeatedly casting a Channeled Skill could spawn missiles from Tyrael’s Might.
• Fixed an issue where multiple Accursed Rituals could appear in the same Helltide Zone.
• Fixed an issue where Andariel and Lilith would perform all 4 of their phases at 1 HP instead of at their proper life thresholds.
Party Finder
• Fixed an issue where Vessel of Hatred-exclusive bosses could be set as a Party Finder activity for players who did not own Vessel of Hatred.
• Fixed an issue where Party Finder listings could not be created from the map for Strongholds.
User Interface and User Experience
Barbarian
• Fixed an issue where the descriptions for the Slaking Aspect did match between the Aspect on an Item and in the Codex of Power.
• Fixed an issue where the description for the Luckbringer Aspect displayed the Lucky Hit Chance bonus as multiplicative instead of additive.
• Fixed an issue where the increased Critical Strike Chance from the No Mercy passive didn’t display in the Character Stats panel while in town.
Druid
• Fixed an issue where the tooltip for Airidah’s Inexorable Will did not clearly describe the power.
• Fixed an issue where Innate Blood Howl was not displaying.
• Fixed an issue where Hurricane damage displayed would not increase with duration bonuses.
• Fixed an issue where the bonus description for Lupine Ferocity had incorrect information.
• Fixed an issue where the description for Enhanced Claw displayed its Attack Speed bonus as additive instead of multiplicative.
• Fixed an issue where the description for Malefic Crescent said damage was increased “to” instead of increased “by.”
Necromancer
• Fixed an issue where damage bonuses from Golems, Skeleton Mages, and Skeleton Warriors were not displayed in the Character Stats panel.
• Fixed an issue where Aspect of Shielding Storm did not display the decimal value on Amulets.
Sorcerer
• Fixed an issue where the Aspect of Elemental Constellation description suggested all skills needed to be cast instead of any of the listed types.
• Fixed an issue where the Aspect of Piercing static reduced the displayed damage number for Charged Bolts.
• Fixed an issue where the Mind’s Awakening Aspect did not display the Barrier duration.
All Classes
• Fixed an issue where the Aspect of Metamorphosis Codex of Power description did not include how the Aspect affects evade.
• Fixed an issue where Heir of Perdition’s description did not accurately state the distance at which it will steal Mother’s Favour from allies.
General
• Fixed an issue where items couldn’t be marked as Junk or Favourited after interacting with the Occultist.
• Fixed an issue where the amount a player was over the Movement Speed maximum wasn’t displayed in Character Stats.
• Fixed an issue where the Malignant Heart crafting recipe didn’t have a prompt to show the required materials to craft it.
• Fixed an issue where the UI header to denote Difficulty and Hardcore status was not displayed while in the Pit.
• Fixed an issue where UI displays for Wave number and Aether amount were inaccurate when playing Infernal Hordes in Local Co-Op.
• Fixed an issue where Scroll Speed in the Skill Tree menu was faster than intended when playing on controller.
• Fixed an issue where notifications for a spawning World Boss could display when no World Boss was spawning.
• Fixed an issue where the icon for maximum Helltide threat did not change when resetting threats.
Miscellaneous
• Fixed an issue where the Master Tactician achievement did not reward the appropriate title.
• Fixed an issue where Aspect of Assistance was dropping before an Ultimate Skill was available.
• Fixed an issue where the Mirage quest could not be completed properly.
• Fixed an issue where the Reanimation and Ossein Assault challenges for the Necromancer did not progress from enemies killed by minions.
• Various stability, performance, UI, visual, and audio improvements.