Diablo 4 Season 1 Hotfix addresses post-patch Nightmare Dungeon difficulty spike

A recently deployed Hotfix for Diablo 4 aims to soften the blow of the poorly received Season 1 patch. A reduction in enemy power for higher-tier Nightmare Dungeons is one of many improvements outlined in the Hotfix.

It’s been a tumultuous week for the Diablo 4 development team following the release of Season of the Malignant. The accompanying patch that coincided with the season’s launch raised some eyebrows and some ire within the game’s community of players.

Amidst a tide of backlash that included death threats and review bombing of the game, the development team responded with commendable restraint. In a Campfire Chat, the leaders of Diablo 4’s development and community engagement team took the vitriol in stride and promised to address fans’ concerns.

The first steps in course correction have been taken with the recent implementation of Hotfix 3. It focuses primarily on repairing issues players had with Nightmare Dungeons following considerable nerfing to various damage types from patch 1.0.1.

Hotfix 3 has fully deployed to all users #DiabloIV https://t.co/T453dwmSSQ

— Adam Fletcher (@PezRadar) July 22, 2023

Before the fix, many players had complained about the drastic change in their characters’ performance in Diablo 4’s endgame Nightmare Dungeons. “I’m barely getting through tier 27 dungeons now,” a Twitter user replied when the initial patch notes went live.

Community Manager Adam Fletcher outlined the reasoning behind the changes in a summary of Hotfix 3. “We are implementing a reduction to overall monster power levels in Nightmare dungeons,” he said. “The new top range for tier 100 will feel like what tier 70 was previously.”

The developers achieved this by nerfing the damage output and health of enemies in Nightmare Dungeons. At the lowest tier addressed in the fix, these were small changes of 2% health and 1% damage. This increased to an 82% reduction in health and 79% in damage for tier 100.

“Although these values make it appear that the higher tiers are easier than lower tiers, this is not the case because the monsters also benefit from being significantly higher level than players in higher Nightmare Dungeon tiers,” Developer notes explained.

The Hotfix also outlined a significant list of bug fixes that should increase how powerful players feel during Season 1. These included fixes to new aspects for Necromancer and Druid that were dealing “far less damage than intended”.

For information on how you can optimize your play in Diablo 4’s Season of the Malignant and tackle Nightmare Dungeons like a pro, check out all of our helpful guides.