Summary
- Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant has sparked controversy as Sorcerers receive nerfs and loot statless Unique weapons, fueling frustration among players.
- The latest patch has further weakened Sorcerers, along with other classes in the game, leading to discontent and negative reviews from the community.
Diablo 4 has launched Season of the Malignant, and the heavily nerfed Sorcerers seem to be looting statless Unique weapons in the new patch. To say that the latest Diablo 4 update is controversial would be putting it mildly, as its frustrated community has continued to review-bomb the game over the changes introduced for Season 1. To combat the growing discontent, and to hopefully reassure players about the direction of Diablo 4, the developers have called for a second Campfire Chat to be held on June 21.
Sorcerers in Diablo 4 have largely been a lackluster class since launch, as the main mechanics of the class, as well as its damage and survivability, have all been stripped bare in the Open Beta following a strong debut. Many fans strongly believe that the latest patch has not only continued to weaken the franchise's iconic spellcaster, but that the other four classes in Diablo 4 have also suffered significant penalties to their offensive and defensive capabilities.
Submitted by ChekhovsGun_ on the Diablo 4 subreddit, it would seem that Sorcerers are getting a bugged version of their Unique Staff. Given that the icon doesn't correspond to either the Staff of Lam Esen, or the Staff of Endless Rage, no one can ascertain which of the two items is experiencing the glitch. The weapon has no stats, no name, cannot be sold, and only has a baseline damage value that scales off its Item Power. Given the current state of the class, the community can't help but feel this broken staff is a bitterly-humorous microcosm of everything wrong with Sorcerers in Diablo 4.
Though all five classes have been nerfed in Diablo 4 through the changes to its itemization, Sorcerers in particular have also complained about the lackluster design of their new Unique Wand. One of the most critiqued aspects of the class, as well as its accompanying Legendary Aspects, has been that it carried frustrating drawbacks to every positive boon it offered. Needless to say, with the new Wand teleporting players to a random location, fans can't help but feel disappointed to receive more of the same.
A few players remained hopeful that Malignant Hearts in Diablo 4 would replace their stolen power, but the initial impressions are that they're little more than trinkets that continue to add further inventory bloat to a game sorely in need of a bigger stash. For example, Sorcerers were assigned a Malignant Heart that revolves around Elemental Resistances, widely considered to be a broken stat, and due to receive a fix in Season 2. Given that Malignant Hearts will disappear from player inventories after Season 1, it makes the whole concept feel redundant.
Ultimately, it remains to be seen what the developers have in store for the disgruntled Sorcerers across the globe. While it's important for classes to be balanced in any ARPG, the tremendous legacy of this Diablo class surely deserves more than what it currently offers in Diablo 4.
Diablo 4 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.