MMoexp: A Deep Dive Into Diablo IV Season 11’s Big Overhaul

Diablo IV’s upcoming Season 11 is shaping up to be one of the most transformative updates the game has seen so far. From sweeping changes to tempering and masterworking, to the introduction of new features like sanctification and the Tower, Blizzard clearly intends to shake up how players approach both endgame crafting and D4 materials.

But as always, the question remains: is change always a good thing?

After spending considerable time in the Season 11 PTR (Public Test Realm), it’s clear that while many of the new systems carry exciting potential, others reveal lingering design flaws and risk frustrating both dedicated grinders and casual players alike.

Let’s break down the good, the bad, and the ugly of Diablo IV Season 11.

The Return of the Angel: Hadriel and the Sanctification Mechanic

One of the most striking new additions is the return of Hadriel, the first angel to descend from the High Heavens since the events of the Eternal Conflict. Alongside him comes a brand-new crafting system known as sanctification — a mechanic that allows players to replace an affix (or “aix”) on a fully masterworked and tempered piece of gear with a new one, sometimes even granting an extra affix in the process.

On paper, it’s an elegant addition — one that echoes the Vaal Orb system from Path of Exile. The excitement of taking a finished item and risking it for potential god-tier results fits perfectly with Diablo’s identity of temptation and greed. However, this system comes with real danger: you can’t modify the item any further once it’s sanctified.

That means a roll gone wrong could brick an otherwise perfect piece of equipment. Imagine taking your Mythic Unique Shako, hoping for improved cooldown reduction — only to lose it for something like “no durability loss” or “increased resistance”. For a hardcore grinder, that’s a minor setback. For a more casual player who finally earned their prized drop, it could mean the end of their season.

PTR feedback suggests the affix pool might be incomplete right now, but Blizzard’s challenge will be balancing risk and reward in a way that doesn’t alienate those who don’t have hundreds of hours to farm backups.

The Tower: A New Challenger Rises

Season 11 also introduces a major new activity called The Tower, a spiritual successor — or perhaps sibling — to The Pit.

The Tower is a 10-minute timed challenge made up of five floors instead of two, which immediately solves one of The Pit’s biggest frustrations: backtracking. Players of ultra-mobile builds like the Teleport Sorcerer or Evade Spiritborn often had to waste time revisiting areas just to kill enough monsters. The Tower’s multi-floor design ensures a smoother flow and more sustained action.

The addition of Pylons, returning from Diablo II, adds an interesting tactical element. Players must first destroy a protective shield before activating them, after which they grant temporary but potent effects. However, as it stands, only the Power Pylon feels truly worthwhile. The others—Speed, Channeling, and so on—feel underwhelming, especially given the time cost of triggering them.

The system’s biggest flaw is its RNG dependence. Getting a Power Pylon can make or break a run, especially in higher-tier Towers. The long activation animation and overly tanky shields only add to player frustration.

Ideally, Blizzard should reduce the shield HP, speed up activation, and buff weaker pylons to make every spawn exciting. Removing unnecessary downtime would make the feature shine.

Still, the elephant in the room is that The Tower feels too similar to The Pit. Both share the same objective — climb, kill, compete on leaderboards — but unlike Greater Rifts in Diablo III, The Tower lacks tangible rewards. There are no exclusive gems, materials, or scaling experience bonuses. It’s essentially a leaderboard grind with less incentive to play.

For a game trying to keep its endgame loop engaging, that’s a serious oversight.

Tempering and Masterworking Reborn

Perhaps the most controversial overhaul in Season 11 comes from the complete rework of tempering and masterworking — systems that sit at the heart of item progression.

Tempering: Simpler but Weaker

Previously, tempering was a risk-filled process where each item had limited rerolls — making every mistake potentially permanent. That pain point is gone. Players can now reset tempers infinitely using Scrolls of Restoration, removing the fear of bricking valuable items.

However, that convenience comes at a steep cost: items can now only hold one temper instead of multiple. And because the choice is no longer random, the diversity of tempers has effectively been cut down. Most players will likely default to damage or cooldown reduction, rendering 90% of temper options irrelevant.

It’s a quality-of-life win but also a step back in creativity.

Masterworking: From RNG to Quality

Masterworking now revolves around a new stat called Quality, which replaces the old “every 4 levels boost a random affix” model. Quality caps at 20, and each level increases base stats (like weapon damage, armor, or resistances) instead of affix rolls.

Once an item hits Quality 20, you can capstone it — converting one of its affixes into a Greater Affix (GA). This idea sounds good in theory, but the implementation raises issues. If your item already has multiple GAs, capstoning provides little benefit. If it only has one, you’re stuck upgrading the same affix every time.

Moreover, leveling Quality is slow, and the power increase per level is much smaller than before. Previously, fully masterworked items granted +60% to all affixes — now, boosts are limited to base stats, meaning lower overall scaling and fewer explosive builds.

In practice, this system reins in power creep, but it also dulls the sense of excitement when perfecting your gear. Some builds may even become non-viable due to reduced crit chance, cooldown, or attack speed caps.

It’s a classic trade-off between balance and fun, and the jury’s still out on whether Blizzard struck the right balance.

Seasonal Ranks Replace Renown and the Season Journey

Gone are the familiar Season Journey and Renown systems. In their place: Seasonal Ranks.

Each Rank offers rewards previously tied to Renown — skill points, Paragon points, and crafting materials — and progression is tied to completing Capstone Dungeons.

While the concept feels straightforward, the execution leaves room for improvement. Capstone Dungeons are fixed at specific levels (e.g., level 30), meaning high-level players will breeze through them with no real challenge — and worse, they’ll get low-level loot as a result.

Ideally, these dungeons should have no upper level cap so they can scale to your character, keeping rewards relevant.

Additionally, because Rank progression is only tied to completing Capstones, players can skip most objectives and blitz through all ranks back-to-back once they’re overleveled. That robs the system of pacing and structure.

The Season Journey used to serve as a roadmap for how to explore new content each season. Without it, progression risks feeling aimless. Tying each Capstone attempt to completing certain objectives first could restore that sense of purpose.

The Return of the Lesser Evils

For lore fans, Season 11 delivers something truly special: the return of the Lesser Evils — Duriel, Belial, Andariel, and Asmodan — each taking over familiar activities and zones.

Duriel now replaces the Blood Maiden in Helltides, spreading his maggot spawn across the region.

Belial manifests in The Pit, using his deceitful “scrying eyes” to control the environment.

Andariel takes residence in the Undercity, serving as the capstone boss there.

Asmodan becomes a permanent world boss, summonable south of Hawezar at a Triune cultist camp.

Each brings their own flavor, but balance remains inconsistent. Duriel feels too easy, while Belial’s encounter suffers from cumbersome mechanics — players must manually click on scrying eyes, and his lengthy intro and death animations eat into valuable run time.

These details might sound minor, but when you’re chasing leaderboard efficiency, every second matters.

Meanwhile, Asmodan’s massive arena allows players to AFK-farm him from a distance, earning huge XP gains. This clearly needs fixing before launch, either by shrinking the arena or lowering XP rewards.

As for Andariel, her inclusion marks the first time non-expansion players will miss major seasonal content. She, along with her lore drops, are locked behind Vessel of Hatred. That means players without the expansion lose access not only to her fight but also to lore journals and narrative context — a disappointing precedent for future seasons.

A New Form of Seasonal Power: Essences

Instead of the traditional Seasonal Powers, players now obtain Essences, which modify both rewards and risk across specific activities. For instance, using certain Essences can make Helltides more challenging but also more lucrative.

This “risk-for-reward” design feels refreshing and more strategic, reminiscent of systems like PoE’s Delirium Orbs or Diablo III’s Primal Augments. It adds customization back into gameplay loops — something many players have been craving since Season 7.

It’s also one of the few changes that truly deepens choice rather than just flattening power.

A Necessary Power Squish

The final, overarching change is the deliberate power squish across all classes.

In previous seasons, builds were routinely dealing hundreds of billions of damage, trivializing even the hardest content. Season 11 dials that back dramatically. The result: slower runs, tighter damage windows, and a return to tactical decision-making.

While this will frustrate players accustomed to vaporizing bosses in seconds, it’s healthy for the game’s longevity. However, it introduces a new problem — weaker builds may now struggle to climb The Pit or upgrade glyphs effectively.

Blizzard could mitigate this by reducing glyph upgrade penalties for lower Pit completions, ensuring casual players can still progress without being locked out by the new difficulty curve.

Final Thoughts: A Season of Transition

Season 11 of Diablo IV feels like a pivot point — a season that prioritizes stability and long-term balance over raw excitement.

The new crafting systems, while less explosive, pave the way for more predictable progression. The Tower, despite its similarities to The Pit, could evolve into a competitive cornerstone if properly incentivized cheap Diablo 4 Items. The return of the Lesser Evils, meanwhile, is a lore lover’s dream — even if accessibility concerns linger.

Overall, Season 11 is ambitious but uneven. Its best ideas — Sanctification, Essences, and the return of classic bosses — remind players why they fell in love with Sanctuary in the first place. Yet, its weaker systems risk flattening the thrill that defines Diablo’s endgame chase.

If Blizzard can fine-tune reward structures, adjust pacing, and inject a bit more meaning into The Tower and Capstone Ranks, Season 11 could very well mark the beginning of Diablo IV’s true golden age.