Surprise Diablo 4 patch improves crafting, nerfs three annoying bosses

While all eyes were on the Diablo 4 Season 1 reveal last night, Blizzard dropped a surprise new Diablo 4 patch across all platforms after the show. Patch 1.0.4 brings a ton of bug fixes to gameplay, UI, quests, dungeons, and more.

But it also makes three crucial gameplay adjustments that we’re surprised are hidden away at the bottom of the patch notes. Considering how great some of these changes are, Blizzard should have given them more prominence.

The new changes do help everyone though, but are meant more to address some of the complaints from more experienced players. First, Helltide Chests now have a chance to drop unique items, which include the six rarest items in Diablo 4.

Helltide Chests appear at the end of Helltide Events, one of the final activities in Diablo 4. Blizzard recently buffed the XP gained from opening them, making it so that Helltide bosses have a higher chance to drop better loot, so today’s change is based on that.

Another thing that endgame players may have run into is the limit on crafting materials. Previously, it was set to 9999, which many skilled players had already maxed out. After the patch, the new cap is 99999, so we expect it to be a much deeper well for everyone.

Finally, patch 1.0.4 reduced the health of three bosses: Vhenard, Brol, and Cyhrach. Brol, in particular, has been a bit of a pain for first-time players, but the three of them are generally some of the most annoying bosses in Diablo 4.

For the rest of the patch notes, read below:

Game bug fixes

• Fixed an issue where the damage multiplier for the Enhanced Frozen Orb would not apply correctly.
• Fixed an issue where enemies with the Vortex affix would deal damage via immunity.
• Fixed an issue where Elixir of Experience would reduce the resource cost by 10% instead of the displayed value of 20%.
• Fixed an issue where the damage bonus from Paragon’s Subdue glyph would apply to any target instead of just vulnerable targets.
• Fixed an issue where the Barbarian’s Whirlwind ability would briefly stop channeling when a Cooldown ability was cast while it was being used.
• Fixed an issue where the guaranteed Overpower buff from the Earthstriker Skin of the Barbarian would be consumed when gaining any other buff.
• Fixed an issue where the player character would freeze when using the Rogue’s Shadow Step ability if it was used outside of the range of its intended target.
• Fixed an issue where the player would not be able to rotate when casting a channeled ability if using a one-handed weapon without a left-hand item equipped.
• Fixed an issue where Cursed Scrolls in Fields of Hatred had a lower cooldown than the 5 minute cooldown displayed.
• Fixed an issue where flat damage dealing Aspects printed via the Codex of Power would scale with player level instead of item power.
• Fixed an issue where Necromancer’s Shadow Mages would not apply additional Shadow damage via Shadowblight Key Passive.
• Fixed an issue where Cheat Death effects would not trigger if you died while mounted.

Bug fixes for quests and dungeons.

• Fixed an issue where a walkthrough would not appear during The Blind Eye mission, blocking progression.
• Fixed an issue where the Mother’s Judgment enemy would spawn before the player entered the encounter during the Whispers of the Past quest.
• Fixed various issues where Quest progress would get stuck if the player used a Town Portal during specific sequences.
• Fixed various other issues that were preventing multiple quest progression.
• Fixed an issue where the Forgotten Depths dungeon had one less prisoner to release than intended.
• Fixed an issue where teleporting to Wejinhani during the Witch of the Wastes quest would force the player to drop the Vial of Quicksilver, despite the town being an allowed area for the quest.
• Fixed an issue where the Cultist’s Refuge, Howling Burrow, and Luban’s Rest dungeons could not be completed if the Butcher spawned and was not killed.
• Fixed an issue where Treasure Goblins killed in a Nightmare Dungeon with the Death Pulse Affix would deal much more damage than intended with their post-death explosion.
• Fixed an issue where the Mirage quest could not be completed correctly.

UI bug fixes

• Fixed an issue where the QR code used to link accounts on console was the wrong size, making it difficult to scan.
• Fixed an issue where the print cost for Legendary skins would display incorrectly.
• Fixed an issue where players on console were unable to navigate the store after using the Buy More Platinum button.
• Fixed an issue where the Enhance Glyph tab would not close after moving away from the Awakened Glyph Stone.
• Fixed an issue where a skill unlocked by item contribution would not have an Assign Skill button in its tooltip.
• Fixed an issue where swapping a partial stack while playing a controller would show a full stack in the tooltip.
• Fixed an issue where the cache of weekly rewards for defeating a world boss would appear as available if there was an active whisper for defeating the boss, even when the cache had already been claimed previously.

Various bug fixes

• Fixed an issue where the NPC Arlo could not be interacted with.
• Fixed an issue where the Fields of Hatred Killer cosmetic set was missing helmets for Druid, Necromancer, and Rogue.
• Fixed an issue where the cost of the Sturdy Saddle Cosmetic from the Stable Vendor would scale with the level of the player character.
• Fixed an issue where players could pull the Boiling Abomination boss in the Alzuuda Fields of Hatred area to a location where they could damage it, but it couldn’t damage them.
• Fixed an issue where Mount Cosmetics would not display correctly if applied while actively mounted.
• Fixed an issue where the camera would scroll from the point of death to the point of respawn instead of moving instantly for players in Local Co-op.
• Fixed an issue where the player and NPC would disappear during a dialogue sequence if the player was actively under the effect of a Conduit shrine. (The demonic delusion strikes again!)
• Various localization fixes.
• Various other interface and accessibility improvements.
• Increased stability, performance, and visual improvements on all platforms.
• Fixed an issue where transmogs on left-hand items for Warlocks would reset when performing any inventory action.