Diablo 4’s Lord of Hatred expansion is revamping class skill trees, with its most dramatic change being the removal of passive skills entirely.
As revealed during an official Sanctuary Sitdown on Discord with members of the Diablo 4 development team (via Icy Veins), Blizzard is looking to make it so class skill trees are more about offering customization than raw power spikes. As a result, passive skill nodes are being removed.
Each active skill will be receiving new customizations options to help fill some of those power gaps, but overall Blizzard wants to make it so becoming more powerful is more about finding and crafting better gear, leveling up the Paragon Board, and equipping the right Legendary aspects as opposed to ticking flat damage bonus boxes on the skill tree. In total, there are 80 additional new skill options and 40 reworked ones that will be coming to all Diablo 4 players. Lord of Hatred owners will have 20 additional skill choices to choose from.
In a blog post, Blizzard gave an example of the changes using the Sorcerer’s Hydra skill. Currently, the skill tree allows for boosted burning damage or more critical strike potential. Under the new skill tree, players will have options to increase the Hydra’s attack speed, trigger explosions, or cause burning in an area of effect. Players will even have the option to turn the Hydra into a Frost skill, opening up more possibilities.
While passive skills are being removed, it’s currently unclear if Key Passives are also being scrapped. Each class currently has four Key Passive abilities to choose from, many of which are build-defining power spikes that determine how each class plays.
Blizzard recently blew the lid off what to expect from Diablo 4’s second expansion during a Diablo 30th Anniversary Spotlight, revealing the new Warlock class that is already live in Diablo 2: Resurrected and will be landing in Diablo 4 with Lord of Hatred. The class is additionally coming to Blizzard’s free-to-play mobile spin-off Diablo Immortal this summer.
In addition to the Warlock, Blizzard also shared more information about Lord of Hatred ahead of its launch on April 28, including its new War Plans endgame, Amazons, and how the expansion’s Skovos region will be more beautiful than Diablo players are accustomed to (at least until Mephisto shows up).
