Diablo 4’s upcoming Lord of Hatred expansion is making yet another big change to the ARPG’s difficulty system, this time increasing the number of Torment tiers from four to 12.
Blizzard revealed the news as part of an interview with ARPG content creator Wudijo. In the interview, associate game director Zaven Haroutunian said the eight additional Torment tiers are an attempt to keep the world and enemies relevant as players grow stronger. The increased rewards from higher tiers is one reason why the expansion is adding a loot filter, Haroutunian said.
Design director of systems Colin Finer told PC Gamer in a separate interview that 12 Torment tiers makes the increased rewards for each tier “more granular.” However, while Torment will go all the way up to 12, most players aren’t intended to ever reach that point. The game’s highest difficulty will instead be aspirational, with game designer Aislyn Hall stating Torment 12 is going to be “really f****** hard.”
Right now, Torment 4 is still fairly easy once players are geared and have progressed through their Paragon Board. For a challenge, players instead seek out the highest levels of the Pit or the new Tower leaderboard system to push their build to its limits. Under the new system, players looking to do something with their power and continue perfecting their builds will be rewarded with increased rewards based on how high a tier they are able to handle.
This isn’t the first time Diablo 4 has overhauled its difficulty. When the game first launched, it used a World Tier system of only four total difficulties. Diablo 4’s current Torment difficulty system was added with the release of the game’s first expansion, Vessel of Hatred, in October 2024. Lord of Hatred’s 12 Torment system looks to be pulled almost straight out of Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls, which featured 16 different Torment tiers for players to climb.
Diablo 4’s Torment tier overhaul isn’t the only big change coming in Lord of Hatred. The expansion will also see passive skills removed entirely from class skill trees and will introduce two new classes, the Paladin and the Warlock.
Before Lord of Hatred arrives, players will have the chance to experience the currency difficulty system in one last (albeit shorter than normal) season. Season of Slaughter begins March 11 and takes inspiration from Diablo 3 once again with its Killstreak seasonal mechanic. The season will even make one of the franchise’s most iconic enemies playable.
