Blizzard has released the patch notes for a new Diablo 4 Season 12 update, which is set to go live on March 24. The update makes significant changes to Bloodsoaked Sigils, touted as one of the hardest challenges in Diablo 4 Season 12, after Blizzard admitted that many players “cannot reasonably complete” them at their current difficulty level.
Diablo 4 Season 12 is a smaller season than the recent ones that Blizzard has released for the game. Its proximity to April’s Lord of Hatred expansion means that most of the developer’s efforts are focused on polishing the upcoming DLC. Despite this, the Season of Slaughter, which allows players to play as The Butcher for the first time, has been pretty well received by players, as have most of the game’s recent seasons. In many ways, Diablo 4 Season 12 is very much a preview of coming attractions in Lord of Hatred, making it a very interesting prospect to play.
The S-Tier Diablo 4 Season 12 Build That is Perfect for Maintaining a Killstreak
With Killstreaks being the main focus of Diablo 4 Season 12, players looking to earn the highest Killstreak possible should try out this build.
In Diablo 4 Season 12, Blizzard touted the new Bloodsoaked Sigils as being “the truest test of strength.” These Sigils were scaled in difficulty to be approximately in line with Pit Tier 100, making them one of Season 12’s biggest challenges. Too challenging, perhaps, as Blizzard has revealed that the upcoming 2.6.1 update on March 24 will significantly nerf these Sigils, making them much easier to complete. According to the developer, “many players cannot reasonably complete Bloodsoaked Sigils after unlocking them,” so by bringing down the difficulty by such a degree, it hopes that “all players who have earned access to Bloodsoaked content have a better chance of success.”
Balance the critic averages
Balance the critic averages
Easy (6)Medium (8)Hard (10)
Blizzard hasn’t said just how much easier Diablo 4‘s Bloodsoaked Sigils will be after the update, but it’s good to see the developer acting fast to address the feedback and make sure more players can enjoy the Season 12 content. There will be many players who enjoyed the challenge behind the current iteration of Bloodsoaked Sigils, but it’s evident that Blizzard felt it was simply too prohibitive for too many to remain as they are.
Diablo 4‘s upcoming 2.6.1 update also adds a stash and a blacksmith to Kael Rills’ Butcher shop, which should make for a very nice quality of life change. Also, whenever The Butcher appears in the Fields of Hatred, it will now have “significantly more health.” The rest of the update focuses on many small bug fixes, smoothing out the Season 12 experience. Blizzard has already released another Diablo 4 Season 12 update a short while ago, which was a smaller hotfix that didn’t address much of the criticism aimed towards the content of the season.
On April 28, Blizzard will release Diablo 4‘s Lord of Hatred expansion. This is set to be the most significant content drop for the game since 2024’s Vessel of Hatred DLC, bringing the Warlock class to the game, as well as unlocking the Paladin for all players after its Season 11 debut as an expansion pre-order bonus. It’s going to be an exciting period for fans, especially as the game continues to go from strength to strength.
Diablo 4 Update 2.6.1 Patch Notes
- Reduced the difficulty of Bloodsoaked sigils significantly.
Developer’s Note: We’ve received feedback that many players cannot reasonably complete Bloodsoaked Sigils after unlocking them. By lowering the difficulty significantly, we hope to guarantee that all players who have earned access to Bloodsoaked content have a better chance of success.
- A stash and blacksmith have been added to Kael Rills’ Butcher shop to allow players to Salvage and store items without having to travel back and forth in Gea Kul.
- Instances of the Butcher in the Fields of Hatred now have significantly more health.
Bug Fixes
Accessibility
- Fixed an issue where the Screen Reader did not fully function in the Ensembles section in the wardrobe.
Season of Slaughter
- Fixed an issue where one of the Butcher’s attacks was invisible on low graphic settings.
- Fixed an issue where the camera would malfunction local co-op when both players turned into the Butcher.
- Fixed an issue where not all players in a party properly transformed when entering a Slaughterhouse.
- Fixed an issue where the Kill Streak affix for granting Core Resources wasn’t granting Willpower for Druids.
- Fixed an issue where activating Shrine of Slaughter removed active incense and elixir buff icons.
- Fixed an issue where the player Butcher skill Hell Charge did not consume resource.
- Fixed an issue where the tooltip for Bloodlust suggested that the resource should regenerate passively.
- Fixed an issue where Bloodied Scythes and 2-Handed Maces were cheaper than intended at the Butcher’s Shop in Gea Kul.
- Fixed an issue where Fields of Crimson Unique Power was not functioning on the Crucible transmog.
- Fixed an issue where Necromancer minions could block player movement when entering a Slaughterhouse.
- Fixed an issue where Bloodied Nightmare Dungeons didn’t have the same chances for dropping Obducite as normal Nightmare Dungeons.
- Fixed various instances where Season Rank Objectives or Capstone Completions either did not grant the expected rewards or could not be completed as expected.
- Fixed multiple instances of Teyana appearing in unexpected places during the Seasonal quest.
Miscellaneous
- Fixed an issue where the Ring of Red Furor was missing its icon.
- Fixed an issue where the Tower bosses Thuneros and Herald of Darkness had significantly less life than intended.
- Fixed an issue where the winged visual effects were missing while in Paladin’s Arbiter form.
- Fixed an issue where progression of the Blind Burrows dungeon could be blocked if the boss was defeated before the objective to defeat it updated.
- Fixed an issue where players on Windows 10 Version 1909 could crash when launching the game.
- Various stability, visual, performance, and audio improvements.
- Released
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June 5, 2023
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
