That’s where Masterworking and Tempering come in.

Though items will drop with fewer affixes than before, Tempering recipes allow players to add an additional affix.

Jackson used an example of Dust Devil Barbarians.

Masterworking improves affix values on a piece of gear, with the required crafting materials gained from the new endgame dungeon, The Pit.

Masterworking, on the other hand, lets players take their chosen items even further in power than before.

Upgrading an item through Masterworking improves all of that item’s affix values.

Each floor will increase in difficulty, and the tilesets and bosses on each floor will be random.

Tempering adds a random affix from a recipe to a selected item, and will allow for even more character builds.

That increase in player power has required some rebalancing, Jackson said.

But also it makes it better for us to tune incoming monster damage.

So players that didn’t know or didn’t have any just got one-shot by everything.

Season 4 will introduce Accursed Rituals to Helltides, alongside a new mini-boss, the Blood Maiden.

We just think that made it way more streamlined.

With so many massive changes to Diablo 4’s items, more testing was needed.

A Fresh Start

Loot Reborn is a major turning point for Diablo 4.

“We’ve sort of reframed it,” Finer said.

We want you to take that piece of gear and take it on its own journey."

Diablo 4 Season 4 will begin on May 14, alongside a host of class balance changes.

Its first expansion,Vessel of Hatred, is slated to arrive in late 2024.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly?