A new Diablo 4 update is on the way, and there's good news for everyone as Blizzard unleashes buffs across every class in its RPG. With Season 8 well underway, the developer has decided to dodge the nerfs and instead bring some of its weaker builds more up to speed. The big winners here are Barbarians and Spiritborns, but there's always a chance we might see some new favorites pop up as a result of the changes. There's also a new way to spend your excess Spectral Ash, and some impactful bug fixes that might shake up the tier list.
No matter which class you're playing in Diablo 4 builds, Whirlwind Barbarian, is about to feel a lot stronger. The Aspect of Dire Whirlwind will grant an extra boost to your crit damage, and one of its core uniques, Gohr's Devastating Grips, now boasts more frequent explosions and a scaling change that should result in "a roughly 100% damage increase." There's also a notable power boost for Double Swing unique Twin Strikes.
There's even more good news across the rest of the RPG's roster. Spiritborn is getting sweeping buffs that will see boosts for almost every popular build outside of those that focus on poison. Druid's human form should become more viable with the Humanity ive now reducing damage taken, and more movement speed as a human courtesy of the new Gathlen's Birthright unique. Necromancers also get bigger damage bonuses from Skeletal Priests and the Aspect of Reanimation.
The base poisoning damage of Rogue's Poison Trap has been increased, too, and you'll get more benefits to the skill from both the Band of Ichorous Rose and the Aspect of Contamination. Sorcerer's Ice Shards are buffed courtesy of additional damage per hit on the Hail of Verglas unique, and the Glacial Aspect will now also trigger from effects such as the Blizzard enchantment rather than requiring you to cast it.
Beyond the buffs, there are a few more additions worth noting. If you've already maxed out your boss powers in Season 8 and are stacking up spare Spectral Ash, you can now turn it in at Sayeena in return for Unveiler's Oath reputation, making it easier to rise through the ranks. Two boss powers have been buffed; the damage of Sinerat's Flames is up from 50% to 75%, and the Hatred's Embrace haste modifier no longer drops when you switch weapons.
There are several bug fixes and other tweaks that could also be more significant than they seem at first glance. Spiritborn's Aspect of Unyielding Hits now correctly applies to the Varshan's Life Steal, Belial's Crystal Decoy, and Ashava's Poison modifier boss powers, which might prove a particularly potent damage boost. The Belial's Eye Beams modifier also now applies its Overpower bonus more consistently when you enter stealth.
Diablo 4 patch 2.2.1 is set to launch on Wednesday May 14. You can read through the full patch notes courtesy of Blizzard for every change in the update.
If you haven't started Season 8 yet, take a look through our rundown of all best games like Diablo to play in 2025.
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