Diablo 4 Players Want Season 11 Mechanic to Stay in the Game

Diablo 4 players are pleading with Blizzard to keep the Sanctification seasonal mechanic beyond just its planned period in Season 11. Sanctification has changed how Diablo 4 players finish off their builds in Season 11, and it’s such a game-changer that fans aren’t ready to see it go in a few months. Whether Blizzard agrees is another matter entirely.

Sanctification is one of the seasonal mechanics introduced in Diablo 4 Season 11, alongside Divine Gifts. And although Divine Gifts are the headline feature of the Season of Divine Intervention, it’s Sanctification that seems to be having a more lasting impact on players. This system allows players to Sanctify their items, which makes it so that they can no longer alter anything about them. Tempering, Masterworking, Enchanting, or gem socketing are no longer an option on Sanctified items, which means it’s intended to be the final touch on a finished item. Sanctification applies one of five bonuses at random to the item, which can include a bonus Legendary Aspect, an upgrade of a non-Greater Affix to a Greater Affix, a bonus special Sanctification Affix, extra Item Quality, or a Sanctification Affix replacing a regular Affix. This cannot be re-rolled, meaning any change is permanent.

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Diablo 4 Players Want Sanctification to Stick Around After Season 11

So far, the addition of Sanctification in Diablo 4 has been a huge hit, with many players on Reddit calling for the feature to stay beyond Season 11. One thread started by user Formal_One6729 claimed the feature gives them “a purpose to grind.” Where their journey previously ends with Mystical Uniques, this is now “only just the beginning” in Season 11, as they’re hunting one specific Sanctification Affix that keeps them on the grind deep into the season. Another player in the thread raised the positive that, even though their build is finished on paper, the idea that they could get a great Sanctification bonus that changes their entire build is a real game-changer. It’s a small change that increases build diversity in Diablo 4 Season 11, and ensures that endgame items are more personal to each player. Another thread by user Double-Maybe-6220 even claimed that Blizzard is “going to face a huge backlash” if Sanctification isn’t made permanent after Season 11.

It was pointed out by players that Sanctification isn’t game-breaking in the way that Diablo 4‘s Season 10 Chaos Armors could be. Chaos Armor was immensely popular among fans, but Blizzard claimed if it were implemented without changes, Diablo 4 Season 10’s headline feature would break the balance of the game entirely. Meanwhile, Sanctification just provides new ways to finalize build items, rather than make them wildly overpowered. And while Blizzard does want to incorporate the DNA of Chaos Armor in the future, it’s clear that balance is a big thing for the developer to consider with every new feature addition.

One thing that may work against Sanctification’s future in Diablo 4 is its reliance on chance. Players are given a random bonus with Sanctified items, which in some cases can remove powerful Affixes from base items. If made permanent, chance would become key to endgame builds in the game. And with Diablo 4 Season 11 actively removing elements of chance with its Tempering and Masterworking changes, it’s difficult to imagine Blizzard going the other way and adding randomness to such a core feature of the game. As it stands, Sanctification is planned to disappear with Divine Gifts when Season 11 ends in March 2026, and it remains to be seen if Blizzard softens its stance on this.

Released

June 5, 2023

ESRB

Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact