Diablo 4 Season 14’s most controversial change, only being able to equip one crafted-Mythic item at a time, is now a thing of the past.
In a surprise patch on July 16 for PC (and coming sometime on July 17 for console players), Blizzard opted to remove the one equipped crafted-Mythic restriction introduced as part of Season of Death Awakening, as well as increase Mythic and Iconic Mythic drop rates from the new seasonal Lair Boss.
Blizzard announced the season’s other most controversial addition, the Mythic Upgrade function of the Horadric Cube, will see changes too, but not until next season. As it currently works, Mythic Upgrade isn’t really an upgrade at all, and instead takes a Unique item and then transforms it into an entirely different Mythic Unique item, much to the confusion of players. For reasons that aren’t elaborated on in the patch notes, that change won’t come until Season 15 several months from now.
Both changes have been the subject of frustration in the Diablo community, with both prominent content creators and the wider community largely lambasting the changes to Mythics, the crafted-Mythic equip limit, and the Mythic Unique upgrade system.
Dan Tanguay, design director for live service on Diablo 4, offered a brief explanation for the changes in a forum post. He said the team has heard player feedback surrounding topics like Mythic Unique drop rates, the equip limit, and more.
“Seasons are where we experiment with new ideas and push Diablo 4 in new directions,” Tanguay said. “Not every idea lands exactly as intended, but we’ll continue listening to your feedback, addressing what’s not working, and applying those lessons to future seasonal updates.”
The surprise patch 3.1.1a update on July 16 comes just a few days after a July 14 update increased drop rates for Pandemonium Fragments needed to upgrade Uniques into Mythics using the cube, as well as a reduced the number of fragments needed. That resulted in players being able to craft more Mythics than ever before, though they were still limited to equipping just one unless they were able to get extremely lucky and find a usuable Mythic out in the wild. Now, at least, players can actually deck themselves out in the purple items they craft, should they so choose.
While the changes outlined above are likely to be well received in the Diablo 4 community, Blizzard has stopped short of walking back its Mythic changes entirely. Season 14 controversially nerfed the game’s previously existing Mythics (now called Iconic Mythics) as part of an overhaul it coined “Mythic Uniques 3.0.”
Post-Season 14, any Unique item ccan potentially be found (or crafted into) an even stronger Mythic version, in theory opening up more diverse build options for Diablo 4’s endgame. More than just a temporary seasonal change, Blizzard stated it intends Mythics 3.0 to be Diablo 4’s new normal going forward, and in an interview with GameSpot, said the changes were for the good of the game’s “long-term health.”