Best Classes & Builds for Hardcore in Diablo 4 Season 1 (Updated for Patch 1.1.3)

Dear Diablo fans, I believe you all know that the theme of Season 8 is the boss season, and since S8 preheating, the most concerned character among players is Belial who returned from Diablo 3. To be honest, the image of this Lord of Lies has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, so many players are excited about his strong return. This lesser evil has finally received the attention he deserves under the new engine and modern narrative. But after experiencing it, I just want to say that how much we expected Belial’s arrival, how disappointed we were with him. Today, we will compare the image of Belial in Diablo 3 and why the developers’ previous portrayal of Lord of Lies is far better than Diablo 4 Season 8. Background Of Belial In Diablo 3 Let’s go to the great city of Kehjistan, Caldeum, Jewel of the East. It has been conquered by Belial, one of the last lords of Hell. Our goal is to liberate the city. Before we get to that, let’s take a look back at Diablo 3, specifically Act II. Belial is the mastermind behind the chaos in Caldeum, and his influence is evident from the moment you step into the city. The rumors and the feeling that almost everyone around you is an illusion are all manifestations of his manipulation of people’s hearts and minds. Mind you, he didn’t just appear out of nowhere, he planned this all carefully. He disguised himself as Emperor Hakan II of Kehjistan, a seemingly benevolent ruler trying to help his people. But it was a perfect lie that took advantage of the people’s desperation. He used the power of deception to turn the people in the city against each other, sowing distrust and chaos from within. In fact, the entire story revolves around this scene. As you continue to follow clues and witness strange events, the tension rises. When Belial finally removes his disguise, it is a shocking and dramatic moment. He has not only transformed, but also revealed his true face as the architect of all the lies you have encountered. Even during the fight with him, he constantly tries to trick you with illusions and ground effects, which reinforce his persona - a master of deception! Belial does exist, but his actual power has always been in his manipulation. His dialogue is arrogant, sarcastic, and full of half-truths. He is a true Lord of Lies, because this is the only boss whose most powerful weapon is not violence, but psychological warfare. He is elusive and you never know when he will suddenly attack you. Belial’s Appearance In Diablo 4 Contradicts Its Theme Now, let’s see how Belial performs in Diablo 4 Season 8. The name itself is exciting! What will we see? Belial we see is just a glorified world boss, a mob leader for random ambushes, and a babbling, conceited villain who will insult you. So, where are the lies in Belial? Where is the deception? In Diablo 4, Belial is an openly aggressive character. He sends out Apparitions to break his enemies, rather than mentally manipulating them with clever lies. He reappears randomly every 5 seconds. So instead of Lord of Lies, we get a haunting nuisance! The developers say his purpose is to control reality, but the way he’s presented, he seems to be everywhere, and the fight starts the moment we see him. This really undermines his identity as a master of deception. He’s no longer a manipulator behind the scenes, but a guy who speaks his mind and keeps talking. This completely subverts his core identity as a master of deception. Remember in Diablo 3, you had to uncover him off as a liar? But in Diablo 4, he's literally screaming at you at the top of his evil voice: I'm Belial, the Lord of Lies, come fight me to the death! Honestly, it’s too direct and completely lacks the subtlety that makes his character so fascinating. Additionally, the developers used the same Belial model from Diablo 3, which is a minor issue, but it only exacerbates the feeling of reused material and the lack of creative direction for the character. And the threat Belial poses is quickly neutralized! He was supposed to be one of Great Evils, an important character, but now feels like a stepping stone to other goals. And the foreshadowing of him in season 8 also felt less impactful. The player is just told that he is affecting everything, but we don’t feel the insidious nature of his lies like we did in Caldeum. It’s just a new boss ladder, a new set of abilities, and Belial as the protagonist. Why Did Belial Perform So Poorly? So, what went wrong? I think it’s because the developers seem to prioritize season mechanics, Boss Ladder and Boss Power over a powerful Belial and character-driven story. They just want Belial to be a recurring boss and a way to farm Diablo 4 gold, which makes him feel less like a unique threat and more like a glorified elite monster. Diablo 3 understood that Belial’s power came not from his size or direct combat prowess, but from his ability to warp perceptions and sow discord. He was terrifying not only physically, but psychologically. Instead, Diablo 4 simply tried to make him a more active villain, robbing him of his unique and terrifying essence. This missed a great opportunity to expand his story in a meaningful way. Instead of a cunning, manipulative enemy that could really mess with your mind, we got a boastful brawler. You May Like: Will Sorcerer's Hydra Skill In Diablo 4 Season 9 PTR Continue To Be Strong Or Adjusted? While the new Boss Powers are cool, they don’t make up for the story damage to such an iconic character. Ultimately, for me, Belial in Diablo 4 is no longer the same. He went from a master of manipulation to a generic demon boss who only taunts. This is a perfect example of how a lack of focus on the core identity of even a beloved character can lead to a disappointing portrayal. So what do you think? Do you like Belial’s return in Diablo 4, or do you think he’s better now than in Diablo 3? See you next time!

Hello Wanderers, are you looking for the best way to collect Gem Fragments in Diablo 4 Season 7 to have more chances to craft Grand Gems and Occult Gems to optimize your character? If yes, then it’s time for this guide to come into play. Here, we will show you the fastest way to farm Whisper Caches to take your gameplay to the next level! Why Should You Collect Whisper Caches? First, we will dive into the most efficient way to collect Whisper Caches. In fact, when collecting Whisper Caches, you are also collecting Gem Fragments. In essence, you are collecting multiple valuable resources at the same time! These include Boss Summoning Materials, Legendary Gear, Greater Affixes Gear, Tributes, Uniques, Gold, Crafting Materials, Scattered Prisms, Runes, Restless Rot, XP, and more. Additionally, Whisper Caches can be used to upgrade another character to level 60 in less than 1 minute, making it an extremely efficient resource for gear and upgrades as well! Remember that Runes are only available if you have Vessel of Hatred expansion. But don’t worry, if you don’t have the expansion yet, you can still make the most of these farming strategies! Preparation Before you start running Whispers Bounties, it’s best to prepare in advance to maximize your efficiency. Therefore, I recommend equipping boots, amulets, or any gear that increases your movement speed, the higher the better, which will help you reduce your travel time and allow you to reach your goals more efficiently. If you don’t have any gear that increases movement speed, you can use Citadel Coins to get Elixir of Tailwind from Dark Citadel Vendor, which will increase your movement speed by 15%, helping you farm faster. Be sure to bring some Incense and Elixir to increase your XP and bonus stats, especially if you haven’t reached Paragon Level 300 yet. Since you’ll be leveling up while farming, this will help you progress faster. Don’t forget, it’s a good idea to keep some Whispering Keys in your inventory, as you’ll come across many Silent Chests in Headhunt Zones. These chests require a Whispering Key to open, which you can redeem from Purveyor of Curiosities for 10 Murmuring Obols each. Having a key on hand will save you from constantly teleporting back to town when you find Silent Chests. These chests may contain valuable loot, including Diablo 4 Gold, Legendary gear, Gem Fragments, and more. Complete Whispers Bounties To get Whisper Caches, you need to complete Whispers Bounties and collect 10 Grim Favors. There are tons of Bounties scattered throughout Sanctuary, but one of the best places to collect them is in Headhunt Zones, where you can easily get over 20 Grim Favors simply by completing Bounties in that area. However, not all Whispers Bounties are worth running, some take a long time to complete, and some offer fewer Grim Favors, making them inefficient. In order to maximize your rewards in the shortest possible time, you’ll want to focus on the most efficient Bounties that offer the highest return on investment. For Headhunts, 1 Red, 6 Light Red, and 6 Pink Bounties are spawned per zone, with 3 Headhunt Zones total, each with a different start time and lasting 40 minutes. Red Bounties reward 5 Grim Favors upon completion. Light Red Bounties reward 3 Grim Favors each. Pink Bounties only offer 1 Grim Favors and are generally not worth running because of the low return on time investment. However, Slay Bounty is an exception, and it only requires you to defeat 2 Thralls of Rot to complete. These enemies are represented by red skull icons on your mini-map, and you’ll naturally encounter them while completing other Bounties, making this a quick and easy Bounty. For Light Red Bounties, you should ignore Wisps and Patrol as they take longer to complete, but if you notice another player is about to complete a Wisps Bounty, you can jump in at the last minute so you can get free Grim Favors without much effort. Scour Bounties, on the other hand, are fairly easy, you just need to collect 7 Herbs in Headhunts and then find a Scouring Cauldron to defeat Elite and complete the quest. To speed up the process, I highly recommend hiring Subo as your mercenary, as he can reveal all enemies and materials in the area, making it easier to find them quickly. To optimize efficiency, tackle this Scour Bounty while performing other Bounties to save time. You can efficiently complete three Light Red Bounties: Harvest, Purge the Rot, and Shepherd, and one Red Bounty, Fugitive, which rewards 5 Grim Favors, in a brief time. Always start with Shepherd, and while completing Shepherd, you will naturally complete both Harvest and Purge the Rot at the same time. Once Shepherd is completed, Exposed Roots will appear nearby. Interacting with them may trigger an Uprooted Cocoon, spawning a Headless Husk or Fugitive Head, and even if not, they will drop valuable loot, including Gem Fragments, and even spawn Treasure Goblins. Almost everything you kill in Headhunt Zones has a chance to drop Gem Fragments, and even Silent Chests can contain them. This is why it’s important to keep some Whispering Keys in your inventory at all times. If an Uprooted Cocoon appears, quickly eliminate the boss before completing the remaining bounties. Alternatively, you can also join an Uprooted Cocoon summoned by another player to complete the bounty faster. You can complete all of these bounties in under 10 minutes, earning 20 or more Grim Favors per run. This means you can claim one or two Whisper Caches per run. Bonus Tips After completing a zone’s quests, head to another zone and repeat the process until you’ve collected enough Whisper Caches and Gem Fragments. Always start with the zone with the least time remaining to complete as many bounties as possible. Then, head to the other two zones and complete their quests before the bounties reset. During your collection, prioritize picking up valuable loot, focusing on Legendary, Unique, and Greater Affixes gear. If you already have enough materials and gold, you can even skip picking up excess Legendary gear to reduce the need to return to town as often. This will help you minimize downtime, maximize efficiency, and farm longer without unnecessary interruptions. Also, always have your Whisper Caches open at a vendor near town so you can quickly sell, salvage, or store your loot. This keeps your inventory organized and prevents clutter, ensuring you can be ready for your next farm without delay. If you complete these bounties at lightning speed before the three Headhunt Zones reset, you can use the downtime to tackle noteworthy Red Bounties outside of Headhunts, including: World Bosses, Uber Bosses, Blood Maiden, Seething Abomination, Kurast Undercity, The Pit and Dungeons. These activities only take a few minutes to complete, making them a great way to maximize efficiency while waiting for Headhunts to reset. Collecting Whisper Caches efficiently is one of the best ways to stockpile Gem Fragments, Greater Affixes Gear, Legendary Items, Gold, and Crafting Materials while also earning a ton of XP. By optimizing bounties within Headhunt Zones, you can complete all high-value bounties in under 10 minutes and earn 20+ Grim Favors per mission. That’s all for this Whisper Caches collecting guide! By following these strategies, you can collect efficiently, maximize your loot, and power up your character faster. Happy hunting!

When Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred expansion was first announced, there was widespread concern that it might be overshadowed by the popularity of Path of Exile 2. Fortunately, however, Vessel of Hatred seems to have managed to avoid direct competition with Path of Exile 2, at least for now, as the latter has announced that the early access release date has been postponed to December 6. Now that Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred expansion has been released for more than a month, it not only deepens the storyline between Neyrelle and Mephisto but also introduces a new class to the game and brings a series of novel game mechanics and skills. Now, players can’t wait to see how the next expansion will unfold. Especially in key issues such as the fate of Nahantu and the future of Sanctuary, it has become a very necessary practice to buy Diablo 4 Gold. Next Expansion Needs To Keep An Eye On Path Of Exile 2 While Path of Exile 2 was originally scheduled to launch in mid-November, the release date was pushed back to December 6 to ensure that players can seamlessly transfer micro-transaction content from the previous game. This delay has given long-awaited fans a little more time to wait, but it also shows that the development team Grinding Gear Games attaches great importance to the integrity of the game experience. As Early Access approaches, the industry expects that Path of Exile 2 will set off new waves in the action role-playing game field with its depth and complexity. Path of Exile 2 is committed to optimizing the onboarding process while retaining the game’s signature challenge, making it easier for new players to get into the game while also meeting the expectations of veteran players. The sequel introduces a series of innovative features, including new Skill and Support Gems, twelve character classes to choose from, and a couch co-op mode that supports local cooperation. With Path of Exile 2’s upcoming debut, it is likely to be in direct competition with the next expansion of Diablo 4. Next Expansion Needs To Avoid Direct Competition With Path Of Exile 2 Although Vessel of Hatred introduced a versatile new class, Spiritborn, its narrative structure was criticized for some hasty endings and unresolved plot threads. The community expects subsequent expansions to not only resolve the cliffhangers left by Vessel of Hatred, but also surpass its predecessor in terms of content quantity and quality, providing a richer and deeper gaming experience. However, the importance of all these efforts also depends on whether Diablo 4 can stand out in the face of the upcoming and highly anticipated Path of Exile 2. At present, the length of Path of Exile 2’s Early Access is not yet clear, but Early Access phase usually lasts at least a year, so the game may launch a 1.0 update around December 2025. If the next expansion of Diablo 4 is scheduled to be released at the same time next year, it will face direct competition from Path of Exile 2. Especially in the divided reviews received by Vessel of Hatred, this competition may pose an additional challenge to Diablo 4’s market performance. Path Of Exile Offers A Recipe For Success For Next Expansion Vessel of Hatred expansion was released more than a year after the base game, and based on this timeline, its next expansion is expected to be available in late 2025, close to the release of Path of Exile 2 1.0. Path of Exile 2 is about to enter the Early Access phase, but there is no clear end date yet. It provides Diablo 4 with ample preparation time to carefully build its next expansion to ensure that it can stand out in a competitive market. For example, the development team can consider how to optimize the way players obtain Uniques. Path of Exile’s class system adopts Ascendancy mechanic, providing three specializations for each base class, while Scion only has one Ascendancy. This design provides players with more customization options and strategic depth, and may be the inspiration that Diablo 4 needs in the class system design. With its seven base classes and 19 Ascendancy classes, Path of Exile provides a wealth of build diversity. The game undergoes numerous balance updates throughout the year, providing players with a good reason to return to the game after the end of A League. Each Ascendancy class brings new and diverse enhancements to the base class, and not all enhancements can be unlocked at once, which makes it possible for players to repeatedly make the same character and try new builds. Although Diablo 4’s class system is not exactly the same, the design of the sub-class can solve this problem in the best way, providing similar variety and depth. With the next expansion of Diablo 4 and the upcoming release of Path of Exile 2, players will undoubtedly enjoy a feast of action role-playing games. No matter which game can stand out in the end, the real winner will be the players who love the game and pursue the ultimate experience. Finally, you can pay attention to Giveaway channel in iGMeet discord, which will release Diablo 4 product giveaway information from time to time. Remember to be more active in the discord group.

Poison Centipede build for Spiritborn in Diablo 4 Vessel Of Hatred is an excellent end-game build that cleverly combines Thorns, poison, and crowd control into a unique synergy. The core of this build is to minimize the reliance on Spiritborn’s primary resource, allowing the character to cast spells more efficiently. To achieve this, Poison Centipede build relies on unique items and legendary aspects that turn core skills into basic skills. This means that the player can use these skills continuously without consuming resources, increasing the continuity and efficiency of combat to accumulate enough Diablo 4 Gold. This build is centered on Stinger skill, and uses a combination of skills, passives, and Paragon board choices to increase the application of thorns. It focuses on a specific type of damage and is one of the best endgame builds in Diablo 4. Weapon & Gear When doing a Poison Centipede Spiritborn build, you should focus on boosting poison damage, Thorns, and vulnerable to damage. First, Rod of Kepeleke can convert core skills into basic skills. For armor, the best choice is Razorplate chest, which not only significantly increases thorn damage, but also has a chance to increase your total damage dealt by more than 100%. In addition, Wound Drinker ring is also very important. After wearing it, it can poison enemies with each attack and further enhance your Thorns damage. This combination ensures that you have strong survivability and efficient killing efficiency in the game. Ring of the Midnight Sun is another optional ring that increases critical strike chance and restores more vigor over time. Paired with Rod of Kepeleke, it can ensure that your resource bar is constantly replenished and deal tremendous damage. Another option is Jacinth Shell Unique chest armor, which increases maximum health and reduces damage taken. But every time you activate the cooldown of this unique gear, you consume 10% of your maximum health per second to reduce its duration by 3 seconds. For Legendary Aspect, Bristleback Aspect allows you to deal more than 100% Thorns damage after successfully dodging or blocking an attack. Pestilence and Infestation can significantly increase Centipede swarm damage. Menacing aspect strengthens your Scourge, ensuring it lasts longer. Apex passives are particularly important with their vulnerability damage bonuses, and Exploit glyph is also indispensable. Skills To Upgrade During the endgame, you should prioritize Stinger, Touch of Death, Scourge, Armored Hide, and Rushing Claw. Stinger is your main source of damage, and the cooldown reduction is crucial for your Prodigy’s Tempo passive. It needs to be fully upgraded to take advantage of its poison damage, swarm creation, and vulnerability application. Scourge not only provides strong crowd control, but also effectively applies poison application. To maximize its utility, you should extend its duration by upgrading Menacing aspect and skill points. Additionally, focusing on improving Adaptability aspect of life steal will further enhance your ability to sustain combat. It can be used in conjunction with Jacinth Shell unique chest armor to provide a huge damage boost and offset the negative life steal effect of the chest armor. Touch of Death, when combined with a Rod of Kepeleke, can poison enemies and have a significant area of ​​effect. Focusing on this skill can maximize its damage and healing capabilities. Armored Hide allows you to achieve almost 100% block chance consistently. Combined with Bristleback and enhanced armored hide aspects, you will deal a lot of thorn damage. Rushing Claw will serve as your primary mobility skill. Although it does not directly deal damage itself, it can help you keep your distance and trigger Drive for damage. Noxious Resonance key passive is another core element of this build. It deals up to 30% bonus to critical hit damage. Additionally, when you trigger a critical hit, it instantly applies poisons for 100% of the total Poisoning damage. If you’re missing any of the gear in your build, keep an eye on the ongoing Diablo 4 giveaway events on iGMeet discord and leave your favorite emoji to enter the draw. Also Read: Long-Term Diablo 4 Promotions & Giveaways - Real And Valid Paragon Board On Endgame Poison Centipede Paragon board, the first board features Turf Glyph, which focuses on boosting melee attacks and reducing damage taken. Next up is Spiny Skin, which uses cooldown reduction to increase the damage done by Thorns and further increases damage against vulnerable enemies with Exploit glyph. On the third board, Infighter increases damage output while dodging and blocking. The fourth board focuses on Vicious Shield, which boosts attack power with the shield formed by Gorilla Spirit. Choosing the right Paragon board is key to maximizing DPS. By carefully selecting and configuring weapons, equipment, skills, and Paragon board, Poison Centipede build provides Spiritborn players with a path to efficiently complete Diablo 4. This build not only maximizes damage output, but also ensures the character’s survivability, allowing it to still be at ease when facing the most powerful enemies. Therefore, for players who are looking to reach the top performance in Diablo 4, Poison Centipede is undoubtedly an Endgame Build worth trying.