Diablo 4 Season 8 Virtual Currency: EU Guidelines Will Impact It
Although Diablo 4 can be considered a stand-alone game, it can actually be played online and has some in-game transactions. The developers have made a lot of money from players through the battle pass, limited-time skins, and mounts launched each season. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to call this game a “semi-stand-alone game”.
However, this part of the transaction is not transparent to players because these developers deliberately confuse their value, making it difficult for players to figure out how much money they have wasted on these contents.
Recently, Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (CPC) coordinated with European Commission to publish a set of guidelines specifically for virtual currencies in games, with the aim of protecting children and people who are susceptible to gambling temptations, as well as providing a more transparent player experience and complying with EU consumer protection laws. The virtual currency here does not refer to in-game currencies such as Diablo 4 gold or POE 2 currency, but refers to currencies such as FIFA 25 Points and Diablo 4 Platinum.
In-Game Virtual Currency Principles
CPC Network lists the following non-exhaustive key principles that CPC expects video game companies and gambling operators to follow when offering in-game virtual currency:
- 1. Product value display should be clear and transparent.
- 2. Practices that conceal the cash required for in-game digital content and services should be avoided.
- 3. Practices that force consumers to redeem unwanted in-game virtual currency should be avoided.
- 4. Consumers should be provided with clear and understandable pre-contract information.
- 5. Consumers’ right of withdrawal should be respected.
- 6. Contract terms should be fair and written in simple and clear language.
- 7. Game design and gameplay should respect different consumer vulnerabilities.
These terms are intended to make the value of in-game virtual items more intuitive and understandable, and also to prevent developers from secretly manipulating and inflating the value of virtual items. And players as consumers have a right of withdrawal.
These provisions are not laws, but a set of guidelines agreed upon by national authorities within the alliance that regulate gambling activities. This means that if a gaming company does not follow these guidelines, anyone who sues the company will have the support of national authorities and is likely to win. So the effect is immediate.
Will Diablo 4 Be Affected?
Undoubtedly, yes! Aside from the transactions between Diablo players, the game publisher has also introduced a currency called Platinum in the game. It is different from Diablo 4 Gold. It is a “premium currency” specifically used to unlock passes or limited skins.
For example, it takes 1,000 Platinum to unlock a season pass, which is about 10USD, but the developers of Diablo 4 will not show you this when you intend to unlock the pass.
And this is exactly the opacity that CPC wants to eliminate. Game developers must clearly mark the value of their virtual products. And because of the existence of this clause, “Should avoid forcing consumers to invest in unwanted game virtual currency.” Players will be able to unlock these in-game contents directly with cash, rather than exchanging cash for Platinum in the game and then using them to unlock in-game virtual items.
The key point of virtual currency is that it can distinguish the value you actually get from the amount you have to use. Since digital assets can be freely distributed, while companies benefit from people using currency for short-term consumption, they actually prefer you to use and recharge virtual currency as much as possible because this is the driver of their ongoing revenue. Therefore, people not making frequent consumption and becoming conservative with virtual currency will hurt the revenue of game publishers.
These provisions will effectively combat situations where in-game items cost $6 to unlock, but you can only redeem $5 of virtual currency. Diablo 4 often faces this problem in Platinum, where the 1,000 Platinum pack is too little to unlock most skins, but the 2,800 Platinum pack will leave some Platinum to entice players to continue consumption to “not waste”. In other words, this clause will combat the practice of game developers forcing consumers to consume.
What Should Diablo 4 Do?
In order for game publishers to avoid being investigated by state laws due to Consumer Protection Act, any electronic games or other content released should be reviewed and modified if necessary. These new key principles will bring significant changes to many existing games because they target practices that are currently common in the market.
If the developers of Diablo 4 fail to complete the review and transformation in time, they may face a fine of up to 4% of their annual turnover.
In any case, this is a good thing for players. This new clause does not affect the exchange of Diablo 4 Gold and items between players, but mainly targets the publishers of the game. Currencies such as Platinum will not disappear in a short time, because the value of these virtual currencies is not fixed and can be manipulated by game developers at will. However, publishers, including Diablo 4, should mark the real product value below the virtual items.
If this policy is implemented smoothly, we can predict that other game manufacturers, including Diablo 4 developers, will use the trick of “using virtual currency is more favorable than using real money” to attract players to exchange their virtual currency with real money.
The actual results of these new guidelines remain to be seen. All companies need some time to adjust, and the changes should happen in the next period. Perhaps we will see these changes in Season 8. Although this only applies to players in Europe, once there is a clear and mature set of rules regarding in-game virtual items, it will be beneficial to all consumers.
Mar-25-2025
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Diablo 4 Season 8 Mighty Th ...
In the first few seasons of Diablo 4, Mighty Throw Barbarian build has become a favorite for players who want to challenge the very difficult endgame stages. It can throw its weapons with dominant force and destroy multiple enemies at once, which is very effective against enemies with poor physical defense and groups. Although the cooldown of Mighty Throw may hinder your ability to quickly clear with this build, it and Steel Grasp have undergone a very significant overhaul in the upcoming Season 8, and The Third Blade Unique, which can make up for this shortcoming, has also received some additions in the new season, making this build likely to continue to play a major role in D4S8. If you haven’t tried this powerful Mighty Throw Barbarian endgame build before, this guide will give you an introduction to its pros and cons and possible changes in the next season. For players who have tried or are using this build, here are some build options that will make you more powerful in the next season. Pros And Cons The main reason why many D4 players like to use Mighty Throw Barbarian build is because of its semi-ranged play style, which allows you to attack enemies from a distance, thereby reducing the threat posed by enemies in close combat, which is very important for Barbarian class, which is not very flexible. In addition, the high burst damage of the entire build can support you to complete most of the game content and challenges in the endgame stage in one go, whether the enemy appears as a single target or a group. Of course, Barbarian’s own super high defense ability allows you to easily survive in such a very difficult battle. However, this Mighty Throw Barbarian build is not completely without disadvantages. The first and most important thing is that it has a high gear dependency, such as The Third Blade just introduced. After you have it and spend a lot of D4 Gold to upgrade it to the highest level, the cooldown time of the main skills in the entire build will become very short, thus having a higher damage ability. Not only that, when you use this build to fight some battles, you also need to carefully manage Fury you generate to ensure that your damage output is always stable, otherwise you are likely to be hit by enemies or bosses and cause a lot of damage when you lack Fury. Most importantly, the player threshold for using this Mighty Throw Barbarian build is actually very high, requiring players to have the ability to accurately rotate skills and strategic positioning, which fundamentally excludes some ordinary players who like to have super defense and damage capabilities but low levels. Skill Selection If you understand the pros and cons of Mighty Throw Barbarian build and continue to use this powerful build, then the following skill selection may be very helpful to you, because it determines whether you can have better damage and defense capabilities in battle. Bash can be regarded as the foundation of the entire build, because it can continuously generate Fury and ensure that Overpower, which has an enormous increase in your damage output, can accurately hit the enemy. For the core skill of this build, you can choose Hammer of the Ancients, which can deal extremely high damage and suppress the enemy. For defense, which you don’t have to worry too much, you can choose Rallying Cry to bring some benefits to your poor movement speed and resource generation. The key point of the entire Mighty Throw Barbarian build is that you must choose Mighty Throw and Steel Grasp for your weapon mastery slots. The former can cause threatening damage to single targets and groups of enemies, and the latter can reduce the distance between enemies and you to deal with critical strikes more effectively and make them more vulnerable. For your boss-only ultimate, Call of the Ancients, which summons Ancients to help you fight and buff you, is probably your best bet. Finally, you can choose Unbridled Rage as your key passive, which increases the damage output of Core skill but requires your Fury. Skill Rotation When you have equipped all the skills in Mighty Throw Barbarian build and enter the battle, you can choose the corresponding skill rotation according to the situation you are facing. When facing a regular single enemy or a group of enemies, you can use Steel Grasp to gather the enemies together first. Then activate Rallying Cry, and your Fury will continue to increase and enter Unstoppable status. After that, you can use Mighty Throw to deal a lot of area damage to the enemy. Repeat this way, basically these enemies will be successfully defeated by you after 2-3 rounds, and reward you with a lot of Diablo 4 Gold. However, when facing a boss, you may need to use Bash first to generate a lot of Fury and apply Overpower to the enemy to increase more damage. After that, you can continue to use Rallying Cry and Mighty Throw, two skills with strong damage, in order. If the enemy you are facing has a high health value, you can use Call of the Ancients to deal more damage. Items Of course, to maximize the effectiveness of Mighty Throw Barbarian build, it is not enough to just select skills. You also need to select some Gear, Legendary Aspects or Gems and so no that can provide buffs to your other attributes. Here are some Diablo 4 Items options worth trying in Season 8, but please note that the statistics are based on PTR and previous seasons, and may change on April 29. Gear Harlequin Crest - All skills have additional ranks and have reduced overall cooldowns. Shroud of False Death - Increases resource generation and improves all stats. Tibault’s Will - While unstoppable, you gain resources and your damage increases. Yen’s Blessing - Activating a skill can cause a non-mobility, non-ultimate skill on cooldown to activate. The Third blade - Turns Weapon Mastery skills into core skills that have no cooldown but consume Fury. Ring of Starless Skies - Rank on your core skills and overall resistance to all elements. Legendary Aspects Aspect of Apogeic Furor - At 10 stacks, ultimate damage bonus and cooldown reset. Aspect of Encroaching Wrath - Weapon Mastery Skill Damage Increase when 100 Fury is consumed. Earthstriker’s Aspect - After 8 weapon swaps, your next non-basic skill becomes Overpowered. Aspect of Limitless Rage - Overflowing Fury Points increases the damage of your next core skill, stacking up to 15 times. Blood Boiling Aspect - when using your core skill Overpower, creates three volatile blood droplets that explode and deal massive damage to enemies. Aspect of Herculean Spectacle - Increases the damage output of Mighty Throw. Gems Ruby - Increases 60 Strength in Armor slot and Increases 90% Overpower Damage in Weapon slot. Elder Sigil - Increased damage and defense against hexed enemies. Phantom Sigil - Increased Overpower damage on hexed enemies. Witching Hour - Core skills are treated as Eldritch. Witchcraft Powers Doom Orb - Enemies take damage from ominous orbs floating around them. Abyssal Resonance - After using its primary resource, it explodes, dealing shadow damage to enemies. Shaken Soul - Eldritch effects apply vulnerability to enemies. Aura of lament - Enemies tainted by Aura of lament are slowed down and you regain 3 primary resources every second. Aura Specialization - Increases critical strike damage against enemies within the aura effect range. Twilight Warding - Gain a barrier of 30% of your maximum life every 14.5 seconds. The above are the specific descriptions of Mighty Throw Barbarian build that may play a big role in Diablo 4 Season 8 and some of the build options that can be selected for it. Once again, the statistics and attributes of some of the items or skills recommended for you here are based on the just-concluded S8 PTR and previous seasons, and may be subject to some changes in the future. We will also continue to pay attention and wish you a happy game!Mar-25-2025
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Diablo 4 DLC: Spiritborn Fr ...
Diablo 4 recently launched a limited-time free trial, allowing players to try out Spiritborn class, which is usually only available to players who have obtained Vessel of Hatred DLC. And the release of this free trial coincides with the middle of Diablo 4 Season 6, giving players a great limited-time offer. Path of Exile 2 officially launched in early access this month, and although its brand awareness has not yet reached the heights of Diablo series, Path of Exile has proven itself to have a place in the competition as a long-running game, especially in terms of deep gameplay and constantly updated content. The new game will undoubtedly attract numerous action role-playing game players, and the release of Path of Exile 2 also means that it will become a competitor that Diablo 4 not not ignore can. Diablo 4 is clearly responding to this competitive dynamic by launching a free trial of Spiritborn class. While this release may seem like a coincidence, it is well timed. The launch of Spiritborn class free trial could greatly enhance Diablo 4’s appeal in the short term and help it maintain its edge over POE 2 and other competitors. Competing With Path Of Exile 2 Spiritborn trial will remain open until January 3, providing players with a valuable opportunity to experience this class. Although the game has advantages in many aspects, especially in terms of Diablo 4 Gold drops, loot mechanics and broad player base acceptance, it also faces great competition, especially from POE 2. As a powerful rival to Diablo 4, POE 2 not only borrows the essence of Diablo series in terms of game mechanics, but also improves multiple systems, especially in terms of skill trees and class selection to provide deeper strategies and choices. Although Diablo 4 performs better in loot mechanics and the ease of use that is more suitable for a diverse player group, POE 2 can attract more core players who are truly passionate about action role-playing games with its hardcore experience. The wide reach of Diablo 4 is undoubtedly a big factor in its success, allowing it to quickly attract a wide range of players. However, it is the more complex systems and gameplay of Path of Exile 2 that allows it to more grasp the loyal players who are addicted to detailed and deep games for a long time. For many hardcore fans, the immersive experience and challenge provided by POE 2 are the main reasons for their long-term stay in this game. Free Trial Is A Powerful Move While Diablo 4’s free Spiritborn trial may not directly attract numerous POE 2 players to switch to this game, it may at least prompt some old players who are curious about Spiritborn class and Vessel of Hatred DLC to return. Many players may be on the fence about paying for DLC, and trying this new class for free provides them with a risk-free opportunity to see if this new content is worth investing in. Although Path of Exile 2 provides an experience that is more suitable for hardcore players, Diablo 4 successfully injects some freshness into the series by introducing unique classes like Spiritborn. This class is not only attractive in terms of background story but also adds exciting additional elements to the gameplay mechanics. By offering a free trial opportunity, players can experience the new experience brought by this class without having to immediately obtain DLC, which is an opportunity that many players cannot miss. Spiritborn Overview Spiritborn class is a brand new class in Diablo series. Although there are already several unique classes in the series, Spiritborn has been considered one of the most powerful classes because of its extreme versatility and excellent combat style. Its uniqueness lies in the ability to use four Spirit animals: Jaguar, Eagle, Gorilla, and Centipede. Each Spirit animal represents a skill, and the skills in these classes of Spirit usually work well together, which allows players to be more concise and efficient when building characters. After choosing the Spirit to use, you usually only need to build your own gameplay around the skills of that Spirit, simplifying the complexity of skill selection. However, some Spirit skills are powerful in different types of builds, so when building a character, using a skill combination of two or three Spirits is often a better choice. This not only makes full use of the advantages of various Spirits but also makes the character’s combat style more flexible. Whether it is a melee attack or ranged control, it can provide extremely strong adaptability. The key attribute of Spiritborn is Dexterity, so it is very good in movement and attack speed, especially suitable for using weapons such as Polearms, Glaives, and Quarterstaves. Spirit Hall When the player reaches level 15 in Diablo 4 and completes Spiritborn class quest, you will enter Spirit Hall and choose a primary Spirit passive here. This choice will directly affect the player’s play style. The primary Spirit passive not only gives the player a new skill combination but also converts all skills of the selected Spirit type to that Spirit. For example, after selecting Eagle as the primary Spirit passive, all skills will become Eagle skills, bringing specific combat advantages related to this Spirit. At level 30, players can further choose a secondary passive, which makes the build more flexible and can adjust the combination and effects of skills according to their own gameplay needs. Overall, Diablo 4 has successfully injected fresh vitality into the game by launching a free trial version of Spiritborn class. Whether you are interested in the background story of Spiritborn or curious about the innovation of its combat mechanism, this limited-time free trial has undoubtedly brought more attention and participation to Diablo 4. Finally, pay attention to the game giveaway information in iGMeet Discord to get some good equipment to help you when you are doing a Spiritborn build.Dec-23-2024
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Diablo 4 Season 6: How To C ...
Diablo 4 has entered its sixth season, called Season of Hatred Rising. There are a lot of new content for players to explore in this new season, but the purpose of exploring the endgame will never change - farming some rare items. These rare items, also known as Uniques, will have higher attributes and some better affixes than the loot you get in some simple battles. And among Uniques, there is such a category of items that have more powerful effects, called Mythic Uniques. These Mythic Uniques are very difficult to obtain by defeating bosses in endgame activities, and you may even spend hours on an item. But fortunately, there is another way in the game that can get you out of the threat of RNG. That is to use Resplendent Sparks and some rare runes to make Mythic Uniques you want. There are several ways to farm Resplendent Sparks in the current season, so you can use it as your primary method of obtaining Mythic Uniques. This guide will explain the farming methods and uses of Resplendent Sparks to help you speed up the crafting process. How To Farm Resplendent Sparks? Echo Of Lilith After defeating Echo of Lilith or Uber Lilith for the first time in the current season, you will find a Resplendent Spark among the loot it provides. It should be noted that Uber Lilith is the boss that can be summoned when you complete Echo of Hatred quest when you first enter Torment difficulty. Of course, this also means that Uber Lilith is one of the most tough bosses in the game, so you need to prepare for it accordingly, such as using as much Diablo 4 Gold as possible to enhance the survivability or offensive capabilities of your build. Tormented Bosses Similarly, defeating any Tormented Boss for the first time will reward you with a Resplendent Spark. There are six different Tormented Echo bosses, each requiring different summoning materials to challenge. Like Echo of Lilith, you will also get Resplendent Sparks when you first defeat some Tormented Bosses. In the current Diablo 4 Season 6, you can challenge 6 different Tormented Echo bosses. Here you need to be reminded that these bosses require you to bring some Summoning Materials to the designated summoning location to summon them. The following are their required summoning materials and locations. Lord Zir Summoning Materials: 12 Exquisite Blood Summoning Location: Darkened Way in Fractured Peaks Varshan Summoning Materials: 4 Malignant Heart Summoning Location: Malignant Burrow in Hawezar Grigoire Summoning Materials: 12 Living Steel Summoning Location: Hall of the Penitent in Dry Steppes Beast In The Ice Summoning Materials: 12 Distilled Fear Summoning Location: Glacial Fissure in Desolate Highlands Duriel Summoning Materials: 2 Mucus-Slick Egg & 2 Shard of Agony Summoning Location: Gaping Crevasse in Kehjistan Andariel Summoning Materials: 2 Sandscorched Shackles & 2 Pincushioned Doll Summoning Location: Hanged Man’s Hall in Kehjistan Season Journey Rewards At the end of your Season Journey, you’ll receive a Resplendent Spark after completing the last chapter. And when you complete all the challenges, you’ll receive a Destroyer’s Cache, which contains a Resplendent Spark and other rare resources. Season Reputation Rewards Besides Season Journey Rewards, you can also increase your reputation with different factions in Sanctuary by completing certain seasonal objectives. Like Season Battle Pass, this reputation system also has a reward track, and when you reach high levels, you can get a reward package containing a Resplendent Spark. In the current Diablo 4 Season of Hatred Rising, you need to increase your Zakarum Remnants Reputation. You can increase your reputation by defeating Realmwalkers, completing Seething Realms, and consuming Seething Opals. Reuse Mythic Uniques The above methods can only obtain Resplendent Sparks once in a season. If you want to obtain it repeatedly, there is only one way, that is to reuse those Mythic Uniques you don’t need, because each Mythic Unique will provide you with a Resplendent Spark. As mentioned earlier, those Tormented Bosses may drop Resplendent Sparks, but at the same time, they may also drop some Mythic Uniques. Among them, Duriel and Andariel are the bosses with the highest drop rate. You can spend more time and summon materials on them. Because some Mythic Uniques are only applicable to a specific class, so when you get Diablo 4 Items in the loot that are not applicable to your build or character, you can completely reuse them. How To Use Resplendent Sparks? Once you have collected these very rare Resplendent Sparks, you can then craft Mythic Uniques at Blacksmith or Jeweler. At Blacksmith, you can spend 2 Resplendent Sparks and 50 million Diablo 4 Gold to craft one of the 12 Mythic Uniques of the season randomly. If you want to craft a specific Mythic Unique, you can only go to Jeweler and craft it using 2 Resplendent Sparks and different Runes. Here are the materials required to craft each Mythic Unique in Jeweler, excluding Resplendent Sparks. Andariel’s Visage: 6 Tam Rune & 6 Qax Rune & 6 Zan Rune Harlequin’s Crest: 6 Eom Rune & 6 Lac Rune & 6 Ton Rune Heir of Perdition: 6 Joh Rune & 6 Que Rune & 6 Gar Rune Melted Heart of Selig: 6 Vex Rune & 6 Thul Rune & 6 Tun Rune Nesekem, the Herald: 6 Yul Rune & 6 Wat Rune & 6 Tal Rune Ring of Starless Skies: 6 Ohm Rune & 6 Tzic Rune & 6 Cem Rune Shattered Vow: 6 Xan Rune & 6 Ner Rune & 6 Teb Rune Shroud of False Death: 6 Bac Rune & 6 Kry Rune & 6 Moni Rune Tyrael’s Might: 6 Lith Rune & 6 Feo Rune & 6 Tec Rune It should be noted here that, besides the above, other Mythic Uniques can only be obtained randomly through Mythic Unique cache in Blacksmith. The above are the methods and precautions for how to obtain and use Resplendent Sparks in Diablo 4 Season 6. I hope this guide can make your process of farming Resplendent Sparks easier, and you can get more Mythic Uniques to enhance your character. I wish you a happy game! If you have any experience exploring this new season, you are welcome to share it with many players in iGMeet Discord, which will definitely help some players who are stuck in the quagmire. In addition, you can also participate in a lottery here, and there are some summoning materials in the prize pool. The winners will be announced on October 28. I wish you good luck!Oct-21-2024
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Diablo 2: Lightning Strike ...
The Lightning Strike Amazon is a powerful character build in Diablo 2 that focuses on lightning-based attacks to deal massive damage to enemies. This guide will walk you through the key aspects of the build, including skill allocation, gear choices, and general gameplay tips. 1. Skill Allocation: - Lightning Fury: Maximize this skill as it will be your primary attack. Lightning Fury unleashes bolts of lightning that bounce between enemies, making it devastating against groups. - Charged Strike: Invest some points in Charged Strike to enhance your single-target damage. It releases a powerful lightning bolt that deals substantial damage to a single enemy. - Power Strike: Allocate a few points to Power Strike for additional single-target damage. It enhances your basic attack with lightning damage. - Valkyrie: Summon a Valkyrie to aid you in battle. She will serve as a meat shield and deal damage, making her a valuable asset. 2. Attribute Distribution: - Strength: Invest enough points to meet the requirements of your gear. - Dexterity: Allocate sufficient points to achieve high accuracy. - Vitality: Place most of your points into Vitality for increased survivability. - Energy: Only add points to Energy if you are experiencing mana issues, but focus primarily on Vitality. 3. Gear Choices: - Weapon: Look for weapons with +skills, increased lightning damage, and increased attack speed. Runewords like 'Infinity' and 'Infinity Thunder' are excellent choices. - Armor: Opt for armor with bonuses to lightning skills, resistances, and increased life. - Helmet: Seek helmets with bonuses to skills, life, resistances, and mana. - Amulet: Prioritize amulets with +skills, lightning damage, resistances, and mana. - Rings: Look for rings with bonuses to skills, resistances, life, and mana. - Gloves: Choose gloves with bonuses to attack speed, lightning damage, and resistances. - Belt: Opt for belts with increased attack speed, life, and resistances. - Boots: Seek boots with bonuses to movement speed, resistances, and life. - Shield: Consider using a shield with bonuses to skills, resistances, and increased block chance. 4. Gameplay Tips: - Positioning: Keep a safe distance from enemies while using Lightning Fury to take advantage of its bouncing effect. This will help you clear groups of enemies efficiently. - Mana Management: Watch your mana pool carefully, as Lightning Fury consumes a significant amount of mana. Utilize mana potions or invest in items that increase mana regeneration. - Lightning Immune Enemies: Lightning Strike Amazons can struggle against lightning immune enemies. Carry a backup weapon with elemental damage of a different type, such as physical or fire, to deal with such foes. - Use Charged Strike Wisely: Save Charged Strike for single-target situations or tough enemies. It deals immense damage to a single foe, making it a valuable skill for boss fights. - Dodge and Weave: Maintain mobility and dodge enemy attacks by constantly moving. This will help you avoid damage and increase survivability. The Lightning Strike Amazon build in Diablo 2 offers a thrilling and powerful playstyle centered around lightning-based attacks. By maximizing key skills, selecting appropriate gear, and employing effective gameplay strategies, you'll be able to unleash devastating electrical damage upon your enemies. Have fun exploring the world of Diablo 2 as a formidable Lightning Strike Amazon!Jun-19-2023