Diablo 4 is introducing new stats and getting rid of Ancient items

(Image credit: Blizzard)

Blizzard has revealed some potential changes coming to Diablo 4 now that it's had time to mull over the feedback from BlizzCon. Last week, lead systems designer David Kim addressed some of that feedback in regards to itemisation, and in his latest blog post he details the results of it, which includes new stats and a replacement for Ancient items.

"[W]e agree that adding depth and customisation to your character through itemisation is incredibly valuable and important to the game," he writes. "This has been the most-discussed topic since we revealed Diablo 4. To be clear—we believe Diablo 4 itemisation should be deep and rewarding and that’s one of our highest priorities."

With that in mind, Ancient items are being removed entirely and replaced with a consumable that lets you add a Legendary affix to a non-Legendary item. In Diablo 3, Ancient items were beefier versions of existing Legendaries, sending players searching for yet another powerful endgame item. One of the criticisms was that they just added more power rather than meaningful changes. The proposed consumable won't add more power to endgame items, however, and will instead let players customise existing items.

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Items in general will have more affixes, too, though some will come with new prerequisites. Three new stats, Angelic, Demonic and Ancestral Power will be used to get certain bonuses while not stopping you from using the item. Some items will also come with an affix that gives you a boost in those stats, which increase the duration of beneficial effects, negative effects and chance of on-hit effects respectively.

Blizzard's also changing what items give you Attack and Defense, making them a bit more logical. "The goal here is to better embrace the fantasy of each type of item," according to Kim. What he really means is you get Attack from weapons, Defense from armour and neither from jewellery.

I'm not convinced even more affixes on items is a good thing, but I'm all for Ancient items being replaced by something that gives me more choices rather than more power. Kim emphasises that nothing is final and most of these ideas haven't even been tested in-game yet, so there's still plenty of time to offer more feedback.

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.