Diablo 4 originally launched with a set of powerful 'uber' unique items that were so rare Blizzard had to come out and confirm that they were real. Only a handful of people in the world ever even saw one, which meant they effectively didn't exist for most players.
Even though Blizzard has been steadily making 'uber' uniques, now known in-game as mythic uniques, more attainable over time, they're still a chore to find. To raise the odds, you have to gather up materials to summon and defeat its endgame bosses repeatedly and pray the RNG is in your favor. That ends with Diablo 4's first expansion, Vessel of Hatred, where mythic uniques will finally be significantly easier to get—with one small catch.
Starting next week, anyone who puts in enough time to fully complete the faction reputation board each season—which usually doesn't take more than a couple of weeks—and kills an endgame boss once will be able to craft a random mythic unique. Previously, you needed four resplendent sparks to craft a mythic of your choice, but Blizzard decided to make a compromise and introduce a random cache that only costs two. The catch is that it's random, so you may not get the exact one you want.
Mythic uniques are by no means necessary to enjoy the game, but they're a lot of fun to play with. Even the weirder ones are pretty potent, like the Spear of Ahavarion, which gives you a random shrine buff whenever you kill powerful enemies, regularly turning you into a destructive orb of holy energy or granting you temporary immortality. Most people will want Tyrael's Might, a chestpiece that turns your character into a brick wall that emits holy bolts every second. Considering you could go a whole season and never see one, I think this is a pretty generous change for most players.
Vessel of Hatred will have a few ways to help you find mythics, including:
- Getting extremely lucky with a random drop off of any monster
- Defeating tormented bosses with a higher drop chance
- Collecting two resplendent sparks to buy a random mythic unique cache
- Using a unique tribute item to increase your odds in the new Undercity timed dungeon (requires Vessel of Hatred)
- Finding enough duplicate runes plus one resplendent spark to craft one of your choice (requires Vessel of Hatred)
Blizzard lifting the restrictions on mythic uniques is another example of it reducing the grind in Diablo 4 and lowering the barriers to its most exciting loot. During a stream earlier this week, the developers also said that regular unique items will drop three times as much as they do now. I've already played with this change for my Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred review and found a handful of uniques during the campaign. Sure, legendary items are cool, but what about some boots that leave a trail of ice behind you?
While it's a bummer that you have to own Vessel of Hatred to make a specific mythic unique, I think it's at least a good sign that Blizzard is willing to make finding them even easier than it already has. I've never liked the idea of having cool stuff in your game that nobody will ever see, and I think these updates keep the spirit of mythic uniques as a rare chase item without locking it to the 1% of players who have the time to spend a month farming for them.
Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred and season 6, Season of Hatred Rising, will both drop next week.
