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After more than six weeks of near-constant playtime, Diablo 4 Season 11 stands out as one of the most engaging seasons the game has seen so far. From early December through the heart of the season, player engagement was high, community sentiment was largely positive, and the overall "vibe" around Diablo 4 felt healthier than it has in quite some time. For many players, this season marked their most-played stretch of Diablo 4 yet-and for good reason. Between major system revamps, elite reworks, crafting changes, and the introduction of the Paladin, Season 11 felt like a turning point. It wasn't perfect, but it laid important groundwork heading into Season 12 and the upcoming expansion. The headline feature of Season 11 was undeniably the Paladin. As a new class, it offered a glimpse into Blizzard's evolving design philosophy-and in many ways, it succeeded brilliantly. The Paladin's skill tree stands head and shoulders above the other classes. Skills come with multiple meaningful branches that drastically alter how abilities function, often changing damage types, playstyles, or synergies entirely. This resulted in exceptional build diversity. Nearly anything could be made viable, and many builds landed at a comparable power level thanks to flexible aspects, paragon boards, and shared passives. That said, the Paladin was also blatantly overpowered. While it didn't reach the absurd "delete everything instantly" levels of some historical Diablo builds, it trivialized large portions of the game. In Hardcore Torment 4, Paladins could often AFK through content that should have been lethal. The class flattened progression far too quickly, making most endgame challenges feel optional rather than earned. This imbalance was likely intentional. Blizzard clearly wanted the Paladin to feel strong, exciting, and accessible, especially alongside increased difficulty from elite changes. In that sense, it worked-players came back, played more, and had fun. But long-term, the Paladin's multipliers and defensive scaling will need to come down to align with the rest of the roster. Still, as a preview of where class design is heading-especially with the expansion's new skill tree systems-the Paladin is extremely promising. Skill Design: A Blueprint for the Expansion One of the Paladin's biggest strengths is how its utility skills still meaningfully contribute to combat. Cooldowns like Arbiter don't just buff stats-they deal damage, interact with multipliers, and feel impactful when used. This highlights a major issue with older classes. Many utility skills simply don't scale, making them feel hollow. Pressing Ground Stomp on Barbarian or certain Rogue utilities often results in nothing happening damage-wise, which feels unsatisfying. Historically, Diablo 4 had more hybrid-style builds-Season 0's Kratos Barbarian or Flurry Rogue being standout examples. While not every build needs that complexity, moving closer to Paladin-style multi-skill relevance would dramatically improve combat depth across all classes. Crafting and Progression: Better Systems, Worse UI Season 11 introduced major changes to progression systems, including tempering, masterworking, and difficulty adjustments. Mechanically, these updates were a success. Tempering felt good. Selecting your temper and hunting for Greater Affix rolls added excitement without excessive frustration. Masterworking provided clear power growth, and GA hits felt rewarding without being trivial.
Class Balance: Paladin Dominates, Others Lag Behind d4 mats While Paladin had dozens of viable builds, other classes struggled. Necromancer, in particular, was left behind, with few compelling options. Most classes had one or two "good enough" builds-but nothing close to Paladin's depth or flexibility. With expansion changes looming, this imbalance is understandable-but for Season 12, players need reasons to log into every class, not just Paladin. Final Thoughts Despite its flaws, Diablo 4 Season 11 was a strong step forward. It delivered fun, engagement, and momentum heading into the expansion. The systems introduced this season-sanctification, improved skill design, and progression revamps-show real promise.
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发表于 2026-2-5 10:27:58