First “Major” Diablo Immortal Update Will Turn Warband Camps Into Castles

Diablo Immortal’s next update will be its biggest yet, overhauling the game’s much-maligned Warband system while adding a dungeon, new set items, another seasonal battle pass, and more .

Defined by Blizzard as the game’s first “major” update (the developers have classified all previous free mobile ARPG updates as “mini” updates), the Forgotten Nightmare update is sure to be big. Most significant are the changes to Warbands, which serve as mini-clans of up to 8 players, theoretically rewarding small groups of players to play together.In fact, this function has criticized by playersbecause earning rewards from a clan usually requires all of its members to be online at the exact same time to complete certain activities.

The Forgotten Nightmare update aims to address some of these issues, but only time will tell if players are happy with the changes. With the September 27th update, the Warband Camp will no longer exist, replaced by the new Castle Cyrangar. Chapter members will no longer need to kill a certain number of monsters together to establish their base of operations. The requirements for Warband Heliquarry raids are also being adjusted, and the update will only require four members of Warband instead of a full team of eight. Completing a Warband Helliquary raid will increase the drop rate of a member’s Sealed Warband Chest by 400%, and the reward resets every 7 days.

Castle Cyrangar will implement some of the same features as camp, such as passive rewards and cool social spaces for Warband members, but will also introduce some new gameplay features. Players, either alone or with other Warband members, can explore the demon-infested depths of their Warband Castle to unlock various rooms that provide passive rewards to their assigned Warband members. These rooms can be upgraded with items obtained by fixing issues with Demon Castle.

In addition to clearing the demons inside the castle, the player also needs to protect the outside of the castle from the demon army. Once a week, Chapter members can team up to defend against a demonic invasion, which will provide experience and various rewards for a successful defense. For players looking for a challenge, there will also be a replayable “Endless” Castle Defense mode, including leaderboards and exclusive portrait frames for top performers.

The main attraction of participating in the Castle Cyrangar event is the chance to acquire Ancestral Weapons. These are not weapons in the traditional sense, as they are not equipped directly on your character, but rather placed on the so-called ancestor screen, which grants each weapon’s stats as passive bonuses to all members of the Chapter. But , players can also find and equip Invocation gear from the Castle Cyrangar event, which will give players the opportunity to activate a variety of special effects unique to specific ancestral weapons.

Changes to Warbands is an updated title, but also new items, gems, and additional dungeons. In the new Silent Temple dungeon, players need to light up statues within the temple to defend against the darkness. There’s also a new Helliquary boss available for players with a combat rating of at least 6175 to tackle, Izilech the Misshapen.

A new set of set items, Gloomguide’s Prize, is tailored around the dash skill, and there are three new Legendary Gems for players to earn and equip. A new “Wash the Darkness” event will run from September 28th to October 19th, while an improved version of the game’s Hunger Moon event will also debut on October 6th. This update will mark the start of the fifth season of the game and include a new Battle Pass.

Despite criticism from fans of the game’s monetization model, which allows players to pay for power, Diablo Immortal has reportedly made more than $100 million since its launch earlier this summer. Blizzard president Mike Ybarra defended the free-to-play game’s monetization approach, even as Blizzard assured fans that Diablo 4’s in-game store would only offer cosmetics.