With the start of Diablo 4 Season 10, I will have participated in nearly every season since launch, and despite the new content that each season brings, I still feel stuck in somewhat of a rut. Experimenting with new Uniques and seasonal mechanics is an exciting part of every new season, but trying to find the motivation to keep going several weeks into the season is getting harder. I don’t think it’s the lack of new content, though the next Diablo 4 expansion would be more than welcome. Instead, I think changing how I approach my seasonal playstyle could be what helps me stick around through the entire season.
Aside from a handful of seasonal milestones via the season journey and reputation board, there isn’t much of a hard and fast goal for any given Diablo 4 season. Rather, players are given new tools to play with and are free to use them in Diablo 4‘s endgame activities, such as the Lair Boss ladder, Infernal Hordes, and the Pit of the Artificer, with the ability to create their own goals. Of these activities, I’ve always made it my goal to get to the highest tier in the Pit possible with my build, but with Season 10, this doesn’t feel like a worthwhile endeavor anymore.
Diablo 4's Pit of the Artificer Doesn't Interest Me in Season 10
The Pit feels like it wants to be Diablo 4‘s ultimate endgame challenge, with 150 tiers for players to clear, making it the most robust way to measure a build’s strength. However, it doesn’t feel as satisfying to clear as something like defeating Uber Lilith and earning a guaranteed Resplendent Spark does. Being able to level up my Paragon Board Glyphs is a nice reward for completing a tier of the Pit, but I feel like I usually fall off somewhere around tier 90. I don’t think it’s the lack of reward that is making me grow tired of the Pit, but rather how it pigeonholes me into the same types of builds each season.
Pit Pushing Builds Are Limiting My Enjoyment of Other Diablo 4 Modes
With the Pit, the goal is to clear as many enemies as possible in the shortest amount of time, where death results in a time penalty and is a more immediate threat the higher you go in the Pit’s tiers. The problem with this playstyle is that it cuts against the grain of the rest of Diablo 4‘s endgame activities. Unlike Lair Bosses or Infernal Hordes, which act as more of a direct DPS check for Diablo 4‘s builds, the Pit is more about speed and efficiency against groups of enemies than pure damage output. As such, builds that are best suited for the Pit aren’t necessarily great for Diablo 4‘s other endgame activities.
The only other endgame activity that really benefits from the same types of builds as the Pit is the Vessel of Hatred-exclusive Kurast Undercity dungeon, since it also requires players to be fast and efficient when fighting hordes of enemies.
Diablo 4 Season 10 is the Perfect Chance for Me to Use a Boss Farming Build
My goal for Diablo 4 Season 10 is not to reach any specific tier in the Pit of the Artificer, but instead to create the best build for farming Lair Bosses and, eventually, Uber Lilith. While I’ll still have to run the Pit to level up Glyphs and unlock Torment 4 difficulty, the build I go for won’t be designed around pushing into the highest tiers of the Pit. Diablo 4 Season 10 is also the perfect time for me to adopt this new playstyle, since the removal of mandatory boss invulnerability phases means that builds with optimized damage outputs will be rewarded by getting to bypass the most annoying parts of some boss fights.
I was already planning to finally face my most overlooked class and play a Druid in Diablo 4 Season 10, and with this new goal in mind, I think the Companion Druid is the way to go. The addition of the new Kilt of Blackwing Unique and the Chaos Armor feature should allow me to go all-in on Wolf and Raven summons, with the Storm’s Companion Unique thrown in the mix as well. As a veteran Necromancer player, I’m well aware that maximizing the DPS of my minions can create a build that can rush down bosses, but still handle groups of enemies, for when I do need to run the Pit. Hopefully, changing up my playstyle and diving into a class I haven’t paid much attention to in seasons past will help Diablo 4 feel fresh after 10 seasons.