Diablo 4 Season 8 finally cracks down on seasonal power creep

Diablo 4 Season 8’s primary feedback from the PTR was that the seasonal power creep was entirely too high. Your actual build didn’t matter, because the boss powers — in particular Belial’s Eye Lasers — did outrageous amounts of damage. Sure, I, like everyone else who plays D4, want to feel powerful. That’s part of this game's power fantasy, building up so you can decimate huge screens full of demons.

However, when your build/class stops mattering, that’s an entirely different story. Blizzard revealed some pretty intense changes for 18 of the upcoming boss powers ahead of the Season 8 launch in Diablo 4. However, these could always be changed again since Blizzard has targeted the first few weeks of release for major changes. That said, here’s what we know will change before launch.

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Diablo 4 Season 8 nerfs a wealth of boss powers to tackle seasonal power creep

While it might be nice that Diablo 4 Season 8 let players do trillions of damage with relative ease, it also trivialized the rest of the season and made the seasonal power creep worse. Power creep is the notion that each season or major update of a game outshines what came before it, with each update getting stronger and stronger. Just look at story arcs from Dragon Ball Z/Super as a great example of power creep.

Comment byu/its_tharid from discussion indiablo4

The majority of feedback about the Diablo 4 Season 8 PTR was that the seasonal powers were simply too strong, to the point where what you played was irrelevant. The response from Blizzard was to nerf/adjust 18 of the boss powers. Sure, some players are going to complain, but at this time, I’m perfectly fine with it.

Name	Changes
Andariel's Flaming Skull	Old Main: After standing still for 1 second, summon a skull for 4 seconds that rotates around you and breathes fire that Burns enemies for 1200% damage over 3 seconds. Old Modifier: Burning Enemies take 21% more damage from your DOT effects. For 5 seconds activating your Main Boss Power, all your other attacks Burn enemies for 1,800% damage over 3 seconds.
	New Main: After standing still for 1 second, summon a skull for 4 seconds that rotates around you and breathes fire that Burns enemies for 450% damage over 3 seconds. New Modifier: Burning Enemies take 10%[x] more damage from your DOT effects. For 5 seconds activating your Main Boss Power, all your other attacks Burn enemies for 1,800% damage over 3 seconds.
Harbinger of Hatred's Volley	Old Main: After damaging a Vulnerable enemy, shoot piercing projectiles that last 1.3 seconds, dealing 400% Fire damage and applying Vulnerable. Deals 40%[x] increased damage to Vulnerable enemies. Old Modifier: Casting a Basic Skill at Maximum Resource spends it all to make all Nearby enemies Vulnerable. Activating your Main Boss Power grants 11%[x] increased Vulnerable Damage for 5 seconds.
	New Main: After damaging a Vulnerable enemy, shoot piercing projectiles that last 1.3 seconds, dealing 250% Fire damage and applying Vulnerable. Deals 40%[x] increased damage to Vulnerable enemies. New Modifier: Casting a Basic Skill at Maximum Resource spends it all to make all Nearby enemies Vulnerable. Activating your Main Boss Power grants 11%[x] increased Vulnerable Damage for 5 seconds.
Hatred's Embrace's Haste	Old Main: Casting a Shadow or Fire Skill grants 1.1% increased Movement Speed for 3 seconds, up to 11%. Old Modifier: Gain 5%[+] Critical Strike Chance, increased by 0.5%[+] for each 1% of Shadow Resistance you have, up to a maximum of 22.25%[+].
	New Main: Casting a Shadow or Fire Skill grants 1.1% increased Movement Speed for 3 seconds, up to 11%. New Modifier: Gain 5%[+] Critical Strike Chance, increased by 0.5%[+] for each 1% of Shadow Resistance you have, up to a maximum of 12%[+].
Sinerat's Flames	Old Main: Using a Mobility Skill Burns Close enemies for 200% Burning damage over 4 seconds. Old Modifier: Gain 5%[x] increased damage to all Elements. For each 1% of an Element's Resistance from bonuses, gain 0.2%[x] increased damage for that Element, up to a maximum of 15.5%[x].
	New Main: Using a Mobility Skill Burns Close enemies for 50% Burning damage over 4 seconds. New Modifier: Gain 5%[x] increased damage to all Elements. For each 1% of an Element's Resistance from bonuses, gain 0.2%[x] increased damage for that Element, up to a maximum of 15.5%[x].
Avarice's Explosive Ore	Old Main: When you gain excess Primary Resource, spawn a Piece of Ore. After 2.5 seconds, the Piece of Ore explodes dealing 700% Fire damage. You can spawn up to three at once. Old Modifier: Activating your Main Boss Power spends all your Primary Resource to increase its damage by 1.5%[x] per Resource point spent.
	New Main: When you gain excess Primary Resource, spawn a Piece of Ore. After 2.5 seconds, the Piece of Ore explodes dealing 700% Fire damage. You can spawn up to three at once. New Modifier: Activating your Main Boss Power spends all your Primary Resource to increase its damage by 0.01%[x] per Resource point spent.
Lilith's Wind of Hate	Old Main: When you Cast a skill, attack enemies with a wave of spikes that lasts 2 seconds and deals 250% PHysical damage. Enemies take 60%[x] increased damage from Wind of Hate each time it hits them, up to 300%[x]. Old Modifier: Hitting an Elite enemy with a Main Boss Power creates an inert Blister Clone with 10% of their Maximum Life for 15 seconds. Killing the Blister removes 5.25% of the Elite's Life. An Elite can have up to 3 Blisters active at once, except for World Bosses.
	New Main: When you Cast a skill, attack enemies with a wave of spikes that lasts 2 seconds and deals 250% PHysical damage. Enemies take 60%[x] increased damage from Wind of Hate each time it hits them, up to 300%[x]. New Modifier: Hitting an Elite enemy with a Main Boss Power creates an inert Blister Clone with 10% of their Maximum Life for 15 seconds. Killing the Blister removes 2.1% of the Elite's Life. An Elite can have up to 1 Blister active at once, and a Boss can have up to 2 Blisters. Enemies with Resilience cannot spawn Blisters
Wandering Death's Chest Beam	Old Main: While channeling a Skill, spawn a beam that deals 300% Frostbite damage per second. Enemies hit take 50%[x] increased damage from you for 1 second. Old Modifier: Your Main Boss Power instantly Executes Non-Boss enemies hit with less than 15% Life. When you Execute enemies you gain 25 Primary Resource.
	New Main: While channeling a Skill, spawn a beam that deals 300% Frostbite damage per second. Enemies hit take 50%[x] increased damage from you for 1 second. New Modifier: Your Main Boss Power instantly Executes Non-Boss enemies hit with less than 15.5% Life. When you Execute enemies you gain 25 Primary Resource.
Belial's Eye Beams	Old Main: After you drink a healing potion, gain 75% Damage Reduction for 2 seconds and summon eye beams that Corrupt enemies for 1,750% damge over 3.5 seconds. Then, your Healing Potion becomes disabled for 5 seconds. You may drink Healing Potions at full health. Old Modifier: Activating your Main Boss Power grants unbreakable Stealth for 2 seconds. You deal 11%[x] increased Overpower Damage while Stealthed.
	New Main: After you drink a healing potion, gain 50% Damage Reduction for 2 seconds and summon eye beams that Corrupt enemies for 438% damge over 3.5 seconds. Then, your Healing Potion becomes disabled for 5 seconds. You may drink Healing Potions at full health. New Modifier: Activating your Main Boss Power grants Stealth for 2 seconds. You deal 11%[x] increased Overpower Damage for 2 seconds.
Urivar's Lobbed Bombs	Old Main: After you Cast an Ultimate Skill, lob 4 bombs that deal 800% Fire damage and reduce your Ultimate Skill's Cooldown by 5 seconds. Old Modifier: Killing an enemy with your Main Boss Power reduces your Ultimate Skill's Cooldown by 0.2 seconds.
	New Main: After you Cast an Ultimate Skill, lob 4 bombs that deal 400% Fire damage. Gain 15% Cooldown Reduction. New Modifier: Killing an enemy with your Main Boss Power reduces your Ultimate Skill's Cooldown by 0.2 seconds.
Varshan's Life Steal	Old Main: Every time you lose 25% of your Maximum Life, attach a leeching beam to the attacker which restores 10% of your Maximum Life and deals 1200% Corrupting damage over 3 seconds to them. Old Modifier: Activating your Main Boss Power inflicts Nearby enemies with 200% Corrupting damage over 2 seconds.
	New Main: Every 1 second, attach a leeching beam to the closest enemy which deals 700% Corrupting damage to them and restores 15% of your Maximum Life. New Modifier: Activating your Main Boss Power inflicts Nearby enemies with 200% Corrupting damage over 2 seconds.
Duriel's Burrow	Old Main: When you Evade, you now burrow underground, immobilizing surrounding enemies for 5 seconds and dealing 200% on your entry and exit. You deal 200% damage every 0.25 seconds while burrowed. Evade's Cooldown is increased by 4 seconds, and Cooldown Reduction on Evade is 50% as effective. Old Modifier: Activating your Main Boss Power grants you 21%[+] increased Dodge chance for 2 seconds. Whenever you Dodge an attack, you Immobilize Nearby enemies for 3 seconds.
	New Main: When you Evade, you now burrow underground, immobilizing surrounding enemies for 5 seconds and dealing 100% damage on your entry and exit. You deal 100% damage every 0.25 seconds while burrowed. Evade's Cooldown is increased by 4 seconds, and Cooldown Reduction on Evade is 50% as effective. New Modifier: Activating your Main Boss Power grants you 21%[+] increased Dodge chance for 5 seconds. Whenever you Dodge an attack you Immobilize Nearby enemies for 3 seconds.
Lord ZIr's Blood Pool	Old Main: After you damage an enemy, spawn a pool of blood that deals 400% Bleeding damage per second over 4 seconds. You can have up to 3 active pools. Old Modifier: Activating your Main Boss Power Heals you for 5.5% of your Maximum Life over 3 seconds.
	New Main: After you damage an enemy, spawn a pool of blood that deals 400% Bleeding damage per second over 4 seconds. You can have up to 3 active pools. New Modifier: Activating your Main Boss Power Heals you for 17% of your Maximum Life over 3 seconds.
Ashava's Poison Breath	Old Main: Hitting an enemy affected by Damage over Time spawns a wave of acid that deals 400% Poisoning damage over 4 seconds. Applies 10% more Poisoning for each 1% of the target's current Life affected by Damage over Time. Old Modifier: Once per activation, damaging an enemy with your Main Boss Power also applies 45% Poisoning damage to it over 3 seconds.
	New Main: Hitting an enemy affected by Damage over Time spawns a wave of acid that deals 1200% Poisoning damage over 4 seconds. Applies 10% more Poisoning for each 1% of the target's current Life affected by Damage over Time. New Modifier: Once per activation, damaging an enemy with your Main Boss Power also applies 45% Poisoning damage to it over 3 seconds.
Skreg's Toxins	Old Main: When an enemy applies a Damage over Time effect to you, apply 1000% Poisoning damage to them over 4 seconds. Old Modifier: When you take damage from a Damage Over Time effect, you have a 5% chance to be Healed instead, increased by 50% of your Poison Resistance from bonuses, up to a maximum of 12%.
	New Main: When an enemy deals damage to you, apply 600% Poisoning damage to them over 4 seconds. New Modifier: When you take damage from a Damage Over Time effect, you have a 5% chance to be Healed instead, increased by 50% of your Poison Resistance from bonuses, up to a maximum of 12%.
Flesh Reaper's Disruption	Old Main: Damaging a Vulnerable enemy removes the Vulnerable and then Stuns them and surrounding enemies for 0.5 seconds. This Stun applies 100% more Stagger to Bosses. Old Modifier: Gain 5%[x] Vulnerable Damage, increased by 0.25%[x] for each 1% of Crowd Control Duration Bonus you have, up to a maximum of 10.50%[x].
	New Main: Damaging a Vulnerable enemy removes the Vulnerable and then Stuns them and surrounding enemies for 0.5 seconds. This Stun applies 100% more Stagger to Bosses. New Modifier: Gain 5%[x] Vulnerable Damage, increased by 0.5%[x] for each 1% of Crowd Control Duration Bonus you have, up to a maximum of 10.5%[x].
Blackmailer's Sabotage	Old Main: Casting a Core Skill while you have a Barrier Knocks Down Close enemies for 1.1 seconds. This cannot occur on the same enemy more than once every 5 seconds. Old Modifier: Whenever you gain Fortify, additionally gain 20% of the amount as Barrier.
	New Main: Casting a Core Skill while you have a Barrier Knocks Down Close enemies for 1.1 seconds. This cannot occur on the same enemy more than once every 5 seconds. New Modifier: Whenever you gain Fortify, additionally gain 11% of the amount as Barrier for 6 seconds.
Beastmaster's Training	Old Main: Whenever you cast a Summon Skill or call a Mercenary for Reinforcement, one of your Summons or Mercenaries Taunts enemies and gains 40% Damage Reduction. Old Modifier: Your Summons deal 5%[x] more damage, increased by 0.25%[x] for each 1% Bonus Critical Strike Damage you have from items and Paragon, up to a maximum of 17%[x].
	New Main: Whenever you cast a Summon Skill or call a Mercenary for Reinforcement, one of your Summons or Mercenaries Stuns surrounding enemies for 2 seconds and gains 75% Damage Reduction. New Modifier: Your Summons deal 5%[x] more damage, increased by 0.25%[x] for each 1% Bonus Critical Strike Damage you have from items and Paragon, up to a maximum of 17%[x].
Grigoire's Lightning Square	Old Main: After you Cast a Core Skill, lightning tiles outward for 1.2 seconds dealing 300% Lightning damage per strike. Old Modifier: Once per activation, damaging an enemy with your Main Boss Power Stuns enemies it hits for 0.25 seconds.
	New Main: After you cast a Core Skill, lightning tiles outward for 1.2 seconds dealing 250% Lightning damage per strike. New Modifier: Once per activation, damaging an enemy with your Main Boss Power Stuns enemies it hits for 0.25 seconds.

Not everything is a nerf, though. In fact, several are getting pretty serious buffs! Ashava’s Poison Breath got a significant buff, as an example. The same goes for Skreg’s Toxins — now if only that would trigger on Necromancer minions too, it would likely become my main boss power.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that these changes could go too far in the other direction. We’ll have to wait until Season 8 begins and check them out to see if D4 is too easy with boss powers. I think it’s also worth considering that Belial’s Eye Lasers also require you to beat the Pinnacle Boss, which is going to be incredibly challenging.

I imagine it’s hard to balance “fun” with “too powerful”, but at first glance, these changes look decent. This is also what the players asked for, so hopefully the community will be happy with it on April 29, 2025, when Season 8 launches.

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Check out our other Diablo 4 guides and features

• Best Class in Diablo 4 Season 8: What’s the most OP spec going into the new season?
• Best Necromancer leveling builds in Diablo 4 Season 8
• Is Diablo 4 Season 8’s Torment 4 too difficult for casual players?