Season 8: Belial’s Return has officially kicked off in Diablo 4, and it has not been off to the best of starts. Usually, the gameplay implications of all the design and balance changes take a little while to bubble up to the surface – at least as far as the wider player base is concerned.
Much of the conversation, however, has centred around the new battle pass system, which Blizzard has implemented for the first time into the game with Season 8. And, from the looks of it, barely anyone likes it.
Shortly after it went live, Diablo 4 players started working out the rewards vs the cost of the new Reliquary system, compared to the classic battle pass that the game has had for its first seven seasons.
The old system was the fairly standard, 99-reward track that included some free unlocks, but held most behind a 1,000 Platinum ($10) premium battle pass purchase. There was also an accelerated battle pass that cost 2,800 Platinum ($25) and came with several of the early rewards pre-unlocked, essentially making the process of clearing the whole thing faster.
The new battle pass does away with that, and instead groups rewards in four Reliquaries, which players can purchase individually to unlock the rewards within. Only the first one is free, while the other three are paid. All together, buying all of them will cost you the same 1,000 Platinum ($10). Blizzard is also selling a Deluxe Battle Pass Bundle, which has the same 2,800 Platinum ($25) cost, and unlocks a few rewards early, too, this time the season’s full armor set, alongside a couple of other cosmetic bonuses.
On its face, Reliquaries don’t appear to alter the value of the pass in any major way, and in fact offer greater choice for anyone not looking to spend the full amount. Players, however, have found that the new system is more expensive and less rewarding.
Over on the main Diablo 4 subreddit, user ITheDarkitect broke down all rewards for each tier, comparing the old system with the new. While the new Reliquary system clearly offers fewer weapon skins and other cosmetics, the main issue is how much less Platinum you get by finishing the pass.
The old battle pass system awarded players 700 Platinum for completing the full track. That actually caused its own controversy when battle passes were first introduced to Diablo 4 because it’s not enough to purchase next season’s pass, which is something of a courtesy players have come to expect from other live service games. Essentially, dedicated players are used to only needing to spend the cost of a pass once, and have enough at the end of each season to buy the next one – but not in Diablo 4.
Reliquaries, however, present an even worse deal there, because the Platinum reward is now down to just 200 Platinum, a massive 500 Platinum cut. You’re essentially paying more for fewer rewards, and getting back much less in terms of Platinum. Blizzard did not communicate that when it revealed the new system, which is why players are furious.
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“Honestly I couldn’t care less about emotes, titles or emblems, but the fact that it’s not cheaper and gives less sucks,” wrote Reddit user nephyxx.
“I quit Apex Legends BPs cold turkey after 20+ seasons when EA fucked with the value. I’ll quit D4 BPs cold turkey too. This is an enormous downgrade in rewards and it costs more (net). Absolutely shameful,” explained K_U.
“I have purchased EVERY premium battle pass season since S1. I think its time to cut my losses,” added Tuaniers, a sentiment many other share.
This particular situation also isn’t helped by the fact that Reliquaries launched with a major bug where the game would take your Platinum, but won’t unlock any of the Reliquaries. Blizzard quickly acknowledged the issue, promising to deliver a hotfix ASAP.
The new structure is unlikely to change over the course of this season, or really ever. Blizzard is already going to be using Reliquaries for future IP collaboration events, including the upcoming Berserk collab. There is hope, however, that the rewards within will be restructured to at least match what players have been getting for seven seasons seasons.
