Diablo Immortal's first update brings a new season and battle pass, but players aren't impressed

Blizzard has released details on the first post-launch update for Diablo Immortal, the free-to-play dungeon romp that launched into open beta on PC on June 2. The update will kick off a new season with three new battle passes, add a new raid boss and weekend event, and make numerous balance changes and bug fixes.

The second season of Diablo Immortal will include a free 40-rank battle pass, plus two paid versions: The Empowered battle pass, which adds a premium reward track to the free stuff plus two Bloodsworn cosmetics, and the Collector's Empowered pass, which along with the previous also includes a Bloodsworn Avatar Frame, Bloodsworn Portal cosmetic, and an immediate ten-rank boost. The pass will be available until August 4, and assuming pricing doesn't change from season one, the Empowered pass will cost $5 while the Collector's Empowered will go for $15.

Vitaath the Shivering Death is the new raid boss, a demon who "stalks her prey cloaked in frozen wind and gives chase on wings of ice." If you're interested, you can pursue Vitaath and bring an end to her "ice age of terror" at Rayek's Helliquary in Westmarch. You can also take part in a new Hungering Moon weekend event, which will run from July 15-18, beginning and ending at 3 am (server time) each day. Earn Moonslivers, trade them for Blessings, and after earning seven Blessing you'll be able to claim a random reward, and perhaps even the favor of the moon itself.

"This patch is just a start," Blizzard wrote. "We've been collecting suggestions and feedback for the game since launch and look forward to sharing more updates in future patches." The development team also teased a new "Class Change" option coming in the next update, which will be out later this month.

One thing the update studiously avoids is any mention at all of the controversy surrounding Diablo Immortal's aggressive monetization, which has sparked a brutal backlash from players. It's also very light on new content. All told, the reaction from players on Reddit and the Blizzard forums is not what you'd call wildly enthusiastic.

"I don't think anyone who has been unhappy with the content over the last month will see this as a reason to try it again," redditor Lucavious wrote "Even with class changes coming it's not anything crazy or exciting."

Interestingly, gacha fans don't seem all that terribly taken by the update either.

"Almost all decent F2P/gacha games have new content whether it’s new story/missions or just a few resource grinds," BlueLantern84 wrote. "There’ll normally be a few a month.

"This, with the new battle pass, gives a SINGLE weekend of what sounds a bare minimum event. No guaranteed rewards, nothing teased. Just... a weekend of a gather-grind ... I know people have bigger fish to fry with this game, but beyond the monetization, they don’t even have the seasonal model down close to adequate."

Z3M0G added, "This game is not holding up to anything close to top-tier mobile gaming content standards. And their first 'event' doesn't even make me desire to reinstall the game? (I have very limited space on my phone) That's not a good sign at all."

Despite the complaints, it's clear that not everyone is unhappy with the game as it stands. While PC players eager for a premium Diablo game are down on it, Diablo Immortal holds a 4.5/5 ranking on the App Store and 3.7/5 on Google Play—a higher ranking than Hearthstone. It's also reportedly raking in quite a lot of money: An estimated $49 million in its first month of release, according to mobilegamer.biz.

And more content is on the way: Diablo franchise general manager Rod Fergusson said on Twitter that this update is focused mainly on the battle pass and small fixes—a second update coming later this month "will be our first major content update."

The full patch notes are below:

Balance Changes

Wizard

• Arcane Wind
• Damage increased from 54, 72(fully charged) to 60, 80(fully charged)
• Range increased from 3.3, 5.5(fully charged) to 4.5, 6.5(fully charged)
• Arcane Wind Legendary: Syldra's Fang
• Damage increased from 57.6 to 60
• Range increased from 5.5 to 6.5
• Lightning Nova (also affects Legendary affixes):
• Damage increased from 25.2 to 34.7
• Multi-hit Damage increased from 70% to 75%

Monk

• Exploding Palm
• Damage (non-Explosion) increased from 17.5 to 25
• Range changed from 3.5 (90-degree angle) to 3*4.5 (rectangle)
• Exploding Palm Legendary: Scolding Storm
• Damage (non-Explosion) increased from 17.5 to 25
• Range changed from 3.5 (90-degree angle) to 3*4.5 (rectangle)
• Exploding Palm Legendary: Path of the Present
• Damage (non-Explosion) increased from 19.32 to 25
• Exploding Palm Legendary: Reaching Rebuke
• Damage (non-Explosion) increased from 19.8 to 25

Bug Fixes

Gameplay

• Adjusted monster spawn logic to reduce the effectiveness of standing in one place in the Library of Zoltun Kulle and Mount Zavain to farm the same spawn point repeatedly.
• Adjusted the way auto-targeting will work after a player casts the same skill over a sustained duration.
• Developer’s Note: The previous two changes were made to remove the reward of repeating a small rotation of attacks while standing in one place, such as the behavior of some common botting.
• Updated the ability description of Chip of Stoned Flesh from “Each time you cause an enemy loss of control” to “Each time you cause an enemy total loss of control” to clarify which effects cause the gem to proc.
• Developer’s Note: The gem’s explosive effect is only triggered by total loss of control (effects such as stun and fear), not all crowd control effects (such as slow and chill).
• Fixed an issue where some class abilities would not play audio.
• Fixed an issue that would cause Resonance and Combat Rating to display as 0.
• Fixed an issue that caused some doorways to block bosses and other large monsters.
• Fixed an issue that would cause crests to be deducted from disconnected party members after an Elder Rift was cancelled.
• Fixed an Armory interaction issue with items from the Warband Stash.
• Fixed multiple issues that would cause characters to fall through the world.
• Fixed an issue that would allow players to enter a Challenge Rift ahead of party members who have higher latency.
• Fixed an issue that caused Resonance to increase when swapping gems through the Stash.
• Upgrade materials and Dawning Echoes will now be properly returned to players after destroying the upgraded or Awakened item.
• Removed the Paragon Level requirements for some quests.
• Fixed an issue where Chests of Glory were not shared with all party members.
• Fixed an issue that prevented players from using Primary Attack after being interrupted by enemies.
• Experience Globes will now drop in a smaller radius after killing a monster.
• Developer’s Note: Players have expressed frustration with how XP globes are currently dropping in-game, as they would fly out in a random direction from the killed monster. This patch will reduce the radius of how far away they can drop.

Cycle of Strife

• Fixed an issue with some Shadow Contracts that would immediately fail upon entering the quest zone.
• The Immortal Overthrow buff will now clear upon entering a Challenge Rift.
• Fixed an issue that would cause the Immortal to knock players out of the arena during Shadow War.
• Fixed an issue that prevented claiming Shadow Contract rewards.
• Fixed an issue that would cause players to become stuck during some Shadow Contract missions.
• Fixed an issue that would prevent the Corvus Expedition from completing.
• If a Dark Clan leader has not selected a Dark Clan objective, one will automatically be selected on Saturdays.

Battlegrounds

• Adjusted the Battleground preparation UI so that players are properly randomized between attack and defense. Previously, players could determine if they were attacking or defending based on this UI.
• Fixed an issue that would cause players to be put back into queue after entering a Battleground.
• Added a mechanism to prevent players from attacking the Ancient Heart before Phase three has begun.

NPC

• Fixed an issue that would cause Lieutenant Ralvar to become stuck.
• Fixed an issue where some quest NPCs may not be interactable after a cutscene.
• Fixed an issue that caused The Unspoken NPC to be invisible to players.

UI

• Fixed an issue that would cause the HUD to become invisible after triggering the Cycle's End cutscene.
• Fixed an issue that would cause Clan information to be bugged during the end of the Cycle.
• Added an exit button in the Domain of Horror.
• Fixed an issue that prevented Clan invitations.
• Fixed an issue that would cause the Quest Tracker to fill with blank entries after exiting the Path of Blood.
• Fixed an issue where some UI modals could not be dismissed.
• Server recommendations will now be based on language selection.
• Fixed an issue that prevented players from opening the Battle Pass.

Visual

• Fixed camera issues that would occur while fighting Lassal the Flame-Spun.
• Fixed an issue that would cause a black screen when teleporting after upgrading Legendary Gems.

Server

• Fixed an issue where players might get stuck connecting to Battle.net when interacting with the EULA.