Diablo 4 nerfs a Necromancer ability that's "so good it has been crashing the game"

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The nerf is a temporary solution while Blizzard works on a permanent fix

Diablo 4 Necromancer
(Image credit: Blizzard)

Diablo 4 has nerfed the Necromancer Blood Lance ability temporarily because it was breaking the game.

In the patch notes for the July 7 hotfix 1.0.4, Diablo 4 community manager Adam Fletcher revealed class changes for Necromancers. Specifically, "Enhanced Blood Lance now pierces up to a maximum of 10 enemies," and the "Aspect of Hungry Blood now fires up to a maximum of 3 Blood Lances per cast."

It seems the patch notes are referring to reports from players that Blood Lance used in conjunction with the above named aspect could cause games to freeze for not just the player using the skill but also anyone else in their session.

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"This is indeed a nerf to Blood Lance, but Blood Lance has been so good for Necromancers that it has been crashing the game!" added Fletcher. "This is a temporary solve while the team reworks the way the Legendary Aspect will function, and we expect this change sometime in Season 1 or shortly after."

Diablo 4 season 1, titled Season of the Malignant, soft launches on July 18 with a small pre-season update, and then the full season and battle pass arrives on July 20. The first season is themed around a "festering curse" that's making baddies even more powerful, but the good news for us players is that killing these Malignant enemies gets you extremely powerful items called Caged Hearts, which Blizzard says can be used for "stupid, broken new builds."

Here's everything we know about the first Diablo 4 battle pass launching alongside season 1.

Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick
Staff Writer

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.