Blizzard details Diablo IV changes its making based on early feedback

destructoid.com:

The Diablo IV open beta weekends came and went in back in March, giving players a little bit of time with the upcoming dungeon crawler. Blizzard also used the occasion to test out its new game a bit, and has detailed some of the changes its making based on feedback from the early Diablo IV play periods, ahead of the full launch in June.

In a blog titled “Diablo IV Open Beta Retrospective, Transforming Feedback Into Change,” Blizzard outlines some lessons learned from the March 17 and 24 weekends. These Early Access and Open Beta periods saw a fair few folks pop on and level up their characters. During that time, Blizzard solicited feedback on the official forums, as well as through forums like Reddit and Discord.

A common piece of feedback Blizzard received was that players felt they did a lot of backtracking in certain dungeons. So, several areas had their dungeons optimized to minimize backtracking: Caldera Gate, Defiled Catacombs, Derelict Lodge, Forbidden City, Hoarfrost Demise, Immortal Emanation, Kor Dragan Barracks, Maulwood, and Rimescar Caverns.

Dungeon event spawn chances have increased as well, and objectives have been updated in order to make completing them less tedious.

Several classes saw changes from the early feedback. Stun and Freeze can be applied to Elite Monsters twice as long before becoming unstoppable, and Legendary Powers have had updates to their effectiveness.

Barbarians get a little more barbaric with a flat 10% passive damage reduction, and the Whirlwind spin deals more damage, while also consuming more Fury.

Druids’ Companion Skills deal “heavily” increased damage, and using a non-Shapeshifting Skill will transform a Druid back into their human form.

For Necromancers, summoned minions will