A source of excitement has suddenly become one of frustration for certain high-level Diablo 4 players, as Treasure Goblins are seemingly too powerful.
Treasure Goblins are a common sight within the world of Sanctuary in Diablo 4. They function very similarly to how they used to before in prior Diablo games, containing precious loot and random treasure that will drop should you attack them before they’re able to scarper away. However, last week some players noticed that some Treasure Goblins are doing much more damage to players than intended. In some cases high-level character classes on Hardcore are being killed in one hit.
News of Treasure Goblins’ increased power in Diablo 4 came to light when Icy Veins reported that a level 85 character was killed by one while it was running a tier 37 Nightmare Dungeon. In the footage Diablo 4 player Killthuzad – who was streaming on Twitch at the time – unexpectedly dies to a Treasure Goblin’s Death Pulse, which is expected as it’s a move described in-game as doing “deadly”, but not to the point that it should result in death.
Let’s not forget that Hardcore difficulty is Diablo 4’s permadeath mode, meaning that in instances like this where a Treasure Goblin kills you, players (as was the case with Killthuzad) will be instantly returned to the menu screen; there is no way to claim that character build back. This has led players, such as Faraddox on the Blizzard forum, to make known their belief that the Treasure Goblin Death Pulse is simply too powerful. Treasure Goblins weren’t reported to be an issue prior to the game’s recent 1.0.3 update.
Fortunately, over the weekend, Activision Blizzard acknowledged the fact that some Treasure Goblins are doing too much damage, responding to Kotaku in a statement that “This is a known issue that will be addressed in a future patch coming before the start of Season 1.” Diablo 4 Season 1 is expected to start some time in “mid-July” with an official announcement coming this week, so hopefully Treasure Goblins won’t continue to be a nuisance for much longer.
Goblin mode
The unruly nature of Treasure Goblins is just the latest example of why I would argue Diablo 4 needs an offline mode – one where players can play the game casually without fear of forever losing all their progress. True, playing online on Hardcore mode is part of the buzz for most Diablo veterans and likely wouldn’t have aided Killthuzad’s case, but it’s yet another example of how constantly tweaked stats and balance tweaks throw up unexpected errors and intentions.
I would question why Treasure Goblins needed to be tweaked at all, if they even were in the Diablo 4 1.0.3 update that arrived early last week. Around launch there were very few complaints that they were either to easy or tough to kill, with players instead having the (pretty much expected) issue of merely trying to log in. In this instance, Activision Blizzard were quick to issue a fix, even if it meant the game was taken down for maintenance.
Thank heavens, then, that Activision is committed to offering yet another hot fix prior to the arrival of Diablo 4 Season 1. The details of which are set to be announced in a livestream this Thursday, July 6, so expect the Treasure Goblin bug to be resolved within the next two weeks or so.
