Lord of Hatred officially confirms a major gameplay change and fans aren't happy

Blizzard has confirmed it Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred is set to increase Torment levels for four to 12. This will completely change the difficulty curve for Diablo 4and bring the system more in line with what is in Diablo 3. However, fans have not received the news positively.

Torment is how Diablo 4 handles the difficulty level in the end game. The game has four standard difficulties: Normal, Hard, Expert and Penitent. However, when players reach level 60 and beat level 20 in The Pit with a character, players unlock the ability to enter Torment 1 in Diablo 4. This increases the game's difficulty significantly, reducing players' armor and resistance to attacks. As a result, players earn more XP and gold from killing monsters, which increases with each level of Torment. There are currently four Torment difficulties in Diablo 4each representing a significant step up from the last. Reaching a new Torment level is a huge step for a character's development, which is why the current system is so popular.

A Warlock shoots a fire spell at an enemy in Diablo 4.

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Diablo 4 confirms that Torment 12 is coming in Lord of Hatred

In a recent YouTube interview with content creator wudijo, Diablo 4 Associate Game Director Zaven Haroutunian revealed that the upcoming Lord of Hate expansion will introduce 12 Torment levels in total, a big increase from the current four. Haroutunian talked about how certain content like The Pit scales much better than a lot of other content in the game, which Blizzard wants to address. “We have all the other rest of the game, all these other activities that don't go past a certain point. So on Lord of Hatewe are actually adding Torment levels up to 12. The 12 will not surpass The Pit. We are not actually inflating the numbers past the current ceiling. What we're actually doing is saying, 'Hey, all these activities, all this content, can be competitive,' so you're not just stuck in one place at the end of the game.”

Essentially, Blizzard wants to make more content doable for Diablo 4s playoffs. Right now, players are often stuck in a loop doing the same activities for the fastest possible XP. By introducing more Torment levels i Lord of Hatethe aim is to introduce more variety than currently exists.

While the approach makes sense when explained this way, many fans were left extremely unhappy in a thread posted on Reddit. Some compared it unfavorably to Diablo 3which features 16 levels of Torment, and has long been criticized for how it diminishes the sense that difficulty actually matters. The top commenter in the thread claims, “They just keep flipping between design directions,” while also pointing out that this change will further divide the player base. Users can only play with others of the same Torment level, so the player base that previously existed between Torment 1-4 will now be split between Torment 1-12. As one user says, “T1-3 are ghost towns within a week,” a problem that could get even worse when there are eight more Torment levels dividing players.

This is the first official confirmation Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred increases the number of Torment levels in the game. Blizzard actually teased more Torment levels a few weeks ago, under Diablo 30th anniversary in focus. A brief moment of footage showed off some Torment 5 gameplay, confirming that at least one more level was on the way. It was still not certain how many would be added in total, and the jump to 12 is a significant increase.

Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred will be released on April 28, 2026, adding the new Warlock class to the game among other features. Before that, Blizzard also launches Diablo 4 Season 12, Season of Slaughter, which allows players to transform into The Butcher for the first time ever. Due to the proximity to Lord of HateSeason 12 will be slightly shorter than other seasons, but regardless, fans are in for an exciting few months.