The early access period forDiablo 4began less than 24 hours ago and already players are rolling credits on the campaign and beginning to reach the endgame ahead of the Battle Pass' arrival in July. One of the more interesting occurrences that has come about between the betas and the early release period is the collection of information regardingDiablo 4’s complex loot system, as players with review builds had two full weeks with a special server-bound character build on which to score the game. In addition to the legendary loot drops that significantly change gameplay, Aspects have proven to be a determining force in how players progress into the endgame.
Aspects are a new item type inDiablo 4that serve as passive upgrades to be imprinted on equipment. Once imprinted, these Aspects can provide significant changes to character abilities or make certain classes and builds more viable. In addition to Aspects that are applicable across any character, there are class-specific ones that will completely transform how a character plays or are necessary for endgame builds. Aspects can be the linchpin of a player’sbuild inDiablo 4and are essential for attempting higher world tiers or facing off against world bosses.
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Why Players Will Want to Source the Right Aspects
Players won’t be able tocollect and unlockDiablo 4Aspectsuntil either reaching level 25 or completing the dungeon that unlocks the Codex of Power. Once Aspects are available, it should become a regular part of character maintenance to imprint Aspects onto gear that provide buffs to builds and playstyle. Aspects essentially add qualities to gear that might normally be found on a legendary drop and can be imprinted onto or extracted from gear as part of a character’s permanent loadout.
Essentially, once players begin to acquire legendary loot drops, those pieces of gear can have their attributes extracted as an Aspect which can then be imprinted onto an applicable piece of gear. The benefit to the Aspect system is twofold. First, players are not as dependent on gear drops to significantly boost their character’s power as they progress later into the game. Additionally, once players have a powerful Aspect specific to theirchosenDiablo 4class, they can craft their build around its utility.
Pros and Cons to the Aspect System in Diablo 4
While the Aspects do provide players with significant boosts to their classes and chosen builds, the power does come at a cost. to imprint Aspects onto gear, players will require both gold andthe Veiled Crystals resourcewhich can only be harvested from salvaged rare gear. Players will need to regularly salvage gear in order to have the necessary resources for imprinting a weapon or armor piece with an Aspect. The extraction process also comes at a high cost – the destruction of the piece of gear the Aspect was imprinted on. When it comes to which pieces of gear to imprint an Aspect on, it’s a balancing act to determine if the choice is sound based on potentially needing to destroy the item later.
One thing to note about Aspects is that they are likely to majorly influenceDiablo 4’s meta and build crafting, much more than legendary gear drops from slaying enemies or completing dungeons. BecauseDiablois a looter at its core, the inclusion of Aspects does somewhat undermine the gameplay loop of powering up a character to take it through harder and harder challenges in hopes of obtaining that one ultimate drop towards transforming a build. Loot has typically been the carrot on the stick that keeps players engaged inDiablo, and it will be interesting to see how the inclusion of Aspects changes the way players approach gear.
Diablo 4is available now in early access with its full launch coming June 6 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
