MMOexp: Diablo 4’s Battle Pass Overhaul Leaves Players Disappointed

Looking ahead, Diablo 4’s 2025 roadmap offers some glimmers of hope. Season 9 will introduce a spellcrafting system, allowing players to create their own abilities-including a potentially overpowered teleport skill. Another crossover event is scheduled for later in the year, though Blizzard will need to earn back player trust if it wants that event to succeed. The second expansion for Diablo 4 is also on Diablo IV Gold the horizon, though it won’t launch until sometime in 2026.

Until then, players are stuck with a system that many feel is overly monetized, confusing to navigate, and prone to accidental purchases. While Blizzard’s promise to improve things in the future is welcome, it doesn’t change the fact that the current Reliquary system feels like a downgrade from what came before. For now, fans are left hoping that Season 9 brings not just new features-but a return to more player-friendly design.

Reliquary Rethink: Diablo 4’s Battle Pass Overhaul Leaves Players Disappointed

The launch of Diablo 4’s Reliquary system in Season 8 was meant to reinvent the seasonal progression experience-but instead, it’s left a bitter taste in the mouths of many longtime players. What was pitched as a flexible, more player-driven reward system has quickly become one of the most criticized additions to Blizzard’s dark fantasy ARPG.

Initially, the Reliquary system appeared to be a meaningful evolution. Unlike the previous linear battle pass model, Reliquaries allowed players to choose which rewards they wanted to pursue. In theory, this offered customization and a sense of agency. However, players soon discovered that the changes brought with them a slew of frustrating design choices, monetization traps, and a notable reduction in value.

A post by Reddit user Loika sparked widespread discussion after highlighting how Reliquaries are structured. The most controversial point? While players can earn “Favor Tokens” by playing the game and use them to unlock items, those same rewards can also be bought instantly with Platinum-the game’s premium currency. Worse still, the game’s UI heavily favors the Platinum purchase path, putting it front and center while burying the free cheap Diablo IV Gold option behind secondary prompts.