Monster Combat Overhaul

Season 11 also reworks how monsters behave, their roles, and Diablo 4 Items how you engage them in combat. The result: every fight will feel more dangerous, less predictable, and tactically richer. 

Key Changes

Each monster type now has a distinct role and identity in battle; they will respond dynamically and adaptively to your tactics.

Enemy affixes are stronger. Monster packs now spread out more naturally, reducing the effectiveness of "nuke-everything at once" strategies. Champion enemies have been reworked into coordinated Champion Packs. 

Elite monsters receive the biggest update: 20+ new affixes, minion spawns inheriting some of their powers, fewer overlapping affixes for clarity, and improved visuals to better telegraph threats. 

What this means for you: Faster, smarter gear and builds won't entirely carry you anymore - you'll need decision-making, positioning, and awareness. Players who thought they could steamroll by stacking damage may find Season 11's PTR a fresh challenge.

Defense, Healing & Fortify Reworks

Survivability mechanics in Diablo IV get a thorough shake-out in Season 11. The goal? Make defenses clearer, build more consistent, and make healing more tactical.

Toughness - A New Core Stat

A new derived stat: Toughness, which quantifies how much raw damage you can absorb after all mitigation. This offers a visible, effective health number to compare.

Armor and Resistances now work as rating systems with diminishing returns. Armor now mitigates all damage types (not just physical). Physical Resistance is introduced as a new damage type. Torment penalty for Armor/Resist removed. 

Healing & Potions

Potion capacity is now fixed at 4 (regardless of previously earned Renown). Potions instantly restore 35% of your total Life when used. A passive regeneration restores one Potion every 30 seconds during combat. 

Life on Hit, Life Regeneration, and Life on Kill affixes have been improved and appear more frequently. Potion upgrade tiers are removed (because effectiveness now scales with max life).

To prepare for this, buy Diablo 4 materials and resources used in potion crafting to keep yourself alive during extended fights.

Fortify Redesign

Fortify now acts as a secondary life pool rather than just passive damage reduction. When you gain Fortify, it stacks up toward your Max Life; while you have any Fortify, you will heal a percentage of your Max Life per second, consuming Fortify in cheap Diablo 4 gold the process.