[GameSpot] - Diablo Immortal Locks New Stash Tabs Behind A Paywall

[343iBot]

Diablo Immortal's latest update will give users more inventory space, albeit at a premium price.

As explained in a new blog post, additional stash tabs will be available starting on February 8 for players in the Americas and February 7 for the rest of the world, once the new update to Blizzard's free-to-play mobile game arrives. On paper, new stash tabs sound like a no-brainer and a welcome addition, and Blizzard admits that more storage is one of the game's "most requested" features. However, players will need to pay up if they want to access the expanded inventory space.

The first new stash tab can be purchased for 2,000 Platinum, Diablo Immortal's premium currency. Players can earn small amounts of Platinum over time just by playing, and it is also the currency used for the game's auction house. The currency can additionally be purchased outright for real money. Most players should be able to earn this stash tab relatively easily.

Accessing the second new stash tab is where things get messier. Players will need an active Boon of Plenty subscription to access the second tab. The Boon of Plenty grants users a month's worth of additional daily login rewards for $10 per month, and now an additional stash tab is an added benefit of having an active subscription. Any items stored in this premium stash once a Boon of Plenty expires will remain in the stash, but cannot be put back in the stash once removed and no additional items can be added until the player purchases another Boon of Plenty.

Other changes coming in the minor, quality-of-life-focused update includes adjustments to the invulnerability phases of many of the game's boss encounters. In most cases, Blizzard is removing or shortening the invulnerability phase.

"Boss invulnerability phases break the flow of combat, making them some of the most noticeable forms of downtime in a dungeon, but they also allow for storytelling and gameplay pacing…Our goal is to reduce the overall downtime in dungeons, especially during combat, but we don't want this reduction to come at a cost to players' experiences," Blizzard writes.

The game's Path of Blood system is becoming more rewarding, with more rewards per floor and the ability to skip ahead to boss floors and earn rewards for all skipped floors once cleared. Bounties are also becoming more lucrative, with bounties that previously dished out 1.2x rewards now granting 5x the rewards.

This latest Diablo Immortal update will additionally introduce a new limited-time event, the Perils of the Fen, where players can complete tasks to earn additional rewards. Later in the month, on February 16, Diablo Immortal will introduce its Season 10 Battle Pass.

Development on Diablo Immortal will continue despite a messy breakup between Blizzard and Diablo Immortal co-developer NetEase Games. While all other Blizzard titles in China are now offline due to the end of a contract between the two companies, development and support for Diablo Immortal is covered under a separate agreement and will continue, even as Blizzard seeks out a new publishing partner for its games in China.

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