The new Diablo Immortal Fractured Plane event is pleasing players of the Blizzard RPG game. Diablo Immortal has certainly seen its fair share of criticism in the months since its release, with community site Maxroll stopping coverage to protest the game’s microtransaction model and Diablo Immortal warbands proving a consistent source of frustration among players. However, there’s still plenty to love in the fantasy game, and the August 17 Diablo Immortal update has proven to be popular so far.
Introduced with the update is a new limited-time event called Fractured Plane, which steps away from the traditional Diablo Immortal leveling and progression systems. Instead, Fractured Plane is a roguelike mode that takes away all of your currently equipped skills, gear, and legendary gems. Instead, you must tackle a 15-floor gauntlet beginning with basic items and a randomly rolled skill set, finding armour and equipment as you progress.
As you defeat enemies and explore the Fractured Plane, you find ‘unstable legendary gear’ – this is only usable inside the event, but will always be of legendary rarity and will be chosen to complement the skills your character has available. Blizzard says that this event is designed to test knowledge of the classes, and “to invite players to try new skills and legendary items that they might not typically use, while offering a nuanced, but challenging, way to play Diablo Immortal.”
You can also earn Chaos Coins as you progress, a currency used to buy new items or exchanged for Shards of Fortune, which increase your odds of finding higher-quality legendaries from the chests you find. There’s a tempting reward on offer for success, too – make it to the fifteenth floor after five deaths or fewer, and you can choose any six of the unstable legendary items you have encountered. You will then be awarded one of the chosen legendaries at random as a reward to take home with you and keep.
Generally, players seem to be mostly very positive about the new event. Some say the lack of gear restrictions makes the content more readily available to players who might be struggling with gear requirements for endgame events such as the Helliquary fights. Others say they appreciate that there is actually a reason to stay alive. “There is almost no penalty for dying in Diablo Immortal,” remarks one user, “but Fractured Plane sparked my survival instinct like Diablo 1 did.”
One group who seems to be having a little less fun than normal, however, are the whales – a term used to describe Diablo Immortal’s biggest spenders, who in some instances have invested tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars into their characters. A humorous thread on the game’s subreddit comments, “The best thing about the new Fractured Plane event is watching the whales fail and ask for help in chat because their gear/resonance doesn’t factor in, hahaha!”
In response, some players discuss the potential that a PvP battlegrounds mode with a similar setup could be a lot of fun for more casual or lower-spending users. “Go in naked, choose six equipment pieces, then go gladiator,” reads one comment, while another suggests the complete reverse – “I think they should do a special event where you can choose any legendary gems you want!” With many of Diablo Immortal’s detractors pointing to a feeling that they need to spend money at a certain point in the progression as a major complaint, events like the Fractured Plane certainly seem like a good way to appease that audience.
While you’re traversing the Fractured Plane, be sure to keep an eye out for the best Diablo Immortal legendaries. If you’re gearing up for other events outside the Fractured Plane, keep a close eye out for a Diablo Immortal experience bug that reduces your earned EXP. We’ve also got the best Diablo Immortal builds to work towards, and even a Diablo Immortal tier list if you’re still unsure which of the game’s classes you want to play.
