Diablo 4 Season 11 Public Test Realm (PTR) is wrapping up, and chances are you’ve heard buzz about the new changes—especially the revamped item progression systems. While some tweaks feel player-friendly, the Sanctification system? It’s shaping up to be a brutal test of patience (and grind). Let’s break down why it’s leaving so many fans frustrated.

Blizzard did get some things right with Season 11’s reworked gear systems:

• Tempering: Finally, you can pick the exact affixes you want—and revert changes anytime. No more wasting materials on unwanted rolls. It’s a game-changer for building personalized, min-maxed gear.
• Masterworking: This allows you to directly enhance an item’s quality. Once you hit max quality, you unlock a Capstone Bonus, upgrading regular affixes to powerful Greater Affixes. It’s a clear, satisfying path to strengthening your gear—no guesswork, just steady progress.

These systems show respect for players’ time. But then there’s Sanctification—the supposed “endgame” upgrade that’s undoing all that goodwill.

Sanctification: The “Main Event” That’s Letting Players Down

Sanctification is meant to be the final step in perfecting your gear, with five possible effects:
1. Add a new Legendary Aspect (creating dual-Aspect gear)
2. Convert one affix to an Ancestral-tier roll
3. Add a brand-new Sanctified affix
4. Randomly turn one existing affix into a Sanctified one
5. Make the gear so that it never loses durability
Sounds great on paper—until you realize: the outcome is 100% random, and there’s no way to reset it.

Think about what goes into a gear piece before Sanctification. You grind for hours to find a high-stat base, tweak affixes with Tempering, sink scarce resources into Masterworking to hit max quality, and unlock that Capstone Bonus. By the time you’re ready to Sanctify, you’ve poured days (or weeks) of effort into that “perfect base” (the ideal foundation for endgame gear).

Then you hit the Sanctify button—and it all falls apart.

The Problem: Randomness + No Second Chances = Devastation

The worst part isn’t just the randomness—it’s the irreversibility. Let’s say you’re chasing a dual-Aspect weapon to finish your build. You spend millions of materials (farmable only after hours of grinding) to sanctify it… and get “never lose durability” (a near-useless perk for endgame players).
Or worse: You’re one Ancestral affix away from a “Best in Slot” (BiS) piece. But Sanctification randomly turns your throwaway defense affix into a Sanctified one—ruining the gear entirely. There’s no do-over, no way to salvage your progress. All that time, all those materials? Poof. Gone.
For casual players, this isn’t just annoying—it’s demotivating. Grinding millions of materials can take weeks. Losing it all to a bad roll isn’t “Diablo-style randomness”—it’s punishment for investing in the game.

Why This Hurts More Than Old Diablo RNG

Some might say, “Randomness is part of Diablo!” But Season 11’s other systems contradict that. Tempering lets you correct mistakes; Masterworking gives you control. Sanctification feels like a step backward—forcing players to gamble, not build.

Worse, Sanctification is mandatory for the endgame. Without it, even your best gear will struggle against high-difficulty content. So you’re not just “choosing” to gamble—you’re forced to. PTR players already report destroying multiple near-BiS diablo 4 items, draining their resources, and having to restart from scratch. It’s “back to square one” frustration that’s killing excitement for the season.

What Players Actually Want (It’s Simple)

Fans don’t hate randomness—they hate pointless randomness and irreversible loss. Here’s how to fix it:
Let players reset Sanctification (even for a high material cost). A second chance, even an expensive one, is better than none.
Let players pick a “category” of Sanctification (e.g., “Add an Aspect” or “Upgrade to Ancestral”) before rolling. It keeps randomness alive but cuts down on soul-crushing failures.
Right now, the PTR’s Sanctification system ignores these needs. Instead, it’s adding another layer of grind with zero safety net.

The Clock Is Ticking for Blizzard

With the PTR ending soon, players are begging Blizzard to adjust Sanctification. Diablo 4’s magic has always been about the satisfaction of grinding—farming, crafting, and finally holding that perfect piece of gear. Sanctification, as it stands, takes that satisfaction away.
If Blizzard doesn’t fix this before Season 11 launches, many fans will walk away. No one wants to spend weeks grinding materials, only to watch them vanish because of a bad roll. For a game built on grind, that’s a fatal flaw.