Diablo 4 will no longer include Conduit Shrines until “further notice,” according to Blizzard.
The news comes via a brief blurb in the Diablo 4 Season 8 patch notes, which states Conduit Shrines will no longer appear come the release of the game’s latest season and that Blizzard has heard player feedback on the unpopular shrine.
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“We are disabling them until further notice while reworking them,” Blizzard said.
Conduit Shrines have long been unpopular in Diablo 4. Unlike other shrines that merely augment a player’s existing power, Conduit Shrines transform player characters into a ball of lightning, making it so they can’t use abilities and instead deal arcing shock damage to nearby enemies.
That works great for low-level players or ones without optimized builds, when the shrine can help to clear out large packs of monsters. But Conduit Shrines very quickly become useless and actively annoying as players progress through the game. The fact they make it so that normal class abilities can’t be used make them far less efficient given that players can’t use any of their various mobility skills or ones they’ve tailored their entire builds around, and at higher levels, Conduit Shrines simply do way less damage than players can do on their own.
Blizzard did try to make Conduit Shrines better back in Diablo 4 Season 6, changing it so damage shrines like Conduit, Blast Wave, and Artillery scaled based on a player’s level and Paragon level. While it was an improvement, it didn’t fix the underlying issue of Conduit Shrines robbing players of their normal abilities, and many players have continued to avoid using the shrines at all costs.
As for when Conduit Shrines might make a comeback, Blizzard did not release any further details on its plans or a timeline on when players could expect the shrines to return.
Diablo 4 Season 8 begins April 29. Season 8, Belial’s Return, brings big changes to Diablo 4’s core progression loop, with an overhaul of its endgame bosses. The season also introduces a revamp of the Diablo 4’s battle pass system alongside a crossover with the dark fantasy manga Berserk.
