It’s fair to say that reaction to Diablo 4 Season 3 has been mixed so far, but some players are thankful to it for highlighting a wider issue.
Every Diablo 4 season isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, this is unavoidable and Season 3 was always going to face an uphill battle after the success of Season 2. Vampires are always cool, so the constructs of Season 3 always had big shoes to fill. While Zoltun Kulle‘s traps have the Diablo community divided, there’s one thing dominating everyone’s thoughts when it comes to Season 3 of Diablo 4.
That’s the Seneschal companion, the little robot who follows you and fights alongside you in Season 3. While the Seneschal isn’t so tough in combat, its main strength is the buffs it gives you by adding certain stones to its body, not unlike Vampire Powers from Season 2. While some players are disappointed by the little guy’s lack of power in basic combat, others are pleased that this has highlighted a bigger issue in Diablo 4 – the fact that pets and companions feel so underpowered in the game.
It’s a common gripe in Diablo 4 that Necromancer and Druid minion builds feel underwhelming when compared to some of their counterparts in Diablo 3, namely the Necro and Witch Doctor, who were that game’s summoner classes. Diablo 4 also omits Mercenaries and the customizable companions from Diablo 3. While some NPCs follow you around in certain quests, they’re barely noticeable in battle.
Diablo 4 Season 3: Seneschal companion
While many Reddit threads have been written lamenting the weakness of minions, including the Seneschal, some players are actually happy that Season 3 has finally highlighted this issue to players who were previously unaware that companions were weaker than in previous games. One user started his thread by saying:
“I frickin’ LOVE this season (hear me out). Thanks to the Seneschal, now everyone gets to see, gets to experience, gets to FEEL just how hilariously detached the devs’ concept of what a minion should be is. If you find yourself unimpressed and disappointed by your little robot, remember to pour one out for your Summoner Necro [Edit: and Pet Druid] homies.”
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Lots of players agreed, posting replies such as: “What’s the point of putting anything on a dedicated skill tree for a specific character if you have 0 intention to fully support those skills to be viable and impactful choices when the player chooses to invest skill points into those abilities?”
And: “I really hope the abysmal failure of the Seneschal – a minion they were TRYING to make fun, functional, and powerful – shows them that their idea of what is “balanced power” in an AI buddy is horrendously off.”
Others suggested ways that Blizzard could improve minion builds saying: “We need a command skill, a buff minions skill, and a debug enemy skill. With two minion skills on your bar, a basic attack skill, and those three types of skills… that’s your basic summoner/pet action bar sorted.”
While some were more positive about minion builds, saying that Season 3 has made some more effective. One said: “Summoner Necro is popping off this season… go look at Krips GolemMancer.”
It’ll be interesting to see how minion/pet builds do in future seasons and if Blizzard gives companions such as the Seneschal additional buffs to make them more powerful in combat.