Diablo 4 Season 9 just started, but not everyone is having a good time, especially when it comes to Lair Bosses. In a recent Reddit discussion, players shared their frustrations with these encounters, calling them “unfun,” “tedious,” and “visually unclear.”
But it is not just about complaining. Many people also offered concrete ideas for how to improve these fights while keeping them challenging and meaningful.
You can take a look at the original post here:
One-Shot Mechanics Everywhere
A recurring theme in the thread is how unforgiving and unclear boss mechanics have become, especially in higher Torment levels. Even well-geared characters with over 12,000 HP, full armor, and max resistances are getting instantly deleted by attacks that are hard to see and react to.
“This is an ARPG. This is not the way,” one player wrote. “When you’re geared for the content, one-shot mechanics should be few and far between and extremely well telegraphed.”
Bosses like Beast in the Ice and Andariel were singled out for attacks that either blend into the environment or trigger with little warning, making the experience feel more about guessing than skill. For example, Andariel has mechanics that are either exactly the same as the ground, or as your attacks (for example for Necromancer blood spells). This makes it hard to even see the attacks in the first place.
Forced Phases Kill the Fun
Another major complaint is the forced invulnerability phases baked into many boss fights. Players note that this mechanic feels out of place in an ARPG, where building a powerful character should feel rewarding.
“If I’m decked out and strong, I should be able to steamroll stuff. That’s part of the fun,” one commenter said.
Instead, fights with bosses like Andariel or Duriel are broken up into scripted waiting periods, turning what should be an epic battle into a loop of burst → invulnerable → dodge → repeat. Even worse, these phases are not particularly engaging, they often just involve running in circles.
For example, Andariel is not hard to beat, but you are forced to go through her invulnerability phased, where you are stuck running in a circle killing each totem. It makes boss farming longer, but the rewards remain unchanged.
Long Battles, Low Rewards
For a type of content that many players will farm hundreds of times per season, Lair Bosses do not feel worth the effort. Battles are longer and less exciting, but the rewards have not scaled accordingly.
“Bosses are now spammable, unrewarding, and tedious, with nothing to show for the time spent,” comments another player.
That is a tough pill to swallow, especially for players who are already pushing the most challenging endgame content like Pit 100 clears, only to feel punished for their power when facing lair bosses.
Most people will just get the uniques they need, and skip the Lair Bosses they do not need entirely. Some seem to go as far as taking builds that only use Bosses with no one-shot or invulnerability mechanic, just so they can farm their gear faster.
What Players Want Instead
The community is not calling for a return to faceroll difficulty, but they are asking for a more thoughtful balance:
- Make boss telegraphs clearer with better visual contrast.
- Let strong players skip phases if they deal enough damage.
- Add actual mechanics to boss fights beyond one-shots. The boss does not need to have a one-shot mechanic to be interesting. It needs proper mechanics.
- Scale rewards with difficulty and time investment. If you make bosses longer to farm, make them more rewarding.
There is a shared desire to make boss battles feel like battles of skill, where players are rewarded for reacting well, building smart, and playing consistently. Not where they get one-shot because the boss’ ability is the exact same colour as the floor.
While Diablo 4 has faced its share of criticism lately, this thread shows that many players still care deeply about the game. They just want boss fights to feel fun and fair. There is a global wish to help make the game better for both hardcore players and casuals.
