Season 12 of Diablo 4, known as Season of Slaughter, has drawn widespread criticism from the community due to a severe shortage of Obducite—the key material used in Masterworking gear. Once plentiful, the resource now drops at drastically lower rates, leaving players struggling to enhance equipment and push deeper into endgame content. In Diablo 4 S12, players looking for the best Diablo 4 gold farm can combine high-level dungeons with fast purchases from EZNPC to speed up their progression.
Obducite is essential to the game’s endgame crafting system, serving as the primary material for fully Masterworking weapons and armor. In previous seasons, it could be farmed efficiently through Nightmare Dungeons and Infernal Hordes, allowing players to upgrade gear freely and experiment with builds. However, Season 12’s tuning changes have sharply reduced its availability, with some players reporting as little as 29 Obducite earned from full Infernal Hordes runs—an amount that barely supports basic upgrades.
The scarcity stems from intentional changes introduced in Blizzard’s Season 12 patch notes. Horadric Strongrooms within Nightmare Dungeons now yield only 500 to 800 Obducite per Tier 4 run, down from thousands in earlier seasons. In the Kurast Undercity, a farming hotspot using Tribute of Refinement offerings, average returns have dropped to around 300 Obducite on Torment 4 difficulty—previously closer to 2,000. Even Infernal Horde loot stacks have fallen to just 7 or 8 units per chest. Although Blizzard raised the storage limit to 99,999,999 materials, this adjustment offers little comfort when players struggle to gather enough to fill even a fraction of that capacity.
The reaction from the player base has been immediate and intense. Reddit threads criticizing the “terrible” state of material farming have drawn hundreds of upvotes and comments, with many users saying the change has drained their motivation to play. Others speculate whether the nerf was an unintentional carryover from tuning meant for the upcoming Lord of Hatred expansion. Blizzard’s official forums reflect similar discontent, with multiple posts asking if the sharp drop in Obducite is a bug or simply an overcorrection from the previously generous Season 11.
Despite these reductions, some determined players continue to find limited ways to farm Obducite efficiently. Nightmare Dungeons containing Horadric Strongrooms or Treasure Breach affixes remain worthwhile, potentially yielding between 800 and 4,000 Obducite per run in organized groups. Rotating between Infernal Hordes and Kurast Undercity runs can also help maintain a modest supply, especially for teams that share rewards evenly. Area-of-effect-heavy builds are currently favored for faster clears, though most players restrict Masterworking to one or two crucial gear pieces to avoid wasting scarce resources.
Blizzard has released several hotfixes addressing other Season 12 issues, such as quest and rune bugs, but has yet to comment directly on the Obducite drop rates. Many in the community hope for an imminent tuning pass, citing the short seasonal cycle and mounting frustration among players. Until adjustments arrive, the material scarcity continues to throttle progression, discouraging long-term engagement as players hit unavoidable bottlenecks in their builds.
Season 12 was intended to serve as a fast-paced prelude to the Lord of Hatred expansion, but instead, it has become a test of endurance for a community starved of the very resource that fuels their progress. Unless drop rates are rebalanced soon, Diablo 4’s endgame may remain a grind of unmet potential rather than a showcase of powerful Masterworked builds.
