Blizzard’s new Strongroom activity in Diablo 4 Season 9 introduced Horadric Pillars as part of the challenge. But players on Reddit have a very fair question: Do these pillars actually make a difference, or are we just clicking shiny statues for nothing?
What Are Horadric Pillars Supposed to Do?
When entering a Strongroom, you get to pick up to three Horadric Pillars (or more if you are playing on higher difficulties). Each one modifies your run, either by:
- Buffing your character (more speed, more Attunement gain)
- Adding modifiers to enemies
- Unlocking special mechanics (like summoning a boss)
You then have 100 seconds to earn Horadric Attunement, your score for that run, by killing monsters and completing rituals.
Most of These Pillars Do Nothing
On the previous Reddit thread we linked, players are really wondering what is the point of these Pillars? Most feel completely useless, or how they mentioned it in the post, “inconsequential”.
Most players seem to simply pick them randomly and just head into the challenge, not carrying the slightest bit about what pillars they picked. Many even admitted to not even read the Pillar options. The effects are either too small to be cared about, or unclear.
But in the End, Is Any of the Pillars Actually Worth It?
A few players do seem to actually care about the specific pillars they pick, and here is the result that came out of all the comments! The best pillars are:
- Special boss at Attunement 3 – Grants you a huge boost to Attunement. This one is mostly fun and rewarding.
- Swiftness motes – Give your character a pretty big movement speed boosts, even breaking the usual 200% cap. Simply helps to clear way faster.
- Tethered monsters complete rituals – This one allows you to skip some ritual mechanics. Also helps you clear faster.
- Approaching enemies count as ritual completions – This one will help you fill the Attunement bar quickly.
- % Attunement gain – Just makes it overall easier to complete the Attunement bar.
Almost everything else is either irrelevant, unclear, or annoying.
Why the Pillar System Feels Off
Players also highlighted the main issue, that is bad in-game clarity. Many did not realize they needed to interact with items on the ground after selecting certain pillar effects, for example. Some modifiers rely on not using potions or evades, and that is not always obvious or intuitive. For example, if you use an Evade Spiritborn, not being able to evade will pretty much lock you out from completing the Strongroom properly.
The result? Most players just pick the rarest-looking statues and run, skipping mechanics entirely. A few even said they would rather disable the system entirely. Here is what players hope Blizzard might do in future updates:
- Add better descriptions or tooltips. Instead of making the objectives so blurry, adding less lazy descriptions could make the difference.
- Link pillar choices more directly to loot and rewards. For example, if you pick the Pillar that spawns stronger enemies or a boss, you get more rewards, or a higher chance for Mythics or something like that.
- Make more variate Pillars. There are not that many options, and some builds can not make use of those. Having more options can make things more entertaining for everyone.
Overall, the best Pillars for now are those that will make your run faster or fill your attunement bar quicker, and the rest is mostly a random pick that will not impact your run that much. If you play an evade build, make sure to not take the Pillar that prevents you from using evade. That is basically all you need to remember for now!
