Season 12 is launching soon in Diablo 4, and the official patch notes include a small but potentially impactful change to boss rewards. Blizzard is reducing the experience gained from defeating World Bosses and Lair bosses.
The adjustment appears as a single line in the patch notes, but some players believe it may be related to a leveling strategy that became a little too popular during the previous season.
2.6.0 Build #70982 (All Platforms)—March 11, 2026
Miscellaneous
- Experience rewards have been reduced for defeating World and Lair Bosses.
The AFK World Boss Leveling Strategy
During Season 11, players discovered that certain bosses, especially Azmodan, could grant large amounts of experience.
This led to a simple strategy:
- Join the Azmodan event
- Stay mostly AFK during the fight
- Still receive full experience when the boss dies
Because World Boss and Lair Boss fights are usually completed very quickly by large groups, characters could gain experience with little effort.
Blizzard Adjusting Boss Rewards
Blizzard has not confirmed that the change is targeting this strategy. However, reducing the experience from these bosses would naturally make this type of leveling much less attractive.
Instead, players will have to rely more on regular activities such as Helltides, Nightmare Dungeons, or seasonal content when leveling characters.
With Season 12 about to start, it is still unclear how much the change will affect leveling speed. The strategy could still work to some extent, especially for players leveling alternate characters who simply want passive experience during a boss event.
Make sure to head to our Diablo 4 news hub for more updates on Season 12 and beyond.
