This time, it is wings.
Three existing Wing Material types can no longer be obtained through Wing Customization following the August 12 update:
- Mirror Glass
- Spectrum Crystal
- Astral Prism
Before anyone begins checking their character's back for missing decorative architecture, there is some important good news.
Your existing wings are safe.
Blizzard says wings already created with those materials, along with their refinement records, remain unaffected and can continue to be used and retained.
The materials themselves are simply leaving the active customization pool.
You Can Keep the Old Wings
This is not the same kind of retirement Diablo Immortal recently applied to Legendary Essences or the Issatar Imbued Set.
Nothing is being deactivated.
If you already have wings using Mirror Glass, Spectrum Crystal or Astral Prism, their appearance remains intact.
The associated refinement records remain intact too.
What changes is your ability to produce more of them.
Blizzard says the three outgoing materials can no longer be locked during Wing Customization and can no longer appear through random refinement.
So if you already have a particularly nice old combination, congratulations.
You now own the Diablo Immortal equivalent of discontinued wallpaper.
Three New Wing Materials Take Their Place
The old materials are being replaced by three entirely new material series:
- Frost
- Mother of Pearl
- Voidrealm
These are now part of the Wing Customization system and form the next stage of Blizzard's expanding Awakened Wing progression.
The important word here is progression.
Diablo Immortal's wings stopped being simple Resonance trophies quite some time ago. They are increasingly becoming a customization system of their own, complete with materials, refinement records, scores, saved appearances and leaderboard rewards.
Apparently attaching two enormous glowing objects to your shoulder blades was only the beginning.
The Maximum Wing Score Is Now 10,200
The new materials also push the upper end of the system higher.
Blizzard has increased the maximum possible Wing Score to 10,200.
New server-wide reward tiers have been added at Wing Scores of 10,100 and 10,200, giving the most dedicated wing refiners another pair of milestones to chase.
Whether that sounds exciting or like a spreadsheet has grown feathers probably depends on how deeply you are already invested in the system.
Favorites Might Be the Better Change
The more immediately useful addition may actually be the new Favorites feature.
Once a player refines a Wing above a Wing Score of 8,000, they can permanently save up to four refinement records as Favorites.
Favorited records are removed from the normal refinement history and preserved permanently, which means a particularly good result no longer has to sit precariously in a rolling history while you continue experimenting.
Players who already owned a Wing above 8,000 before the update automatically unlock Favorites.
That may sound like a small quality-of-life improvement.
If you have ever accidentally refined away from something you immediately wanted back, it probably sounds considerably larger.
Diablo Immortal Is Rotating Cosmetics Too
The wider pattern is becoming increasingly clear.
Blizzard is not only rotating Legendary powers and Set items anymore.
Parts of Diablo Immortal's cosmetic progression are beginning to rotate as well.
The difference is that the wing system is handling the transition much more gently.
Your old result stays.
Your old refinement record stays.
Only the ability to generate more versions using those materials disappears.
That is probably the least painful version of retirement possible in a game built around collecting things.
And with Frost, Mother of Pearl and Voidrealm arriving immediately afterward, Blizzard clearly does not intend for the Wing Customization menu to get any smaller.
Just different.
And, inevitably, slightly more complicated.
Sources
Blizzard Entertainment: Burn Through the Darkening Decades
