Compared to previous games, Diablo 4 has brought significant changes to many aspects of the game. At its core, Diablo 4 is still very much a dungeon crawler that players can enjoy for years to come. That said, Diablo 4 brings with it a bunch of new systems and changes that allow it to stand out among its predecessors. Beyond just the more open world style in this game, there are also countless side quests to undertake and dungeons to explore.
Even boss fights in Diablo 4 have seen some changes and include things that were not in previous Diablo games. This especially includes the stagger mechanic. This guide will explain what stagger is, and how players can make the most of it.
Stagger Explained
As players are fighting a boss in Diablo 4, they will notice that below the boss's health bar there is a small yellow bar that will slowly fill. This is the stagger bar. As players fight the boss, the stagger bar will gradually fill up. Once it is full, the bar will turn light blue and the boss will stop moving and will not attack players.
During this time, players are free to damage the boss without worrying about any mechanics or other dangers. Not only that, but players do significantly more damage to a boss while it is in this staggered state. All skills that do more damage to a target with a debuff will work when a boss is staggered. This effect lasts for only a short time, so players will want to make the most of it. It is important to know that this is not just for world bosses like Ashava, and that any boss encountered can be staggered and then unloaded upon.
But how exactly does the stagger bar work? One thing that Diablo 4 players will notice is that bosses are, at first, completely immune to any form of crowd control debuffs. Bosses cannot be stunned, frozen, or immobilized. Instead, any time one of these debuffs would have gone off it instead fills the stagger bar. The amount isn't much per attack. Every attack that fills the stagger bar adds about .45 to .55 stagger to the stagger bar according to visual pop-ups during boss fights.
Are there Any Skills that Boost Stagger?
Since stagger only applies to boss fights, there are unfortunately no skills or abilities that specifically deal with stagger or boosting how much stagger players can deal per hit on a boss. Instead, if Diablo 4 players want to boost how quickly the stagger bar fills on a boss, they can focus on having as many skills with crowd control effects equipped as possible. Having a skill that inflicts Vulnerable will be especially helpful when a boss gets staggered, as this can boost damage even further.
Diablo 4 is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.