Crowd control or CC in Diablo 4 is one of the many unexplained terms, but it’s worth understanding how it works because your build will depend on that. During your journey, you will face mobs and hordes of enemies more often, and knowing the effects of crowd control and what counts as such, is crucial. This guide will explain it in simple terms so that even new entrants to this franchise or genre can make the most of their build.
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Note that you can’t CC bosses but can fill their stagger bar. When the bar is full, the boss is open for attacks which are when you can go ahead and drain a chunk of its health. But once a boss is staggered, the game considers it as all of the 11 Crowd Control effects in Diablo 4 applied simultaneously on the boss. So your abilities and gears suited for CC enemies will work well here. Wondering what all 11 CC effects are in the game? Read on to learn every about CC and to make the most out of it for your build.
What is Crowd Control in Diablo 4?
Crowd control is a mechanic in D4 with which you can affect enemies’ movement and reduce the power of their movement/abilities on your character. After ‘crowd controlling’ them, you can unleash the barrage of your attacks, effectively turning them to dust.
Can every class CC Enemies?
Every class has crowd-controlling skills, bonuses and affixes. A few are mentioned below:
- Barbarian can slow enemies by 50% for 5 seconds with a Mighty Leap.
- Druid’s Innate Cyclone Armor knocks back enemies and makes them Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
- Rogue’s Methodical Caltrops deals Cold damage and Chills enemies for 20% per second.
- Socerer’s Shocking Impact deals Lightning damage to enemies every time you stun them.
- Necromancer’s Prime Blood Wave slows enemies by 50% for 4 seconds.
Can Enemies Crowd-Control you?
Enemies can also inflict CC on your character so there’s a chance you will be frozen, dazed, immobilized, etc as well. This can happen via a 1v1 attack or AoE damage. When you are CC’d, you are Control Impaired. To reduce the amount of time you spend in this effect, you need to use the affix Control Impaired duration reduction.
What Counts as Crowd Control in Diablo 4?
There are 11 Crowd Control debuffs – Stun, Knockdown, Knockback, Immobilize, Slow, Daze, Chill, Freeze, Taunt, Tether and Fear.
These CC cause status ailments on enemies after which they are considered as crowd-controlled. During this time, they are unable to move, attack you, or both. They may even run away from you in fear. More effects are detailed below.
| Crowd Control | Effect |
| Tether | Tether doesn’t allow enemies to walk out of the AoE radius of the Tether. |
| Taunt | When enemies get a Taunt from you, they will target you for some time. |
| Stunned | Stunned enemies won’t be able to move nor attack and use abilities. |
| Slowed | Slowed enemies get slower movement speed during which you can unleash your attacks. |
| Knocked Down | When enemies are knocked down, they fall down to the ground and won’t be able to attack during this time. |
| Knock Backed | When enemies are knocked back, they will be thrown backward for a short distance and they won’t be able to attack during this time. |
| Immobilized | Immobilized characters won’t be able to move but can still attack and use abilities. |
| Frozen | When enemies get Frozen, they will be stuck in a cover of ice shards and won’t be able to move or attack. |
| Fear | When enemies get afflicted with Fear, then they will run away from you. |
| Dazed | When you Daze enemies, they won’t be able to attack you or use skills. They will be able to move. |
| Chilled | Chilled enemies will have a slower movement speed, and if you keep chilling them, they will go from Chilled to Frozen. |
How to Remove CC Effects on your Character in Diablo 4?
You need to use Unstoppable or Immune effects to remove some crowd control effects (Knocked Down, Tether, and Fear). So if you find skills, equipment, and passives that give you these effects, use them to eliminate CC.
In terms of Gems, when Sapphire is added to your weapon’s socket, you get a % of Crit Strike damage to crowd-controlled enemies.
There are bonuses attached to crowd-controlled enemies as well. Aspect of Shared Misery gives you Lucky Hit, Aspect of the Umbral restores a part of your Primary Resource, Cheat’s Aspect helps you take less damage from CC’d enemies, and more.
Does vulnerable count as crowd control in Diablo 4?
- No, Vulnerable is not counted as CC in D4.
This was all about crowd control in Diablo 4, what counts as such, and how it works. While building your character, you will also come across the Injured status. Know more about it in our guide.