The General of Hell is marching again: Blizzard has let the cat out of the bag and revealed the start date and content of the upcoming season.
December 11 is the big day: Diablo 4 is entering its next round. Under the title Season of Divine Intervention, Blizzard is launching an update that packs a punch. While many of you were probably primarily interested in new content, this time the development team is delivering a package that delves deep into the mechanics of the game.
The Return of the Lesser Evils
For veterans of the series, this name is likely to be music (or rather, hellish noise) to their ears: Azmodan is returning! The general of hell, known from Diablo 3, is making his debut in Diablo 4 as a brand-new world boss.
But you won’t just encounter him in the open world. Azmodan also serves as the final trial in the new progression system (more on that in a moment). But he doesn’t come alone. The season’s theme is the coordinated offensive of the Lesser Evils. For you, this means that you’ll encounter the minions of Hell in almost all endgame activities, where they “take over” specific areas:
- Duriel wreaks havoc in Hell’s Tide.
- Belial is nesting in The Pit.
- Andariel awaits you in Undercity.
The new “Sanctification” system
But where there is darkness, there must also be light. In response to the invasion, the High Heavens send the angel Hadriel, who will act as a new NPC. He will grant you so-called “Divine Gifts” if you stand up to the onslaught of demons.
However, the most exciting feature for all the theorycrafters among you is likely to be Sanctification. This new crafting system builds on the existing Masterworking, but goes one step further. When you “sanctify” an item, you have the chance to receive extremely powerful upgrades:
- Addition of an extra legendary property.
- Upgrade of a normal affix to a “Greater Affix.”
- In rare cases, an item may even become indestructible or receive completely new “Sanctification Affixes.”
With this, Blizzard is once again turning the power spiral, and the best equipment to date may no longer be “best in slot” as of December 11 until you’ve put it through this new divine forge.
The new Season Rank
Perhaps the most controversial, but definitely the most significant change concerns your progress. Blizzard is saying goodbye (at least in its familiar form) to the classic seasonal journey and introducing Season Rank.
This system is much more tightly organized and linked to real challenges. To climb the ranks, it’s no longer enough to simply complete daily tasks. You now have to complete specific capstone dungeons to unlock the next rank. This is very reminiscent of World Tier unlocks, but is used here in a more granular way for seasonal progress.
Blizzard promises “bigger rewards” and a clearer goal in return. It remains to be seen whether this will appeal to casual players who just want to level up at a relaxed pace – in any case, the bar seems to be rising.
In addition to the major changes, there are many smaller ones under the hood that you will notice immediately. Blizzard has tweaked the monsters’ AI. Enemies should now fulfill their roles in combat more clearly and act less predictably. The developers call this “Evolved Monster Combat.”
Defensive stats have also been revised to match. Armor and resistances are now subject to stronger “diminishing returns” at high values, and a new ‘toughness’ stat has been introduced. The goal is to reduce cheap “one-shot” mechanics, but hopefully this will make combat a little more tactical.
