Season (Diablo IV)

Seasons are a gameplay feature of Diablo IV.

Overview[]

The Season system is based after those featured in Diablo III. Players must create new characters that can only be used during the Season, and progress through their seasonal journey by completing specific objectives and unlock caches containing legendary gear tailored for a specific class build (similarly to Haedrig's Gift in Diablo III). Seasons are directly tied to the Battle Pass system, which allows players to reap additional rewards.

The first Season in Diablo IV became available soon after the game's launch. It is intended that the game will have four Seasons per year, each with major new features, questlines, enemies, legendary items, class balance patches and more.^[1] Each Season is expected to last three months. There will always have a small interval between the end of a Season, and the start of the next one. Every new character created will start at level 1 at the beginning of a Season.^[2]

Every Season will feature its own unique questline, that reveals more of Sanctuary and the player's place in it. New characters will be introduced in some Seasons, while old ones may also be revisited. Live events will be featured during Seasons, such as the warning of an impending invasion of the Drowned, which may last a weekend, or the arrival of a strange peddler amidst the crags of the Dry Steppes. These events provide gateways to new adventures and unique rewards.^[1]

The plot of each Season will be a self-contained side-story taking place in Sanctuary after Lilith's defeat by the hands of The Wanderer. They're usually unrelated to the main plot of Diablo IV (which will be continued through expansions), but may be a result of the actions that transpired in the main storyline. Players must have completed the campaign in order to access Seasonal content. However, if the player has completed the campaign once, they can skip it for Seasons.^[2]

Seasons will be used to experiment with innovative gameplay features and mechanics. Some of these features may end up in the base game.^[2]

How Seasonal Characters Work[]

To participate in Seasons, a new character must be created on the Seasonal Realm. Players do not need to purchase a Battle Pass or any add-ons in order to play the Seasonal content, but they must have completed the campaign on either the Eternal or Seasonal Realm with at least one character. Players who haven't finished the campaign can still create a character in the Seasonal Realm, but they're required to finish the campaign with that character before the Seasonal Storyline and content opens for them.

Once the player have completed the Campaign, any Seasonal character will start the game with:

• The option to skip the campaign.
• Mount available immediately.
• All previously discovered Altars of Lilith unlocked, and the corresponding Renown for them.
• All previously discovered areas of the map revealed, and the corresponding renown for them.

Once the Season has ended, all seasonal characters and their progress will be transferred to the Eternal Realm, including items on the Seasonal Stash. However, Season-specific features won't be accessible anymore. When a new Season begins, players must create fresh new characters.^[1]

Seasonal Rewards[]

During a Season, player will earn rewards by just playing the game. There'll be two types of rewards: Seasonal Journey, and the Battle Pass.

Seasonal Journey[]

The Season Journey is broken into Chapters with tasks to complete, which range from simple things such as crafting items, clearing cellars and dungeons to defeating specific types of enemies and obtaining certain items. As players progress through the Journey, they’ll earn rewards such as new Legendary Aspects, a Mastery Title, and a Scroll of Amnesia, which provides a free Skill Tree and Paragon Board reset. The Seasonal Journey also provides "Favor", a resource used to climb through the Battle Pass' Tiers, which is also earned naturally by playing the game, whether it be killing demons, completing Quests, and more.

Battle Pass[]

The Battle Pass is divided in three versions: Free, Premium and Accelerated, which all award cosmetics (transmogs, emotes, etc.). The Free version has 27 Tiers, and players can also earn a currency called "Smoldering Ashes", which can be spent on Season Blessings, that provide players with a bonus to earning experience, Gold, or Obols, depending on the Blessing chosen. The bonuses gained from Season Blessings will not carry over to the Eternal Realm once the Season is over.

Players who purchase the Premium Battle Pass will have access, in addition to the rewards of the Free Tiers, 63 additional Tiers that grant exclusive cosmetic sets for characters and horses exclusive to that season, as well Platinum, the currency used in the Cosmetic Shop. The Accelerated Battle Pass is a variation of the Premium Battle Pass that skips 20 tiers and comes with a special cosmetic. None of the paid Battle Passes will not provide any pay-for-power nor pay-for-boost benefits.

List of Seasons[]

Season 1: Malignance[]

Season 1 launched on Thursday, July 20, 2023, following patch 1.1.0b. It ended on October 17, 2023.

Season 2: Blood[]

Season 2 launched on October 17, 2023, and will conclude on January 23, 2024.

Season 3: The Construct[]

Season 3 launched on January 23, 2024,^[3] and concluded on May 14.

Season 4: Loot Reborn[]

Season 4 launched on May 14, 2024,^[4] and will end on August 7, 2024. It features itemization updates,^[5] and adds new bosses and dungeons.^[4]

A Battle.net-exclusive PTR ran from April 2-9.

Season 5: Infernal Hordes[]

Season 5 will run from August 6 to October 8, 2024.

Season 6: Hatred[]

Season 6 will launch concurrently with the Vessel of Hatred expansion^[6] on October 8, 2024.^[7] It will not be required to purchase the expansion to take part in the season.^[8]

Development[]

The "season team" of Diablo IV is divided into two teams, unofficially called the "even team" and the "odd team." As such, there are always two seasons being worked on at a time.^[2] It takes six months to create a single season.^[9]

See also[]

• Season Journey
• Season Pass

References[]