You may need to unlock a new difficulty setting to get the most out of Diablo 4 Season 5
Snow storm has produced a fairly complete picture of what you can expect from it Diablo 4‘s fifth season prior to a week-long test on the game’s Public Test Realm (PTR).
The as-yet-untitled Season 5, which begins on August 6, will feature a new series of missions that sound like it will lead to Vessel of hatred, Diablo 4‘s first full expansion, launching on October 8. The main new feature will be a new wave-based gameplay mode called the Infernal Hordes, which culminates in an end-game boss battle with multiple variations. The unique item tier gets an overhaul to make it even more effective, and new weapon type and character class combos open up.
A slightly higher bar must be cleared this time to access the mission line and the Infernal Hordes. In previous seasons the player had to complete Diablo 4‘s campaign on one character to start the seasonal quest line. For Season 5, you will need to enter World Tier 3 difficulty to begin the quest line. This means you’ll need to complete the campaign, reach at least level 48, and then beat the Cathedral of Light’s “capstone” dungeon on World Tier 2. Most dedicated players of the game will have done all this a long time ago, but newer players joining the recent Game Pass launch or the excellent fourth season may want to check it off now.
Unlike the game’s first three seasons, which only introduced new gameplay concepts for the duration of the season, it appears that Blizzard plans to make permanent additions and changes to the game. Diablo 4 with Season 5, just like Season 4. The new questline will be available in both Seasonal and Eternal realms, and will remain in the Eternal Realm after the end of Season 5. Blizzard’s description of the season 5 storyline: “enemies are cut-down, alliances shift, and unlikely friends emerge from the shadows” – sounds like it could set the tone Vessel of hatreda suspicion further supported by the permanent nature of the search.
Infernal Hordes are unlocked at the end of the storyline and are intended as a permanent new endgame activity alongside the Pit of Artificers dungeon introduced in Season 4. In this mode, players enter Hell itself to battle 90-second waves of enemies and collect Burning Aether to spend on loot and other rewards at the end of the run. Between each wave, players can choose from three Infernal Offerings, which add gameplay modifiers to increase the difficulty and reward of each run.
Survive the Infernal Hordes and you’ll face three of the five members of the Fell Council, corrupt priests from Diablo 2 who have become champions of Mephisto, the Lord of Hate (and the main antagonist of Vessel of hatred).
There are a lot of further changes, quality of life updates and balance solutions for you to fully delve into patch notes for season 5 PTR and in the developer version campfire chat current. Highlights include: an overhaul of unique items, intended to make them more powerful and encourage players to change their character builds around them; the ultra-rare Uber Uniques now become Mythic Uniques, with their own item color and even drop sound; and new weapon types have been opened up for some classes, with Necromancers able to use maces and axes, Wizards able to use swords and maces with one hand, and Druids getting some new options as well.
The PTR is only available to PC players using Blizzard’s Battle.net launcher, and the Season 5 test will run for a week starting tomorrow, Tuesday, June 25. Season 5 starts on August 6 and lasts a shorter than normal two months. until season 6 begins alongside the launch of Vessel of hatred on October 8.