It’s that time again; one Diablo IV season ends and another begins. Blizzard has officially revealed the name of Season 5: Season of the Hell Demon ArmyThe new season is named after the new co-op activity it adds to the game.
It kicks off on August 6th and brings with it a ton of new loot, new questlines, Hell demon swarm activity, new types of dungeons, and more.
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The Hellfire Horde season continues the Diablo IV tradition of kicking off a season with Season 4: Spoils of War. New seasonal missions are fairly small, serving as an introduction to a new mechanic or activity. In this case, it’s the Hellfire Horde, a co-op activity similar to Horde mode (which can also be played solo).
Like Season 4, most of the content that Season 5 brings to the game is available in both the Seasonal Realms and the Eternal Realms. In other words, you don’t have to interact with Diablo IV’s live servers to access the new content, as you only do so to level up your battle pass.
The highlight of Season 5 is, of course, Hell’s Demonic Armies. This end-game event is accessible at World Tier 3 and is essentially an advanced Armies mode. Players who participated in the Season 5 PTR were able to try it out, and very little has changed since then. This wave-based event takes place in Hell’s Domain of Hostility and tasks you with fighting off wave after wave of demons. After each 60-second wave is completed, you can choose Bones and Scourges, which are buffs/debuffs that will stay with you throughout the game. You have a limited number of revives, and losing all of them is how you end the game.
Hellfire’s Legion brings back the Fallen Council from Diablo II, now corrupted and appearing as bosses with a distinct twist, trying to stop you from rising through the ranks of Hellfire’s Legion.
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Burning Aether is the main currency you collect as you fight your way through Hell’s monsters. Defeating Council bosses will earn you Hell’s Loot, a collection of rewards including crafting materials, gold, and items with advanced affixes.
Infernal Loot Caches also contain Legendary and Unique items, as well as materials to summon bosses. Each piece of Infernal Loot will cost you 20 Ether, while High-level gear loot will cost you 60 Ether, and High-level gear loot will always drop items with high-level affixes.
Season 5 also introduces a new type of dungeon that serves as an introduction to Hellfire’s Legion. Called the Hell’s Rift Dungeon, this dungeon is essentially a mini-version of Hellfire’s Legion, incorporating similar mechanics (like sacrifices) and ending with a boss fight.
Hell’s Rift dungeons are available in seasonal realms and offer similar rewards, and will likewise drop Burning Ether, which you can spend to unlock the treasure chest at the end of each dungeon.
Speaking of rewards, Season 5 adds more than 50 new items to the loot pool, divided into both legendary and unique categories. They can be found anywhere in the world of Diablo IV, but have a higher chance of dropping in Hellfire Clusters.
Hellfire Horde Season will begin 10am PT, 1pm ET, 6pm UK on Tuesday, August 6. If you want to learn more about the new season, Blizzard is hosting a developer update livestream tomorrow (August 1) that will go in-depth on all the changes made based on PTR feedback, and will seemingly also reveal some major changes to the game’s unique features.
