Diablo IVBlizzard Season 1 arrives on July 20th, marking a new era for Blizzard’s latest ARPG. Each new season requires a brand new character with tons of new challenges and enemies. Seasons are nothing new to the franchise, but the way they’re implemented as part of it is Diablo IVThe live service elements make them quite different here.
The latest in the ongoing lineup of iconic action RPG games, Diablo IV is an always online game with many of the features we’ve come to expect from modern live service games, like battle passes and a cosmetics shop. These monetized features have not been without controversy, and time will tell if they really add to that or not Diablo Experience. For now that’s what we know Diablo IV‘s first season: Season of the Malignant.
Seasonal Characters
In a short video, Blizzard explained how the seasonal structure of Diablo IV and the new characters you create for each season will work.
As mentioned in the video, you have to create new characters for each new season (your existing ones remain untouched and are perfectly playable in the main game). Non-seasonal characters exist in the “Eternal Realm,” while seasonal characters’ escapades take place in the aptly named “Seasonal Realm.” As Blizzard notes, at the end of the season your seasonal character will migrate to the Eternal Realm where you can continue playing them to your heart’s content.
A few gameplay options can also be seen in the brief overview. As in normal play, you have a choice between hardcore (permadeath) and whether or not you want to skip the campaign. As recommended in the video, you should complete the campaign once with any character in Eternal Realm before using a seasonal character. It appears that you can play through the campaign with a seasonal character if you wish, but you won’t be able to access the actual seasonal content until you’ve cleared Lilith away at least once.
A potential complication: there are only 10 character slots in the game. In the early days of this shouldn’t be a big problem right now Diablo IVbut we wonder what will happen when those seasons add up.
my city has asked Blizzard for information about character slots.
Just like creating a new Eternal character, progress towards potion capacity, bonuses from Lilith statues, and other permanent unlocks carry over to the new character, so you don’t have to catch up every season.
But what exactly is this particular season, and what things is Blizzard throwing in here for you to play through?
Diablo IV: Season of Evil 101
Let’s get to the narration. And what better way to do that than to take a look Diablo IV
Diablo IVis the first season introduces you to all-new corrupt villains to fight with. They’re called “Malicious Monsters” and you’ll tackle them head-on with a new quest line.
The wicked fall into two forms: partially corrupted and fully corrupted. You collect Malevolent Hearts from the Partially Corrupted and use them in a ritual with an item you get from the season’s main quest. Through the ritual, the slain creature reappears as a fully corrupted enemy, which you defeat to obtain a new Malefic Droplet that you can place in sockets similar to gems. Killing this, collecting that, equipping this type of pattern seems easy enough, and rest assured we’ll break down the details when Season of the Malignant launches later this month.
But there are not only new enemies. Vicious Tunnels are replayable dungeons filled with vicious monsters to chew through, and there’s even a new boss fight: Varshan the Vanished.
What is included in this Battle Pass?
If you’ve played pretty much every Live Service game with a Battle Pass these days, Diablo IVThis will look very similar. There’s both free rewards for those who don’t opt for the premium Battle Pass, and much cooler stuff for those who spent some cash.
OK, how much does this thing cost?
While there are 27 free stages to play through, there are over 60 that require you to spend money to reap the rewards. Of course, you need to purchase premium currency to purchase the Battle Pass. Let’s all take a moment to sigh. It’s never easy, is it? Well, here’s the cost breakdown. You have two options: Premium, which costs 1,000 Platinum ($10), and Accelerated for $2,800 ($24.99). As you’d expect, Accelerated lets you skip up to 20 tiers in the Battle Pass and gets an exclusive emote. Individual tier jumps cost 200 platinum.
Platinum is offered in the following packages:
- 200 Platinum: $2
- 500 Platinum: $5
- 1,000 Platinum: $10
- 2,800 Platinum: $25
- 5,700 Platinum: $50
- 11,500 Platinum: $100
Note: If you purchased the Digital Deluxe or Ultimate Edition, you already have the pass but must redeem it under Seasons in the Store.
How to progress in the Battle Pass?
As you play through the Season, you’ll earn “Favor” for completing Standard Diablo Stuff: Killing crap and doing quests. The Season also includes destinations listed in the “Season Journey”.
And as you progress through the Battle Pass, you’ll earn Smoldering Ashes, which grants bonuses to seasonal characters (and only seasonal characters).
Everything you should do before Diablo IV: Season of the Wicked
Okay, so you’re ready to face these new threats going live on July 20th. What you should do?
First, as I mentioned earlier: complete the campaign! This allows you to skip the whole story of Lilith’s defeat and go straight to the new content with your new character.
Second, get to work and unlock your extra potion slots and extra skill points. This will carry over to your new seasonal character.
Continue reading: Diablo IV: Three popular druid builds that will destroy everything
Third, consider who your first seasonal character will be. You might want to take a look Our level 1-50 druid guide with three different builds. Or, if you want to try something different, check out this video detailing our “Editing” build:
The clock is ticking when the season starts, so the better your level plan, the more you understand Diablo IVThe more complicated the systems are, the better. For this, Check out our guide to the 16 things Diablo IV don’t tell you, Our 29 tips to get better Diablo playr, and what Settings you should adjust.
Diablo IV: Season of Evil will be released on July 20th. Complete the campaign already! (That’s me yelling at myself, by the way).
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