Developer Blizzard Entertainment shared the latest Diablo IV quarterly update, detailing the game’s live service component and plans for post-launch content such as Seasons, Season Passes, Live Events and more.
Diablo IV’s Seasons are modeled after those of Diablo III, but the scale is much more ambitious. When a new Season begins, all the characters from the prior season will be moved to the Eternal Realm (aka non-seasonal roster). To play in the new season, you’ll create a fresh character and experience the new seasonal features and content while leveling up alongside other players. This season design requires that all sources of character power come from playing the game, so you will not be able to pay for power in Diablo IV.
The team also believes it is important that players see that the game is changing in meaningful ways, such as introducing a new gameplay feature and questline with every new season that offers new challenges, mysteries and possibilities. Additionally, the developers will be constantly evaluating the state of the game to keep the meta fresh:
“One clear example here is looking at the relative balance between classes, builds, and powers. Diablo is a game that is about creating exciting, overpowered builds, and while we don’t want to balance the fun out of the experience, we don’t want to create situations in which imprecise tuning squash creativity. We will also be constantly adding new legendary and unique items, paragon boards, glyphs, and more that will continually refresh the meta and create new build opportunities.”
The community will get a chance to vote on the quality-of-life features and polish work that can improve the overall Diablo experience. Attentive players should be on the lookout for new live events that will crop up each season. An example of a live event might be 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.
In the returning Season Journey, players will be encouraged to explore Sanctuary anew, earning limited-time rewards with each chapter. The Season Journey is free for all players. Completing Season Journey objectives also grants progress toward the Season Pass, a new feature with a battle pass-style progression that advances alongside the Season Journey, enabling players to earn even more rewards just by playing.
The Season Pass has both free rewards (cosmetics, premium currency, and gameplay boosts) and paid rewards (cosmetics and premium currency only). The Shop sells cosmetics for Premium Currency. Cosmetics give players even more options to customize the visual appearance of their characters. Nothing offered in the Shop grants a direct or indirect gameplay advantage. So, while many of these may look like powerful pieces of gear, they have no in-game stats.
Armor Transmogs in the Shop are usable on all characters of that class. For class-specific appearances, once you unlock a cosmetic from the Shop for a given class, you can use it on every character of that class on your account. There are special cosmetics exclusive to the Season Pass which celebrate the theme of the Season and look similar across all the classes.
