Developer Blizzard Entertainment revealed that Diablo IV Season 4: Loot Reborn will be kicking off on May 14th. It will introduce changes to itemization, two new systems, Tempering and Masterworking, updated Helltide, and more.
“The forges burn with renewed vigor, stoked by braziers to hone the steel of Sanctuary’s finest. Across the land, Hell’s expanded Legions gather and multiply, marshalling their strength to ambush wanderers that fall prey to their Helltide.”
Season 4: Loot Reborn takes on a new theme, overhauling many core game systems to refresh how items are earned, how they function, and how they improve as you level through World Tiers during the season. These Itemization changes persist beyond the Seasonal Realm and affect the Eternal Realm as well.
One of the several goals was to make it easier to understand which items are upgrades when they drop. The overall number of affixes had been reduced, but they will be more effective. Dropped Items are now simpler to evaluate, with the complexity moved to the new systems. Fewer items will drop overall, but those items will be more likely to be valuable. To compensate and stay on par with the norm, materials gained from Salvaging and Crafting have been adjusted to match this change.
Additionally, your World Tier will directly affect the rarity of the items you earn. Sacred items or higher only drop in World Tier III, and only Ancestral items will appear in World Tier IV. Similarly, Legendary items dropped from enemies over Level 95 will always have a value of 925 Item Power.
- Extracting Aspects from Legendary items now stores them in your Codex of Power to be used indefinitely. It acts as a library that keeps your inventory space clean.
- New system, Tempering, allows you to add potent affixes to your item. Crafting Manuals can be found as a regular item throughout the game. Once learned, they can be used as many times as desired (like the new Codex of Power changes). Just watch out for the Tempering Durability!
- Another new system, Masterworking, improves the overall strength of all affixes on your weapon, and at every 4th tier, massively upgrades one of your equipped affixes.
- Appearing only on Ancestral Legendary and Unique Items, Greater Affixes are 1.5x more powerful versions of normal affixes.
- Gems are simpler, streamlined and more effective across your Character’s journey. Crude Gems have been removed, and crafting levels have been shifted back.
Diablo IV – Season 4: Helltide Reborn
Inspired by the Vampiric Blood Harvest in Season of Blood, your ferocity in combat draws the attention of increasingly dangerous foes. Make sure you have what it takes to survive the onslaught.
Fighting your way through the Helltide hordes generates Threat. There are three levels of it in total, with each level increasing the danger and frequency of ambushes. Once you hit Level 3, you will become Hell-Marked. That, in turn, leads to being besieged by a frenzy of densely packed monsters.
Surviving is guaranteed to gain the attention of a Hellborn. Your Threat Level resets once the Hellborn ambush has been activated, or if you succumb to the overwhelming forces of Hell and perish.
