Diablo 4 Season 4 promises big changes to the action-RPG

Blizzard’s been cooking up some hefty overhauls for Diablo 4 Season 4, including welcome tweaks to the RPG’s gear scores and more Helltide activities. GLHF had a chance to hear about these changes firsthand from associate game director Joe Piepiora, lead live game designer Colin Finer, and lead live class designer Adam Jackson during a recent roundtable interview, and it sounds like the new season may go some way toward fixing Diablo 4’s biggest issues.

Almost all of Diablo 4 Season 4’s big changes apply to the eternal realm, where the story mode lives, so the alterations introduced when Season of Loot goes live on May 14, 2024, are permanent, at least until Blizzard changes them. 

The team has a lot in store, but the one that seems most promising to me is how Season 4 changes gear stats. Blizzard said they’re cutting down on the number of affixes – stat modifiers, in Diablo 4-speak – so you won’t see niche upgrades such as slashing damage anymore. Instead, you’ll get a smaller number of broadly useful affixes, stat upgrades that can fit in multiple builds. The idea is to streamline your builds, so you aren’t spending hours grinding for gear that has absolutely nothing to contribute toward your goal.

Piepiora also said they want players to carry their Legendary equipment with them for longer and came up with the new tempering and masterwork features as a result. Tempering lets you apply a random affix from a recipe book to the gear piece of your choice, including Legendary gear. Sure, the affix is random, but with fewer possible affixes floating around, you’re more likely to get something you actually want.

Masterworking a piece of equipment upgrades an affix of your choice and makes it stronger. Blizzard revamped the Codex of Power as well, so you can imprint your upgraded Legendaries onto your gear without having to carry crystals around.

That’s a lot of changes for what ultimately amounts to just endgame and seasonal play, but Blizzard has some additional features planned for the eternal realm. The team said Helltides were so popular that they revamped them with new bosses and challenge varieties, including former heroes of Sanctuary who decided to fight for hell this time. One event subset draws in demons in greater numbers than ever and, if you live long enough, pits you against the new Blood Maiden mini-boss.

Speaking of pit, there’s a new endgame challenge called The Pit as well. It’s, well, a pit, and you fight monsters in it. Lots of ‘em. In addition to testing how good your build is, your reward includes rare crafting materials for making your gear even better.

Blizzard will showcase these changes in a livestream on May 2, 2024, while touching on what they learned from the first public test server run. As ever, the new season is free, and you can play Diablo 4 on Game Pass if you want to test it out before committing.