Blizzard's Diablo 4 is preparing to release Season 4 with some major changes for the PC, Xbox, and PlayStation dungeon crawler.
Diablo 4 has released three seasons of new stories, features, loot, and adventures since the game launched in June 2023.
Now, months after Season 3 began in January 2024, gamers are eagerly awaiting the next season and the changes to loot, new dungeons, new bosses, and quality-of-life improvements Blizzard has promised it will bring.
When Does Diablo 4 Season 4 Release?
Diablo 4 Season 4 was slated to begin on Tuesday, April 16, but a recent episode in Blizzard's Campfire Chat series saw the developer confirm a delay to Tuesday, May 14 to allow time to implement feedback from April's Public Test Realm.
Speaking on the delay, Community Lead Adam Fletcher explained the delay is to ensure the "new system changes" are "right and work for the community:"
"We're pushing it back a few weeks to ensure that we get all of the feedback from this PTR and we apply it to Season 4 to make sure that all of these new system changes that we're doing are right and work for the community based off of everyone's feedback."
In turn, Season 3, "Season of the Construct," has been extended by a full month, meaning it will have run for around four months since it began on January 23.
Based on the previous season, Season 4 is expected to begin around 10 a.m. PT and 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 14.
Diablo 4's seasons usually run on a three-month cycle, meaning Season 4 ought to end in mid-August to make way for Season 5.
Diablo 4's Public Test Realm Explained
Unfortunately, Diablo 4's public realm test (PTR) is unavailable for consoles and can only be accessed by PC players through Battle.net.
The PTR will only have servers in Diablo 4's largest player bases - North America, Europe, Korea, Japan, South America, and Australia.
The test - available from Tuesday, April 2 to Tuesday, April 9 - will allow players to trial the new updates and features coming with Season 4 in May.
Although this will allow players to test Season 4's new features, the PTR is primarily to help Blizzard collect feedback and data based on the updates. Blizzard will have over a month to implement all this before the full release on May 14.
During its seven-day run, the option to download the PTR can be selected from a drop-down menu on the Battle.net launcher above Diablo 4's "Play" button.
The PTR will offer content that allows players to boost their test character to higher levels and test the new endgame content. This can be done by speaking to the "PTR boost" NPC at Kyovashad, which will offer them a boost to level 100, 100 million gold, 1000 Obols, and a selection of high-level gear and items.
What's New in Diablo 4 Season 4?
The loot and affixes system is receiving the biggest changes with a quality-over-quantity approach coming into play.
The pool of affixes is being reduced to focus on more potent ones, and the number of affixes an item can hold will drop to three on legendary and two on rare.
A new item called Tempering Manuals will now be found from defeating enemies and contain several affixes. These can be applied to an item at a blacksmith, but it will only apply one of these affixes at random that can be re-rolled.
The late-game Masterworking system will allow players to even further upgrade their items and improve affixes by up to 12 ranks.
The Helltide events are getting a revamp that will see a new Threat meter build as players kill increasingly difficult monsters. The third and final tier will make the player Hell-Marked and put them against a frenzy of tough enemies.
Part of the new endgame content updates comes in the Pit of Artificers, with Blizzard teasing "strange varieties of ore" to be found:
"There are rumors that deep within the network of dungeons crisscrossing the north of Sanctuary, there are strange varieties of ore, perfect for crafting exceptionally crafted armor with secret Horadric techniques."
After completing a priority quest in World Tier IV, players will unlock the new challenge where they can earn Masterworking materials across hundreds of levels of difficulty to further upgrade their items.
These come on top of countless more updates and quality-of-life improvements which are detailed in the full patch notes. And that's before the season arrives with a new story and questlines to go along with it.
Diablo 4 is available now for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC.
