Diablo 4’s next season doesn’t have a release date (or a name), but its Public Test Realm starts next week for PC players. Along with a new questline and the Infernal Hordes activity, it brings new Legendaries, Uniques and items, which drop from everywhere in Sanctuary. However, your best source for them is Infernal Hordes.
Of course, the season will bring several improvements, like adding a summoning altar to fight against a boss again. Varshan only requires Malignant Hearts to summon, while The Beast in Ice boss is now a regular dungeon and doesn’t require a sigil. Furthermore, the latter is close to the entrance, which means not having to run through the entire dungeon.
However, perhaps the best new change is allowing classes to use more weapon types. Sorcerers, for example, will be able to wield one-handed swords and maces. Innate affixes will also be adjusted and updated for all classes.
Check out some of the quality-of-life changes and improvements below, with full details here. Diablo 4 Season 5’s PTR will begin on June 25th and end on July 2nd. Stay tuned for more details on what to expect.
New Weapons and Items
The forges in the Burning Hells burn the fiercest, leading to incredible possibilities for the weapons they produce.
- Season 5 introduces new Legendaries, Uniques, and items.
- These new Legendaries and Uniques can be earned by slaying enemies across Sanctuary, but have the best chance of appearing when playing the Infernal Hordes.
Quality-of-Life Updates to Endgame Bosses and more
We are making some overall quality-of-life improvements to the way endgame boss fights are accessed.
Endgame Bosses
- You no longer need to reset the dungeon to replay the same boss. Upon killing them, the summoning Altar reappears and allows you to use more resources to play them again.
- Summoning Varshan now only requires Malignant Hearts. Trembling Hands, Blackened Femurs, and Gurgling Heads have been removed from the game.
- Endgame Bosses now drop additional gold instead of Rare items.
Beast in Ice
- The Beast in Ice boss fight now functions as a standard dungeon; you no longer have to craft a sigil to enter the fight.
– Any leftover Beast in Ice sigils held by previous Seasonal Realm or Eternal characters can be used to summon Beast in Ice instead of using Summoning Materials. - The boss fight is now much closer to the entrance, so you’ll no longer need to progress through the Dungeon before the fight.
- Sigil Dust has been removed as a material cost to summon.
Helltide and Whispers
- We’ve significantly reduced the time it takes to complete Whisper bounties. We’ve now made it so that there are always enough Whispers to earn 10 Grim Favors within a given Helltide, should now take significantly less time to complete. Additionally, icons have been updated to be consistent with other Whispers.
- Increasing your Threat now consistently scales with the health of slain Monsters.
- We’re adjusting Baneful Heart drop rates as they were dropping too frequently to feel valuable.
– Chance to get one from a Tortured Gift starts at 13%, and increases each time you fail to get one. Once you are rewarded a Baneful Heart, the chance resets to 10%.
– Hellborne and the Helltide Assassin starts at 1% chance to drop a Heart, and also increases each time you fail to get one. It now resets to 2%. - The Cull Demons Whisper Bounty now includes Fallen, Cull Fallen Whisper Bounty now replaced with Cull Cultists.
Loot Rewards
- Resplendent Spark awards for defeating Tormented bosses can now be earned separately on both Hardcore and non-Hardcore.
- Resplendent Sparks and Scattered Prisms will no longer be automatically picked up. Additionally, these items can now be found in the lost items Stash if forgotten when they drop.
- Unique and Mythic Unique Items can now be acquired through Whisper Caches, the Purveyor of Curiosities, and Tortured Gifts in Helltide.
- The chance to find Mythic Uniques through all non-boss drop locations has been increased.
