Diablo 4’s next seasonal theme is itemization overhaul? Welcome to Season 4: Loot Reborn

Diablo 4 Season 4 starts on May 14, and we have the formal theme announcement of Loot Reborn — but it’s more reminiscent of Diablo 3 Season 23 (The Disciples of Sanctuary) than anything else. Foundationally, what’s coming in Season 4 isn’t really a theme — the majority of the changes will persist outside of the seasonal servers. Frankly, it could easily have been called the season of Functional Changes. Here’s what to expect in Diablo 4 Season 4: Loot Reborn.

Yes, it turns out we were in fact testing the majority of the Season 4 theme during the PTR. While we received a slew of details about the adjustments but there are a lot of disparate changes that don’t come across as a cohesive theme. To recap the PTR’s adventures, we tested:

• Itemization rework — We’ll get fewer but (ideally) more impactful item drops, leveraging the new Masterworking and Tempering systems to improve and add affixes. Gem are streamlined and now contain primary stats. The Codex of Power is wholly redone, storing earned aspects and progressively leveling them up as better versions are discovered and applied to the codex.
• Helltide Reborn — Helltide now runs across all World Tiers with monster density scaling based on the tier. They also include mechanisms inspired by Season 2’s Blood Harvests: accrued threat levels culminating in elite fights and accursed rituals that provide increased rewards. Look for the new Profane Mindcage elixir (increases Helltide monster levels and boosts cinder drop rates).
• The Pit of Artificers — D4‘s timed-event equivalent to D3‘s greater rifts, unlocked via questline in WT4. The Pit’s Obelisk is found in Cerrigar and unlocked using Runeshards which drop from all endgame activities (Helltide Chests, World Bosses, Legion Events, Nightmare Dungeons and Whisper Bounties).
• Endgame boss ladder — Andariel returns as a second final boss (in line with Duriel) in the boss ladder and is called using summoning materials from both Lord Zir and Beast in Ice. Additionally, all bosses in the ladder can be summoned as Level 200 versions called Tormented Echoes using Stygian Stones from the Pit with their regular summoning materials.

The one section not tested in the PTR is the closest piece we get to a seasonal theme (and is also the most reminiscent of D3 Season 23): the Iron Wolves. These mercenaries have aided and accompanied the heroes of Sanctuary in titles past (Diablo 2). Earn their regard starting in Season 4 by investigating deaths in their ranks and participating in Iron Wolf events during the Helltide. Perhaps this favor will translate into a D2-inspired companion system!

Somehow, this all pulls together into the theme for Season 4. We’ll see how that Iron Wolves storyline plays out at the start of the season; hopefully it ties together everything in a way that feels interconnected without being forced. Either way, we’ll see in two weeks when D4 Season 4 starts!