You can literally become The Butcher in Diablo 4 Season 12: Season of Slaughter, with Killstreaks and Bloodied gear

Diablo 4 patch 2.6 launches on March 11, kicking off Season 12: Season of Slaughter. Blizzard calls this “a more focused, streamlined season,” meaning it’s a short season with less content than usual. With the Lord of Hatred expansion launching on April 28 alongside Season 13, Season 12 running for just seven weeks. But the game is making the most of it with features that play to Diablo’s strengths: the joy of slaughtering hordes of demons.

This season celebrates Killstreaks with rewards for racking up higher kill counts, as well as new “bloodied” gear that gives you additional power the higher that kill count goes. It’s a fun system that’s well-suited to Diablo’s gameplay, and we’ve seen killstreak systems pop up in events in Diablo 4 — just not as part of primary gameplay. The concept is straightforward: the more kills you make in quick succession, the higher your Killstreak goes and the more bonuses you earn. Doing damage and applying damage over time effects will also continue your Killstreak, so keep fighting to keep the killstreak counter will keep going.

When Blizzard tested patch 2.6 on the PTR, this felt a little unimpressive. Killstreaks are fun, but a whole season with nothing new but Killstreaks? There simply wasn’t very much meat to the season: cue the Butcher, a late addition to the season’s lineup. Not only will this feasting fiend be following you around dungeons (more often than usual), you can also become the Butcher to take down demons (or players) with a unique set of Butcher-fied skills.

That’s a season worth writing home about. Here’s what we know about Diablo 4 Season 12: Season of Slaughter.

The Butcher in Diablo 4 Season 12

There are several ways players can become The Butcher in the new season, but all of them start by completing a new seasonal quest in Gea Kul that will introduce you to the season’s mechanics. From there, there seem to be three ways to transform into The Butcher:

• Helltides. As you play through the seasons you’ll earn Meaty Offerings which you can turn in to Shrines of Slaughter in Helltides. This will summon a crowd of demons to the slaughter, and you know what to do from there.
• Fields of Hatred PVP zones will feature a new event for the season: the Ceremony of Slaughter. Every kill you make during the ceremony builds savagery, and when it’s maxed out The Butcher’s Idol spawns. The player who claims it will become The Butcher for yet more carnage.
• Slaughterhouse dungeons simply let you play as The Butcher from start to finish. Blizzard is cagey on what these are, simply saying “some things are best left to be experienced firsthand.”

Becoming The Butcher completely replaces your existing abilities. The Butcher’s skills are Carve, Culling, Molten Slam, Hail of Hooks, Hell Charge, and Furnace Blast. We’ll see exactly how these abilities work when the season launches.

Earning kills as the Butcher will get you Fresh Meat (of course), a currency that you can use to get more bloodied items — more on this in a minute, but I guarantee you will want this Bloodied gear to power up your killstreaks.

There are also seasonal Bloodied Sigils for Nightmare Dungeons, Infernal Hordes, and Lair Bosses, which become available on Torment 1. These Sigils have the affix Relentless Butcher, which strengthens all enemies and spawns a Butcher who will chase you throughout the entire dungeon. If you kill the Butcher, he will respawn and continue the chase. Using these Sigils also gives dungeons a guaranteed drop of Bloodied items (again, more on this in a minute). There are also Bloodsoaked Sigils for an even bigger challenge, and a guaranteed drop of multiple Bloodied items.

And last but not least, The Butcher will be joining the lineup of lair bosses this season, dropping a selection of brand new Butcher-specific uniques. The Butcher will remain in the lair boss rotation beyond the Season of Slaughter, so you’ll be able to enjoy fighting him at any time.

Season 12’s Killstreak system and Bloodied items

You want to keep those kills coming throughout Season 12. A Killstreak awards bonus XP and bonus seasonal reputation when it ends, so collecting massive Killstreak totals is how you earn seasonal progression. There are no new seasonal powers: it’s all about racking up massive Killstreaks.

But the Bloodied items you collect can provide some serious powers during your Killstreaks, especially if you stack their affixes for bigger bonuses. Bloodied items drop randomly, with guaranteed drops from Bloodied and Bloodsoaked Sigils. These items include unique affixes that buff Killstreaks, based on the tier of your current Killstreak. The system has five tiers: Killstreak, Carnage, Devastation, Bloodbath, and Massacre.

Here are the Bloodied affixes you can get:

• Rampage
  • Increase in power based off current Killstreak Tier
  • Applies to Armor
  • Ex: Killstreak: 7%[+] Move Speed per Killstreak Tier in your Killstreak
• Feast
  • Apply Combat bonuses based off total kills in your current Killstreak
  • Applies to Weapons
  • Ex: Every 40 Kills in your Killstreak, reset 1 random Cooldown
  • These bonuses are constant and are not tied to Killstreak Tier
• Hunger
  • Customizes reward offerings, which scale with Killstreak Tiers
  • Ex: Elite kills will drop Runes more frequently
  • Applies to Jewelry

These affixes are in addition to existing affixes, and multiple Bloodied affixes will stack. Bloodied items can also drop as Ancestral items, so you’ll have Bloodied items at every power level.

It’s a fun system, but Season 12 is certainly lightweight. And while the Killstreak system is a good fit, it’s apparently only being added for this short season.

Season 12 rewards

Despite its short duration, Season 12 has the standard Battle Pass, Reliquaries, and Season Journey to play through, and you should expect to spend the typical amount of time earning these rewards.

But on top of this, the season features a Reliquary of gear based on Doom: The Dark Ages. This collab is honestly the perfect vibe for Diablo 4, though unfortunately the Doomguy armor is a shop purchase and not part of the Reliquary.

When can I play Season 12?

The Season of Slaughter launches on March 11 at 10am pacific (1pm eastern), and we expect it to last until April 28 when the Lord of Hatred expansion launches.

And for the first time, players will be able to pre-load the 2.6 patch in order to get in game more quickly when the season starts. The patch will be available on Battle.net, PlayStation, and Xbox starting on March 9 at 10am pacific (1pm eastern). If you want to play in the season immediately, I highly recommend pre-loading the patch.

I’ll see you in Sanctuary for the Season of Slaughter.