When does Diablo 3 Season 39 end and Season 40 begin? We’re guessing the next season starts in October with Light’s Calling!

Diablo 3 Season 39 is our second repeat of the Shades of the Nephalem theme since D3 started recycling themes, granting us that beloved extra wildcard slot in Kanai’s Cube (along with a shadow clone on shrine or pylon use). But since the game’s seasons have started ending without much heads up, we must ask the constant question: when is season 39 ending, and when is Season 40 starting? We estimate Season 39: Shades of the Nephalem will end September 27 and Season 40 (probably Light’s Calling) will begin Friday, October 2, 2026 at 5pm PDT/CEST/KST, based on the typical schedule of Diablo 3 seasons.

Diablo 3’s maintenance mode continues to be unpredictable, with varied season lengths and a short list of repeating themes. With Season 38’s unexpected ending, it was exactly 12 weeks — taking us right back to the three month rotation we expected. Sadly, we have only seen the three month cycle about half the time since Season 30 kicked off with these “maintenance seasons,” upholding the grand D3 tradition of seasons that vary widely in length, from the 11 week flash in the pan of Season 36 to the 17 week slog of Season 34.

Along with the length of the maintenance mode cycle, the seasonal theme pool (or lack thereof) has thrown us for a collective loop. There are only six themes Blizzard seems to be using for the repeating seasonal cycle. Maintenance mode began with Season 30’s Lords of Hell (Soul Shard gems), repeated in Season 36, followed by Forbidden Archives (Kanai’s Cube-o-Rama in Seasons 31 and 37), Ethereal Memory (Ethereal weapons in Seasons 32 and 38), and now Shades of the Nephalem (shadow clones/fourth cube slot, Seasons 22 and 33). Thus, we’re pretty confident in assuming the order of the next two will be Season 34’s Light’s Calling (Angelic Crucibles), and Season 35’s Eternal Conflict (Pandemonium buffs). Pretty small for a recurring cycle, although it means the pool rotation is easy to predict.

When maintenance mode began, Blizzard had integrated four themes into the base game: Season 23’s Follower system revamp, Season 26’s Echoing Nightmares, Season 28’s Altar of Rites, and Season 29’s Visions of Enmity. So where are Season 21’s Trial of the Tempests, 18’s Season of the Triune, 17’s Season of Nightmares, 16’s Season of Grandeur, 15’s Boon of the Horadrim, or 14’s Season of Greed? They may not be “strong” themes as far as encouraging player engagement, but Blizzard has shown in the past that they can combine themes — for example, activating extra goblins or double Horadric caches during other seasons. Hopefully, in the future Blizzard will shake seasons up a little more by bringing in additional themes or stacking additional themes.

Regardless of our desire for variety, the shadow clones are currently here and we expect Angelic Crucibles for our next comeback. Season 40 will bring our gear-improving crucibles on the estimated October 2. See you in Sanctuary!