Altar Of Rites

It's the start of a new era for Diablo 3: with Season 30 and beyond, the game will have no new Seasonal themes but instead remix past themes for new experiences.

In a brief statement that proves brevity is the soul of wit, Diablo 3 Senior Game Producer Matthew Cederquist  popped onto the D3 forums to tell us that the Altar of Rites system from Season 28 will become a permanent fixture of the game starting in Season 30.

Blood Shards are not a new inclusion in Diablo 3; they've been a necessary currency for the franchise's current form of item gambling through the merchant Kadala, found near the Nephalem Obelisk in every Act.

Puzzle Rings have been used in Diablo 3 to open portals to Greed's realm since patch 2.3.0.

Diablo 3 Season 28: Rites of Sanctuary underway and introduced the Altar of Rites to New Tristram, which grants powerful (account-wide) boons -- but with a price.

Season 28 of Diablo 3 adds some gameplay twists befitting the Rites of Sanctuary Season theme -- including ritual sacrifice on the Altar of Rites of expensive items, like the Staff of Herding.

Diablo 3 Season 28: Rites of Sanctuary brought to an incredible theme to the table with the Altar of Rites where you can make sacrifices to unlock immense power.

Diablo 3 Season 28: Rites of Sanctuary is up and running with the Altar of Rites, which combines previous themes, item buffs, and new boosts into one big talent tree, letting you "buy" new abilities by sacrificing things like blood shards or crafting materials.

Diablo 3 Season 28: Rites of Sanctuary, going live later today, introduces the Altar of Rites to New Tristram, granting incredible (account-wide) boons.

The upcoming Diablo 3 Season 28 could be the last season the game has, because the Diablo 4 release date is is on the horizon — and if this is the last time we get to play a Diablo 3 Season, the team decided to go out with a bang because Season 28 adds an elaborate new talent tree system to the game.