Diablo 4 Season 5: 5 Biggest things to look forward to

Diablo 4’s recent Campfire Chat revealed a ton of details about the upcoming Season 5. The developers offered a wealth of changes to the end-game, new activities, uniques, and much more. It promises to bring changes that fans were hoping for - in particular, the endgame. There’s a great deal to be excited about, and thankfully, a lot of it was revealed during a PTR that took place this July.

Here are the 5 biggest things to look forward to in Diablo 4 Season 5.

---

5 most exciting features in Diablo 4 Season 5

1) New Main Story Quest: The Eyes of the Enemy

As with most new seasons, Diablo 4 Season 5 features a new story quest: The Eyes of the Enemy. However, this one will remain on the Eternal Realm when the season ends. This quest is focused on a story where alliances begin to shift, and unlikely friends appear. It takes place after the main story, and to access it, players must be on World Tier 3, and visit Hawezar.

This main story quest will introduce players to the new endgame mechanic: the Infernal Hordes. The quest may also be connected to the upcoming Vessel of Hatred expansion, but that remains to be seen.

---

2) New Activity: Infernal Hordes

Through the Infernal Compass, you can walk through Hell (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

The new endgame activity is Infernal Hordes, where players conquer hordes of demons for a variety of powerful weapons and other rewards. Completing the challenge set out before you will grant you access to the Fell Council, which will serve as a sort of boss for this Diablo 4 Season 5 activity.

Players can access this through Infernal Compass items, gained from Endgame Bosses, Helltides, Nightmare Dungeons, and Whispers. Completing the new MSQ will also grant a Hell Compass. This mode is a timed event, with each wave of foes lasting 90 seconds. Defeating enemies grants Burning Aether, a currency you can spend at the end.

Another interesting facet is the Infernal Offers. Between waves, you will receive an offer from the forces of Hell. These Infernal Offers grant three Boons and Banes, from which you can select one.

These stack between waves as well, so be careful about what Banes (negatives) you choose. You can use these to make your runs as challenging as you want - especially if you want a chance to farm even more Burning Aether.

The Burning Aether is spent on Spoils of Hell, which are treasure chests. You can get:

• Spoils of Equipment
• Spoils of Materials
• Spoils of Gold
• Spoils of Greater Equipment (guarantees an item with a Greater Affix)

The Infernal Hordes dungeons promise plenty of challenges and rewards (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

As you play through Diablo 4 Season 5, you’ll receive Infernal Compasses, which come in eight tiers - these scale in difficulty and World Tier. The more powerful the compass, the greater the number of waves you have to contend with in the Infernal Hordes mode:

• Tier 1: Available at World Tier 3
• Tier 2: Available at World Tier 4. Includes Bonus Affixes that increase crafting materials, and Legendary/Unique Drop rates
• Tier 3: Available at Level 100. Includes Bonus Affixes and Spoil of Greater Equipment

To get the higher tiers, you must use Abyssal Scrolls to increase the power of your Infernal Compasses. If you get through your waves, fight the Fell Council. There are five of them, each with their unique powers. You will battle three of them, chosen at random. The weaker they get, the more frenzied they become, so don’t get too overconfident. Once they have been slain, you can spend your Burning Aether.

---

3) New items abound in Diablo 4 Season 5

Some fantastic uniques are coming this season (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

While we don’t know all of the new weapons on the way in Diablo 4 Season 5, we do know that there will be eight new uniques. There will undoubtedly be a host of new legendaries with incredible effects as well. We won’t get into the nitty-gritty of these new uniques here, but here is a brief breakdown:

Universal

• Rakanoth’s Wake (Boots): When you cast a Skill with a Cooldown, you explode, dealing Fire damage.

Barbarian

• The Third Blade (Slashing 1H Sword): Your Weapon Mastery Skills are now also Core Skills that have no Cooldowns, but cost Fury, dealing damage. Their Fury costs are reduced by five for any additional Charges the Skill would have had.
• Unbroken Chain (Amulet): Casting Steel Grasp reduces Iron Maelstrom’s Cooldown. Enemies damaged by Iron Maelstrom deal less damage for 6s.

Druid

• The Basilisk (Staff): When you first hit an enemy with an Earth Skill, Petrify them for 3s. Petrifying an enemy additionally deals Physical damage.

Necromancer

• The Mortacrux (Dagger): When consuming a Corpse, there is a chance to also create a Skeletal Simulacrum that seeks enemies but cannot attack. When it dies, it explodes for Shadow damage. This effect is treated as a Macabre Skill.

Rogue

• The Umbracrux (Dagger): Casting a Subterfuge SKill also spawns an enemy Shade Totem for a brief time. Any damage it takes is replicated onto surrounding enemies at 30% effectiveness. You may only have two Shade Totems active at a time. This damage counts as a Trap Skill.

Sorcerer

• Vox Omnium (Staff): Casting a Core Skill additionally fires two instances of Fire Bolt, frost Bolt, or Spark, matching the elements of your last two non-Core Skill casts. These deal increased damage.
• Axial Conduit (Pants): Chain Lightning alternates between orbiting you and seeking up to three enemies. When it returns, it drains six Mana from you for each active Chain Lightning. After draining 66 total Mana, the bolt explodes for Lightning damage. Chain Lightning expires if you don’t have enough Mana for it to drain.

There’s no specific place these uniques can drop from yet - that we’re aware of. Although they can be unlocked by killing enemies, the best shot is from the new Infernal Hordes mode, according to Blizzard. Additionally, Mythic Uniques (Ubers) will have a new color, sound, and a backdrop, so it's easier to tell when you've found one.

The developers have confirmed that there will be more than 50 new Uniques and Legendaries that are coming in this Season. On top of that, they will persist upon Season’s end. These new items will be unlocked by defeating enemies as normal, as well as in the Infernal Hordes mode.

---

4) Changes to Endgame content

Diablo 4 Season 5 boasts some very important QoL changes (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

There are quite a few changes to how the endgame content works in Diablo 4. A major example is that you won’t need to craft sigils to fight Beast in Ice anymore. You can just head to the dungeon and summon him. However, if you have sigils remaining, you can use those instead of materials.

As far as all Endgame bosses go, you can just resummon them, instead of resetting the dungeons. In addition, summoning Varshan only requires Malignant Hearts. The other items are removed from the game with this update. Instead of rare items, these bosses will drop gold.

Whispers will also be easier to complete - there will always be enough missions available to get to 10 Grim Favors in any Helltide. The icons have also been updated to be consistent with other Whispers.

Another interesting facet is that the Threat consistently scales with the health of slain monsters, and Baneful Heart drop rates were reduced. You can also now earn Resplendent Sparks from Tormented bosses separately on Hardcore and Non-Hardcore characters. They will not automatically be picked up, nor will Scattered Prisms. You can find them in the Lost Items stash if forgotten.

You can also get Unique and Mythic Unique (Uber) from Whisper Caches, Purveyor of Curiosities, and Tortured Gifts. They’ve also made the chance to find Mythic Uniques on all non-boss drop locations to be a higher number.

Expect some new things when it comes to weapons in Diablo 4 Season 5 (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Treasure Goblins also got a buff. They can now drop 1-3 Legendaries, and 2-6 Rares. The more Legendaries they have, the fewer Rares they drop, and vice versa. They also drop 1-2 Elixirs and will drop Ore, Herbs, Leather, and Gem Fragments.

They also drop more gold, on top of that. Finally, on World Tiers 3 and 4, they can drop Forgotten Souls. World Tiers 2, 3, and 4 have a chance to see Scattered Prisms drop as well.

Weapons are changing too in Diablo 4. More classes will have access to more weapons, and this includes the innate affixes so that they’re more useful across classes. The example they gave was that Sorcerers can use One-Handed Swords and Maces.

---

5) Hellbreach Dungeons

One new feature that we’ve yet to see much about are the Hellbreach Dungeons. These will no doubt be revealed in further details during the upcoming developer stream. What we do know is that these will be in the Seasonal Realm to give players a taste of what’s to come in the Infernal Hordes mode.

This mode will reward players with Burning Aether, which can be spent on treasure chests that drop at the end of the dungeon. They will likely feel similar to the Infernal Hordes mode, which is a wave-based feature that players can tackle both solo, or with friends. While Infernal Hordes will be available on Eternal and Seasonal realms, Hellbreach Dungeons are exclusive to the Seasonal content.

---

On August 1, at 10 am PST, Blizzard Entertainment will feature a Developer Update Livestream that dives deeper into what awaits players in Season of the Infernal Hordes (Season 5). It will be available on their Twitch and YouTube channels, as usual.

Diablo 4 Season 5 is currently slated to begin on August 6, 2024, the same day that Season 4 ends. It will feature a wide assortment of changes, new items, and ways to approach the game.