Diablo 4 Season 4 early patch notes: Release date, new itemization system, Tempering, more

❘ Updated: 2024-03-20T21:24:03

Blizzard

Diablo 4 Season 4 is set to feature a host of changes that include a new itemization system, new ways to upgrade your gear, and a set of new activities. Here’s everything that you’ll be seeing in the new season.

Diablo 4 Season 4 is set to receive a plethora of itemization changes and balance updates as noticed in the PTR that the developers conducted.

These changes are set to redefine the game by giving players more gear customization options and endgame content to explore once Season 4 goes live.

If you want to know more about what’s been teased in the latest Diablo 4 Campfire Chat about Diablo 4 Season 4, here are the early patch notes.

Diablo 4 Season 4 release date
Diablo 4 Season 4 Campfire Chat details
Season 4 potential theme
Diablo 4: New itemization system
Diablo 4: Codex of Power changes
Diablo 4: Greater Affixes
Diablo 4: Tempering & Masterworking explained
Diablo 4: The Pit explained
Diablo 4: Helltides update & new Boss
Diablo 4: New Uber Unique item
Diablo 4: Balance changes

Diablo 4 Season 4 release date

Diablo 4 Season 4 will arrive on May 14, 2024 as mentioned by the developers during the March Campfire Chat.

The developers mentioned that the season was being delayed so that they had enough time to implement all the changes and ensure that everything was working before the new season went live.

Diablo 4 Season 4 Campfire Chat date & expected announcements

A Campfire Chat for Diablo 4 Season 4 will be held on May 2 at 11 AM PT/ 2 PM ET / 7 PM GMT as mentioned by the developers in their latest blog post. In this Campfire Chat, Blizzard will talk about their key takeaways from the PTR, including all the class balances and itemization changes that will go live in Season 4.

Just like the previous Developer Update Campfire Chats, this one will also be live-streamed on the official Diablo channels on Twitch and YouTube.

Diablo 4 Season 4 expected theme

Based on what players have noticed in the Diablo 4 Season 4 PTR, the upcoming season might have a theme related to Iron Wolves.

Players have mentioned that they’ve received Wolf Reputation and Iron Wolf shards while completing various activities in the game.

Diablo 4 New itemization system in Season 4

Blizzard announced that they will be focusing on reducing the number of items dropped in each World Tier, but they’ll be buffing the quality of each item in order to reduce the amount of “junk” gear obtained after defeating enemies or opening chests.

This means that some Unique and Uber Unique items will be harder to find, but powerful gear will be equally spread across every World Tier, so you’ll be able to get them even during the early-game stages.

Diablo 4 Codex of Power changes in Season 4

Codex of Power in Season 4 is getting a huge rework, as players will be able to see all Legendary Affixes from the start. This means that you won’t need to go to the Occultist in Diablo 4 to salvage Aspects, and they’ll be added as soon as any gear is salvaged.

Players will get to see their Aspect progression in the new Codex of Power.

In the new Codex of Power, each Aspect will have a progression system, with most of them having up to 16 ranks that you can hit.

Every time you find an Aspect with a higher roll, you can salvage it to unlock a rank for that Aspect in the Codex of Power.

Diablo 4 Season 4 Greater Affixes

In Diablo 4 Season 4, Blizzard will introduce Greater Affixes, which are more powerful versions of normal affixes that come with a 1.5 multiplier on the affix’s max roll. These will appear only in Ancestral Legendary Items and Ancestral Unique Items.

Diablo 4 Tempering & Masterworking explained

Diablo 4 Season 4 Tempering will let you customize your gear at the Blacksmith, and will ask you to look for “Tempering Manuals” to attach new buffs to each piece of armor to customize it according to their class and type of build.

Every gear can be imbued with new buffs through Tempering manuals or recipes.

Masterworking will be replacing the old upgrade system in Diablo 4, and let you level up every stat along with affixes that have been “tempered” onto your gear. While Tempering won’t work on Unique Items, Masterworking can be used on them.

The developers also announced that all items so far will become Legacy items, which will continue to work during the current system, but can’t be either Tempered or Masterworked.

Diablo 4 Season 4 The Pit explained

Diablo 4 Season 4 will introduce The Pit, a new feature that can be used by players to summon higher-level versions of all bosses. Once you manage to complete a Tier 45 Nightmare Dungeon, you will receive a quest to look for a new type of Shard, that can drop from elite creatures and other common monsters.

After collecting these Shards, you need to visit the Artificer’s Obelisk located in Cerrigar, and use them to open up an Artificer’s Rift and enter The Pit.

You can enter The Pit by activating the Artificer’s Obelisk located in Cerrigar.

Each Pit experience is a randomized layout with random monsters, and you will have to beat all the monsters within a set time to earn rewards.

After killing The Pit’s boss, you’ll be able to win new exclusive Masterworking materials: Obducite, Ingolith, and Neathiron.

Diablo 4 Helltides update & new Boss in Season 4

Blizzard announced that Helltides will start appearing in Diablo 4 World Tiers 1 & 2, with new and rare summoning materials dropping during the tide. These will be used to summon the Bloodmaiden, a public event boss.

Helltides will also start showing Threat Meters, that builds up as you keep killing monsters, and once it’s filled you’ll be attacked by a huge horde of demons and Hellborns. These events will also come with new mini-events and different types of harbingers.

Helltides will now show Threat Meters, which will fill as players kill more demons.

The devs also confirmed a new endgame boss called Andariel, who can only be summoned after collecting materials that will spawn after defeating Beast in Ice and Lord Zir.

Diablo 4 Season 4 new Uber Unique item Tyrael’s Might

Diablo 4 Season 4 will introduce a new Uber Unique item called Tyrael’s Might.

Tyrael’s Might

925 Item Power
1619 Armor
+18 All Stats
+5.0% Maximum Resistance to All Elements (5.0)%
+11.2% Resistance to All Elements (11.2)%
10% Damage Reduction
While at full Life, your Skills unleashed a divine barrage dealing 909 (782-924) damage.
Description: “‘Thus Tyrael, a perfect aspect of Justice, came to be. None were more vehement against the forces of hell. All demonic entities learned to shudder at Justice’s might.’ – The Books of Jarl, Volume I.”

Diablo 4 Season 4 balance changes

General changes:

Each class is getting 2 new Uniques in Season 4.
Flat Damage Legendaries were fixed, now they scale based on the players’ weapon damage.
Elixir of Death evasion was removed.
Redesigned Flame Shield’s Enchantment. Flame Shield automatically activates after cumulatively losing 100% Maximum Life, and can only happen every 30 seconds.
Season 4 will see the new Uber Unique called “Tyrael’s Might”.

Sorcerer

Mastery Skills are Core Skills.
Frozen Orb getting a huge update.
Bug fix: The Evade cooldown reduction affix was triggering off free casts from Unstable Currents, allowing for near-infinite uptime on Teleport Evades. This has been fixed- the affix only work with intentional casts now.
Bug fix: Esu’s Ferocity used to apply to Critical Strike Damage to all damage types- now it only applies to Fire damage as intended..

Necromancer

Minions will inherit 100% of the player’s stats
Huge changes to Book of the Dead, such as:
- Reaper’s wind-up attacks now reduce one of your active Cooldowns by 3 seconds.
- Cold Mages’ attacks apply Vulnerable for 4 seconds.
- Iron Golem’s slam attack also pulls in enemies.

Barbarian:

10% inherent Damage Reduction is being removed. Damage Reduction in general is going to be much more rare and special.
Charge, Hammer of the Ancient, Unbridled Rage damage is being reduced.

Druid

Prime Lacerate now hits Heal for 3% Maximum Life, doubled on Critical Strikes, and the first Critical Strike is guaranteed and deals (X) increased damage.
Whenever Lacerate Critically Strikes, Druid’s Shapeshifting Skills deal 4% increased damage for 10 seconds up to (X).

Rogue

Inner Sight now lets Rogues attack marked enemies to fill up your Inner Sight gauge. Attacking non-marked enemies fills it at 5% of the normal rate. When it’s full, gain unlimited Energy and 25% Critical Strike Chance for 4 seconds.

That’s everything known so far coming with the Diablo 4 Season 4 update. If you want to know more about Diablo 4’s ARPG, you can check out these guides below: