The start of Season 17 in Diablo 3 is just a few days away. When is the end of S17? What new content does Patch 2.6.5 bring? We will show you the most important changes at a glance.
When does Season 17 start? The new season of Diablo 3 begins this week. On Friday, May 17 at 5 PM, the spectacle starts for PC gamers.
Console players on the Switch, PS4, and Xbox One will have to wait a little longer. For you, it starts at 02:00 AM on May 18.
When is the end of Season 17? Blizzard no longer wants to announce in advance when a season is expected to end. This will now happen only two weeks prior. A season in Diablo 3 usually lasts 3 months. Therefore, we expect an end in August.
The contents of Season 17
The seasonal theme: Diablo brings variety to the game with seasonal themes. These are passive bonuses that every player automatically receives when playing a seasonal character.
In Season 17, all seasonal heroes receive the set bonus of Legacy of Nightmares. Just like that. Without having to equip the set. The set bonus states: As long as this is your only set bonus, each ancient item equipped increases your damage by 750% and reduces your damage taken by 4%.
With this new seasonal theme, we expect many cool new builds that you can use to battle for the best spots in the leaderboard.
Haedrig’s Gift: If you complete stages 2, 3, and 4 of the seasonal journey in Season 17, you will receive one of Haedrig’s gifts for each stage. These contain a few parts of a class set. The set is always suitable for the class you open the gift with.
If you collect all gifts with the same class, you will receive a complete set.
In S17, the following sets are available in Haedrig’s Gift:
- Barbarian – Might of the Earth
- Crusader – Thorns of the Invoker
- Demon Hunter – The Shadow’s Mantle
- Monk – Monkey King’s Garb
- Necromancer – Inarius’ Gaze
- Witch Doctor – Jade Harvester’s Garb
- Wizard – Firebird’s Finery
Have you already decided on a class you definitely want to play? Find out in our Tier List for Season 17 in Diablo 3 which are the best classes and builds.
Cosmetic rewards: For your progress in the seasonal journey of Season 17, Diablo 3 rewards you with cosmetic items. This time, these are rewards that were already active in Season 5. You now have another chance to earn them.
In addition to the leg guards and boots of the Invoker, there are also many portrait frames.
If you manage to complete all nine chapters of the seasonal journey, you will receive the galactic wings!
Gameplay changes with Patch 2.6.5 – S 17
Higher torment levels: In the new season, torment 13 is not the end. Blizzard has increased the difficulties to torment 14, torment 15, and torment 16.
These new torment levels offer not only increased difficulty but also better loot for you. This is noticeable in blood shards, gold, and experience points. The improved rewards from bounties and Nephalem rifts also show the higher difficulty.
The rewards and difficulties of the new torment levels are comparable to level 65, level 70, and level 75 in Greater Nephalem Rifts.
Search function in the loot chest: You know the problem: Over the course of a season, you put all sorts of items into the loot chest because they seem important. Especially when playing with multiple classes, the chest can quickly get very full. PC players can use a search function for the loot chest in Season 17 to find items there.
Changes to bounties: Most bounties now show directly upon entry where you need to go. Additionally, Horadric Caches can now contain Death’s Breath.
Changes to Puzzle Rings: When you use a Puzzle Ring in Kanai’s Cube, the objective has changed somewhat. You will find a rewarding level there.
You can read the complete patch notes for Season 17 on the Diablo 3 website.
Balance changes in Patch 2.6.5 for Diablo 3 – Season 17 Meta
The following changes have been made for items and sets in Season 17:
- [New] Unyielding Potion of the Unchained – After use, you are immune to control loss effects for 5 – 7 seconds.
- Akkhan’s Leniency – Each enemy hit by Blessed Shield increases the damage of Blessed Shield by 35% – 40% for 3 seconds (Previously 15% – 20%)
- Bloodtide Blade – The damage of Death Nova increases by 300% – 400% for each enemy within 25 meters (previously 80% – 100%)
- Carnival Mask – Each time you fire a Poison Dart, the 10 (previously 5) nearest fetishes also fire a powerful dart
- Chantodo’s Will – For every second in Archon form, you release a wave of destruction that deals 4,000% weapon damage to enemies within 30 meters (previously 1,000%). Each time you hit with an attack outside of Archon form, an additional 4,000% weapon damage is added to the wave of destruction (previously 1,000%). Stacks up to 20 times. The damage of the wave of destruction now scales with attack speed.
- The Dagger of Darts – Your poison darts and those of your fetishes now pierce targets and deal additional damage of [400–500%].
- Inarius’ Grace – Bone Armor additionally creates a vortex of bones that deals 1,000% weapon damage to nearby enemies and increases the damage they take from the Necromancer by 10,000% (previously 3,750%).
- Iron Rose – Blood-sucking attacks have a 100% chance (previously 40% – 50%) to trigger Blood Nova for free.
- Jekangbor’s Triumph – Blessed Shield hits 6 additional enemies and deals 300–400% more damage (previously 225–300%)
- Set: Sage’s Journey – Now causes double the amount of Death’s Breath to drop (previously one additional Death’s Breath)
- Sin Seekers – Now additionally increases the damage of Rapid Fire by 250% – 300%.
- Storm of Wojahnni – Rapid Fire deals 75% to 100% more damage for every half second you channel it (previously 60% to 75%). Stacks up to 30 times.
And now, let’s head into Season 17:
