In Diablo 3, the new season theme for Season 19 is now known thanks to the PTR Patch Notes for Patch 2.6.7. Additionally, there is some initial information about new class sets.
What is this theme? To bring more variety to the game, Diablo 3 has had a different theme for each season since Season 14. For example, there are special buffs that promote certain gameplay to provide a fresh experience.
The next Season 19 is no exception. The season theme has now been revealed, focusing on rewards for strong kill streaks.
What we know about the season theme in Season 19
Is this why Blizzard was dissatisfied with the theme of Season 18? One of the biggest criticisms of the buff from Season 18 was that the Trinity bonus did not persist for the character upon completing their adventures.
The buff for Season 19 has now experimented with new mechanics and made some changes. Players will now need to weigh whether to reset their kill streak for a specific desired bonus or continue to drive it forward to maintain the overall effect.
This is how the season theme in Season 19 works: The theme of Season 19 – Season of Eternal Conflict – is called Pandemonium.
Throughout Season 19, all players will receive this stackable buff that lasts as long as they have hit or killed a monster in the last 5 seconds.
Each stack grants you 0.06% movement speed and 0.1% bonus damage. The caps are +50% movement speed and +100% damage (1,000 stacks).
After achieving a certain number of consecutive kills, a power is unleashed that deals scalable damage. The amount of damage is based on player level and difficulty or Greater Rift level.
These are the power effects:
- 15 kills: 5 massive energy whirlwinds are unleashed
- 30 kills: Dark geysers among the enemies
- 50 kills: Exploding chickens seek and destroy targets
- 100 kills: It rains corpses from the sky
- 150 kills: A large area Frost Nova freezes enemies
- 200 kills: Treasure chests fall from the sky
- 300 kills: A ring of fire engulfs everything
- 400 kills: Meteors fall from the sky
- 500 kills: Angels descend upon the battlefields to fight by your side
- 1000 kills: Still secret
These powers scale according to the group level. Only one power can be active at a time – regardless of the number of players in the group.
How can you make the most of this? If you want to use a specific effect as often as possible, you need to reach a certain number of kills and then reset the kill counter by “5 seconds of inactivity”.
However, if you want to keep triggering effects continuously, it is beneficial to maintain and increase kill streaks as long as possible. Because with more kills, the bonus effects will become more powerful, according to Blizzard.
What else is changing? In the future, there will be new set items for all classes in Diablo 3. In Season 19, the Monk and Crusader kick things off, with other classes to follow in future patches.
These two classes may now receive more love because they were not at the top of the Solo leaderboard in Season 18. The Monk even landed in last place.
What the two new sets Aegis of Valor (Crusader) and Patterns of Justice (Monk) can do in detail, along with further changes, can be found in the patch notes for Patch 2.6.7 on the official Diablo 3 website:
By the way, these changes can be tested starting October 17 on the PTR.
What do you think of the new season theme for Season 19? Does it make you excited for more, or do you find this new mechanic uninteresting?
