In Season 12 of Diablo 4, the bloodthirsty slaughter is literally at the center of attention. The more monsters you defeat in a short time, the more rewards you earn. To enhance this experience, Blizzard offers new items on top. You can test the fresh features as early as next week.
What rewards do I get in Season 12? With Season 12, Blizzard introduces a so-called killstreak system into the ARPG, which resembles the system from Diablo 3. Specifically, this means: If you slaughter a lot of monsters within a short time frame, a killstreak counter starts. While the timer runs, you collect points with each kill. If the timer completely runs out, the killstreak ends.
At the end of your killstreak, you gain experience points and seasonal reputation. The exact amount depends on how many enemies you have defeated during this time. Additionally, you receive bonuses based on which killstreak level you have reached. If you die, the killstreak is immediately over, and you receive no rewards.
The following killstreak levels exist based on the total points:
- Killstreak
- Slaughter
- Devastation
- Bloodbath
- Massacre
To make the slaughter even more effective, new bloodstained items are coming into play, with which you can further enhance your killstreaks. Additionally, bloodstained seals increase the difficulty of endgame activities.
Currently, Season 11 is still ongoing in Diablo 4:
Bloodstained items amplify your killstreaks
These are the bloodstained items: Bloodstained items are a new item quality associated with the killstreak system. Their affixes scale with your current killstreak level, resulting in stronger effects the more monsters you slay. In principle, any item drop can be bloodstained. The items can be both enchanted and bloodstained.
Bloodstained affixes are divided into three categories: Frenzy, Feast, and Hunger.
Examples of bloodstained affixes (Source: Blizzard):
- Frenzy:
- Power increase based on the current killstreak level
- Applied to armor
- Example: Killstreak: 7 %[+] movement speed per current killstreak level
- Feast:
- Combat bonuses based on the total number of kills in your current killstreak
- Applied to weapons
- Example: Every 40 kills in your killstreak reset a random cooldown
- These bonuses are constant and not tied to the killstreak level
- Hunger:
- Adapts rewards that scale based on killstreak level
- Example: Defeated elite enemies drop runes more frequently
- Applied to jewelry
You defeat the Butcher – and he comes right back
These are bloodstained seals: Bloodstained seals increase the difficulty of Nightmare Dungeons, Hell Waves, and Hideout bosses by about one torment level. They are available starting from torment level 1 and guarantee you bloodstained items as rewards upon successful completion.
Each bloodstained seal carries the affix “Relentless Butcher.” This means: The Butcher relentlessly hunts you down. Even if you defeat him, he returns immediately. In some cases, you may even have to fight against two Butchers at once.
The Diablo community is currently discussing which Butcher is the most frightening. Which one is your favorite? Feel free to participate in our poll:
When can I test the content from Season 12? Blizzard has introduced the new content, including patch notes for Season 12 in a blog post. The PTR along with patch 2.6.0 is just around the corner. You can test the upcoming changes on the Public Test Realm (PTR) from February 3, 2026, starting from 7:00 PM CET, until February 10, 2026, at 7:00 PM CET, via Battle.net. There is no seasonal reputation for killstreaks on the PTR.
According to Reliquiar, there are currently still about 40 days left for Season 11. Therefore, Season 12 is expected to start on March 10, 2026. You’ll find out which content will come into play and which new uniques await you in our overview: Diablo 4 Season 12 – all about start, release date, and the PTR
