Season 4 is set to change just about everything in Diablo 4, making it almost a completely new game. MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus was able to speak in advance with lead seasons designer Deric Nuñez and lead game producer Timothy Ismay. You can find the full interview here.
Here’s what you need to know about Season 4:
- Season 4 changes the fundamental loot system of Diablo 4, revises existing features, and introduces new endgame content. Most changes apply to both the season realm and the eternal realm, affecting the entire game.
- The theme of the season will be the Iron Wolves, with the only season mechanic being a new elixir added to the game, along with a brief questline with rewards only for seasonal players.
- The new season starts on May 14, 2024. You can find all the info about Season 4 here in overview.
Here’s the latest information: In the latest developer update from May 2, the developers talked about the things that will change in Season 4. Most innovations have already been discussed in detail. You can find here the full patch notes for Season 4.
Furthermore, the developers implemented community feedback after the first PTR and adjusted many aspects. This means: If you played the PTR, you will find several changes in Season 4.
With Tim Ismay and Deric Nuñez, I was able to discuss what impact the changes will have on the game and what they mean for players directly. Additionally, there are some interesting insights into the development and a few hints about the future of the game.
What the developers learned from the PTR is explained in video:
All upgrades will be integrated into the eternal and seasonal realm
MeinMMO: The Iron Wolves are apparently the seasonal theme of Season 4. What are the biggest differences or similarities to the Iron Wolves from Diablo 2 and Diablo 3?
Deric Nuñez: “Looking back at the introduction of Diablo 2 and the expansion [of the Iron Wolves] in Diablo 3, each iteration has tried to deepen the involvement of the Iron Wolves as the drama in Sanctuary unfolds.
With Season 4, we were able to continue this tradition by permanently integrating them into the Hell Tides. Through the activities of the Iron Wolves, players can fight alongside these notorious and honorable mercenaries.
Players on the Season 4 servers specifically have the “Call of the Wolf” activity, which drives this interaction with the Iron Wolves even further, where [players] can meet the commander and discover the reason for the intensifying Hell Tides as well as this “corruption” that threatens to consume the wolves from within.
Additionally, players are almost accepted into the Iron Wolves. While fighting the tides, you earn sweet loot for it. Seasonal players can battle through 18 tiers with really overpowered rewards designed to enhance leveling from 1 to 100 and beyond.
In the end … we love the Iron Wolves and are always looking for ways to increase their importance and presence in the conflicts of Sanctuary.”
Timothy Ismay: “And as players have already noted, the Iron Wolves haven’t had it easy recently. They have been struggling in Kehjistan, and Caldeum has been facing serious problems. [The Iron Wolves] are currently trying to re-form and push back the forces of hell that have just overrun the capital. We are starting with the question of what the Iron Wolves have really been up to since everything has literally gone to hell.”
MeinMMO: It sounds like the Iron Wolves will also be part of the Eternal Realm?
Deric Nuñez: “Yes, that’s one of the great things about the Season 4 upgrade. All upgrades that involve the Hell Tides will flow into the eternal and seasonal realm. How the Iron Wolves are now integrated into these tides is permanent. This is simply how Diablo 4 will deal with Hell Tides from now on.
The only part exclusive to the seasonal realm is the “Call of the Wolf” activity, the associated questline, and the renown path.”
This will not disappear
MeinMMO: Is that already the season mechanic, or is there more to come?
Deric Nuñez: “With Season 4, there is a strong emphasis on the changes that we have made everywhere with itemization, tempering, masterworking and all that stuff. Everything leads back to loot.
This is the focus of Season 4: improving the experience of looting and leveling.
We have a consumable item as part of the seasonal mechanics, or as a seasonal item: the “Profane Mindcage.” It drops from the new Hellbourne, a new monster type in the Hell Tides.
When you kill a Hellbourne in the seasonal realm, it will drop a Mindcage. If you consume it, it increases – for 60 minutes, I believe – the level of the hell tide monsters by up to 10 as well as their drop rate of anomalous embers. […]
In Season 4, it’s all about tinkering with your gear, enhancing class fantasy. The Mindcage takes that a step further, encouraging people to test their builds and maximize their efficiency. […]”
Timothy Ismay: “Just to emphasize: This season is very different from our previous ones. Previously, it was about making a pronounced seasonal experience with storylines, a form of power increase, and a theme that is only for the season and then disappears.
Then we saw what people were talking about on social media, in forums, or in the game itself. And we noticed that it often involved itemization, frustrations, and ideas on how to improve, and we agreed with much of that.
So we have been working on this for a long time. A lot of effort for this season, unlike previous seasons, therefore went into this fundamental change in how items work, how they feel from level 1-50, and how they behave in the crafting process from level 50.
That’s what this season is about. And, as Deric already said, unlike other seasons, this will not disappear. Usually, we do something cool that then disappears. But this is not. This is now a fundamental change to the game.”
The Reeve is a great example of how we can play in a season
MeinMMO: That the wolves come from Kehjistan and more specifically from Kurast doesn’t sound like a coincidence. Is this a preview of the expansion Vessel of Hatred?
Deric Nuñez: “I mentioned this earlier. We are always looking for ways to meaningfully continue the story of Sanctuary. But how [Season 4] relates to the upcoming expansion or not, we can’t talk about that yet.”
MeinMMO: In Season 3, you experimented with the Reeve as a temporary companion. And that was something very different from what we know from Diablo 2 and Diablo 3. What have you learned from the companion system?
Timothy Ismay: “A lot. The construct, the Reeve, is a great example of how we can use it in a season to bring power to the player. We had a lot of fun with: finding ways to implement forms of power through this little companion that complement your build or fundamentally change your class by unlocking something your class normally can’t do. […]
That was a lot of fun, but your question was what we learned from it. First, we would look at communication with the companion so that players better understand what it is actually doing. Players often lost track of the companion and what it was doing [in Season 3].
Another big thing is […] that we want the companion to unlock things as quickly as the player progresses. There were some balance issues initially that we worked out throughout the season. We should ensure that things unlock faster so that you feel how they impact your build sooner.
In general, we liked how it felt to have a companion. That’s a mechanic we definitely want to revisit in the future. But we will take into account some of the things we have learned.”
MeinMMO: I mean, with the Iron Wolves, you now have an ideal basis for further companions.
Timothy Ismay: “That’s right, they would make excellent companions.”
The Reeve was the big feature of Season 3:
Builds should still feel super-powerful
MeinMMO: If you bring companions again, would they be as completely broken as the Reeve? I mean, he could one-shot most Uber bosses.
Timothy Ismay: “[laughs] I think there were a few crazy things that came up, yes. We currently don’t have a class designer here, but in Adam’s name, I would say: Hopefully we have the chance to create careful balancing.
Having a PTR for Season 4 was a huge advantage. We saw what builds became so powerful that they could cause problems – and we had the chance to adjust them a bit.
To be clear: Our goal is not to take away such builds that were crazily fun in a good way. They should still feel super-powerful. But we have encountered some issues regarding their performance. That is: The game couldn’t properly process the number of projectiles and all the other craziness going on.
We had to dial it back a bit to ensure that the game doesn’t just crash. Those are the kinds of adjustments we want to make. And I think we would do something similar with companions. We want companions to feel powerful if they return. We were very happy with the Reeve. But, admittedly, a PTR would help us get it right a bit more before the season starts.”
I noted that experts like Rob are calling for OP builds to be nerfed, and I think that would be bad. After all, I want to be able to one-shot bosses if I want to. Timothy agreed with me and said: That fun factor is what you want to have.
After level 100: “Man, now I have this extreme character. What do I do with it now?”
MeinMMO: Very shortly after the end of the PTR, I saw the community discussing that content after level 100 is lacking. The leveling grind was great, but afterward there isn’t much to do. What do you think about that?
Timothy Ismay: “That’s a very good point. Players rightly pointed out that leveling to 100 is fun, but then you quickly equip yourself and think: “Man, now I have this extreme character. What do I do with it now?”
With Season 4, we’re bringing a few things that I think will help here significantly. The first one is The Pit. Once you reach level 100, the work is not done.
Tempering can basically be used right away, but Masterworking is only available starting at World Tier 4. That is only for legacy items and you have to go to The Pit to get the crafting materials for it.
The idea here is that you equip yourself, get the good stuff, stack the right affixes through tempering, and then start upgrading to make the items even more powerful. And you have to go to The Pit to do that.
For some of these materials, you need to go deeper and deeper, and will get more of them […] You will find that even at level 100, you want to go deeper into The Pit to get more materials and just to see how far you can go.
The Pit has 200 levels. And it increases sharply in difficulty. On your first visit, you will likely get through the first few levels quite easily. But at a certain point, you will realize that it’s getting really hard to proceed. I think many people will want to see how far they can go.
We had a similar situation with the Nightmare Dungeons, where people wanted to push to level 100. But [The Pit] has a significantly higher difficulty. And at least for a while, you will want to do that to upgrade your gear. […]
Additionally, we have introduced a new endgame boss, Andariel, similar to Duriel. This is a new way to farm Uber Uniques. Moreover, there are the new “tormented” versions of the endgame bosses.
Duriel already has Uber-Duriel as a stronger form. Now there is also the “tormented” variant, which is at level 200. It is incredibly tough; I personally have never defeated it, but […] this is a new challenge to see if you really are the best of the best.
And additionally, we are still looking at what additional systems we could potentially introduce in future seasons and releases that would give players more to do at level 100. We are already discussing this internally.”
Currently, the ultimate test of players is the leaderboard:
If you want the really perfect items, you often have to go into The Pit
MeinMMO: Compared to the grind for the Uber bosses, how extensive will the grind for crafting materials for tempering and masterworking be?
Timothy Ismay: “It’s not that hard to get into The Pit. The access comes quite quickly, because you just have to go in often, and you will have to grind a lot to upgrade your items.
Just a reminder: Each item can be upgraded up to 12 times, and the material costs increase with that. Every 4 levels there is a “Super-Roll” on one of the affixes. And because it’s random, the loop will look roughly like this:
- You look for legacy legendaries and uniques that have greater affixes. Only those two item types can have those affixes.
- Then you try to get the affixes you need with tempering.
- Then you start with masterworking to enhance an affix at levels 4, 8, and 12.
We know that people want to perfect their gear. That’s why you will have to do this often to get the perfect gear. […] You will quickly reach masterworking, but if you want the really perfect items, you have to go into The Pit often.”
Deric Nuñez: “The path to the endgame starts with preparation. Adjusting the character is a big part of both tempering and masterworking. Tempering then leads neatly into masterworking.
A part of the itemization rework of Season 4 is that we are trying to reduce complexity and make entry easier. Tempering is the preparation for the concept of fine-tuning gear.
The entry into tempering is quite straightforward: While you are simply doing content, interacting with the Hell Tides, playing Diablo, you will receive the recipes for tempering […] You will unlock them permanently. […] You’ll collect them and essentially complete your stamp collection. […] This makes the experience a bit more streamlined and emphasizes quality over quantity for the new loot experience.”
MeinMMO: To clarify, the difference between Uber Unique farming and tempering and masterworking is essentially that one provides a boost and the other is more of a steady improvement?
Timothy Ismay: “Yes, exactly, it’s more of a continuous process. And Duriel’s chance to drop an Uber Unique is still extremely low. So it’s a long grind. [Masterworking] is much more predictable.”
MeinMMO: By the way: Is it more likely that I will find a Shako or an item with a perfect greater affix?
Timothy Ismay: “I don’t think we have increased the drop chances for a Shako. I wouldn’t know if Uber bosses had a higher chance for greater affixes either.”
Hell Tides and Items – What does the future hold?
MeinMMO: Once again back to the Hell Tides, which received really good feedback after testing. How will you further develop the system, aside from the Iron Wolves?
Deric Nuñez: “We are very pleased with the community’s PTR feedback on the Hell Tides, and we are always looking for ways to respond to that and improve the content. In past seasons, you saw the Blood Harvests, which took the concept of a Hell Tide and did its own thing. In Season 3, we then had the Arcane Tremors.
Both led to the new identity of the Hell Tides now. When Season 4 comes, we will keep an eye on the reactions and see if there are any opportunities to do something with Hell Tides in the future. Right now, though, we are quite satisfied with where they are.”
MeinMMO: Recently, people have been asking repeatedly what purpose grey, white and blue, and sometimes even yellow items still serve, especially at World Tier 4. What plans do you have for those?
Timothy Ismay: “That’s something we might look at in the future. I agree with some of the observations, but at World Tier 4 you hardly see white or blue items. As you level up, you reach a point where the “smallest” item is rare. So you only see rare items, legendaries, and uniques.
However, it is true that I am only really concerned with legendaries and uniques in the endgame. Only those can have greater affixes; so why carry around rares? That’s true, but not initially.
Rares are still quite good; they can have good stats, and you can add legendary aspects to them. Eventually, you will outgrow them on your way to level 100, yes […] but until then, they are still a transition item.
You will progress quite quickly. In the future, we may take another look at what they bring. I must emphasize that they still provide crystals. Even at high levels, these are important for recipes. But I admit that this is something we will probably talk about more in the future.”
MeinMMO: Speaking of, there were also some theories about rune words. Can you tell me something about that?
Timothy Ismay: “We loved rune words back in Diablo 2. That was such a cool gameplay system. If players think they would be a good expansion for Diablo 4, we definitely want to hear that feedback.
We are always looking for new systems we can create, both for seasons and when it comes to what players should engage with in the game. If [rune words] are something like that, then you should definitely give us feedback. We read that.”
MeinMMO: Were rune words even promised before release?
Timothy Ismay: “There was a discussion about it a long, long time ago. I was there when we talked about it at Blizzcon. Ideas we had around itemization. At that time, we were a fundamentally different game.
Mythical items, for example, do not exist either. That was another thing. We have changed significantly since then.
It’s a possibility. Rune words exist in the world of Sanctuary, but right now we have built a different game.”
If you have played in the past, come back and check out your character again
MeinMMO: The community, especially experts, have long been calling for loot filters. Personally, I find them unnecessary since classes already have personalized loot. What do you think about that?
Timothy Ismay: “We are open to feedback and read the community’s impressions. […] But at the moment, I don’t think we can announce anything on this topic.”
In the future, the expansion Vessel of Hatred is coming, for which an internal beta is reportedly already complete. In the last interview at BlizzCon 2023, we discussed this expansion:
MeinMMO: One last question: Which class will you both play in Season 4 and why?
Deric Nuñez: “I will play a minion necromancer simply because a lot of updates have gone into the experience and the class with Season 4. And I’m a big fan of my minions. So something like that.”
Timothy Ismay: “My next class will be a druid. Probably something with lightning. Maybe also boulders. That’s pretty strong. But I will also be playing a minion build. Minions have just become much stronger with the patch and I want to try to build a minion build. You can already make your wolves into werewolves and then into lightning-werewolves. With the changes, I think that will be really cool.
In fact, I’m almost more looking forward to checking out my old characters again. Because so much of what is happening in Season 4 is fundamentally coming to the game […] I want to encourage players: If you played before and had a build that didn’t feel particularly strong, come back and check out the same character again in the eternal realm with the new item system.
There are new uniques and legendary affixes, but the bonuses you get just by leveling these affixes are so significant … Before, there were plenty of builds that might have been okay. They could now be much more powerful. For example, there were really good builds in the PTR with Flame Death or Frozen Orbs. Things that were okay before are now absolutely insane.
I’m looking forward to revisiting my old characters to see how viable the builds are now. One of them was even a Flame Death sorcerer; I want to try that again.”
MeinMMO: Thank you for the answers!
On May 14, Season 4 starts and brings along the changes. The general tenor at the moment is that the changes will all be good: Diablo 4 needs such a revamp. From there, they can build on and see what the future brings. You can find all current top ARPGs here in comparison: Diablo 4, Path of Exile, Last Epoch – Which action RPG should I play?
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