Season 20 starts in Diablo 3 in just a few hours with patch 2.6.8. Everything about the launch, content, starter sets, and seasonal theme can be found here.
Update from March 13: We have updated the article with additional information, PTR impressions, and changes to sets.
When does Season 20 start? The new season begins today, March 13, 2020. As usual, the server gates will open at 5:00 PM, allowing you to create new seasonal characters and start your adventures from level 1 again. You can find out how to level up your character quickly in our Level Guide for Season 20 in Diablo 3.
This does not apply to console players. For Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch, Season 20 starts a bit later, on March 14, at 2:00 AM.
Today is also the day that the Path of Exile expansion “Delirium” is released. So Blizzard has some tough competition among ARPGs at the start of the season.
How long will Season 20 last? An exact end date is not yet known. Usually, a season in Diablo 3 lasts about three months. The date may be pushed a bit forward or backward.
What changes in Season 20?
For the upcoming Season 20, Blizzard has again a lot to offer in Diablo 3. Among other things:
- an exciting seasonal theme
- cosmetic rewards
- Haedrig’s Gifts
- fresh patch 2.6.8
The seasonal theme “The Forbidden Archives”
What is it? For several seasons now, Blizzard has been introducing special themes designed to make the chapters unique. In season 20, everything revolves around Kanai’s Cube. Because you have the opportunity to fill the cube slots however you like. Here’s how to unlock Kanai’s Cube in Diablo 3.
You are no longer forced to equip a ring, an armor piece, and a weapon there. No, you can also simply toss three weapons into the cube.
What the Kanai buff brings in Season 20 of Diablo 3 and why players would prefer to keep it forever, we explain to you here.
When does this come into play? Especially in group play, the new seasonal theme is popular. This was shown in tests on the PTR server. One class that benefits greatly from the season buff is the Necromancer.
Cosmetic Rewards
Old and New: In Season 17, Blizzard began distributing rewards that have been available in Diablo before. This was meant to help players who may have missed these cosmetics the first time.
Therefore, rewards from Season 8 are returning in Season 20.
But there won’t be only old rewards. Those who complete the entire season journey in Season 20 will receive the Bat Companion and a new portrait frame.
The new content looks like this:
Which Starter Sets does Haedrig give away?
What is it? For completing chapters 2, 3, and 4 of the season journey, you will receive Haedrig’s Gifts, which are equipped with set pieces. The sets distributed change with each season.
Here we show you the sets you will receive as gifts in S20 in Diablo 3.
- Barbarian – Immortal King’s Call
- Crusader – Crown of the Light
- Demon Hunter – Natalya’s Vengeance
- Monk – Uliana’s Doctrine
- Necromancer – Trag’Oul’s Avatar
- Witch Doctor – Spirit of Arachyr
- Wizard – Vyr’s Amazing Arcana
What changes with patch 2.6.8 in Diablo 3? The new sets
What’s new: With the patch, three new sets will be added to Diablo 3. One for the Barbarian, one for the Witch Doctor, and one for the Wizard.
Just before the start of Season 20, Blizzard adjusted the values of the sets again. They should now be more balanced.
Witch Doctor – Mundunugu’s Regalia:
- Set bonus 2 pieces: The big bad Voodoo now follows you and lasts twice as long.
- Set bonus 4 pieces: When you enter the Spirit Realm, your damage taken is reduced by 60% for 30 seconds.
- Set bonus 6 pieces: Spirit Barrage deals 20,000% increased damage plus additional damage equal to five times your mana regeneration per second.
Wizard – The Typhon’s Veil:
- Set bonus 2 pieces: Doubles the duration of Hydras and increases the number of heads of multi-headed Hydras by 2.
- Set bonus 4 pieces: Damage taken is reduced by 8% for each living Hydra head as long as one is available. Each time you take damage, one Hydra head dies. Heads cannot die more than once every 2 seconds.
- Set bonus 6 pieces: Hydras deal 1,300% increased damage for each living Hydra head.
Barbarian – Horde of the Ninety Savages:
- Set bonus 2 pieces: Doubles the effectiveness of all shouts. Frightened, frozen, or stunned enemies take double damage.
- Set bonus 4 pieces: Each stack of Fury reduces your damage taken by 6%. Fury lasts twice as long.
- Set bonus 6 pieces: Fury deals 1,000% increased damage per stack.
You can find the complete patch notes for patch 2.6.8 here on diablo3.com.
Which classes will you play?
You have chosen: Before the start of S20, we asked you which classes you will play. It turned out that especially Barbarians, Witch Doctors, and Wizards are popular among you. The three classes lead the survey results.
This is probably also because they have become more interesting to you with their new sets and you want to try out the new playstyles.
You can see the complete results of our survey here.
Tier List – Which classes are strong? In our Tier list for Season 20 of Diablo 3, we show you which classes and builds have a lot of potential in the current patch and can make it to the top in the big Nephalem Rifts.
Difficult Start Time with Path of Exile?
This is what players say: In the Reddit post of the Diablo forum announcing Season 20, players complain about the start time. “You messed up because you’re launching at the same time as the new league in Path of Exile. You should have started a week earlier,” writes Reddit user Quzoide.
The post has many upvotes in the thread. Players explain that they would prefer to play Diablo 3 for a week before diving into Path of Exile. This way, they could arrange it so they don’t miss either content.
“This will be a ghost season, with the same start date as the PoE league. How crazy,” writes flessi00 on Reddit.
But other players like Eamk explain: “There are still many people who prefer to play Diablo 3 over PoE. Myself included.”
What does Blizzard say about it? Nevalistis writes as a community manager in the Diablo forum and responds to the request to start the season a week earlier.
[…] In this case, starting a week earlier wouldn’t have given us the time between patch launch and season launch to perform last-minute bug fixes or balance adjustments. That’s precisely why we allowed for more time between patch release and season start. This is based on our experiences and player feedback. […]
Source: Nevalistis on Reddit
She states that such scheduling overlaps can happen repeatedly. “It’s more an unfortunate coincidence than anything else.”
Are you excited for Season 20 in Diablo 3?
