Epic Item Update and Collaboration with Overwatch — About Diablo IV Season 14
Mephisto is down, but Sanctuary doesn't get to breathe easy. In the fourteenth season of Diablo IV, called "Season of Death's Awakening", the heroes have to deal with a cult whose rites are tearing open the world. Expect a rework of epic unique gear, a cross-over with Overwatch, and a few other surprises. The season goes live June 30 at 20:00; preloads on PC (Battle.net), PlayStation and Xbox begin June 25 at 20:00. Below: the bits that matter most.
- After a tip from an old ally, Wanderers will travel to Zarbinzet to trace the cult’s deeds. Their rituals seem linked to the magical rifts that blur Sanctuary and Pandemonium.
- Closing those Pandemonium rifts is the objective. New enemy types spill out of them, and you can summon bosses through the openings. Leave a rift open longer and the payout grows — but you’ll need to kill monsters and mend tears to keep it active.
- Three rift varieties exist:
- Common — pop up across Sanctuary; most frequent in Infernal Onslaught zones.
- Gaping — may open during certain local events that occur in the Infernal Onslaught.
- Colossal — unique to the Desecrated Fields, an open-world boss arena southeast of Zarbinzet.
- Shards of Hope are the reward currency for closing rifts — use them to unlock items on Zarbinzet’s reputation panel.
- A new enemy family appears: the risen. For example, grave hounds drop spheres on death; those spheres charge an exarch — a special risen that pulls in all nearby spheres. Intercept the orbs before the exarch finishes a devastating move (e.g., you won’t want them to complete that channel).
- In Zarbinzet you'll find a route to the Pandemonium Edge — the abode of the Desecrated Maiden. Beat her as part of the story and you can re-challenge her repeatedly. Rewards include epic unique items or Pandemonium shards, which are used to upgrade those epics.
- On epic items: Season 14 lets every unique become epic. Epic is no longer about rarity; it’s a quality you upgrade. Convert unique items to epic via the Horadric Cube or at a jeweler. Epic unique gear is always heirloom, its unique effects get a +30% boost, and all other stats hit their max values. Note: only one crafted epic unique item may be equipped at any time — the rest must be found out in the world.
- Going forward, all unique, epic unique, and known epic items will carry two guaranteed properties. According to Blizzard, that keeps signature traits intact while opening space to try odd builds.
- World Cutters have returned — these show up from the nastiest Pandemonium rifts. They don't spawn in common rifts, may appear in gaping rifts if you complete the rift event with a bonus, and always appear when closing colossal rifts. Kill a World Cutter and the Grave Vault becomes available.
- The Grave Vault is a compact, one-room dungeon. You can enter it by killing a World Cutter or by sealing enough rift-created tears in a nightmare dungeon with the "Rift" affix. Besides loot, it's a decent spot to farm Upper Lair keys; those keys open the seasonal boss’s treasure at Torment I+.
- Leaderboards and the "Tower" exit beta this season. New cosmetics will be tied to leaderboard milestones; you can earn bonuses both at each reset and when the season ends. There will also be separate leaderboards for normal vs. heroic characters in "Self-Found, Solo" mode.
- "Self-Found, Solo" is the lone-wolf option. A few rules to keep in mind:
- The character must be seasonal.
- Self-Found characters cannot group up or trade with others.
- They share stash, currencies, progression, etc., only with other Self-Found characters on the same account.
- No access to the free trial, local co-op, or the "Dark Citadel."
- You cannot convert a Self-Found character back to normal until the season ends.
- From June 30 to July 7, the Warlock class is free on all platforms. You can take a character to level 30 — to go beyond that, buy the Lord of Hatred expansion.
- Post-launch, special monsters and guardians will drop "Eye of Overwatch" currency. Spend it in a free Overwatch reliquary to get legendary cosmetics (and yes, dyes this time). The reliquary includes two emblems, a vehicle trophy, three decorative weapon skins, plus the Overwatch-themed dye. Filling that reliquary grants Kiriko — a sly fox spirit. On top of that, exclusive Overwatch skins will show up in Tejal’s shop.