Diablo 4: Season 12 PTR Announced

Today, they announced the upcoming Season 12 PTR (patch 2.6.0) from Feb 3rd – Feb 10th. It’s intended to be a small, focused season around the theme of Diablo 3’s killing streak feature, except with some expanded parts. I will admit that I was not thrilled at patch notes mostly because it looks like another repurposing of existing content rather than increasing diversity. But I will dive into what has been included here and some after thoughts.

Killstreaks

The idea is similar to Diablo 3’s Adventure Mode kill stream and one that already exist for the mercenary Varyana. The main difference is that there will be several tiers of killstreaks:

• Killstreak
• Carnage
• Devastation
• Bloodbath
• Massacre

As a player racks up kills, the killstreak continues and a counter starts. When no damage nor kills happen, the killstreak depletes. Bonus XP and season reputation will count as the player achieves higher levels of killstreak tiers. If a player dies during a killstreak, they receive no rewards.

Bloodied Items

In addition, to this feature, items can be marked with Bloodied Items, a type of quality modifier. This looks to be applicable to any droppable item, regardless of Ancestral or not. There will be three types of affixes for Bloodied Items (as per the notes):

• Rampage:
  • Increase in power based off current Killstreak Tier
  • Applies to Armor
  • Ex: Killstreak: 7%[+] Move Speed per Killstreak Tier in your Killstreak
• Feast:
  • Apply Combat bonuses based off total kills in your current Killstreak
  • Applies to Weapons
  • Ex: Every 40 Kills in your Killstreak, reset 1 random Cooldown
  • These bonuses are constant and are not tied to Killstreak Tier
• Hunger:
  • Customizes reward offerings, which scale with Killstreak Tiers
  • Ex: Elite kills will drop Runes more frequently
  • Applies to Jewelry

So effectively, these are just modifiers that apply to gear. The Feast bonuses look like basic affixes or some random power. Given that these apply to weapons, I’m guessing that Rogues and Barbarians will benefit the most from them.

Bloodied Sigils

These are effectively upgraded versions of Inferno Hordes, Nightmare Dungeons and Lair Bosses. From the description, it looks like random portals spawn and cause monsters to pour through. In addition, there’s a Relentless Butcher that respawns after being defeated. So these mostly are adding a challenge to these existing dungeons with increased rewards. Also, you can encounter multiple Butchers such as in a Nightmare Dungeon or during an Inferno Horde with the Inferno Butcher.

Now, I did read someone mention how Killstreaks would be invalid during Lair Bosses but that’s not true in examining the flavor text of one of the sigils. The main thing is that random portals can open in that zone so I think you’ll see chaotic fights that have more than just the laid boss but numerous mobs to help one gain killstreaks to use their Bloodied gear.

New Uniques

There are five uniques added to the pool related to the theme where most are applicable to all classes.

Blood-Mad Idol—Unique Amulet

Affixes:

• 51- 65 All Stats
• 8.3-10% Attack Speed
• 7-8% Critical Strike Chance
• 17.5-31.5% Damage Reduction while Injured

Power:

• You are always Berserking but take 200%[x] increased damage as Burning over 8 seconds. While Burning, Berserking grants an additional 75-125% increased damage.

Wendigo Brand—Unique Ring

Affixes:

• 424-457 Life
• 855-1086 Life Regen
• 146-159 Life on Hit
• 441-490 Physical Resistance

Power:

• Every 15 kills in the last 30-60 seconds increases your damage dealt by 2%, and Maximum Health by 1%.

Rustbitten Dirk—Unique Dagger

Affixes:

• 51-65 All Stats
• 424-457 Life
• 8.3-10% Attack Speed
• 40-50% Vulnerable Damage

Power:

• Deal 50-100% increased damage to isolated enemies.

Useable by: Sorcerer, Druid, Rogue, Necromancer

Wyrdskin—Unique Gloves

Affixes:

• 424-457 Life
• 1-2 Ranks to Core Skills
• 7-8% Critical Strike Chance
• 8.3-10% Attack Speed

Power:

• Attacks apply Vulnerable to Distant Enemies, and Weakened to Close Enemies. Deal 10-30% increased damage to Enemies that are both Vulnerable and Weakened.

Thousand-Eye Reaver—Unique One-Handed Axe

Affixes:

• 424-457 Life
• 7-8% Critical Strike Chance
• 36.5-50% Movement Speed on Elite Kill
• Lucky Hit: Up to a 40% Chance to Deal 900-2,400 Physical Damage

Power:

• Moving grants Ferocity, and Maximum Ferocity is increased by 1-3. Ferocity also increases Movement Speed by 4-8% per stack.

Useable by: Barbarian, Druid, Necromancer, Paladin

General Impressions

Right now, I can’t tell if these are permanent changes to the game or just for season 12. The way it’s setup here resembles the existing D3 system with a few key differences in items and modifications to major instanced content. So my impression is that it’ll probably be part of core (especially because the PTR isn’t showing this as part of a season). I think having another game mode in general does help the game but it does feel lackluster at the moment. The notes also mentioned “more surprise features will be revealed closer to launch” (meaning Lord of Hatred) so there’s a chance that season 12 might overlap slightly with the Lord of Hatred launch. Given that the typical Diablo 4 season last roughly around three months and with the PTR lasting a week in February, I think we’ll see season 12 arrive sometime in mid March (I saw one other blog post mention March 10th based on how long the current season last).

In addition, February 11th will get a “spotlight stream” for Diablo, which is after the PTR finishes. Most people are speculating that besides some nostalgia related things (as Blizzard did a general 35 years “The Next Chapter Trailer” recently), in all likelihood Diablo 4 will reveal the 2nd class coming for Lord of Hatred at the very least. We already have a few hints on some upcoming features that I mentioned in a previous blog post. So possibly along with the class announcement, we may see more concrete examples of some of these new features.

The timing of the Lord of Hatred release (April 28th) is strange because of how Vessel of Hatred ended up coinciding Season 6 with that expansion’s launch date. Usually, the average Diablo 4 season lasts no more than a week at best for most people, with some only spending a day or two. Season 12 has almost nothing new in terms of increasing build diversity beyond adding the new Uniques which to me aren’t very impressive and compete with too many must-have items in those slots. So I can’t imagine Season 12 last too long all things considered.

Also, the premise from the PTR blog mentions, “Season 12 is designed as a more focused, streamlined season that supports our broader roadmap toward launch of The Lord of Hatred expansion…” To me this implies that either we’re getting a very short season and/or these features will go to core since the unique items themselves are a bit weak. The overall idea as a core function is fine to me but not as a season power. If season 12 was augmented by the inclusion of Sanctification and Chaos Perks/Armor, then I would be more inclined into finding more appeal. Otherwise, it feels they’re just using the season 12 to test the general new content for Lord of Hatred.

The one thing that does bug me is that idea of the Relentless Butcher. I suppose the idea is to have a really annoying recurring enemy but it sounds more like something that’s going to end up bugging out because it spawns too often and prevents players from leaving a dungeon or area. I’m not saying the idea is bad (although banal) but given the ridiculous Executioner affix for elites that barely got fixed recently, I have little confidence that they’re going to pull this off without some major issues.

What I want to know though are the “surprise features.” Going along the Blizzard line of thinking of overpromise and underdeliver, I’m not pinning my hopes too high on what some of these things will be. If Blizzard intends to use Season 12 as the entry way into Lord of Hatred, then I’d prefer to wait until the actual expansion gets released before starting a character. Given that Vessel of Hatred allowed one to run both the campaign and season 6 mode, I wouldn’t doubt that one could do the same. That was one of the better things they handled (despite that horribly bungled simultaneous global release for Vessel of Hatred).

However, I do hope that we will see something that actually is worth getting excited about to return to the game since the expansion looks to be about 2 months into season 12. While the team decided to stop mid season updates, I think if season 12 runs through the launch of Lord of Hatred, they will have to make a major exception. In that case, besides the anticipated Lord of Hatred features, I hope prior to that point we get the return of Sanctification, Chaos Perks and Chaos Armor. Maybe Chaos Perks will change, but Sanctification and Chaos Armor I think can stand on their own with no real modification. We already have Infernal Hordes and Bartuc is a permanent feature that can once again be responsible for dropping Chaos Armor (this giving him a clear usage once more). We’re going to see a power boost no matter what in Lord of Hatred so re-enabling these popular features would excite me and get me to play Season 12. Otherwise, I’d prefer Season 12 to just be cut very short.

At any rate, I think the real disappointment to me is just seeing mostly the same content rehashed. There’s no true new builds. The killstreak might be fun but there won’t be that much of a difference in builds. The only thing I saw drastically change is Paladin with regards to one of their Paragon board powers. But existing builds are going to be almost the same as the ones from season 11 minus the Sanctification powers. So the Paladin meta will change up where a person might want to try a different Paladin build. But nothing else really is noteworthy at this point until the “surprise features” are announced. Again, I really want all the old seasons with various content to make some form of a comeback. If that were to happen, I could definitely play Season 12 for a long period.

That said, I think it would be interesting to see what would be interesting seasons and powers to bring back:

• Season 2: Vampire Powers – This is where I think Diablo 4 started to get an uptick. Vampire Powers were a nice change in giving a neat little set of perks that were farmable and could be leveled up on top of updating certain areas and giving nice rewards.
• Season 3: Season of the Construct – Once the new dungeons with traps were “fixed”, I enjoyed this season. I really liked the little pet and the dungeons with the last trap room. Some people mentioned how the Sensechal Construct was meant as a test drive for mercenaries but in truth, these things were far better than the mercenary implementations. I like having a clean up pet and would be fine with running these side dungeons with the underground base hideout added.
• Season 6: Hatred Rising. The main two features/content specific to the season were the Realmwalkers and the Seething Realm. I know Realmwalkers had their issues (too slow) and that the Seething Realms themselves were not the most rewarding activity. Given that this was an addition to the new campaign and other features introduced by Vessel of Hatred, I think it was fine as is. The main thing is that it was additional content that was not part of the Helltides that gave you a nice amount of whispers in addition to the Seething Opals. I’m guessing with all the various content modifiers we’ve seen, War Plans will incorporate and fold these elements into a single interface. But I could see using something like the Seething Realm as a way to acquire components or War Plans themselves (we have no idea what these will be like). So the general content is still worth doing while the rewards can be altered to match the War Plans feature.
• Season 7: Season of Witchcraft – For myself, I think I ended up getting burnt out here because I ran a bunch of stuff on the PTR while the loot was ridiculous from season 7. As content though, Season 7 probably was one of the best seasons in terms of the most variety of content. The Witchcraft powers (or as I call it the Witch Doctor powers) were probably just added to help test for the new class. But the new Whispers and Headrotten hunts and Rootholds added more diverse content. Also, they had those Occult Gems you could craft. If I hadn’t gone as hard in Season 6, Season 7 would be where I think I would’ve played the most. But it goes to show that the team is capable of putting out a very fat season loaded with a variety of content, items and goals.
• Season 8: I avoided this season but I think it was a step backwards. So this one is completely skippable.
• Season 9: Sins of the Horadrim – I came back later for this season. Most of this was intended to revamp Nightmare Dungeons but the main thing that ended up becoming a dull feature was the Horadric Strongrooms. Because Season 11 started with the Goblin event, Horadric Strongrooms became a moot point once again. However, the only two uses for this feature is obtaining Obdurite and Escalating Sigils. Escalating Sigils remain dull to me and the boss mostly drops garbage. The perks and jewels in this season were okay but nothing truly remarkable.
• Season 10: Infernal Chaos – Chaos Rifts were an okay mechanic that were a nice addition to Nightmare Dungeons because of the hunt for Chaos Armor or bonuses in Helltides. Obviously, many people (including myself) were huge fans of Chaos Armor and the developers have mentioned reintroducing this idea later on. Given the upcoming new uniques, I think Chaos Armor should be a core feature. Some people think that we only are allotted a few slots or a smaller number. Until we see what Lord of Hatred provides as new gear features, I think Chaos Armor is fine as is just to allow more build variety since too many items and aspects compete for things. Sanctification helped a little but Sanctification in its current form is too random to solve the unique and aspect bloat problem. Chaos Armor improves that part. And Chaos Rifts in Nightmare Dungeons and Helltides are a nice addition to give more flavor and another modifier to those systems.
• Season 11: Sanctification – I think the bulk of the changes beyond Sanctification itself were the Azmodan fight and the maggots in Helltides as far as changes in content. And while the hunt for Sanctifications was fun, the actual content involved were mostly the same thing that boiled down to Helltides, Nightmare Dungeons, Inferno Hordes, Lair Bosses, World Bosses and Undercity. This is why I keep harping on the need to incorporate past seasonal content into the core game since the number of activities is limiting.

In truth, reincorporating these older seasons would be a lot of fun to me. It’s been something I will continue to bring up because of how desperate the game needs more activities and mechanisms to improve and build ones character. You don’t even need a lot of power added but a fraction of the systems presented in conjunction with having more zones enabled with these features to give more flavor to this game because at least these systems already exist in some form.

 

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