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I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I was planning to skip Season 5 of Diablo 4. Yes, me—the Diablo-obsessed hype beast. Not because I didn't think Season 5 would be good, but mainly because we have an expansion, Vessel of Hatred, coming out on October 8. Season 5 is only running for two months, and I was on holiday when it started. I figured Season 5 wouldn't be all that different from Season 4, so why not take a break before the hectic October rush with a new season, an expansion, and a brand new class—Spiritborn—being added to the game?
So, what changed my mind? Well, I had just finished Shadow of the Erdtree, the latest Elden Ring DLC, which is an extremely challenging game. I needed a palette cleanser, but nothing I picked up afterward really grabbed my attention, so when I got back home, I figured I'd jump into Season 5 and give it a try. Boy, am I glad I did. I didn't think it was possible, but Season 5 is even better than Season 4.
Season of the Infernal Hordes is a triumph for Diablo 4
Season 4 fundamentally changed Diablo 4 forever, with in-depth itemization changes, an overhauled Helltide, The Pit being added to the endgame, and the introduction of Masterworking and Tempering. What Season 5 has done is build upon this incredibly strong foundation and make it even better. Here's just a quick list of things that have made this season an absolute delight for me:
- Boss farming made easy: Being able to farm bosses without sitting through two loading screens and resetting the dungeon is game-changing. I now actually want to fight Boss Ladder bosses hundreds of times because it's easy to do so. Simply resummon from inside the dungeon.
- Uniques matter again: With tweaks to bring them in line with Legendaries, many builds now have a couple of Uniques as best-in-slot, giving the loot hunt depth again.
- Mythic Uniques visibility: Mythic Uniques now being visibly different (Purple) gives a genuine sense of excitement when one drops. Previously, I had no idea until I checked my bag and occasionally even salvaged them by accident!
- 'Mother's Gifts' from any activity: Being able to earn these from any activity, rather than being funneled into only running Helltides like we were in Season 4 to finish our reputation board, gives me much more freedom to choose my activities and still feel rewarded.
- Infernal Hordes in the endgame: The Infernal Hordes being added to the endgame rotation is a breath of fresh air. A friend described it as "Vampire Survivors in Diablo." It's hectic, with waves upon waves of enemies and difficulty scaling based on our choices, and it's the most fun I've had leveling my character from 80-to 100.
These are just a few of the things I love about Season 5, and it has completely surpassed my expectations. It didn't even need to—there's a new expansion coming out soon, so this could have just been Season 4.2, and many players wouldn't have raised an eyebrow. The changes made show me that the developers are truly in tune with what the community wants and needs from a game they play for hours on end each season.
Leveling a character from 1 to 100 every season is an activity many don't understand the joy in, preferring to play in the Eternal Realm, which has been kept in mind with many of these quality-of-life improvements. But for those of us who are seasonal players, there are a few things I think could make the experience even better and smoother than it already is. So let me indulge for a few minutes and share my Diablo 4 Seasonal wishlist...
1. Give me an armory or give me death!
Experimenting with different builds doesn't really feel encouraged in Diablo 4 due to the time it takes to switch all of your Uniques, Aspects, and respec skill points. In previous games, I enjoyed having different builds for group play versus solo, or even a 'single-target' boss build and a 'gold-farming' build. This was all possible because, in Diablo 3, we had an armory to save different builds for our class. The absence of an armory in Diablo 4 is a noticeable omission and has been brought up in many Campfire Chats' Q&A sessions by the community. The developers have mentioned that they are exploring this, but whether we’ll finally get one remains to be seen.
I understand the need for a gold cost when respeccing, and the Scroll of Amnesia should still be a valuable reward, but there could be a way to implement an armory system with a cost to switch builds. I’ve often spent an unholy amount of time changing to a new build, only to find that I don't enjoy it, and would happily pay the toll to switch back without feeling like my time was wasted.
The main pain point I’d want this to address is the time sink involved in respeccing and reapplying Aspects. I don’t want to spend time doing that.
2. Unlock all of the waypoints, PLEASE.
If you've maxed your Renown in a previous season or in the Eternal Realm, you don't need to do it again to get your extra skill points each season. However, many waypoints are still greyed out, and unlocking them to get to events faster feels like a chore. I know they’re tied to earning Renown for bonus gold each season, but the amounts are so small I'd rather just skip the gold. Heck, I’d even pay to unlock the waypoints I need if it would save me some time running to a Legion event.
3. Strongholds need more work
Speaking of unlocking Waypoints... some are locked behind Strongholds. Some Legion events and dungeons are also locked behind Strongholds, making areas like Kor Dragon compulsory to complete each season. This wouldn't be a problem in itself if Strongholds fit into the endgame rotation better and felt more rewarding.
Strongholds and their unique mini-quests were really fun to complete during the campaign, but in a season where you start a character from scratch every three months, they quickly become tiresome, especially when there isn’t any significant reward at the end. Worse still, if one is in a Helltide, you don't even get Cinders for fighting the enemies within it until the Stronghold is completed.
There needs to be some work done to make Strongholds an activity we actually want to do to progress our Season Journey. This could be as simple as making them a Season Chapter step, e.g., "Complete 3 Strongholds for small favors," or rewarding us with something actually useful for finishing them (the loot isn’t great). Imagine if in World Tier 4, you could complete a Stronghold at a higher difficulty level for Glyph XP? Or if the chest at the end had a greater chance of containing Greater Affix equipment? Or what if we got a Stygian Stone for each Stronghold?
4. Bring back the Conquests from Diablo 3
Conquests were season-only challenges in Diablo 3, not far removed from the in-game challenges we have now, but harder to complete. To finish a Season Journey, along with the other activities, you had to complete 3 Conquests. Examples include:
- Hitting a 50,000,000 gold streak
- Killing a specified list of bosses all within 20 minutes
- Killing 350+ monsters from one cursed chest event at a high torment difficulty
These are just a few examples and aren’t too unlike the 'Gather 6,666 Cinders in the Helltide' steps we have now. But these were specifically extra difficult challenges that required some time, planning, and even a build change to complete. I’d like to see the chapter steps we have now mixed up a bit at higher difficulties. Something fun like, "Kill all Boss Ladder bosses in less than 15 minutes."
5. Better cosmetic rewards from the FREE battle pass
Diablo 4 is the first service game in the franchise, and with that comes a Battle Pass each season, featuring both free and premium paid tiers to complete. This is on top of the $70 for the base game and any extra expenditure on expansions. It’s all optional, of course, and Blizzard isn’t holding a gun to our heads forcing us to buy the Premium Pass each season. You do get free rewards from the Season Journey and the free pass. I just wish the final free reward was a bit more exciting. Whether or not players want to spend money on the game, not offering a genuinally covetable cosmetic reward for free seasonal players feels like a missed opportunity, especially considering the great items we got for free in Diablo 3 season journeys, from Cosmic Wings to new pets.
Sure, you get a tiara and a player title for free this season, but come on—it wouldn't hurt to give free players something a little better. Paying players will still buy the premium pass regardless.
6. New World Boss
With the new expansion, Vessel of Hatred, launching in October, we get a whole new area to explore: Nahantu. In my interview with the Diablo 4 developers about the expansion and the new Spiritborn class, I asked if we would get a new World Boss in this new area. Unfortunately, the answer was no. I don’t know about you, but as someone who's played every season, I’m hungry for a new World Boss.
Whether they add a new one and give us four to fight, or put one like Ashava out to pasture, I don't care—just give us fresh blood. Ultimately, I’d love to see a variety of World Bosses, with the rotation changing each season to keep things fresh. There have already been improvements to World Bosses in general in Season 5 with the new Resilience mechanic, which prevents them from dying in a 0.5-second blast from a chain lightning Sorc, but I think there’s an appetite for more.
7. Lobbies, wherefore art thou?
For a multiplayer game, Diablo 4 can be remarkably anti-social if you don't already have a set of friends playing with you. While I'm lucky enough to have a bunch of friends to play with, some of the best times I've had in the game have been when I randomly stumbled upon a group summoning the Bloodmaiden, leading to a glorious rain of loot. A rain of loot that, unfortunately, means you have to teleport back to town to salvage, only to return and find your newfound friends have disappeared as you've been placed in separate instances.
Yes, you can use your emote wheel to invite players you encounter in the world to a party—something I always do during Legion events for the XP boost—but communicating your intent to do a specific activity can be awkward if you don't like fumbling with the in-game chat. A much more natural way to find like-minded players would be to have designated lobbies. I know I sound like a broken record talking about things Diablo 3 did well, but in that game, we could easily join other players doing bounty runs, Greater Rifts, etc. In Diablo 2, there are lobbies for various farming activities.
Diablo 4 is the first 'service' game in the series, and one that can only be played online, yet it doesn’t have lobbies like its predecessors. It’s strange and would really add more depth to the seasonal experience. I want to join randoms to farm Duriel or help me level when my friends are offline.
Continuing the upward trajectory into Vessel of Hatred
My wishlist aside, there's a lot more in store for Diablo 4 players as we are poised for even more exciting changes to come in Vessel of Hatred. From a new PvE endgame co-op activity to the introduction of mercenaries, the expansion promises to add fresh mechanics that will likely reshape the game. If history is any indicator, expansions like Diablo 2’s Lord of Destruction and Diablo 3’s Reaper of Souls have fundamentally changed their respective games, and I believe Vessel of Hatred will do the same.
Whether you’re thrilled with the current season and/or like me have a wishlist of features you’d love to see, there’s no denying the potential for future seasons to surprise and delight us even further. What are you hoping for in the upcoming seasons? How do you think these new mechanics will transform the game? What does the future of Diablo 4 hold as we march onwards to an expansion?
