Latest news with #SeasonofWitchcraft
Daily Mirror
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
6 things in the Diablo 4 2025 roadmap to get excited about
The Diablo 4 2025 roadmap lays out the content on the way this year with both seasonal and permanent additions to the game as well as teasing two crossovers. Season 8 of Diablo has just kicked off, with the Season of Witchcraft giving way to Belial's Return, and players have a good idea of what's in store between now and the start of next year. Activision Blizzard shared the Diablo 4 2025 roadmap at the start of April, and while the developer has stressed that it hasn't shared all of the upcoming content coming to the game this year, the sneak peek was not well received. The general feeling is that there isn't near enough content to keep players coming back, and that's not been helped by the delay of the second expansion. The news was announced before the Diablo 4 2025 roadmap was shared, with Diablo general manager, Rod Fergusson, dropping that bombshell back in February at the DICE Summit in Las Vegas ( via Jason Schreier on Bluesky). Given the original plan for the title was to have annual expansions, and 2025 is being skipped altogether, the barebone content schedule hasn't helped matters. Former president of Blizzard Entertainment, Mike Ybarra, has echoed the disgruntled community's sentiments about the Diablo 4 2025 roadmap on Twitter, criticising the way seasonal cycles, the endgame, and the expansions schedule has been handled. That being said, over on Reddit, community manager u/Lyricana_Nightrayne has been trying to mitigate player disappointment by saying that the Diablo 4 2025 roadmap "doesn't encompass everything planned, and we've left space for things the team is still working on", and that the latter part of the roadmap looks sparse "to accommodate for things the team is still working on." So with all of that out of the way, here are 6 things from the Diablo 4 2025 roadmap to get excited about. Diablo 4 2025 roadmap Keyboard and mouse for console Diablo 4 players on PlayStation and Xbox consoles have been clamouring for keyboard and mouse support since launch. And finally, they're getting it in July this year, alongside Season 9 Sins of the Horadrim as a permanent fixture. Which is what you'd expect as having KB&M support for just one season would be an incredibly odd move for Blizzard to make. If you don't already have it covered, swing by our best gaming keyboard guide to upgrade in time for this update. Two new IP collaborations Blizzard is lining up two collabs this year, with the first one going live in Season 8 that spans April through to July, and the second dropping in Season 10, which launches in September. We also know – thanks again to community manager, u/Lyricana_Nightrayne, on Reddit – that these IP collabs will be on theme for the game, so we're not going to see Peely from Fortnite make their debut in Sanctuary, for example. In an interview with Diablo 4 YouTube content creator, Rhykker, game director, Brent Gibson, indicated that the IP will be external (not an Activision Blizzard property) and will fit Diablo's dark fantasy theme, so don't expect "rainbow armour and French fry swords". Blizzard Activision Blizzard has revealed that the first crossover is with Kentaro Miura's iconic manga, Berserk. Landing on Tuesday, May 6, players can bag themselves limited-time cosmetics from the in-game shop as well as by defeating enemies. Kill elite enemies who have a chance to drop Behelits, which you can trade to the Berserk Reliquary (the themed battle pass) for the Hawks Destiny Back trophy, the Skull Knight's Heraldry Mount Armor, the Brand of Sacrifice Marking. There will also be a Twitch Drops campaign for the Diablo 4 x Berserk collab as well as limited-time shop bundles. As for the second IP collab, if we look at new games releasing between September and December, Hell is Us could fit the bill, as could Directive 8020 – although the both lean more into sci-fi. Vampire: the Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is another new entry that sits in that window and checks off the dark fantasy box, but it could just as well be an existing title. And, of course, Xbox first party IP are on the table given Microsoft owns Activision Blizzard. New class This one's a guess as the Diablo 4 2025 roadmap is conveniently engulfed in flames on the right-hand side, but it looks like the 2026 offerings include a new class. Last year's Vessel of Hatred expansion introduced the Spiritborn class, and given that the second expansion is being delayed to next year, it makes perfect sense that it would also include a new, seventh class for players to take for a spin alongside it. If Blizzard has been listening to the community, this might be the long-requested Paladin, which players were hoping would be the first addition to the roster; it got passed over for the Vessel of Hatred as Blizzard was looking to add something new with the Spiritborn which fit the new region, rather than leaning into the nostalgia of previous series entries. In an interview with Windows Central, Fergusson said, "we definitely heard the feedback, we know people are excited about Paladins or Sword and Board gameplay. But we also knew that like again we did a lot of nostalgia in the first five [classes] and so we felt like at least for the first one we have to be able to look beyond nostalgia and start breaking new ground on classes and trying new things." Of course, the Paladin harks back to Diablo 2, so it may be a holy knight type character like Diablo 3's Templar, but ultimately it'll scratch the Paladin itch either way. New expansion Diablo 4's second expansion has been on the cards for a while now, and was initially set to launch in 2025 as part of Blizzard's plan for annual expansions for the game. We got the Vessel of Hatred expansion last year which introduced the new Spiritborn class as well as the new Nahantu region, and narrative content. So what can we expect for part two? More of the same, of course. If we're getting a Paladin or Templar as the new class, we'll also be venturing into a new region, and what's more fitting than the Khanduras region, where Westmarch is situated? Located to the southwest of the capital of Kyovashad, Westmarch is home to the Templar order, as Rhykker points out in his Diablo 4 expansion predictions video. Story wise, the Vessel of Hatred left us with a super-powered Mephisto, and as Rhykker notes out, this guy loves corrupting religious orders so we may see him head west to wreak havoc in Westmarch. It'll also serve as a nice tie-in with the introduction of the holy knight class, in whatever form that takes in the second Diablo 4 expansion. Rhykker also points to the Heir of Perdition Unique Mythic that deals bonus damage to angels and demons that was introduced in Season 6; we can assume that angels are on the way, and that both they and Tyrael will be making an appearance in the second expansion. New mount Again, this is part of the expansion in 2026, but that's on the Diablo 4 2025 roadmap, so take it up with Blizzard. Vessel of Hatred gave us a host of new feline friends to ride around Santuary on, and if we're going to Westmarch, we can guess what kind of mount maybe up next – and this one's for the dog people out there. Hats off to Rhykker again for the info, reminding us that the sigil of Westmarch is a dire wolf, and if we're heading to the region, chances are that's going to be the new mount. Leaderboards and new ranking system Yes, I know – most of the good stuff in the Diablo 4 2025 roadmap is actually coming in 2026; and in this case it's a new ranking system as well as the return of leaderboards. We had leaderboards in Diablo 4 Season 3 in the form of the Gauntlet, which was a weekly challenge dungeon that saw players awarded with a Seal (one of four possible ranks) dependant on their score. It was removed in Season 6, which was also when the Vessel of Hatred expansion dropped with the new Spiritborn class, and leaderboards have been MIA ever since. But they're making a comeback next year, and don't worry, it's going to be more fleshed out than Pit leaderboards, which is something community manager, Adam 'PezRadar' Fletcher, has addressed on the game's subreddit. "It is a bit far away. 100% get that. But a lot of people suggested 'Just throw them on Pits'. But we believe there are some flaws with that. Pit is a nice option because it is part of the core flow of the game for players which was something Gauntlet wasn't. "But it also [doesn't] lead to tons of challenge beyond the end boss fight while even past features in past games like GRs take in the thought of how to bring in mobs and chain specific items. The team is really wanting this to be fairly rock solid while still achieving some of reasons why players say 'Just use Pit'."
Daily Mirror
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Diablo 4 Season 8 start time and everything new that's coming with the seasonal update
The delayed Season 8 of Diablo 4 is finally upon us, as we say goodbye to the Season of Witchcraft next week. The new season of Diablo 4 starts next week, and brings a new IP collab with it alongside the usual fare of seasonal content we've come to expect. Diablo 4 Season 8 starts next week, with Belial's return setting players up for a revamped boss ladder system, a new Berserk collab, new Boss powers to collect for the seasonal mechanic, a new questline, and a new battle pass system among a host of other changes. Activision Blizzard 's selling point for the new battle pass system – officially called Reliquaries – is that you can claim the rewards in whatever order you like, similar to the overhauled Warzone and CoD battle passes that Activision pivoted to with the release of Warzone 2.0. Reactions to the impending system tweaks have been mixed, with the Diablo 4 2025 roadmap also being something of a swing and a miss, thanks to a lack of fresh content this year, and most of the major changes landing in 2026. But there's still lots to tuck into when Diablo 4 Season 8 starts, and here's a rundown of what Season 8 has to offer: A new questline New NPC: Sayeena a retired Vizjerei mage New NPC: Jarius, who claims to be a Cathedral of Light knight 24 Boss Powers New Apparition Incursion event Three-tier Lair Boss system replacing Ladder Bosses New Legendary and Unique items New Reliquariy Battle Pass Seasonal rewards including Iris the Cat pet It's mostly the usual fare we see with the dawn of a new season in terms of seasonal mechanics and rewards, with the Lair Bosses and new Reliquary system being the major tweaks. But when exactly does Diablo 4 Season 8 start? Here's what you need to know. Diablo 4 Season 8 start time Diablo 4 Season 8 starts at 10am PDT / 1pm EDT / 6pm BST on Tuesday, April 29 as confirmed by Blizzard in a blog post. This is in line with past season start times and is generally when the developer deploys major updates to the games. The new season was set to start mid-April initially, but Diablo general manager, Rod Fergusson, confirmed a two-week delay in a tweet back in February, that saw the end of Diablo 4 Season 7 pushed back from Tuesday, April 15 to Tuesday, April 29. The extra time was was attributed to Diablo 4 Season 8 taking "a couple of weeks longer to bake anticipated". As with most seasons so far, this one is expected to run for three months, taking us through to the end of July, which is when we'll see Season 9 and the promised keyboard and mouse support roll out for console.
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Diablo IV's New Roadmap: Belial, Boss Powers, and Big Anniversary Plans
As the Age of Hatred wears on, Wanderers should be wary of new demonic terror coming to Sanctuary in 2025, as Belial's return is imminent in Diablo IV. Wanderers started the year with Diablo IV's Season of Witchcraft, and Blizzard has deployed a steep list of patch notes that launched on March 4 (like every season before it) after the season has been active for months. Since the launch of the Spiritborn class, the dev team has been working to balance the class appropriately for adventures in Sanctuary, releasing notable Quality of Life improvements every month. Now that it is April, Blizzard Entertainment has provided a new roadmap detailing the future of Sanctuary and what Wanderers will have to confront over the remaining second year of Diablo IV. Since Diablo IV launched nearly two years ago, the state of the game looks wildly different from its June 2023 release. Now, there's a new Vessel of Hatred expansion for fans to test their mettle against, Uber bosses populate Sanctuary, and each season so far has introduced a new gameplay element — for better or worse — to provide fresh experiences for players globally. With the new roadmap, fans can plot out the next few months, as Blizzard has detailed the upcoming seasons arriving in Sanctuary. After the Season of Witchcraft concludes on April 29 (moved up from the previous date of April 15), fans will be treated to the Season of Belial's Return, allowing Wanderers to face off against the Lord of Lies. That's not all — the seasonal story also centres on Belial's return, bringing more boss-focused content and challenges. For the first time since the game's launch, Diablo IV is forgoing the mid-season patch in favour of a major update at the season's start, allowing fans to rely on consistency from April to June. Along with the new season, fans will gain access to the seasonal gameplay element of Boss Powers, allowing Wanderers to deploy powerful boss abilities against enemies. Specific foes — including world bosses, new event bosses, Lair bosses and even Uber Lilith — enable players to collect their powers and turn them against the tides of Hell. There are 24 unique Boss Powers available, each with a Main Power and a Modifier Power, opening a new realm of build possibilities. Belial's Return starts on April 29. Beyond that, new IP collaborations and a two-year anniversary celebration await Wanderers in Sanctuary. Fans can find all the new seasonal information on Blizzard's official website.
