The big Diablo 4 Developer Update has indeed delivered the goods. One of the livestream’s big topics was, of course, the game’s upcoming mini-season, which is set to kick off next week and run until the launch of Lord of Hatred, the game’s anticipated next expansion.
You can tell Blizzard wanted to have a bit of fun with Season of Slaughter, as many of its major features make it look like a limited-time event, but there is plenty to be excited about here.
Season of Slaughter kicks off March 11, and will run until the following season kicks off April 28, with the launch of the Lord of Hatred expansion. Many of the season’s biggest additions were available to preview in the 2.6.0 Public Test Realm.
Patch 2.6.0, as you might have guessed, is the one that will kick off the slaughter next week. The headline feature here is ability to become The Butcher, the iconic in-game boss who randomly invades players’ games.
When you play as The Butcher, you’ll be rewarded the more kills you get in quick succession. Your skills hotbar will transform to become something more fitting of The Butcher, making them more brutal. You’ll also earn a seasonal currency as you play.
Starting the seasonal questline is how you can begin to assume The Butcher’s form. A Taste of Power can be initiated from Gea Kul. Transforming into The Butcher can be done in a few ways. As you play, you’ll earn Meaty Offerings, which can later be spent on Shrines of Slaughter in the new Helltide. Once activated, the shrine will draw more enemies towards you.
If you never venture into PvP zones in Diablo 4, this season may change your mind. The standard PvP combat that could only be found in Fields of Hatred has been replaced with a Ceremony of Slaughter, a new event that rewards you for killing enemies quickly. See it through and The Butcher’s Idol will spawn, allowing you to transform into it.
Elsewhere in the world, you’ll also be able to attain the same power at Slaughterhouses, a new activity type available this season. Inside, you immediately become The Butcher for the entirety of the run.
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The Butcher’s arrival also ties into two of the other Season of Slaughter’s more interesting additions. First, the Killstreak system finally arrives in Diablo 4, rewarding you for being as efficient as possible in carving your way through enemies.
Anyone who played Diablo 3 should be familiar with how it works. It kicks off the moment you get a kill, and has a visible timer where you’ll need continue performing the same action to up your streak. The more kills you get, the more often your timer will refresh.
There are five tiers to climb through: Killstreak, Carnage, Devastation, Bloodbath, and Massacre. You’re awarded for the tier you manage to reach before the timer runs out. You’ll earn XP and seasonal rep each time a Killstreak is achieved.
The other Butcher-themed addition is Bloodied Items, which is a new item quality available throughout this season. They play into the Killstreak system to grant you even more power. Bloodied Items come with unique affixes that scale off your Killstreak tier. You’ll see many familiar items in that pool, as any item in the game has a chance to drop as Bloodied. Bloodied Items can also be acquired by earning Fresh Meat.
Even if none of that sounds exciting, you’re probably going to redownload the game for The Paladin free trial, which kicks off alongside the new season on March 11. The trial is only available until March 18, and it lets you try out the Paladin class.
The trial is available across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. You’ll be able to take the new class for a spin, but your progress will be capped at level 25. The Paladin can be permanently unlocked by buying the Lord of Hatred expansion, as it’s one of two classes the expansion is introducing.
The good news is that any progress you make in the free trial will carry over to the full game if/when you buy the expansion.
Season of Slaughter also kicks off a Doom: The Dark Ages collaboration event. As we’ve come to expect, there’s a very limited free component to the collaboration, in the form of the Doom Reliquary. This is essentially a mini-battle pass that includes the Shield Saw skin, Slayer’s Flair, the head of the Cyberdemon as a back trophy and various other smaller bits.
The more impressive items – such as character skins, will instead be available to purchase for real money. The list includes the Doom Slayer armor, Mecha Dragon Serrat skin for your cat mount, and a Cacodemon pet.
Though the armor skin is cross-class compatible, judging by how much previous collaboration items have cost in Diablo 4, most of us probably won’t be spending that kind of money to get it.
