When Diablo IV launched in June, fans and critics mostly agreed that it was an enjoyable sequel in Blizzard’s beloved action RPG franchise, and packed with potential for the future. By September, opinions had swayed considerably, with cries of “dead game” rampant throughout every subreddit and Discord server imaginable. As player interest waned, the future of Diablo IV started to rely more and more heavily on the next few months of seasonal content. Fortunately, Season 2: The Season of Blood adds a slathering of new stuff to do while fixing some long overdue issues, making Diablo IV surprisingly fun to play again.
The Season of Blood Puts the Bite Back in Diablo IV
In Diablo IV Season 2, the name of the game is vampire hunting, as an army of the bloodthirsty beasts have infiltrated Sanctuary. As the Cathedral of Light turns a blind eye to the death of the masses, only you have the power to end the infestation for good. Teaming up with the mysterious hunter, Erys, you must forge a path of viscera and disrupt the schemes of a lurking Vampire Lord.
The Season of Blood takes the phrase “if you can’t beat them, join them” quite literally, as the main mechanic of Diablo IV Season 2 involves enhancing your character with Vampiric Powers. These passive buffs can be unlocked and upgraded by spending Potent Blood, but only if your armor has the proper Pact stats. As expected, currencies like Potent Blood and Pacts are gained by completing season-specific activities, quests, and challenges.
Diablo IV New Bosses, Seasonal Mechanics, and More
Besides Vampiric Powers, the biggest addition in Diablo IV Season 2 is the Blood Harvest zone. Similar to Helltides, these timed zones shift around the overworld and they’re the best place to farm seasonal currencies. Blood Harvests are perfect to play if you just want to turn your brain off and turn vampires to mush, as you can also make progress with your Tree of Whispers quests. With the increased mob density and multiple ways to earn rewards, Blood Harvest zones are a bloody good time.
Many diehard Diablo fans were disappointed by the lack of unique endgame bosses in D4, so five new powerful foes have been dispatched to Sanctuary for added challenge. These bosses can be battled in either the Eternal or Seasonal realm, and are accessed by earning key items from activities like Nightmare Dungeons, Helltides, etc. Not only are the five new Diablo IV bosses fun to fight, but they also provide new benchmarks for endgame progression, making the grind to Uber Lilith more entertaining.
Even better, Diablo IV has received several quality-of-life improvements with the Season 2 patch, many of which have been sorely needed since launch day. For starters, gems will no longer clutter up your bag, making inventory management less cumbersome. Adjustments have been made to experience gain as well, ensuring you receive a hit of level-up dopamine every few hours (at least). Best of all, mounts are now incredibly fast, boosting into mach 5 speeds like a stallion fresh out of the gate at the Kentucky Derby.
In short, if you fell off of Diablo IV after your initial binge, it’s worth booting back up again. If you’ve yet to give it a whirl, Season 2 makes the game significantly better, and it was already damn good from the beginning. Diablo IV is available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC.
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