After a return to form with Season 2, Diablo 4 players are eagerly anticipating any news surrounding the next big update to the game. The Season of Blood introduced many new mechanics, including Vampiric Powers that players could use to further customize their characters, and new endgame activities featuring bosses to grind for some of the best loot in the game.
The game is moving in a positive direction following the backlash it received at launch, with Blizzard actively listening to feedback. With Season 3 on the horizon, let's take a look at everything we know so far, including teases during Season 2 and BlizzCon.
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Season 3 Theme
The theme for Season 3 currently remains unknown. All we have is an image of a menacing creature with a broken helmet, adorned with a couple of chains. The theme could be something similar to how the Jailer and Torghast worked in World of Warcraft, featuring a small roguelike mode that grants more powers the further you delve into the dungeon. Season one introduced Malignant growths around the world of Sanctuary, while Season 2 was focused on Vampires and Vampire hunting.
It will be interesting to see the exact theme of Season 3 and how it ties into the new mechanics and content added to the game.
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Season 3 Weekly Challenge Dungeon: The Gauntlet
The Gauntlet is going to be one of the main new additions to the game, providing players with a brand new endgame activity. Here is how the developers explained this new mechanic back at BlizzCon 2023:
The Gauntlet is accessible once you reach World Tier 4, and contrary to common belief, you don't need to be Level 100 to enter it. This unique dungeon is a fixed seed, non-linear structure, ensuring that monster positions, layout, and affixes remain consistent. It serves as a challenging test of your mastery and skills, with the aim of achieving the highest scores displayed on the leaderboards.
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In The Gauntlet, loot drops at the end of the timer, eliminating the need to pick up items along the way. At the start of each week, a new Gauntlet takes the place of the current one, accompanied by a reset of the leaderboards.
The scoring and rewards system in The Gauntlet is designed to offer choices for maximizing your score, especially in groups where decisions about dungeon progression can be collectively made. Monsters and Chests drop pick-ups known as Proofs of Might instead of regular loot, challenging you to gather as many within the given time to enhance your score.
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Season 3 Leaderboards
Another big addition to the game alongside Season 3 will be Leaderboards. These Leaderboards are going to be tied to the new Gauntlet mechanic and will feature the 1000 best runs each week. Your performance in The Gauntlet earns you a Seal, the type of which depends on your score. Achieving the Seal of the Worthy places you in the top 1000 of the corresponding leaderboard. These Seals also come with an associated portrait frame, allowing you to showcase your achievements to other players in-game.
These Leaderboards are also separated into different categories, including things like Solo Barbarian, Solo Necromancer, as well as Hardcore and Softcore.
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Season 3 Hall of the Ancients
Finally the Hall of the Ancients is going to be the 'archive' of the best runs of the Gauntlet each week. Once the weekly reset happens and the Gauntlet is retired, the 10 best runs are going to be immortalized in the game forever. This will definitely add the competitive element, that the game was lacking so far!
Season 3 Release Date
Although the developers at Blizzard Entertainment have not officially announced the specific release date, they have mentioned previously that each season is intended to span approximately 3 months. The current Battle Pass for Season 2 indicates that Season 2 is scheduled to conclude on January 23, 2024. Considering the brief gap between Season 1 and 2, we can infer that Diablo 4's Season 3 is likely to commence sometime between January 23rd and the beginning of February.
That covers everything we know so far about Diablo 4's Season 3. A lot of new content is going to be added to the game, as well as continued support in the form of fixes and balance adjustments. Hopefully Blizzard manages to continue the streak the created with 'Season of Blood' and launch another great season for Diablo 4.
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