Need to Know
- Kudos once again to the Diablo community.
- The tale of the Coven has returned to Sanctuary.
- Diablo 3 Season 33 vanished, resulting in some confused and dissatisfied gamers.
- The original Diablo game is coming to Xbox Game Pass later this week.
The launch of the Season of Witchcraft draws ever closer, and later this week on Thursday, January 16th, the Diablo 4 Devs will present a Developer Update Livestream with lots more information about Season 7, including the Seasonal theme and the results of last month’s PTR.
Under the Fat Goose Inn
Before discussing more details about Season 7, let’s first stop in at the Fat Goose, pull up a chair by the fireplace, and listen to what the locals are talking about these days.
I’m always glad when I come across decidedly positive comments in the forums, especially from new players. One particular Diablo 4 player recently had this to say on Reddit:
“Sometimes this community can be amazing I was joining random parties to do infernal hoard on and in the downtime between them I asked to do Lilith because everyone else left it was just this one other person left and I asked if he can help me beat the echo of Lilith and we both got stomped by her over 10 times but eventually together we did it and he got it for me and I cannot be more happy and grateful to this community.”
What’s even better is that this Redditor received lots of positive replies to his comment, including more offers of assistance with the game.
Diablo 4 is definitely fun to play solo, and, just like many other casual gamers out there, it’s usually my preferred mode of gameplay. However, the game is designed around the community and multi-player games. Thankfully, the Diablo community is, generally speaking, very supportive, and reaching out for a little help with your game can make a huge difference in your overall experience and satisfaction.
Season 7
One of the concepts with which Diablo gamers are well familiar is the fact that wickedness always manages to find a way to return to Sanctuary. In the case of the Season of Blood, we encountered a vampire hunter named Erys who enlisted our help in dealing with the recent rise in vampirism. This quest ultimately resolved itself by defeating the Dark Master named Vampire Lord Zir, whose Echo was then added to the troop of endgame ladder bosses.
Similarly, in Season 7, we will encounter a quest at the Tree of Whispers that will result in our characters being recruited by a new NPC to deal with the rise of Witchcraft in Sanctuary. Along with that quest will be the Season 7 Reputation Reward system, which will be based on accumulating Coven’s Favor.
However, this is not the first time that Witchcraft has been encountered in the Diablo games series. We first met a witch named Adria in the Darkening of Tristram (Diablo) way back in 1997. She was a vendor NPC who also provided some interesting information and gossip. Ogden, who ran Tavern of the Rising Sun, described her as follows:
“Adria is wise beyond her years, but I must admit – she frightens me a little. Well, no matter. If you ever have need to trade in items of sorcery, she maintains a strangely well-stocked hut just across the river.”
Adria was also infamously the main squeeze of the Dark Wanderer, and, perhaps, the most important result of their brief but memorable fling in Tristram was a daughter named Leah.
Adria became involved with a small and secretive group of witches called the Coven that existed in the Westmarch’s remote wilds. It was there that she met another witch named Maghda.
At some point, Maghda convinced Adria to poison the leaders of the Coven so they could take control and reforge it into a dangerous new order that practiced torture and demonic summoning.
The two eventually had a falling out, and Adria left the Coven to pursue her own ambitions with the Lord of Terror. Magdha remained as the leader of the Coven until she was defeated in Alcarnus during Act II of the main campaign in Reaper of Souls (Diablo 3). Likewise, Adria was finally defeated in the Ruins of Corvus during Act V.
Adria and Magdha are no more, as far as we know, and only time will tell what has become of the Coven in the years since their demise and who, or what, is principally responsible for the recent resurgence of Witchcraft in Sanctuary.
Diablo 3 Season 33 Briefly Disappeared
Something strange and unexpected happened in Diablo 3 on the evening of January 5th when Season 33 ended unexpectedly and without any notice. Several players posted comments on the Diablo 3 General Discussion Forum, which prompted this reply from Director of Community Adam Fletcher:
It turns out that, although the start date for Season 33 got pushed back, the end date apparently was not adjusted accordingly. As for myself, I did not login to the game on January 5th and waited until January 7th to check my Seasonal account, which, fortunately, was still completely intact.
In any case, Season 33 is now scheduled to end on Sunday, January 19th, and Season 34 will start on Friday, January 24th.
What’s On the Horizon?
Diablo is coming to Xbox Game Pass tomorrow, January 14th, which is a full 28 years after its initial release. Diablo is credited with changing the world of computer gaming, and I was right there in Tristram when it launched in 1997.
Those who know me have probably already heard my story about how Diablo was the first game for which I pulled an all-nighter, and I can distinctly remember the experience of seeing the light coming up outside my window and hearing the birds chirping gleefully as I defeated the Dark Lord on Level 16.
Diablo has not (yet) been reskinned like Diablo 2 Resurrected, but it’s still definitely worth a go, if for no other reason than to experience some of the nostalgia associated with how it all began. PC gamers can also find Diablo on Battle.net for a very reasonable price.
See You Next Time
The PureDiablo community would like to hear your opinion on this topic, so please sound off in the comments section below. Please feel free to contact me contact me on Twitter if you would like additional information or assistance with Diablo gaming. You can also let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions for future topics here at PureDiablo.
In the meantime, be sure to keep an eye on the news feed so you’ll have all the up-to-date info you need to get the most out of your game. If you believe that any of the information shared above is inaccurate in any way, please let us know, along with a reference for the correct information, so we can update this document accordingly.
Gazerrick is a staff writer for PureDiablo who focuses primarily on casual gaming interests and lore for the Diablo community. When not hacking and slashing his way through a new Season, he can be found participating in, and presenting at, various pop culture conventions in southern Arizona. You can follow him on Twitter @Gazerrick9000 for even more of his gaming indulgences.
Alternatively, login with your social media account below or register site account