It’s time for a Season 9 developer chat recap. Unlike previous Diablo 4 developer chats, we probably knew more about the upcoming Season before the chat started. The chat covered most of what has already been posted in the recent notes, so there were no huge surprises.
Below, we’ve broken it down for you because it was quite long and mainly covered everything we already knew from the PTR. There are a few notes on changes that have been applied since the PTR in this recap.
I have a feeling this is going to be a strange Season. It’s similar to previous Seasons, so whether it keeps players engaged remains to be seen. In the meantime, don’t forget to check our Season 9 page for more on the upcoming Season.
Season 9 developer chat recap notes
Season Overview
- New Seasonal Questline featuring Donan, Briona, and Astaroth.
- New systems:
- Horadric Spellcraft
- Horadric Jewels
- Horadric Strongrooms
- Escalating Nightmares
- New pet: Dante
- Season and Eternal realms now share dungeon and loot improvements
Lore Recap
Astaroth was trapped in a soulstone by Donan, buried, but inevitably escaped. Briona, a druid who disliked Donan, joins you to uncover new Haradrim secrets across Eldim Keep and beyond.
Horadric Strong Rooms
- Mini-dungeons inside Nightmare Dungeons
- Choose 1–3 modifiers (“Tests”) to change encounter behavior
- Gain Attunement score from kills/pillars; 6 tiers of rewards
- Earn Grand Cache, Escalation Sigil, and Jewels (Torment only)
Escalating Nightmares
- Dungeon chains that increase in difficulty and affixes
- Ends with Exalted Astaroth boss fight with new mechanics
- Auto-portals to the next floor; sigils have boons and curses
Horadric Spellcraft
- Customize spells using:
- Catalyst (core effect)
- Infusion (element type)
- Arcana (extra effect)
- Assigned to any skill slot; casts automatically
- Arcana includes Vulnerable, Resource Regen, Explosions
Horadric Jewels
- Socketed into rings/amulets
- Crafted using Tomes (from Strongrooms), gem fragments, and currency
- Some jewels spawn enemy guardians
- 16 total; new jewel: Willbreaker added for physical builds.
- Cheat Death jewel removed from Hardcore mode
PTR Learnings
- Spellcraft suppression effects last longer (5s → 8s)
- Reworked problematic Arcana and teleport builds
- Disintegrate width buffed
- Pre-Torment escalation version added (no Astaroth)
Class Changes
Barbarian
- Earthquake/Dust Devil nerfed
- Whirlwind, Hammer, Basic Skills buffed
- New unique: Hooves of the Mountain God – Cleaving Basic attacks
Druid
- General buffs across the board
- Pulverize reworked and buffed
- New unique: Rotting Lightbringer – Poison puddles and splash AoE
Necromancer
- Soul Rift and Bloodwave nerfed
- Buffs to Bone, Shadow, Golem builds
- New unique: The Hand of Naz – Sacrifice other minions for upgraded Mage army
Rogue
- Death Trap and Shadow Clone nerfed
- Victimize passive reworked
- New unique: Deathmask of Nirmitruq – HP drains for huge Flurry burst
Sorceress
- Lightning Spear nerfed (aspect), base buffed
- Firestarter and Icefall buffed
- New unique: Ophidian Iris Exploding Hydras scale with bonus heads
Spiritborn
- Hunter Ultimate kept (by community demand)
- New unique: Abalazan’s Max Latel – Poison Thorns even when not hit
System Improvements
- Loot scaling by quality in higher Torment tiers
- Nightmare dungeon affix improvements (positive & negative)
- Lair bosses are affected too
- Horadric Reserves give bonus gem, gold, or crafting loot
Seasonal Progress Flexibility
- All elite/boss kills now award seasonal reputation
- Layer Hordes permanently drop seasonal currency
- Season activity is no longer mandatory to progress
Patch Notes: Available July 1 in most languages