Diablo 4 Previews Season 9 Update Details in Latest PTR Campfire Chat

Today, Blizzard hosted its latest Diablo 4 PTR Campfire Chat live stream. During the stream, the Diablo 4 team shared what’s next for Season 9 updates to the game, including new content, features, and quality of life updates. While the full content for Season 9 won’t arrive in Diablo 4 until July 1st, the Public Test Realm (PTR) access is set to begin on May 27th. Though some content might change after the PTR period, the Campfire Chat live stream still offers a nice first look at upcoming Season 9 updates to Diablo 4.

When the Season 9 PTR begins on May 27th, players will be able to jump in and test new features ahead of the full release and offer feedback to help Blizzard fine-tune the content before it arrives for all Diablo 4 players. The 2.3.0 PTR is available only via PC Battlenet and will run until June 3rd. But regardless of whether you plan to jump into the test realm, the new information sheds light on where Diablo 4 is headed for its next season. During the Campfire Chat, the developers went over their goals for the game overall, as well as highlights for new features coming in Season 9.

The main goals Blizzard outlined for Diablo 4‘s future were adding more variety to the endgame and creating more big reward moments. The developers also hope to bring more permanent Diablo 4 improvements to the game along with the Season 9 update. Blizzard is also looking at improving class balance for those outlier classes that keep dominating the meta.

New Permanent Features Coming to Diablo 4

After the general overview, Blizzard dove into outlining the new permanent updates and improvements coming to Diablo 4 with the Season 9 update. Here is a quick overview of new, permanent features that are currently in the works and planned to roll out alongside Season 9’s new content:

• Nightmare Dungeon system improvements
• Sins of the Horadrim to unlock new Horadric spells
• Addition of Horadric Strongrooms to Nightmare Dungeons, offering new hidden mini-dungeon areas full of rewards
• Escalating Nightmares system for a series of 3 dungeons in a row, with escalating difficulty
• Astaroth added as the final boss of Escalating Nightmares, with new and updated combat mechanics

Of course, along with these permanent improvements, Season 9 will bring in seasonal story content, as well.

Class Balance Updates

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Semi-permanent changes include class balance updates, which are always subject to change with future balance updates. Here’s what’s coming with Season 9 in terms of balance updates:

• Nerf for the Overpower mechanic, reducing it by about 80%
• Rebalance to Additive damage
• Basic Skill damage doubled or tripled
• Maximum Resistance cap increased to 75%
• Rebalance for Key Passives
• Class-specific re-balancing for the Barbarian, Druid, Necromancer, Rogue, Sorceress, and Spiritborn

System Updates

• Elites and Bosses will grant Seasonal Reputation
• Lair Hoards will grant Seasonal Currency
• Ability to teleport between Nightmare Dungeons
• Nightmare Dungeon Sigils will include additional passives
• Increased quality of items per Torment Tier for Legendary Item Drops
• Resource Economy updates, including increases to overall Legendary Rune drops, Whisper caches, and more.

New Diablo 4 Season 9 Content

The theme for Diablo 4 Season 9 is Sins of the Horadrim. The season begins on July 9th, with PTR testing starting on May 27th.

The big highlight for Season 9 is the addition of Horadric Spells, with a build-your-own spell capability that allows for flexibility to combine spell components to create and change your own custom spells. Here is the outline of what’s coming alongside the new spell system:

• Infusions to change the elemental damage type of spells
• Arcana to add subtle effects to Horadric Spells – 3 Arcana per customer spell
• Horadric Jewels – can be slotted into spell sockets to add additional effects to spells and builds

During the Public Test Realm period, Blizzard will take player feedback to adjust what’s coming with the Season 9 update. So, the full list of what’s to come will not be finalized until closer to the Season 9 start day of July 1st.