Diablo 4 Forgotten souls

Although Diablo 4 Season 10 isn't set to arrive until mid-September, season 10 PTR Livestream about Diablo 4 offer a glimpse into what Season 10 will be like. Infernal Hordes, borne from Hell, once again tear apart the portals between Hell and Earth, bringing death and fire back to this land.

Besides continued changes to Infernal Hordes in Season 10, one area many players will be interested in is Chaos Armor. It's clearly a new type of equipment, so how does it compare to unique items, ancestral unique items, and mythic items?

What Is Chaos Armor?

Chaos Armor is still essentially a unique item, but as its name suggests, this armor set is filled with chaos. In Season 10 demo picture, the developers used Banished Lord's Talisman as an example. It's a unique amulet, while its namesake Chaos Armor is a glove, though it can also be boots or a chest armor.

If a unique item originally had gloves, Chaos Armor will not create gloves with the same name; it will only appear in a different slot.

Banished Lord's Talisman increases your critical hit damage by up to 60%, while Chaos Armor increases it to 72%, and this means Chaos Armor provides a 20% higher damage bonus than the original unique Diablo 4 item.

Chaos Armor only has the following components, not including weapon amulets or rings:

• Helm
• Chest
• Gloves
• Pants
• Boots

Why Does It Completely Change Builds?

From what we've seen so far, Season 10 builds' damage will be taken to another level. Firstly, the nerfs in this patch are minimal, mostly buffs. Secondly, the boost Chaos Armor provides.

You know some unique items are incredibly powerful, but they often share a slot with other items, which means you're forced to choose between two excellent unique items. Rogue players will undoubtedly have experienced the dilemma of choosing a helmet.

Chaos Armor solves this problem to some extent. You can equip a unique helmet, and then your gloves' unique effects are derived from another unique helmet. This allows you to swap out less powerful parts for more powerful ones, resulting in a significant boost.

Some clever players might try to maximize the multiplier by equipping two items with the same unique effect. Unfortunately, the developers anticipated this and prevented you from equipping two items with the same unique effect, or in other words, from equipping Diablo 4 items with the same name.

Also, Chaos Armor only applies to a subset of unique item effects; their affixes are randomly rolled among the following equipment pools.

General

• Banished Lord's Talisman
• Crown of Lucion
• Endurant Faith
• Fists of Fate
• Flickerstep
• Godslayer Crown
• Locran's Talisman
• Mother's Embrace
• Paingorger's Gauntlets
• X'Fal's Corroded Signet

Barbarian

• Sabre of Tsasgal (New Unique)
• Battle Trance
• Gohr's Devastating Grips
• Hooves of the Mountain God
• Mantle of Mountain's Fury
• Overkill
• Rage of Harrogath
• Ring of Red Furor
• Ring of the Ravenous
• Tuskhelm of Joritz the Mighty
• Ugly Bastard Helm
• Unbroken Chain

Druid

• Kilt of Blackwing (New Unique)
• Airidah's Inexorable Will
• Earthbreaker
• Fleshrender
• Greatstaff of the Crone
• Hunter's Zenith
• Malefic Crescent
• Mjölnic Ryng
• Rotting Lightbringer
• Tempest Roar
• The Basilisk
• Vasily's Prayer

Necromancer

• Gospel of the Devotee (New Unique)
• Black River
• Bloodless Scream
• Deathless Visage
• Deathspeaker's Pendant
• Ebonpiercer
• Lidless Wall
• Ring of Mendeln
• Ring of the Sacrilegious Soul
• The Hand of Naz
• The Mortacrux
• The Unmaker

Rogue

• Orphan Maker (New Unique)
• Beastfall Boots
• Condemnation
• Cowl of the Nameless
• Deathmask of Nirmitruq
• Grasp of Shadow
• Pitfighter's Gull
• Saboteur's Signet
• Scoundrel's Leathers
• Shroud of Khanduras
• Skyhunter
• Word of Hakan

Sorcerer

• Galvanic Azurite (New Unique)
• Axial Conduit
• Blue Rose
• Esadora's Overflowing Cameo
• Flamescar
• Fractured Winterglass
• Ophidian Iris
• Raiment of the Infinite
• Staff of Endless Rage
• Staff of Lam Esen
• Starfall Coronet
• Vox Omnium

Spiritborn

• Hesha e Kesungi (New Unique)
• Balazan's Maxtlatl
• Band of First Breath
• Harmony of Ebewaka
• Jacinth Shell
• Loyalty's Mantle
• Peacemonger's Signet
• Ring of the Midday Hunt
• Rod of Kepeleke
• Sunstained War-Crozier
• Sepazontec
• Wushe Nak Pa

How To Get Chaos Armor?

You have two ways to collect Chaos Armor.

Chaos Rifts

Chaos Rifts appear randomly throughout Sanctuary. Approaching these areas will unleash a burning horde from Hell. Sealing a Chaos Rift will reward you with Diablo 4 gold, materials, and other rewards. On Torment difficulty, successfully sealing a Chaos Rift has a chance to drop Chaos Armor.

Boss Bartuc

The Season 10 rework of Infernal Hordes also introduces a new boss, Bartuc. This boss requires Burning Aether to challenge and offers the best rewards, significantly more than those earned by participating in Infernal Hordes, including Chaos Armor.

You can challenge this boss with friends, and everyone needs Burning Aether, and when you get the rewards, you don't need Burning Aether, which is similar to how Lair bosses worked before Season 8. This boss is clearly quite challenging, so be prepared well before you challenge it.

That's some basic information about Chaos Armor. It's clearly going to completely change build strategies, but we'll have to wait until we get to test it on the PTR to see how it performs. If you're interested, the PTR for Season 10 will open on August 19th and end on the 26th, allowing you to download the latest content and experience it.

Wanderers, have you finished your Season 9 campaign? Are you looking for news about the next season? Here comes the good news!

Sanctuary Sitdown Replaces Campfire Chat

Recently, the developers announced that they will host a Sanctuary Sitdown event on August 14th at 11:00 AM PDT to share information about the new season with Diablo 4 players and prepare for the upcoming releases of 2.4.0 and Season 10 PTR.

However, if you're a longtime Diablo player, you'll have noticed this change. Since Diablo 4's initial release in 2023, players have been eagerly waiting to learn about the new content before each new season by visiting Campfire Chat streams.

This isn't just a simple name change; I believe it's a way for the developers to adjust their communication strategy with Diablo 4 players. Instead of the usual Twitch streams, they'll be holding discussions and Q&A sessions on Discord. Players have two days to submit questions to the developers, but not all questions will be selected and answered.

Sanctuary Sitdown is a new form of communication. PTR updates will be discussed via voice chat in Diablo 4 Discord. Players can join the voice channel and listen to developers like Aislyn Hall, Charles Dunn, and Ben Fletcher discuss Season 10 and the PTR. This marks a significant shift in D4's news release method, moving away from live broadcasts and toward more direct, live chat-based community interaction.

Imagine if this change in communication method will rekindle player excitement and anticipation.

Is Releasing During Such A Busy September The Right Decision?

While the developers haven't revealed the specifics of the event, it's expected that Sanctuary Sitdown's Q&A will not be limited to the 2.4.0 PTR and Season 10: Infernal Chaos.

Season 10 is scheduled to launch on September 23rd, coinciding with one of the busiest months for game releases in recent years. This has sparked debate over whether the timing of the new season's release is more strategic or more risky.

As we all know, the September 23rd launch date comes just 11 days after Borderlands 4, which launched on September 12th. Borderlands 4 is one of the biggest action-RPG releases in recent years and shares some of the same player base.

But the competition goes far beyond that. September also features a host of major releases, including:

• September 4: Hell is Us and the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle DLC
• September 5: Cronos: The New Dawn
• September 19: Dying Light: The Beast
• September 25: Silent Hill

Adding to the pressure, direct competitors are also taking action.

Among them, the action-RPG Titan Quest 2 launched in Early Access on August 1st, receiving positive feedback from players. Path of Exile 2's 0.3.0 patch also went live on August 29th, featuring combat and loot hunting more familiar to Diablo fans. All of these new dynamics are making the genre even more competitive.

Is The Release Of Season 10 A Helpless Decision?

Two years after its release, Diablo 4's seasonal mode is competing for attention not only with new games but also with the ever-evolving RPG genre.

However, with Diablo 4's next DLC not expected until 2026, Diablo 4 will need seasonal updates like Infernal Chaos to keep players engaged.

The arrival of Season 10 PTR follows a period without major updates for Diablo 4. Just last month, the developers announced that no major content updates would be released before the start of the new season, a decision that disappointed some players but made sense given the timing.

Typically, the PTR gives players the opportunity to experience new content before the official season begins, exploring how the new season will play out, including end-game content, new ways to farm Diablo 4 gold, class adjustments, and more. However, the Sanctuary Sitdown event will offer players a deeper look at balance and feature changes, which are often overlooked.

Rod Fergusson's Departure May Have Been The Catalyst For This Sanctuary Sitdown

In fact, 2025 has already brought significant changes to the series. Rod Fergusson, who led the Diablo series for approximately five years, left the team earlier this month. During his tenure, he oversaw the releases of Diablo 4 and its first DLC, Vessel of Hatred, Diablo Immortal, and D2R.

It's unclear how Rod Fergusson's departure will affect future development, but it appears to be a significant factor in the Diablo 4 team's strategy adjustments this year.

With this in mind, Infernal Chaos will need to deliver some memorable highlights to stand out and prove the capabilities of the new development team.

If they can effectively leverage PTR player feedback and clearly address player questions during Sanctuary Sitdown, Season 10 still has a chance to stand out in this competitive launch window.

Regardless, August 14th's Sanctuary Sitdown will be a significant moment for the Diablo 4 community, marking the first time the developers have used this new format for news releases. With so many major releases coming in September, it will be closely watched whether the Infernal Chaos Season lives up to its name and is enough to keep Diablo 4 players engaged in the competitive landscape.