Diablo 4 Items

With only about two weeks left until the official release of Diablo 4 Season 11, while you should already be familiar with the main mechanics and gameplay of the new season through PTR, it's best to develop a more comprehensive preparation plan.

This is because although almost all new Diablo 4 seasons follow the same operating model, there are always differences in the details of the updates. Mastering these differences is crucial for successfully and quickly integrating into Season 11!

Below, we will provide a pre-preparation guide from various angles based on what you already know about Season 11.

Keep A Close Eye On New Developments

While 2.5.0 PTR offered you an early experience of Season 11, its content does not represent the final form of the season. Since PTR ended, the development team has announced more changes that Season 11 will bring through announcements and interviews.

These changes may not necessarily alter the core mechanics of the new season, but they will make many subtle modifications, sometimes significantly impacting your combat experience.

For example, in an interview earlier this month, the developers stated that they would be making further changes to Masterworking and Tempering, while reducing the risk of the newly added Sanctification.

These further optimizations to the mechanics will undoubtedly allow you to upgrade your Diablo 4 items more efficiently, ensuring that all the gear you acquire grows stronger along with your character.

Another noteworthy piece of news from the interview is that all classes will be nerfed in the official Season 11, especially Druid, Necromancer, and Sorcerer.

The general nerfs manifest as a decrease in overall strength, fortification, and survivability, while the effects of several key skills of these classes specifically targeted will be reduced.

As you can see, these changes don't fundamentally alter the new gameplay that Season 11 will bring, but if you're unaware of them, you might make unnecessary mistakes in the new season's battles, such as choosing the most nerfed class.

Pay Attention To Your Reliquary System

This is mainly to prevent you from forgetting the exact time you enter the new season. The system will constantly remind you how much time is left until the end of Season 10, and Diablo 4's season transitions are almost seamless except about an hour of downtime.

If you're just a casual player, starting the new season a few days later is fine, but if you want to be among the first to conquer new content, getting a head start is crucial! Especially since Season 11 brought back the leaderboards through The Tower dungeons.

Given Diablo 4's massive player base, climbing to the top of the leaderboards (in any category) is very difficult, and the number of powerful players increases as the season progresses.

Therefore, if you lack confidence in your skills but still want to make a name for yourself on the leaderboards, climbing quickly at the beginning of the season is the best option. Even if you fall behind later, people will remember your achievements!

Join Game Groups Or Forums

Besides official announcements, the player community is the best source for the latest Diablo 4 news. Some players can even get reliable insider information in advance. Joining relevant groups or forums will give you the opportunity to learn more.

Before the official release of Season 11, no one can be certain whether the development team will make further changes, so checking group messages from time to time might yield unexpected results.

Whether on PTR or during the season, players will always be sharing their opinions and strategies within the community. You can refer to these when you encounter difficulties progressing through new dungeons or quests.

Furthermore, some endgame events are more efficient to complete in a group. If you don't have a fixed team or friends, you can find other players forming groups in groups and forums, or post your own recruitment notices.

Related: Diablo 4 Season 11 Necromancer Rework Speculation: Shadowmist Build Aims To Boost Survivability And Damage

Create A Guide Based On A Specific Class

Whether you prefer to play the same class throughout all seasons or choose the class that is most advantageous based on the season's mechanics, we recommend that you create a guide for that class before Season 11 begins.

The guide should ideally include methods for fast leveling and farming gold, builds suitable for different events, and tips for increasing seasonal reputation, etc.

While much of this content is applicable across most seasons, specific changes (such as the class nerfs in Season 11) require minor tweaks to ensure the guide perfectly adapts to the latest season.

Season 10 Character Transfer

With the start of Season 11, everything you own with your Season 10 characters will be directly transferred to Eternal Realm, including Chaos Perks and Armor you might want to keep, as well as any unused gold.

Don't worry about them; you can still play your Season 10 characters in Eternal Realm if you wish. However, note that after Season 10 ends, Season 10 gear in Eternal Realm will become legacy items.

This means you will no longer be able to modify them; they will remain as they are. So if you have frequently used or favorite builds in Season 10, be sure to save them promptly, as these builds cannot be optimized by modifying the gear in Eternal Realm.

That concludes this introduction. As for the new playable content in Season 11, you should already be familiar with it through relevant information and announcements; please keep those in mind along with this guide!

Diablo 4 DLC development director urged players to remember to watch The Game Awards on December 11th, almost directly implying: "Hey, we're going to show a super cool DLC trailer at TGA."

Every Diablo 4 DLC is incredibly important, like Vessel of Hatred released in 2024, which brought new classes, new maps, new dungeons, and runewords. This DLC significantly boosted the build strength of each class. So what class will the new DLC bring, and what new systems should it introduce to the game?

New Class Paladin

Although the official information about the next class hasn't been released yet, based on some leaked information (players have discovered a placeholder for Paladin), the next class is very likely to be Paladin.

Furthermore, from a story perspective, demons are already rampaging through Sanctuary, players have already experienced Chaos Powers in season 10, and season 11's seasonal mechanic is Sanctification system. This might indicate that angels will return to the Sanctuary battlefield. The appearance of Paladin, representing angelic power, as a new class would then seem quite logical.

On the other hand, Diablo 4 needs a class that can truly utilize shields as weapons; even necromancers don't necessarily rely on shields.

Therefore, considering all factors, the new class is highly likely to be Paladin, and it will probably be heavily inspired by the Paladin design from Diablo II. The development team might also incorporate some of the iconic skills of Crusader from Diablo III.

However, this expansion might also include a completely new class, such as Valkyrie, which is related to angelic power, or Blood Knight, similar to the class in Diablo Immortal.

Endgame Reward Changes

Diablo 4 needs a complete overhaul of the game's reward system, and it needs the introduction of new endgame mechanics similar to Path of Exile 1 & 2 and Last Epoch.

It could allow players play through specific game content repeatedly, such as Last Epoch timeline, to earn Diablo 4 items and experience. These can be used to permanently upgrade the rewards or difficulty of that content, for example, by enhancing these endgame content through a passive skill tree.

Currently, Diablo 4 has too many item drops, and directly adding a new endgame mechanic would be more mess. Therefore, a major overhaul of the entire reward system is needed. This could be achieved by reducing base rewards but ensuring that players focusing on a particular endgame content ultimately receive greater rewards than they currently do.

This allows players to focus on their preferred game modes. For example, if a player enjoys Infernal Hordes, they can customize the rewards for that mode through a dedicated skill tree, such as making the endgame boss drop only unique items, or changing the final chest to something like Belial chest, allowing players to choose their loot.

Season 10 was highly praised because it introduced Chaos Armor, which provides an alternative to repeatedly farming Lair Bosses for powerful and unique items. Adding a new endgame mechanic could be a permanent solution, allowing players to acquire their desired gear through multiple methods.

Diablo IV's Version Kanai's Cube

In Diablo III, Kanai's Cube allowed players to extract the special effects of Legendary Aspects and place them in three dedicated slots. This allowed characters to gain the unqiue effect without equipping the item, excluding the item's base stats.

This could solve the problem of limited inventory slots. Currently, Diablo IV's gear builds are limited by the occupation of unique items, mythic items, and Legendary Aspects slots, resulting in low build flexibility. Kanai's Cube would provide additional Legendary Aspect slots, allowing players more freedom in their builds and making many previously impossible setups possible.

However, the development team plans a major overhaul of the skill tree, potentially moving transformative Legendary Aspects into the skill tree, reducing the need for Kanai's Cube. Nevertheless, this would still be a valuable system.

Read More: What Should You Do Before Entering Diablo 4 Season 11? | 4 Essential Tips

New Gear

The new DLC introduces new gear types and rarities, particularly set items and a revamped Chaos Armor.

Set items have a high probability of appearing, as the developers stated they were working on sets before the game's release, and the expansion is a good time to introduce them, just as Runes did in its first expansion.

However, set items don't need to be the absolute core and essential for builds like they were in Diablo III. They should be a lateral shift or used only in specific situations, not something every build must wear.

The developers have also stated they are considering re-introducing Season 10 Chaos Armor in some form. In any case, Diablo 4 currently needs more rare and desirable gear types to enrich its endgame objectives.

New Endgame Content

Diablo 4's current endgame content is quite sparse, and like all live service games, players always need more content. The new expansion should not only expand on existing content but also introduce entirely new systems.

There are many gameplay elements that can be borrowed, such as combining dungeons with Roguelike elements. For example, each floor could grant new powers or buffs, and players could use currency to shop at occasionally appearing merchants, creating a complete Roguelike experience.

There could even be a standalone mode where players start at level 1 with no equipment and gradually grow stronger throughout an adventure. Other game genres, such as tower defense, could also be referenced to create unique gameplay. Only a sufficiently rich endgame content can extend Diablo 4's lifespan and keep players engaged.

Diablo 4 boasts top-tier graphics and story among all current ARPGs, but its main weakness is its overly simplified gameplay. While this is good for casual players, it also causes the season's popularity to wane very quickly (because most players experience all the content within a week). Hopefully, this DLC will bring healthy and beneficial changes to Diablo 4.