Is Season 12 the Prelude to Lord of Hatred Expansion? Diablo 4 2.6.0 PTR Release Date and New Features

Recommended Article

• Diablo 4 Season 12 Gems Farming Guide | Getting Grand Ruby or Emerald to maximize your gear and character!

  With only two weeks remaining until Diablo 4 Season 13, you might be tempted to look ahead to the new season and its upcoming expansion, foregoing the completion of Season 12.

  However, building a powerful Season 12 character, and doing so without any regrets, is a rewarding endeavor in its own right.

  To achieve this, continuously upgrading your gear is paramount. Once you reach the maximum level, gear, alongside your Paragon Board configuration, becomes the core factor determining your character's overall strength.

  Diablo 4 offers numerous methods for enhancing your gear; among them, socketing gems into your equipment stands out as a relatively low-difficulty option that yields excellent returns.

  In this guide, we will introduce you to the specific functions of these gems and the most effective ways to farm them.

  

  What are Diablo 4 gems?

  While gems are a common feature in the item systems of many ARPGs, in Diablo 4, they function specifically as magical artifacts that can be socketed directly into your gear.

  There are seven distinct types of Diablo 4 gems, each type is further subdivided into five different tiers. Naturally, the higher the tier, the greater the statistical bonuses provided.

  Each type of gem provides specific bonus effects depending on whether it is socketed into a weapon, armor, or jewelry slot:

  (Chipped/Base/Flawless/Royal/Grand) Amethyst:

  • Weapon: + Damage Over Time
  • Armor: + Barrier Generation
  • Jewelry: + Shadow Resistance

  (Chipped/Base/Flawless/Royal/Grand) Diamond:

  • Weapon: + Ultimate Damage
  • Armor: + All Stats
  • Jewelry: + Resistance to All Elements

  (Chipped/Base/Flawless/Royal/Grand) Emerald:

  • Weapon: + Critical Strike Damage
  • Armor: + Dexterity
  • Jewelry: + Poison Resistance

  (Chipped/Base/Flawless/Royal/Grand) Ruby:

  • Weapon: + Overpower Damage
  • Armor: + Strength
  • Jewelry: + Fire Resistance

  (Chipped/Base/Flawless/Royal/Grand) Sapphire:

  • Weapon: + Vulnerable Damage
  • Armor: + Willpower
  • Jewelry: + Cold Resistance

  (Chipped/Base/Flawless/Royal/Grand) Topaz:

  • Weapon: + Basic Damage
  • Armor: + Intelligence
  • Jewelry: + Lightning Resistance

  (Chipped/Base/Flawless/Royal/Grand) Skull:

  • Weapon: + Life on Kill
  • Armor: + Healing Received
  • Jewelry: + Armor

  How to obtain gems?

  Generally speaking, gems in Diablo 4 do not drop as complete, single units. Instead, you will primarily farm gem fragments and then visit Jeweler to craft them into the final finished gems.

  However, if you don't want to consume extra time farming and would prefer to acquire the gems you desire instantly, the best option is to buy Diablo 4 gems at IGGM!

  How to farm gem fragments?

  There are many sources for gem fragments in Diablo 4; however, not all of them are equally reliable.

  Therefore, we recommend prioritizing the farming of Infernal Hordes Chests, Augment Caches, specific Whispers Caches, and Gem Caches that may be awarded from side quests.

  The specific methods for obtaining each type of chest/cache are as follows:

  • Infernal Hordes Chest: Collect a sufficient amount of Burning Aether during combat encounters to exchange for the chest.
  • Augment Cache: Unlock Bartering System at The Den by reaching Affinity Level 8 with the mercenary Aldkin, then exchange for the cache.
  • Greater Cache of Gem Fragments and Greater Collection of Materials: Complete the bounty quests issued by Tree of Whispers, then redeem them using Grim Favors you have earned.
  • Gem Cache: Complete various side quests.

  In addition to being used to craft gems, fragments can, in certain seasons, also be used to craft specific Jewelry Caches, Incense, or other consumables.

  How to craft gems?

  Once you have obtained enough fragments, and paired them with a sufficient amount of gold or Forgotten Souls, you can craft gems at Jeweler. The material requirements for crafting each tier of gem are as follows:

  • Chipped: 10 gem fragments and 1,000 Gold
  • Base: 100 gem fragments and 10,000 Gold
  • Flawless: 1,000 gem fragments and 100,000 Gold
  • Royal: 10,000 gem fragments and 1,000,000 Gold
  • Grand: 100,000 gem fragments, 30 Forgotten Souls, and 10,000,000 Gold

  Gold can be obtained from most events or dungeons in Diablo 4. As for Forgotten Souls, their drop sources include (specifically on Torment difficulty settings):

  • Salvaging Ancestral items
  • Legion Events
  • Helltides
  • Tree of Whispers
  • Infernal Hordes
  • Undercity of Kurast

  It is worth noting that, aside from standard crafting, you can also exchange 100 fragments each of three different gem types for 200 fragments of a fourth type. This is particularly useful when your inventory of gem fragments is unbalanced.

  Gems can be replaced/removed/salvaged

  Since gear sockets are limited, once you have crafted higher-tier gems, you will naturally want to use them to replace your lower-tier ones. You can do this simply by performing a direct swap; the gem being replaced will be returned to your inventory.

  If you decide you no longer wish to have any gems socketed, you can simply unsocket them from the gear slot, and the embedded gem will be removed. Furthermore, neither replacing nor removing gems requires the consumption of any additional materials.

  In the late stages of a season, once your character is sufficiently advanced, those removed or replaced lower-tier gems will probably no longer serve any purpose for you.

  At this point, you can choose to salvage them to avoid cluttering your inventory space. However, salvaging a gem will only refund the fragments you originally used to craft it; gold and Forgotten Souls are not included in the return.

  Which gems should you prioritize obtaining?

  Regardless of the type, Grand-tier gems are undoubtedly the best choice, as they provide the highest stat bonuses. And now, nearing the end of the season, you should have ample materials on hand to craft Grand gems.

  Therefore, the best strategy is to take a gradual approach: as you progress through the game, make sure to timely salvage your old gems and craft new ones to equip.

  With this in mind, Grand Ruby and Grand Emerald are particularly popular choices in Season 12, as their stat bonuses are highly effective at countering most bosses.

  The above covers all the essential information you need to know regarding gem acquisition in S12. Barring any major class-specific reworks, these guidelines are expected to remain just as valid for Season 13!

• No PTR for Diablo 4 Season 13? How to prepare based on the known content of Lord of Hatred?

  Although Diablo 4 Season 12 is still currently underway, we are sure you've already started looking forward to Season 13! This is because its projected release date is expected to coincide with the launch of the new expansion, Lord of Hatred!

  This means that in Season 13, you can expect to experience a wealth of new content, far more than in a standard season, much like Season 6 in 2024, which launched alongside the game's very first DLC.

  In this article, drawing upon the information currently available regarding Lord of Hatred, we will speculate on exactly what content Season 13 might ultimately contain.

  

  Season 13 release date

  Based on current estimates, it can be tentatively confirmed that the season will kick off on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, at 10:00 AM PDT. At that same time, the second DLC, Lord of Hatred, will also go live.

  As of now, the official title for Season 13 has yet to be revealed. However, following the precedent set by Season 6 and the first DLC, it is unlikely that the season will simply adopt the title Lord of Hatred, though it may very well still be thematically linked to Hatred.

  Will Season 13 have PTR?

  Typically, prior to the start of a new season, Diablo 4 launches PTR lasting about a week to allow for testing of the upcoming season's content.

  Season 6, which shares a similar launch context to Season 13, saw its PTR go live a full month before the season itself launched.

  However, with only two weeks remaining until the projected launch of Season 13, there has still been no news regarding the opening of a PTR. All you can do now is wait!

  Potential new content for Season 13

  In addition to the mechanics introduced by the new expansion, Season 13 itself is expected to bring a new questline, seasonal mechanics and events, as well as optimizations and upgrades to the game's overall gear system.

  This content is expected to launch alongside the new DLC, ensuring that you have a rich and engaging gaming experience over the subsequent 2-3 months.

  New mechanics in Lord of Hatred

  As a brand-new DLC that Diablo 4 has consumed nearly two years developing, much of Lord of Hatred's core content has already been unveiled.

  Crucially, however, this content will also serve as an integral part of Season 13; therefore, we have compiled a comprehensive overview of these features for you here.

  Two new classes

  While the first expansion, Vessel of Hatred, introduced Spiritborn class, Lord of Hatred will offer you even more diverse options by introducing two brand-new classes: Warlock and Paladin.

  However, Paladin class was already made available for early access to all players who pre-ordered Lord of Hatred at the start of Season 11.

  Furthermore, it has undergone multiple balance adjustments since then; therefore, if you are looking for a smoother gameplay experience in Season 13, Paladin is the superior choice.

  This class is melee-oriented and is renowned for its exclusive Oaths mechanic. This mechanic unlocks once your character reaches Level 15, allowing you to switch between four distinct Oaths to suit your specific needs.

  As for Warlock, judging by the trailers and content released so far, it is a class centered around dark magic, primarily utilizing two distinct resources, Dominance and Wrath, to unleash its power.

  Much like Paladin, Warlock's exclusive mechanics offer a variety of playstyles to choose from, giving you the opportunity to take on the role of a summoner, a melee combatant, or a spellcaster.

  War Plans

  You can think of this mechanic as an upgraded version of Tree of Whispers system. It issues a series of bounty-style quests tied to various other endgame activities in Diablo 4, which you can complete to earn rewards.

  Even better, the selection of quests is not rigid; you are free to choose tasks that align with your specific combat style or loot requirements, allowing you to customize your own unique War Plans with a high degree of freedom.

  If you wish to start preparing for the new season right now, War Plans is the perfect place to begin. Since most of the upcoming quests will be linked to existing game mechanics, you can effectively get a head start by practicing them in advance.

  Echoing Hatred

  This is a brand-new, wave-based endgame event, similar in concept to the existing Infernal Hordes.

  However, what sets Echoing Hatred apart is that with each new attempt, the terrain, enemy types, and even the difficulty level you encounter will vary. Consequently, every single challenge promises to be both highly engaging and intensely demanding.

  Horadric Cube

  This iconic feature has appeared in previous Diablo titles, most notably making a spectacular return in the recent expansion for Diablo 2 Resurrected, and now, it is finally making its debut in Diablo 4.

  Horadric Cube is primarily used for the modification and crafting of items. Once available, you can farm specific materials and then utilize the cube to customize your gear for Season 13 and the new expansion.

  New Talisman System

  Do you remember Runes introduced in VoH? This time around, Lord of Hatred introduces Talisman mechanic, allowing you to acquire charms as loot drops during various in-game events.

  By socketing charms into your personal Talisman, you can activate powerful corresponding set bonuses, such as boosts to damage output or defensive attributes.

  Casual gameplay: fishing

  Diablo 4 has long been renowned for its heavy emphasis on combat elements; however, this time around, we are introducing a rare casual feature: fishing! Moreover, the fish you catch might just serve some unexpected purposes!

  System-wide optimizations

  To comprehensively enhance the overall quality of the game, beyond just adding new content, upgrading existing systems is essential. To this end, the first major undertaking will be a complete rework of the skill tree.

  Compared to previous iterations, the new skill tree offers much more than just the ability to unlock skills; it features significantly greater depth, even allowing you to fine-tune specific details such as skill duration or casting speed.

  Building upon this foundation, if you own LoH expansion, you will gain access to over 20 additional skill variant options, regardless of which class you choose to play.

  Another new feature designed to optimize your gameplay experience is the loot filter.

  It allows you to customize the display rules for dropped items, thereby transforming the currently cluttered post-combat battlefields and allowing you to more efficiently identify and select the specific items you truly need.

  That wraps up everything we have to share with you for now. Let's look forward to the new round of adventures in Sanctuary, kicking off in late April with Diablo 4!

  ---

  Once Season 13 and the new DLC go live, if you want to get a head start and pull ahead of the competition, acquiring Diablo 4 items for sale on IGGM will prove incredibly useful!

  Our services cover every angle, whether you are looking to acquire specific gear directly or need other enhancement materials, we have everything you need to help you succeed!

• Diablo 4 Season 12 New Seasonal Splendor Event allows you to acquire more Fresh Meat than usual within a single week!

  Since the next Diablo 4 season is likely to launch alongside a new expansion on April 28th, the current Season 12 is relatively short in duration and has already passed its halfway point.

  In light of this, and following the recently concluded Mother's Blessing and Gift of the Tree events, Diablo 4 has introduced a new event called Seasonal Splendor. This event is designed to help you earn more rewards and enhance your gameplay experience before Season 12 comes to an end.

  In this guide, we will walk you through the details of this new event and explain how to participate, ensuring you don't miss out on any of the available benefits.

  

  New Seasonal Splendor duration

  The event began on Wednesday, April 8th, and will run until Tuesday, April 14th, lasting for approximately one week. During this period, you can acquire Fresh Meat at a higher rate than usual through any available in-game method.

  While these bonuses will not carry over into Season 13 or the upcoming expansion, they guarantee that you will enjoy an exhilarating, fast-paced experience throughout the remainder of the current season!

  What is Fresh Meat?

  This item serves as the seasonal currency in Season 12, used to exchange for Bloodied Items. Compared to standard gear, Bloodied Items feature additional affixes that provide exclusive buffs based on the item type and your current Killstreak Tier:

  • Rampage (Armor): Enhances your combat prowess.
  • Feast (Weapons): Grants combat bonuses.
  • Hunger (Jewelry): Increases the drop rate of other Diablo 4 items.

  Aside from exchanging Fresh Meat, common methods for obtaining Bloodied Items include defeating enemies during Bloodied events to collect their drops, and gambling with Obols at Purveyor of Curiosities.

  What is Killstreak system?

  As one of the exclusive mechanics of Season 12, Killstreak system activates during any combat encounter, tracking your progress based on the speed and volume of consecutive enemy kills.

  Once the countdown timer expires, you are awarded XP and Seasonal Renown proportional to your final kill count. Furthermore, as your Killstreak Tier increases (up to a maximum of Tier 5), the quality and quantity of the rewards you receive will also improve.

  How to farm Fresh Meat?

  This item can be acquired through both PvP and PvE channels. Although PvP is not typically considered a core feature of Diablo 4, it received updates in Season 12; additionally, the available PvE modes that yield Fresh Meat are among the game's most popular activities.

  The purpose of this Seasonal Splendor feature is to ensure that, regardless of which method you use for Fresh Meat farming, you receive a significantly higher volume of drops than usual!

  Farming in Helltides

  As one of Diablo 4's classic endgame events, Helltides spawn at random locations on the map every five minutes, with each occurrence lasting approximately 55 minutes.

  Killing enemies during this event rewards you with Aberrant Cinders, a special currency used to unlock Helltide Chests encountered throughout the event, which contain a wealth of rewards.

  It is important to note that if you die while in a Helltide, you will lose half of Aberrant Cinders you are currently carrying. Therefore, it is best to redeem your Cinders to open chests as soon as you have accumulated enough.

  Additionally, as the event progresses, your Threat Level will accumulate. Once the progress bar fills up, you will be marked; this triggers a high-density enemy ambush and ultimately summons a powerful Hellborne boss.

  If you farm in Helltides, or in Slaughterhouses we will introduce shortly, during Season 12, you will acquire a seasonal item known as Meaty Offerings.

  If you encounter a Shrine of Slaughter during a Helltide, you can approach it and consume a Meaty Offering to transform into The Butcher, allowing you to earn Fresh Meat drops through combat.

  Farming in Slaughterhouses

  This endgame dungeon utilizes the layout and setting of a town within Sanctuary. Inside, you will take on the role of Season 12's popular boss, The Butcher, while the enemies you face fittingly shift to become the villagers and Wanderers who inhabit the area.

  While farming in Helltides, in addition to Fresh Meat and other loot, you will also acquire Slaughterhouse Keys, the sole item required to unlock Slaughterhouses.

  The entrance to the dungeon is located in Gea Kul; simply travel to this location and consume a Slaughterhouse Key from your inventory tab to enter.

  It is worth noting that if you have only recently started playing Season 12 for any reason, you must ensure that you have completed the fifth step of the seasonal questline.

  After doing so, return to Gea Kul and find Khulrami; he will gift you a Slaughterhouse Key to get you started, after which you are free to farm to your heart's content.

  Joining Ceremony of Slaughter

  Ceremony of Slaughter is one of the few PvP events in Diablo 4. It alternates between two locations, Dry Steppes and Kehjistan, spawning approximately every 25 minutes.

  Once the event begins, hordes of monsters will roam the designated area; defeating them rewards you with Fresh Meat. If you wish, teaming up with other players you encounter is an excellent way to complete the objective.

  The above covers the key information regarding participation in this week's Seasonal Splendor event in Diablo 4 Season 12. If you are looking to experiment with more Bloodied Items builds and gameplay strategies, this is an event you definitely won't want to miss!

• Diablo 4 Season 12 The Real Secret to Endgame Survival isn't just HP | Stop stacking the wrong mitigation!

  In the high-difficulty content of Diablo IV, death often comes in the blink of an eye. This becomes even more common once you push beyond The Pit level 100 and start tackling endgame activities modified by a Bloodsoaked Sigil.

  You certainly want your build to perform better in terms of survivability and avoid getting instantly killed when surrounded by monsters. So let's take a look at all the defensive mechanics, stat requirements, and the most powerful survival tricks in Season 12.

  

  Avoiding Damage

  You might think that strong defenses let you absorb more damage, but in reality, the best defense is avoiding damage altogether.

  The game features many mechanics designed as one-shot kills, such as specific boss abilities or AoE attacks in high-difficulty content. You could try to make your character tough enough to tank those hits, but that usually means sacrificing a great deal of DPS.

  You need to learn to watch for and dodge ground-based AoE effects and explosions. For certain bosses, the most direct defense is to defeat them before they can land a fatal attack.

  Note that since Season 11, many monsters trigger explosions or other effects upon death. Remember not to linger in those blast zones.

  Damage Calculation

  Damage reduction in the game stacks multiplicatively, in a reverse manner. You don't need to fully understand the complex formula, but you should remember that a single high source of damage reduction is far better than the sum of multiple low sources.

  One 70% damage reduction is much more effective than two 35% damage reductions. This means you cannot stack various damage reduction sources to reach 100% immunity. Your goal is typically to push both armor and resistance-based damage reduction to around 70%, which will give you a very comfortable survival experience.

  Defensive Stats

  To build a solid defense, you first need to understand the various defensive stats in the game and how they work. Here are the most critical ones:

  • HP: The most basic survival stat, representing your health pool.
  • Recovery: How fast you restore health. Life on Hit is the most effective method.
  • Barrier: An extra shield layered on top of your health; it is consumed before your health.
  • Fortification: Builds up over your health like a barrier. When you lose health, Fortification automatically depletes itself to refill your health.
  • Armor: One of the most important defensive stats in the game, reducing damage from most damage types.
  • Damage Reduction: Reduces damage of any kind, you found the affixe on Diablo 4 items.

  For most players aiming to tackle Tormented 4 difficulty content, here are some minimum defensive stat targets to consider. Note that these numbers are not absolute; actual requirements will vary depending on your class, playstyle, and ability to dodge.

  • HP: At least 10,000.
  • Armor: 15,000 recommended.
  • Resistances: 3,000 to 4,000 recommended.

  Armor generally takes priority over resistances. If your character's survivability feels lacking, it's usually because armor is below par, not resistances. 15,000 Armor provides roughly 68% physical damage reduction, while 4,000 in a given elemental resistance grants about 75% reduction against that spell school.

  If you are a Strength-based class, Strength itself grants bonus armor, so your armor value will far exceed that of other classes - this is why they are naturally tankier. If you are an Intelligence-based class, Intelligence provides bonus resistances.

  If one of your single resistances is particularly low, you can socket the corresponding gem in your jewelry slots. However, a more universal approach is to socket Diamonds to raise all resistances. If you are not a Strength-based class, you can also consider Skulls for physical damage reduction.

  Beyond the core stats above, the following two factors can also greatly enhance your survivability:

  • Cooldown Reduction: Many classes have skills that inherently grant damage reduction. Shorter cooldowns mean you can activate those damage-reducing skills more frequently.
  • Movement Speed: Higher speed makes it easier to dodge ground AoE and explosions - this itself is a very effective form of defense.

  Runewords

  If you're struggling with survivability and want the fastest, simplest solution, the answer lies in Runewords. This approach is far more efficient than endlessly farming and Masterworking gear stats.

  Que

  Que generates a powerful barrier for you that lasts 3 seconds. All you need to do is pair it with a Rune that triggers easily and automatically to activate its effect, and you'll have an almost permanent barrier.

  Mot

  Mot rune is one of the strongest sources of damage reduction in the game. It creates five dark shrouds that spin around you, each providing 8% damage reduction, for a total of 40%. This 40% from a separate multiplicative multiplier is unmatched and dramatically improves your survivability.

  Vex

  Vex rune does not directly boost your survivability, but it grants ranks to all your skills. For certain classes, higher skill ranks mean more damage reduction.

  

  Melted Heart of Selig

  If you truly crave immortality - the ability to tank attacks that should not be survivable - there is one Mythic item that almost cheats the system to enhance your survivability: Melted Heart of Selig.

  Its unique effect is "Damage taken from your health is redirected to your primary resource, and damage taken this way is significantly reduced." By pushing your build to minimize your health pool as much as possible, based on the percentage conversion principle, you can achieve a near-invincible state.

  Almost every class and build can use this item. Currently, the strongest representative is HoTA Barbarian, but it also works well for Necromancers, Trap Rogues, and other builds that rely on resource generation for bonus damage. However, using it usually means losing a substantial amount of damage output unless your build can perfectly leverage a high resource cap to amplify damage.

  In summary, building a tough character is not just about stacking health. A character with 20,000 HP but lacking damage reduction and recovery will be far less durable than one with only 10,000 HP but with properly balanced stats. Combine gear, attributes, and Runewords together, and your character will feel completely different.

• Diablo 4 Lord of Hatred Will Expand Torment from 4 Tiers to 12 and Sync with The Pit's Full Ladder

  Less than a month remains until the launch of Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred. Since this update is essentially version 2.0 of the game, nearly everything is changing: every build you've ever used will see major adjustments, and many new builds will emerge.

  But while a lot of attention will go to the new items, the significant overhaul of the difficulty system might be overlooked by many players. And the experiments the developers ran with endgame difficulty in Season 12 suggest this could have a massive impact on how we experience the game.

  

  Torment Tiers

  First, the biggest change: Torment Tiers. Many players probably haven't heard about this yet, because it has only been confirmed in a single interview. One of the lead developers of Diablo 4 revealed that after the expansion launches, we will have 12 Torment Tiers.

  Some players might not like this news, as it brings back memories of the excessive difficulty levels in Diablo III - most of which felt pointless, just raw number stacking. But in Diablo IV, this system is designed to be far more reasonable.

  Currently, Diablo 4 has four Torment Tiers. These are directly tied to the difficulty of The Pit and The Tower, because they share the same scaling mechanics. Clearing a certain level of The Pit unlocks the corresponding Torment Tier.

  Lord of Hatred simply extends this logic upward to Torment 12, aligning it perfectly with the highest levels of The Pit and The Tower. Right now, the four Torment Tiers correspond to roughly Pit level 55, while the 12 Torment Tiers will scale all the way to the maximum level of The Pit and The Tower.

  The developers are just taking the existing difficulty system and expanding it across the entire game world, letting you play all content at those higher difficulty levels. Since The Pit and The Tower were never designed for players to reach their top levels, almost no one will actually get to Torment 12.

  Choosing Difficulty in the Open World

  In Season 12, once you reached Torment 4 with a strong build, most of the game became trivial. Then you'd step into The Pit, and after reaching your limit, nearly every enemy could one-shot you while you barely scratched them.

  Unless you have a bugged build or something far beyond expectations, you won't clear the highest difficulty. But below that, you can make all content as challenging as you want - and with greater challenge come better rewards: more experience, more gold, and higher quality Diablo 4 items dropped by bosses and monsters.

  If you have a top-tier endgame build and want to farm Helltide, you could now choose to do so at Torment 8. That way, content that used to be a mindless steamroll becomes difficult and engaging again. Many top builds barely feel different above Torment 4 - the difference only shows in The Pit and The Tower. Having more difficulty tiers gives you a much clearer sense of your build's strength.

  You can think of this as the foundation layer of the difficulty system. Once you reach the endgame, the new War Plans system will add a host of extra mechanics that further deepen the endgame difficulty.

  War Plans

  War Plans Playlists

  War Plans system consists of two core parts. The first part is War Plan itself. You choose from several different plans. After selecting a War Plan and its associated playlist, you'll see an interface where you pick five activities in sequence. Each activity has different options and comes with a randomized bonus reward.

  For example, suppose you pick Helltide as one of the five activities in your War Plan playlist. After completing that Helltide, you'll get an extra reward - randomly generated when you selected the activity. And of course, this bonus is added on top of all the usual drops from Helltide.

  As you complete more War Plan playlists, you'll accumulate more loot. The developers haven't said whether this will also increase the overall difficulty, but most likely the difficulty does not stack.

  Activity Experience

  Each time you finish an activity in the playlist, you earn activity experience for that specific endgame activity. Every endgame activity currently in the game will have its own meta-progression skill tree. That means a total of seven different skill trees, with possibly more to come.

  Every time you engage with and complete something through War Plans system, you gain experience for that activity, allowing you to invest points into its skill tree. This can completely change how that activity plays and what rewards it offers.

   developers have given some examples, and some of these changes will significantly affect the actual difficulty of the activity - not in terms of numeric scaling, but through changes to mechanics and gameplay.

  Other Factors Affecting Difficulty

  Beyond the pure difficulty changes, the expansion's balance adjustments will also completely transform the experience. We already know that all passive skills from the skill tree will be removed. Many multiplicative damage bonuses will be moved to other systems. This should allow the development team to balance the game more precisely and reduce stat inflation overall.

  At the same time, Horadric Cube and Talisman System will be added to further boost character power. You will have countless ways to craft different builds, which might push every current build 5 to 10 levels higher in The Pit.

  After the expansion launches, Diablo IV will feel like a completely different game. How will these difficulty changes affect the experience? Will they accelerate the endgame journey? What will be the best difficulty level for players to choose? All of that remains to be seen.

• Diablo 4 Season 12 April Fowl's Day Event Is Real | A giant chicken has conquered Sanctuary

  Diablo 4 Season 12 Sanctuary has been overrun by a giant chicken. That sounds like an April Fools' joke, and indeed it was announced by the official channels on April Fools' Day - but the news is actually real.

  A new world boss named Chi'Khan has descended. It brings not only new items but also unique gameplay mechanics. These new items are not mere cosmetics; they are gear pieces with special abilities, some of which still have their full potential waiting to be discovered by players.

  

  Official Announcement

  We originally thought that after Gift of the Tree event ended, the next would be March of the Goblins. But clearly, the developers had their own plans. On April Fools' Day, they released an event notice titled "A Fowl Beast Rages."

  This notice didn't introduce any specific event details. It simply declared that a giant chicken would destroy everything. This is evidently a very dangerous bird of prey, because "only death awaits you," and all you can do is "run!"

  This is clearly a new event, and the pleasant surprise is that they even created a new boss for it! Compared to past events that merely boosted experience points and loot drops, this April Fools' event truly deserves to be called a brand new event.

  Chi'Khan

  Let's talk about this new world boss, Chi'Khan. It looks like a giant chicken. Like other world bosses, it respawns every three hours, and it might even replace one of the existing world bosses.

  The developers haven't specified the exact duration of this event, but based on past event lengths, April Fowl's Day should last about a week. Also, one of the achievements tied to this event is named "April Fowl's Day 2026," so if you miss it this year, it will most likely return next April Fools' Day.

  Even though it's a rooster, as the announcement said, it's a massive threat. On Torment 4 difficulty, quite a few players have already been slain by this rooster - its sharp beak and claws are no joke! If you want to hunt it, the safest approach is to lower the difficulty first and get familiar with its attacks and mechanics. Otherwise, even a Barbarian will end up full of holes from its pecks!

  New Unique Items

  Beyond the usual loot, Chi'Khan brings several new unique items, and their effects are... special. The developers didn't design new models for these items either; they reuse generic item models, so they might only be usable during the event.

  Rather than focusing on their power, players tend to treat them as amusing collectibles. No one yet knows what role they could play in builds - you can be the one to try them out.

  Bow: Cluckeye

  Cluckeye originates from Diablo II and has now been introduced into Diablo 4. It grants 100% critical strike damage, along with stats like Dexterity and maximum Life. Its special effect gives attacks a chance to emit three "cluck" sounds, and also a chance to shoot chickens as projectiles.

  Staff: Cluckonomicon

  The most eye-catching stat on Cluckonomicon is increased Shrine duration, a fairly rare affix. It also provides a new stat: Pickup Radius, which likely means automatically picking up gold, Obducite, and other Diablo 4 items. Its special ability, "Pecking loose stones grant Henlightenment," most likely refers to gaining XP.

  Scythe: Eggcecutioner

  Eggcecutioner provides Life on Kill and Resource on Kill, and grants bonus damage after slaying elites. Its most amusing effect is that "enemies killed have a chance to lay an egg." What exactly this egg does is still unclear - perhaps it explodes or something similar.

  Polearm: Coop De Grace

  Coop De Grace focuses on striking injured enemies, offering high bonus damage and critical strike chance. Its special effect grants a chance to directly execute injured non-elite enemies. In addition, it has a very quirky affix that boosts damage against poultry. Its most powerful feature: "Damaging an injured enemy has a chance to summon a flock of explosive chickens," which likely references Witch Doctor's explosive chicken build from Diablo III.

  Shield: Eggis

  This shield also increases damage against poultry, though not as much as Coop De Grace does. Its useful affixes include increased Barrier generation and bonus critical strike chance against feared enemies. Its special effect: upon a successful block, there is a chance to transform the attacker into a feared chicken. 

  Event Rewards

  After defeating the world boss Chi'Khan, you will unlock a brand new achievement: Bawk, Bawk. Additionally, free items can be claimed in the shop, including icons, nameplate templates, and various skins. From the short official video, the obtainable cosmetics include a bow, a staff, a shield, and a polearm. Even if your current class cannot use a certain weapon type, you can still get its skin.

  Don't forget to visit the in-game shop, where you can claim a free title called Quake Before the Hatchling, which is also part of April Fowl's Day event.

  April Fowl's event is a surprise prepared by the developers. They've only released very limited promotion for it (an announcement and a trailer, both of which are rather baffling). Many players haven't even realized that a new event has started. So how much content the developers have actually prepared remains for players to discover on their own - there might even be hidden Easter eggs.