Diablo 4 Season 4 is actually called Loot Reborn, but boy does it sound light on content
Blizzard is so committed to Diablo 4's itemisation transformation that it's naming the game's fourth season Loot Reborn.
You know it’s almost time for a new Diablo 4 season because Blizzard is starting to line up developer livestreams and publish hefty blog posts about the new content, of which there doesn’t seem to be much this time around.
The game’s Season 4 has been officially named Loot Reborn, which ties into the fact the upcoming season will introduce the game’s largest loot overhaul since launch. Blizzard plays into this more than you might think in the season’s blurb, which is a bit worrying.
Season 4: Loot Reborn kicks off Tuesday, May 14 as promised. It goes live at 10am PT, 1pm ET, 6pm UK, alongside a new battle pass, and a fresh season journey - just like every previous season.
The seasonal theme this time around isn’t Malignancy, cool and exciting Vampiric Powers, or even the underwhelming mechanical Seneschal automatons. No, the theme is just… better loot. If you’ve not been keeping up with Diablo 4 news, you may be a little confused.
A couple of weeks ago, Diablo 4 hosted its first-ever (Public Test Realm) PTR, which included a host of gameplay changes so vast and wide-reaching that Blizzard delayed the new season by a month to allow for enough time to test and gather feedback. All of those loot and itemisation tweaks were always intended to arrive for everyone in Season 4, but the assumption was that those (very welcome) tweaks would be one part of the season, not the entire point of it.
It appears, however, the loot overhaul is Season 4’s entire schtick. Blizzard has now confirmed that the upcoming season is named Loot Reborn. The developer spent so little on story and themes in the announce blog post, in fact, that you may not realise it’s for a new season at all.
The closest thing we have to new narrative content is the return of the Iron Wolves, the famed mercenary company from Diablo 2 and 3. The existence of the Iron Wolves was actually datamined during the PTR’s run, but everyone assumed there’s going to be more to it than simply seeing them in Diablo 4.
The new Season 4 NPC is Soudeh the Anvil, who will be guiding you through a quest to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding the deaths of members of the Iron Wolves. As revealed in the datamine, participating in Iron Wolves activities and the quest itself earns you favor, which is Season 4’s new XP label.
The seasonal quest also ties into the larger focus on better loot, as some of your rewards will include Tempering Manuals for use with the weapons and gear you'll find. Interestingly, Iron Wolf events - which you’ll find in Helltides - will continue after the end of the season, indicating that the Iron Wolves may stick around and become part of the larger game going forward.
And that’s it! The rest of the blog posts reiterates the new crafting systems, itemisation changes, and more rewarding Helltide events. There’s nothing new here for anyone who took part in the test, or is even aware of it.
There’s still a chance tomorrow’s developer update livestream will bring us more details on Season 4 that aren’t in this blog post, and we certainly hope there’s more to it than just helping out the Iron Wolves and enjoying the improved loot mechanics, especially after the underwhelming Season 3.