Diablo 4 Lord of Hatred is so big that Blizzard decided the new season doesn't need its own theme, but it will include "major system upgrades"

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Blizzard has announced the details of Diablo 4's new season, the Season of Reckoning, and it's a little light compared to previous seasons. Most notably, it won't feature its own seasonal questline, theme, or story like previous seasons, presumably to let the new Lord of Hatred expansion really breathe.

While you won't be able to hop over to the seasonal realm for a new "season-specific story, theme, or gameplay elements" this time around, Blizzard says in a new blog that the Season of Reckoning will introduce "major system upgrades such as sweeping Skill Tree updates and class changes, increased level cap, difficulty and progression updates, quality of life improvements and so much more," with the idea being "a seamless and epic experience between the Season of Reckoning and the Lord of Hatred expansion."

Season of Reckoning, which launches alongside Lord of Hatred on April 28, will also feature Diablo 4's biggest season rank journey, with "more goals and rewards" than ever before. There are nine ranks and 100 objectives to check off in total, with up to 12 skill points, 42 paragon points, 14 Resplendent Sparks, a new Loathroot pet, a Hateful Heraldry mount trophy, new emblems, new titles, crafting materials, gear and material caches, and more available to earn as part of your seasonal progression. That's not so bad considering Lord of Hatred seems like the size of a full game in itself.

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Personally, I think this is a wise call. Diablo 4 is already competing for everyone's time in an increasingly competitive landscape, and with Lord of Hatred coming with two new classes, the new Skovos region to explore (and go fishing in), and a new questline wrapping up the Mephisto arc, I think a whole new seasonal deal on top of all that would be too much for most people to juggle. If I were Blizzard, I would also worry about a distinct seasonal theme and storyline being confused for the new expansion, which could draw people away from Lord of Hatred.

It's also worth noting that Blizzard has confirmed that "future seasons will return to our regular cadence and form," so this isn't a permanent change. It seems directly related to the launch of Lord of Hatred, whose impact on Diablo 4 as a whole, when combined with all of the new system tweaks, is really hard to overstate. Here's how to get started in Lord of Hatred in case it's been a while.

With Diablo 4's Lord of Hatred DLC, Blizzard "intentionally" added at least one "basically useless" item just for the new Horadric Cube

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Jordan GerblickStaff Writer

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.

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