Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred will launch with a bare bones new season to keep its new campaign and revolutionized loot chase in the spotlight

As someone who has already experienced the mountain of changes coming in Diablo 4's new Lord of Hatred expansion, I already wasn't expecting much from the new season that will begin shortly after it launches.

There are so many changes in Lord of Hatred that it already fulfills the purpose of a season that would typically introduce temporary powers or a limited story—with the significant caveat that it's a $40 add-on. Instead of placing a hat on top of a hat, Blizzard has decided to keep the focus on the new campaign and all the new system changes that come into play after the credits roll.

The Season of Reckoning will be a Diablo 4 season in name only: You can still create new seasonal characters and climb through the levels until you're a demon-slaying god, but nothing you experience will be exclusive to the next three months.

In a blog post, Blizzard acknowledged that it "represents a departure from past seasons," and promised that things will go back to normal once this one concludes. Probably as a way to make up for the lack of season-specific stuff, there are more rewards than usual for completing the list of seasonal objectives. Blizzard must've been feeling generous because you can earn enough materials to create at least seven powerful mythic uniques, the rarest and strongest items in the game—usually, you only get enough for one!

There are free cosmetics, like a pet made out of hellish roots, and all sorts of other useful crafting materials you'll need to gear up in the endgame. The majority of these won't require the expansion to earn either. You can also pay money for access to the seasonal reliquary and the exclusive cosmetics tucked away in that.

If Lord of Hatred hadn't impressed me as much as it did, the light season would be disappointing. But there are activity-specific skill trees and an entire endgame mode I barely touched in the 45 hours I spent playing it for the review. I can confidently say that nobody will find themselves starved of new things to do. Warlocks and paladins have joined the roster; every other class has entirely reworked skill trees and items; item crafting is a real thing now with the Horadric Cube; and Blizzard keeps teasing that the fishing mechanic might hold the key to a mysterious cow level.

It's worth noting, however, that the expansion will launch on April 27 at 4 pm PDT (7 pm EDT), but the season won't begin until 4:30 pm PDT (7:30 pm PDT). That'll give you 30 minutes to hopefully make it through the login screen before the servers buckle from the weight of all the Diablo fans lining up to stick it to Mephisto.

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