Diablo 4 Season 5: Everything You Need to Know

Season 5 Updates

The Season of the Infernal Hordes is the last season before Diablo 4’s first expansion. With its questline being available on both the Seasonal and Eternal Realms, it is the perfect time to catch up before Vessel of Hatred. Season 5 will bring new content, such as:

• Infernal Hordes, endgame activity
• Hellbreach Dungeons, new leveling experience
• Uniques update: all uniques were changed and Mythic Uniques have been made more distinctive
• 50 brand new Uniques and Aspects, as well as new Tempering Recipes
• and Quality of Life changes such as re-summoning bosses does not require you to exit the dungeon, Greater Affixes provide an additional tempering roll, Pit Masterworking materials are equally distributed among all group members, the Pit general experience has been rebalanced to make boss fights simpler, Map pins dropped by party members will now display a path to match self-placed pins, and more!

Season 5 Start Date

Season 5 launch: August 6th, 2024 at 10:00 am PDT / 07:00 pm CEST!
If you are a new player, check out our guide on seasons and how to create your seasonal character:

Look at our Season Checklist for interesting tips and tricks on how to approach the start of a new season:

New with Season 5

Season 5: Infernal Hordes features the new endgame activity Infernal Hordes, as well as an update to the Uber Uniques system and plenty of new Uniques and Legendary items.

Seasonal Questlines: “Of Lambs and Wolves” and “The Eyes of the Enemy”

Across both Eternal and Seasonal Realms, you will unlock a new questline, The Eyes of the Enemy, in World Tier III, which introduces the Infernal Hordes endgame activity. 

However, on the Seasonal Realm, you will complete an earlier questline Of Lambs and Wolves in World Tier I or II, which gives you access to the seasonal content. If you continue the seasonal progression, once you reach World Tier III, you unlock the Infernal Hordes questline, which will let you earn more seasonal rewards.

In the Seasonal Realm, head to Zarbinzet and speak to Captain Cireska to begin the Seasonal Questline Of Lambs and Wolves. Once you reach World Tier III, head to Hawezar and investigate a disturbance amongst the city to unlock The Eyes of the Enemy questline. 

The seasonal questline will enable a reputation-based reward system, providing you with great caches as you level up and perform more activities within Sanctuary. The final reward will be a Resplendent Spark to help you craft a Mythic Unique.

Infernal Hordes

Available on both Seasonal and Eternal Realms and starting in World Tier III after completing the questline and gathering an Infernal Compass, the Infernal Hordes is a wave-based endgame activity where you can slay multiple hordes of demons to gain rewards. 

This activity will reward you with Burning Aether which you will be able to redeem for caches at the end of your round. Each wave of demons you defeat will offer you a choice of Bane & Boone to challenge yourself and gain more Burning Aether.

Each Infernal Horde event ends with the Fell Council. You must face 3 out of the 5 powerful Fell Priests to unlock the rewards within their chambers. Be careful about their unique abilities and frenzied attacks!

To learn more about the Infernal hordes, the Fell Council, and the Spoils of Hell, you can visit our dedicated guide.

Hellbreach Dungeons

Similar to the Infernal Hordes system, you can find new Hellbreach Dungeons in the Seasonal Realm, starting at World Tier I and II. Look out for these hidden dungeons to gain Burning Aether and redeem it on chests at the end of the Hellbreach Dungeon. Do not forget to spend your Burning Aether as it will disappear upon leaving!

Hellbreach Dungeons will allow you to make a choice of an optional Infernal Offering before entering the final boss fight. This offer can increase the difficulty and reward you with more Burning Aether, resulting in better loot at the end of the dungeon.

Uniques Update and Mythic Uniques

With Season 5, Uber Uniques are revamped into Mythic Uniques. They will now drop with a distinct purple lightbeam and a special sound to allow players to recognize them easily among the rest of the loot. Moreover, the chance to find Mythic Unique items through all non-boss means has been increased.

As part of the season adjustments, we find that all class-specific and overall Uniques in the game have been changed. This modification aims to make Uniques the greatest item for the skill they support. Uniques cannot be tempered, consequently the affixes have been improved to make them feel more competitive with Legendaries.

Here are some examples of the modifications (a special thanks to the Blizzard team for creating the beautiful gifs):

Season 5 also brings 50 new Uniques and Aspects. This gives you a great opportunity to test new builds and find new synergies. Please check our guide to see all the new items here:

Additionally, for more information on how to farm Uniques from bosses, we recommend visiting our respective guide below.

Other Season 5 Changes

• Shift-clicking a skill will automatically add 5 points (or as many as possible) to it in the Skill tree.
• Base experience gained when killing monsters at a higher level has been increased from 10 to 30 levels higher than yours, improving your experience gain. Example: A Level 60 character kills a Level 80 monster = Level 80 monster experience (before change, it would be 70) + bonus experience.
• Legendary drop chances are increased past Level 100 when playing in Helltides, Nightmare Dungeons, and Infernal Hordes.
• Tempering: Greater Affixes on an item will give you one additional chance per Greater Affix to temper the item, offering you more chances to reach the results you are hoping for.
• The Pit Masterworking rewards are now equal among all group participants.
• World Bosses will be harder to kill thanks to their Resilience skill.
• Pit Boss damage has been reduced by 66% across the board. Receiving damage from the shadow Pit bosses will give you a debuff that can be stacked up to 3 times. This should help you survive longer in the fight.
• Endgame Bosses: You will no longer need to leave the dungeon to resummon them. Also, the materials needed to summon the Beast in Ice and Varshan were adjusted.
• Enchanting no longer requires Angelbreath but will rely on the salvage materials from Legendary items instead.
• Crowd Control effects from enemies are reduced. You can now also use potions while Crowd Controlled.
• Helltides: Baneful Heart drop chance has been increased for chests and World Bosses and is guaranteed after fighting Helltide Commanders.
• Helltides WT 1 and 2: The cost to trigger the Blood Maiden event in World Tiers 1 and 2 is now 2 Baneful Hearts instead of 3. Tortured Gifts only cost 75 Cinders in these World Tiers as well.
• Helltides: Profane Mindcage consumables are here to stay and can be stacked up to 3 times, allowing you to fight enemies up to 30 levels above your own in Helltide!
• Map pins dropped by party members will now display a path to match self-placed pins, and more!

Seasonal Rewards

Season 5 Battle Pass

The Season of the Infernal Hordes Battle Pass comes with 90 Reward Tiers (28 Free Tiers and 62 Premium Tiers).

Each season will introduce three tiers of the battle pass: a free tier, a premium tier (priced at around $9.99 USD), and an accelerated premium battle pass (approximately $24.99 USD) with an exclusive cosmetic. For those opting not to purchase the battle pass, the free track provides gameplay-related benefits, while the premium tiers focus solely on cosmetic rewards.

Season 5’s Battle Pass will feature new cosmetic rewards.

This season, as a Premium Battle Pass holder, you will be rewarded as you progress until Tier 90 with the following content:

• Awoken Archenemy Armor Sets
• Awoken Archenemy Barding Mount Armor
• Awoken Aietheric Steed Mount
• Soul Brazier Mount Trophy

You will also be able to earn new Emblems in the premium battle-pass.

Smoldering Ashes

A major reward from the free battle pass is Smoldering Ashes, a special currency used to unlock and boost Season Blessings. Furthermore, these blessings remain active for all your characters throughout the whole season. While the Season Blessings are shown below, you can have a more in-depth look at our comprehensive guide for more insights on Season Blessings by clicking on the following link:

These two blessings are new with Season 5 of the Infernal Hordes:

• Urn of Spoils: Boost the chance to receive a Legendary item from Spoils of Hell chests, found while fighting Infernal Hordes.
• Urn of Abyssal Knowledge: Boost the chance to receive an Abyssal Scroll from Spoils of Hell chests, found while fighting the Infernal Hordes.

Season Journey

Just like in Diablo 3 and other similar ARPGs, seasons in Diablo 4 follow a familiar structure. Progress through chapters, fulfill various objectives, and unlock rewards to advance the season story. The ultimate aim is to complete all 7 chapters to unlock every reward. For guidance on which objectives to prioritize in order to successfully complete the Season Journey, check out our recommendations by clicking the link below!

The Season 5 Journey will reward players with a set of gear optimized for one specific build per class:

• Barbarian: Weapon Swapping/Knockback
• Druid: Cataclysm/Companions
• Necromancer: Bone Spirit/Prison/Bone Golem
• Rogue: Flurry & Dark Shroud/Mobility
• Sorceress: Chain Lightning/Mana

Seasonal Tips & Tricks

Diablo 4: Season 5, the Season of the Infernal Hordes, introduces a new endgame activity and new uniques and legendaries, giving you the opportunity to improve and vary your builds and gameplay. Whether you are a seasoned veteran or a newcomer to the game, here are a few tips and tricks to help you make the most of this season.

• Farm Hellbreach Dungeons: Make use of the new micro dungeon system for a better leveling experience this season.
• Farm Helltides for fast XP: Go to any active Helltide zone and farm as many Abberant Cinders and Baneful Hearts as possible, then head to the Accursed Rituals and defeat the Blood Maiden. If there are many players at the same location, it is one of the best methods to gain a significant amount of experience points in a short period of time. You can use Helltides to level up in World Tiers 1 and 2. It is faster than grinding dungeons.
• Tempering and Masterworking are useful ways to make your gear even more powerful and complementary to your build. Adding Tempers to your items can boost your character power immensely, especially early on!
• Infernal Hordes and The Pit are excellent replayable endgame content for greater gear and Masterworking materials.
• As with the previous seasons, it is likely that several builds will emerge as strong contenders for Season 5, each excelling in specific areas. We will update this list with a few recommendations as the season progresses.
  • Barbarian:
  • Druid:
  • Necromancer:
  • Rogue:
  • Sorceress:

If you are unsure of what to tackle during a new season, have a look at our suggested season checklist.