Acolyte of Chayula

Barbarian

Druid

Necromancer

Rogue

Sorcerer

Spiritborn


<p>In the Patch 2.3.0 PTR <a href="https://www.icy-veins.com/d4/news/diablo4-season-9-campfire-chat-summary/">Campfire Chat</a>, Blizzard confirmed that basic material costs for <a href="https://www.icy-veins.com/d4/guides/masterworking-guide/">Masterworking</a> ranks 1 through 4 and resets will be significantly reduced in Patch 2.2.2.</p>



<p>These reductions apply also apply to all non-<span class="icy-gtnbrg-tooltip"><a class="icy-gtnbrg-link" href="#"><img decoding="async" class="icy-gtnbrg-tooltip-img" src="https://wp.icy-veins.com/static/d4/latest/images/icons/2DInventory_Materials_38.webp" alt="Obducite"><span class="tooltip-spell-name" data-item-type="Crafting Material" data-item-quality="rare">Obducite</span></a></span> and non-Gold materials.</p>



<p>While we don&#8217;t have any specifics yet on the exact costs, the main goal behind this decision, according to Blizzard, is to ensure that materials other than Obducite and Gold don&#8217;t bottleneck the system, even for players who frequently reset and redo their upgrades.</p>



<p>Patch 2.2.2 is going live on May 27 and <a href="https://www.icy-veins.com/d4/news/diablo-4-patch-2-2-2-official-patch-notes-launching-may-27/">here are the official patch notes</a>!</p>


Diablo 4 Patch 2.2.2 Cuts Masterwork Costs for Early Ranks and Resets!


<p>For those of you who may be having trouble completing the penultimate chapter of the Season Journey, there&#8217;s a small detail that might help you out a lot! </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">A Softer Knock</h2>



<p>If you&#8217;re having trouble reaching Torment 4 for the &#8220;Knock at the Gate of Hell&#8221; Chapter 5 journey challenge, it&#8217;s actually a lot easier than it seems. Now sure, you could just grab <a href="https://www.icy-veins.com/d4/news/top-season-8-builds/">one of the meta builds here</a> and blast through to T4. However, if you want to play your build or can&#8217;t quite get the gear needed, you can get it done with perseverance instead of damage! </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" src="https://wp-prod.icy-veins.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025-05-25-10_16_54-Diablo-IV.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image 75104"/></figure>



<p>As it turns out, you don&#8217;t <em>actually </em>need to unlock Torment 4 to get the challenge done. While it does <em>say</em> that&#8217;s what you need to do, in actuality you just need to complete a tier 55 Pit. So what&#8217;s the difference? Well, completing a Pit and timing it aren&#8217;t the same thing! As <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/coldcanyon1633/">coldcanyon1633</a> spotted, you only need to finish a tier 55 Pit. It doesn&#8217;t matter how much time it takes, just as long as you beat the boss eventually! </p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-reddit wp-block-embed-reddit"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="reddit-embed-bq" style="height:316px" ><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/comments/1kutumi/its_not_necessary_to_unlock_torment_iv_to_get_the/">It&#39;s not necessary to Unlock Torment IV to get the &#34;Knock at the Gate of Hell&#34; objective in the Season Journey</a><br> by<a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/coldcanyon1633/">u/coldcanyon1633</a> in<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/">diablo4</a></blockquote><script async src="https://embed.reddit.com/widgets.js" charset="UTF-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<p>So if you wanted that cache and that season journey chapter but were struggling with the Pit timer, struggle no more! Just steel yourself for a whole lot wipes and take your time. Just make sure you&#8217;re repaired, because you can&#8217;t Town Portal out of the Pit without it closing! </p>


Easier Season Journey Completion Trick


<p>Blizzard has released the official patch notes for Diablo 4 Patch 2.2.2, which goes live on <strong>May 27</strong>. The update introduces <a href="https://www.icy-veins.com/d4/news/patch-2-2-2-masterwork-cost-changes/">substantial reduction to Masterworking material costs for early ranks</a>, temporary adjustments to DirectStorage, and dozen of bug fixes, including fixes for <a href="https://www.icy-veins.com/d4/news/diablo-4-patch-2-2-2-to-fix-infernal-hordes-waves-and-aether-tracking/">Infernal Horde waves and Aether tracking</a>.</p>



<p>Check out the official patch notes below for all the details!</p>



<div class="blizzard-blue-post">
    <div class="d-flex align-items-center">
        <div>
            <img decoding="async" class="blizzard-logo" src="https://wp.icy-veins.com/static/public/blizzard-icon-small.png" alt="Blizzard Logo" />
        </div>
        <div>
            <a class="source-link" target="_blank" href=""><span class="white">(</span> Source URL <span class="white">)</span> </a>
        </div>
    </div>
    <hr class="blizzard-line" />
    <h3></h3>
    <div class="blizzard-blue-post-content">
        <h2>Base Game Update</h2>
<ul>
<li>The basic materials cost of Masterworking through Ranks 1–4 has been reduced, as well as the Masterwork Reset requirements. All costs except Obducite and Gold have been substantially reduced.</li>
</ul>
<blockquote><p><strong>Developer’s Note: </strong><em>intent is to ensure costs besides Obducite and Gold don’t limit Masterworking, especially when the player engages in a significant number of Masterwork Resets.</em></p></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>We are disabling the DirectStorage setting to investigate performance issues. If you’d like to continue using DirectStorage to take advantage of faster load times on supported NVMe drives, you can re-enable it through these steps:
<ul>
<li>Open the Battle.net Launcher</li>
<li>Navigate to Diablo IV—&#8221;(Gear Icon) next to Play&#8221;—Game Settings</li>
<li>Check &#8220;Additional command line arguments&#8221;</li>
<li>Add: -enableds</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Bug Fixes</h2>
<h3>Accessibility</h3>
<ul>
<li>Fixed an issue where the Screen Reader wouldn&#8217;t read cosmetic details in the Reliquary Menu.</li>
<li>Fixed an issue where the Screen Reader would repeat supported classes for Reliquary cosmetic items.</li>
<li>Fixed an issue where the Screen Reader read Season Journey objectives as fractions.</li>
<li>Fixed an issue where the Screen Reader didn&#8217;t function when viewing Steam Friends.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Season of Belial&#8217;s Return</h3>
<ul>
<li>Fixed an issue where the <i>Buried Hope</i> quest could have progress blocked if the player left the dungeon while the Slay the Ghosts objective was active.</li>
<li>Fixed an issue where defeating Duz-Agur in Eriman&#8217;s Pyre using Avarice&#8217;s Explosive Ore Main power caused the stronghold shrine to become uninteractable.</li>
<li>Fixed an issue where Staggering the Apparition of Kirma in the middle of its leap attack would result in the boss being unable to attack the player afterwards.</li>
<li>Fixed an issue where the teleport effect from the Jah rune didn&#8217;t work while Duriel&#8217;s Burrow Main Power was equipped.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Gameplay</h3>
<ul>
<li>Fixed an issue where Grigoire&#8217;s Hoard Chest could be opened by players who did not participate in defeating the boss.</li>
<li>Fixed an issue where Captain Willcocks, a rare monster in Hawezar, could become invincible if damaged too fast.</li>
<li>Fixed an issue where Obducite could be dropped by one player and picked up by another.</li>
<li>Fixed an issue where the Raven of the Tree would become uninteractable after closing the rewards selection without picking a reward.</li>
<li>Fixed an issue where Lair Boss Chests could become uninteractable in certain scenarios.</li>
</ul>
<h3>User Interface and User Experience</h3>
<ul>
<li>Fixed an issue where an icon for the Tree of Whispers displayed on the map for Ked Bardu.</li>
<li>Fixed an issue where Season Journey objectives achieved before unlocking the chapter didn&#8217;t display as completed.</li>
<li>Fixed an issue where the game could freeze after double clicking the Create Character button in the character select menu.</li>
<li>Fixed an issue where the Wave Counter in Infernal Hordes would fail to update.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Miscellaneous</h3>
<ul>
<li>Fixed an issue where the Devout Champion achievement didn&#8217;t unlock as expected in certain situations.</li>
<li>Fixed an issue where the party vote would timeout then fail if someone left the party while the vote was active.</li>
<li>Various visual, performance, stability, UI, and audio improvements.</li>
</ul>
    </div>
</div>


Diablo 4 Patch 2.2.2 Official Patch Notes – Launching May 27


<p></p>



<p>We&#8217;ve taken a look at the new Uniques coming with Season 9, but there&#8217;s many changes coming to existing items as well. </p>



<p>The changes are mostly nerfs, but there are also reworks of certain Aspects, tooltip updates, and a few buffs in there as well. Necromancers and Rogues in particular got a whole lot of changes, with Spiritborn and Sorcerers getting the least, but having the very popular Lightning Spear build take a big hit with an Aspect change. </p>



<div class="blizzard-blue-post">
    <div class="d-flex align-items-center">
        <div>
            <img decoding="async" class="blizzard-logo" src="https://wp.icy-veins.com/static/public/blizzard-icon-small.png" alt="Blizzard Logo" />
        </div>
        <div>
            <a class="source-link" target="_blank" href="https://www.icy-veins.com/d4/news/diablo-4-season-9-ptr-full-patch-notes/"><span class="white">(</span> Source URL <span class="white">)</span> </a>
        </div>
    </div>
    <hr class="blizzard-line" />
    <h3></h3>
    <div class="blizzard-blue-post-content">
        <h2>General</h2>
<h4>Legendary Aspects</h4>
<p>Aspect of the Moonrise</p>
<ul>
<li>Damage bonus reduced from 40-100%[x] to 40-60%[x].</li>
<li>Legendary Ranks increased from 16 to 21.</li>
</ul>
<p>Aspect of Adaptability</p>
<ul>
<li>Previously: When used below 50% Maximum Resource, Basic Skills generate 3 of your Primary Resource, once per Skill. When used at or above 50% Maximum Resource, Basic Skills deal 20 – 100[x]% increased damage.</li>
<li>Now: Basic Skills generate 5 additional Primary Resource, once per Skill. Basic Skills deal 0.4-0.6%[x] increased damage for each point of Primary Resource you have.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Unique Items</h4>
<p>Shard of Verathiel</p>
<ul>
<li>Damage bonus reduced from 50-200%[x] to 50-150%[x].</li>
</ul>
<p>Paingorger’s Gauntlets</p>
<ul>
<li>Damage bonus reduced from 100-200%[x] to 75-125%[x].</li>
</ul>
<h2>Barbarian</h2>
<h4>Unique Items</h4>
<p>Ugly Bastard Helm</p>
<ul>
<li>Now Requires Wrath of the Berserker, instead of only Berserking, to be active to convert your damage to Fire.</li>
</ul>
<p>Twin Strikes</p>
<ul>
<li>Updated the tooltip to make it more obvious that the Double Swing is doing 2 additional applications of damage per hit, per power instance, over the course of that 3 second window.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Druid</h2>
<h4>Legendary Aspects</h4>
<p>Of The Ursine Horror</p>
<ul>
<li>Previously: Pulverize is now also an Earth Skill. After Casting Pulverize tectonic spikes continue to deal damage over 2 seconds.</li>
<li>Now: Pulverize is now an Earth Skill. After it Overpowers, your Earth Skill Cooldowns are reduced by 1.0-4.0 seconds.</li>
</ul>
<p>Mangled</p>
<ul>
<li>Previously: While in Werebear form, you gain 10-25 Spirit every 8 seconds.</li>
<li>Now: While in Werebear form, you gain 5-10% Maximum Spirit Generation per second.</li>
</ul>
<p>Of the Rabid Bear</p>
<ul>
<li>Previously: While Grizzy Rage is active, Skills that Critically Strike apply Rabies and your Poison damage is increased by 60-105%.</li>
<li>Now: While Grizzy Rage is active, your direct damage is converted into Poison damage, you deal 20-40% more Poison damage, and you passively spread Rabies.</li>
</ul>
<p>Runeworker’s Conduit</p>
<ul>
<li>The secondary effect has been changed.
<ul>
<li>Previously: Your Lightning Bolt damage is increased by 15%[x] for every 100 Willpower you have.</li>
<li>Now: Your Lightning Bolts deal 25-40% increased damage.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h4>Unique Items</h4>
<p>Mjölnic Ryng</p>
<ul>
<li>Damage bonus reduced from 40-100% to 20-40%.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Necromancer</h2>
<h4>Legendary Aspects</h4>
<p>Aspect of Swelling Curse: Renamed to Aspect of Decaying Humerus</p>
<ul>
<li>Previously: Bone Spirit’s Critical Strike Chance is increased by 10-30%. Each enemy hit by Bone Spirit increases your Essence by 2 for 15 seconds, up to 50.</li>
<li>Now: Your Bone Skills now deal Shadow damage instead of Physical. Enemies take 15-25% increased Shadow damage after being hit with a Bone Skill.</li>
</ul>
<p>Of Plunging Darkness</p>
<ul>
<li>Previously: Bone Prison is now a Darkness Skill and spawns a pool of Blight that deals 80-140% bonus damage over 6 seconds.</li>
<li>Now: Bone Prison is now a Darkness Skill and spawns a pool of Blight for 6 seconds. Your Blights deal 40-60% increased damage while Bone Prison is active.</li>
</ul>
<p>Blighted</p>
<ul>
<li>Previously: You deal 35-55%[x] increased damage for 6 seconds after the Shadowblight Key Passive damages enemies 10 times.</li>
<li>Now: Consecutive hits with the Shadowblight Key Passive deal 15-25%[x] increased damage for each hit, resetting 6 seconds after the first.</li>
</ul>
<p>Blood Soaked</p>
<ul>
<li>Previously: Blood Mist leaves a trail of Desecrated Ground that lasts for 4 seconds and deals 45-65% Corrupting damage per second. Gain +20% Movement Speed while Blood Mist is active.</li>
<li>Now: Blood Mist leaves a trail of Desecrated Ground that lasts for 8 seconds and dealing 35-55% Corrupting damage per second. Gain +30% Movement Speed while Blood Mist is active and while standing on Desecrated Ground.</li>
<li>Is now a Mobility Aspect rather than offensive.</li>
</ul>
<p>Of Creeping Mist – Renamed to Creeping Cadaver</p>
<ul>
<li>Previously: Gain 20-40% Evade Cooldown Reduction. You can now Evade during Blood Mist, traveling twice as far. Entering or exiting Blood Mist resets your Evade Cooldown.</li>
<li>Now: Consuming a Corpse increases your Movement Speed by 20-40% for 8 seconds.</li>
</ul>
<p>Coldbringer’s</p>
<ul>
<li>Time between Blizzard casts reduced from 6 to 4 seconds.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Unique Items</h4>
<p>Deathless Visage</p>
<ul>
<li>Echo damage reduced from 40-80% to 20-40%.</li>
</ul>
<p>Indira’s Memory</p>
<ul>
<li>Damage bonus reduced from 40-80% to 20-40%.</li>
</ul>
<p>Bloodless Scream</p>
<ul>
<li>Previously: Your Darkness Skills Chill enemies for up to 100% and deal 100-200% increased damage to Frozen enemies. Lucky Hit: Your Darkness Skills have up to a 100% chance to generate 15-25 additional Essence against Frozen targets.</li>
<li>Now: Your Darkness Skills Chill enemies for up to 100% and deal 100-200% increased damage to Frozen enemies, and Bosses. Every 800 times you damage enemies with Darkness Skills, all Nearby enemies are Feared for 0.25 seconds before Freezing for 3 more seconds.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Rogue</h2>
<h4>Legendary Aspects</h4>
<p>Energizing Aspect</p>
<ul>
<li>Previously: Damaging an Elite enemy with a Basic Skill generates 4 Energy. Gain 10-45 Energy after killing an Elite enemy with a Basic Skill.</li>
<li>Now: Damaging an enemy with a Basic Skill generates 6 Energy. Gain 10-30 Energy after killing an Elite enemy.</li>
</ul>
<p>Infiltrator’s</p>
<ul>
<li>Previously: Poison Trap no longer breaks Stealth and triggers no Cooldown or arm time while you are in Stealth. All Poison Traps activate when you exit Stealth and Poison Trap’s Cooldown will be 8-4 seconds per trap placed.</li>
<li>Now: Poison Trap no longer breaks Stealth and triggers no Cooldown or arm time while you are in Stealth. All Poison Traps activate when you exit Stealth and begin Poison Trap’s Cooldown. Poison Trap’s Cooldown is reduced by 10-50%.</li>
<li>Now a Utility Legendary rather than Offensive.</li>
</ul>
<p>Cheat’s</p>
<ul>
<li>Previously: You take 10-30% less damage from Crowd Controlled enemies. Whenever a Crowd Controlled enemy deals direct damage to you, gain 15% Movement Speed for 2 seconds.</li>
<li>Now: You have 5-15% increased Damage Reduction and 10% increased Movement Speed, doubled while below 50% Maximum Life.</li>
</ul>
<p>Of Volatile Shadows</p>
<ul>
<li>Previously: When a Dark Shroud shadow is removed you trigger an explosion that deals x Shadow damage and applies Shadow Imbuement to each enemy it hits.</li>
<li>Now: Shadow Imbuement deals 10%[x] increased damage per Skill Rank of the Imbued Skill. Every 10 seconds, when your imbued Skill hits an enemy you trigger a large explosion dealing x Shadow damage and applying Shadow Imbuement to each enemy it hits.</li>
</ul>
<p>Aspect of Bursting Venoms</p>
<ul>
<li>Previously: Lucky Hit: Poison Imbued Skills have up to a 15% chance to create a toxic pool that deals [280-364]% Poisoning damage over 3 seconds to enemies within. While standing in the pool, your Poison Imbuement Skill has no Cooldown and no Charge limit.</li>
<li>Now: Lucky Hit: Poison Imbued Skills have up to a [15-35]% chance to deploy a Poison Trap while you have Poison Trap equipped.</li>
</ul>
<p>Of The Dark Dance</p>
<ul>
<li>Damage bonus is now multiplicative instead of additive.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Unique Items</h4>
<p>Eaglehorn</p>
<ul>
<li>Previously: Penetrating Shot makes enemies vulnerable for 2 seconds. Every 4th Penetrating Shot bounces off walls and deals 50-150%[x] increased damage.</li>
<li>Now: Penetrating Shot bounces off walls and deals 40-80%[x] increased damage.</li>
</ul>
<p>Eyes in the Dark</p>
<ul>
<li>Previously: Death Trap deals 50-150% increased damage and will rearm itself once after activating.</li>
<li>Now: Your next Death Trap will deal 100-200% increased damage and rearm itself after activating. This can only happen once every 10 seconds.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Sorcerer</h2>
<h4>Legendary Aspects</h4>
<p>Serpentine Aspect</p>
<ul>
<li>Previously: You may have 1 additional Hydra active, and Hydra’s duration is increased by 10-30%.</li>
<li>Now: Casting Hydra Consumes all your Mana to increase its damage by 0.5-2.5% per Mana spent.</li>
</ul>
<p>Aspect of Three Curses: Renamed to Flash Fire Aspect</p>
<ul>
<li>Previously: Increases the Critical Strike Damage of Fireball and Meteor by 25-45%[x]. Double this bonus against Healthy targets.</li>
<li>Now: Increases the Critical Strike Damage of Pyromancy Skills by 25-45%[x]. Double this bonus against Healthy targets.</li>
</ul>
<p>Battle Caster’s Aspect</p>
<ul>
<li>Maximum stacks increased from 5 to 10.</li>
</ul>
<p>Shivering Aspect</p>
<ul>
<li>Updated wording to reference how much Chill or Staggering they have built up instead of how much they are Chilled or Staggering.</li>
</ul>
<p>Aspect of Splintering Energy</p>
<ul>
<li>Previously: Critical Hits with Lightning Spear cause the spear to arc to the target and up to 5 other enemies. This damage is increased by 60-100%[x] of your Critical Strike Damage Bonus.</li>
<li>Now: Critical Hits with Lightning Spear cause the spear to arc to the target and up to 5 other enemies, dealing 60%[x] of normal damage. Lightning Spear deals 20-40%[x] increased damage.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Spiritborn</h2>
<h4>Legendary Aspects</h4>
<p>Deflection Aspect</p>
<ul>
<li>Previously: While active, Counterattack reflects incoming Razor Wings back out again. Other Small Missiles are also deflected back at enemies and deal 26-54% of Counterattack’s Base damage on impact.</li>
<li>Now: While active, Counterattack reflects incoming Razor Wings back out again with 30-50%[x] increased damage. Other Small Missiles are also deflected back at enemies and deal 30-50% of Counterattack’s Base damage on impact.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Unique Items</h4>
<p>Sepazontec</p>
<ul>
<li>Damage bonus reduced from 80-130%[x] to 50-100%[x].</li>
</ul>
    </div>
</div>


All Unique Item and Aspect Changes on the Season 9 PTR


<p>We have many top-level meta builds here on Icy Veins, but there&#8217;s a whole lot more to the game than that! Today we have a player try a VERY low-engagement build, literally using zero skills on the hotbar! </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">No Thorns, Plenty of Summons, Not a Necro!</h2>



<p>You&#8217;d expect a no-button build like this to just stack Thorns and call it a day. And then when you hear it&#8217;s a summon build, you&#8217;d immediately think of Necromancer. Well, it&#8217;s neither of those! <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/GoblinSorix/">GoblinSorix</a> went for the least interactive Druid build imaginable! It&#8217;s a whole lot of (were)wolves and ravens with all the companion Aspects you can think off, capped off with the <a class="icy-gtnbrg-link" href="#"><span class="icy-gtnbrg-tooltip"><img decoding="async" class="icy-gtnbrg-tooltip-img" src="https://wp.icy-veins.com/static/d4/latest/images/icons/2DInventory_Items_Helms_Unique_18.webp" alt="Gathlen's Birthright"><span class="tooltip-spell-name" data-item-type="Helm" data-item-quality="unique">Gathlen&#8217;s Birthright</span></span></a> Unique, since the summons are also Nature skills. Ashava also steps in with some boss power help.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Druid 65 walk pups" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SGtJyFu8Rv0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>As <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/GoblinSorix/">GoblinSorix</a> mentions, the gear isn&#8217;t the best either, but it&#8217;s a very relaxing build. As you&#8217;d expect, it takes a while to clear things since you can&#8217;t focus anything specific. Here&#8217;s a short description of how the build works:<br><br>&#8220;All of your aspects work on your companions passives.<br>We have turned Ravens and Wolves into Storm skills, as well as Nature Skills.<br>Nature Skills can poison and get buffed from the target being poisoned.<br>I did have the other poison paragon board on, but felt that it was more fun to have the 50x crit dmg modifier. That is it, nothing else behind the reason, I may even swap back.<br>Please modify and improve the build where you can, as I work full time and can not grind excessively. It would be very funny to see the rise of the Druids simply being a dude walking their dogs.&#8221;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-reddit wp-block-embed-reddit"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="reddit-embed-bq" style="height:316px" ><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/comments/1kq6p7s/pit_65_with_no_skills_on_hotbar/">Pit 65 with no skills on hotbar</a><br> by<a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/GoblinSorix/">u/GoblinSorix</a> in<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/">diablo4</a></blockquote><script async src="https://embed.reddit.com/widgets.js" charset="UTF-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<p><br>What crazy non-meta builds have you gone for since the game&#8217;s launch?</p>


No Buttons to Click: Pit 65 With No Skills on Hotbar and No Thorns!


<p>The mega gems are back! Blizzard usher in another jewel-socketed season, as Horadric Jewels bring a lot of power to players, including the return of a classic Diablo 3 gem, the Bane of the Stricken! </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Horadric Jewels</h2>



<p>We have another iteration of the power gem. After the first version was not that great with Malignant Hearts lacking any armor and thus making builds a lot more vulnerable due to skull-less issues, the most recent implementation in the Season of Withcraft fixed that. The Season 9 Jewels keep that solution, with the skull armor bonus baked in. </p>



<p>Their effects have a wide range as well. From complementing and boosting the Horadric Spellcraft aspect of the season to more generic stat boosts, a lot of them sport a downside, or at least a chaotic element as well. </p>



<p>They don&#8217;t drop at all, but rather are crafted. Players will receive Horadric Tomes from Horadric Strongrooms inside Nightmare Dungeons starting at Torment 1. These are recipes that can be learned, and then you can craft the gem at Wayfinders. You&#8217;ll need standard gem fragments and the new Horadric Phials to craft them. As before, they can only be socketed in rings and amulets. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" src="https://wp.icy-veins.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-22-at-20.40.57.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Will Jewel Guardians be the new Butcher?</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><br>All Horadric Jewels</h2>



<p>There are 15 jewels, with some returning from previous seasons, many new ones affecting Horadric Spells, and more. So, let&#8217;s take a look at all of them. You might find &#8220;Tyrant Bane&#8221; to be very familiar if you played some Diablo 3.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Seal of Control</h4>



<p>While you have two or more Arcana from the School of Control equipped, gain 45%[+] Control Duration and 30%[+] Lucky Hit Chance.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Seal of Power</h4>



<p>While you have two or more Arcana from the School of Power equipped, gain 25%[+] Movement Speed and 15%[+] Critical Strike Chance.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Seal of Denial</h4>



<p>While you have two or more Arcana from the School of Denial equipped, gain 30%[x] more Barrier, Fortify and Thorns.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Horadric Crest</h4>



<p>For each Arcana from a unique School you have equipped, gain 5%[+] Damage Reduction and 1%[+] Maximum Resistance to All Elements.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Reverie Horn</h4>



<p>After you injure or kill an enemy, your Summons are empowered, growing larger and dealing 30%[x] more damage for 4 seconds.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Scornful Light</h4>



<p>You deal 20%[x] and take 10%[x] more Elemental damage.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Tyrant Bane</h4>



<p>After you deal damage over time to an enemy, they take 0.33%[x] more damage over time from you forever.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Liminal Echo</h4>



<p>If you would take fatal damage, instead prevent that damage, invoke Propulsion, and become Invulnerable for 3 seconds. This can only occur once every 75 seconds.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Idol From Below</h4>



<p>You gain 6%[x] primary stat, 8%[x] maximum life and you are always Unhindered. However, you will be hunted in Sanctuary’s darkest places by Jewel Guardians who were entombed to protect this relic.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Myriad Stone</h4>



<p>After you cast your Catalytic Skill, if it is an Ultimate, gain 30%[+] Attack Speed for 10 seconds.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Spark of Creation</h4>



<p>After you cast your Catalytic Skill, gain 10 Primary Resource.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Luminate Eye</h4>



<p>Your Catalytic Skill gains 25%[+] Cooldown Reduction.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Brilliant Sigil</h4>



<p>Your Infusions are 150%[x] more potent.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Elemental Brand</h4>



<p>Your Catalytic Skill deals 33% damage of your Infusion’s element over 3 seconds. Lucky Hit: Dealing damage of your Infusion’s element has up to a 33% chance to trigger its secondary effect.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">The Starflux</h4>



<p>Your Catalysts deal 100%[x] more damage. However, you lose control over Horadric Spellcraft, causing your Catalysts to inherit Infusions randomly.</p>


Extreme Gem Power: Horadric Jewels in Season 9


<p>The Sins of the Horadrim are almost upon us! After the grand reveal in the Campfire Chat stream yesterday, we have the patch available for download already. The Public Test Realm will be up on Tuesday, May 27th, so there&#8217;s still a little while to wait. But now you can be ready for launch by downloading the client ahead of time. </p>



<p>The PTR is only available on the PC Battle.net client.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The 2.3.0 PTR is now available for early download. This PTR begins next Tuesday.</p>&mdash; Adam Fletcher (@PezRadar) <a href="https://twitter.com/PezRadar/status/1926062409162146110?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<p>You can check out everything coming in the season in the <a href="https://www.icy-veins.com/d4/news/official-diablo-4-season-9-ptr-preview/">official preview</a> and in the <a href="https://www.icy-veins.com/d4/news/diablo-4-season-9-ptr-full-patch-notes/">patch notes</a>. </p>


Season 9 PTR Now Available for Download


<p>Season 9 is definitely the season of the Nightmare Dungeon. The rework of the activity not only brings the Horadric Strongroom mini-dungeons into NMDs and strings them together into Escalating Nightmares, but there&#8217;s also new affixes that offer big rewards! </p>



<p>The new affixes are different from the existing ones, as they&#8217;re purely beneficial to the player. We have reward-specific affixes that offer different types of currency or gear, as well as buffs to the dungeon itself, like more shrine spawns, golden goblins, and more experience, including XP wells! Let&#8217;s take a look:</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Affix Types</h4>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" src="https://bnetcmsus-a.akamaihd.net/cms/page_media/K3VZMY9SCHLA1747788544730.png" alt=""/></figure>



<p>Horadric Reserves</p>



<ul>
<li>Spawns in loot chests with specialized rewards.</li>



<li>Rewards Gem Fragments, Gold, Obols, Seasonal Currency, Resources.</li>
</ul>



<p>Equipment Delve</p>



<ul>
<li>Spawns in collectible items which upgrade a cache of equipment when found.</li>



<li>Rewards Weapons, Jewelry, Armor.</li>
</ul>



<p>Power Shrines</p>



<ul>
<li>Spawns in additional shrines of the specified type.</li>



<li>Spawns the following Shrines: Artillery, Blast Wave, Channeling, Lethal, Protection.</li>
</ul>



<p>Miscellaneous</p>



<ul>
<li>Forgotten Wisdom: Experience will have a chance to spawn on kill, and an experience well will spawn somewhere in the dungeon.</li>



<li>Increase Experience motes on Kill.</li>



<li>Treasure Breach: A number of gilded gremlins will invade the dungeon.</li>
</ul>


XP Wells, Shrine Spam, Gold Goblins: NMD Affixes in Season 9


<p>The Sins of the Horadrim seem to have called an old boss back from the original Diablo 4 campaign! Astaroth and his trusty steed return in Season 9, but won&#8217;t be part of the Lair Boss system. He is also the face of the new season</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">More Bosses Outside the Lairs</h2>



<p>Blizzard talked about how they wanted more content outside the very endgame that is the Lair Boss system. Astaroth is going to start filling that role in Season 9. He will not be a Lair boss (for now) and is instead tied to the Nightmare Dungeon rework. </p>



<p>You can find Astaroth in the new Escalating Nightmares activity, which chains several Nightmare Dungeons together. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Two Bosses for the Price of One! </h2>



<p>This time around both Astaroth and the Amalgam of Rage will be in play! After a while fighting the original encounter setup, Astaroth will come down off the mount and engage the player directly. If you take down the Amalgam before his rider, the mount will start resurrecting and you&#8217;ll have to face them both again! Here&#8217;s a small tease:</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Diablo IV Campfire Chat | 2.3.0 PTR | May 2025" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xZvEKK9UE_E?start=1883&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p></p>



<p></p>


Two Bosses in One: Astaroth and Amalgam Return in Season 9


<p>Diablo 4 Season 9 is bringing long-awaited improvements to one of the game&#8217;s rarest loot types: <a href="https://www.icy-veins.com/d4/guides/runewords-guide/">Legendary Runes</a>! After widespread <a href="https://www.icy-veins.com/d4/news/did-blizzard-nerf-legendary-rune-and-mythic-unique-drop-rates-in-diablo-4-season-8/">player feedback during Season 8 about poor Legendary rune drop rates</a>, Blizzard is stepping in with two major updates:</p>



<ul>
<li>The drop chance of Legendary Runes has slightly increased across the whole game.</li>



<li><a href="https://www.icy-veins.com/d4/guides/lair-boss-system-guide/">Lair Bosses</a> have an additional small chance of dropping a Legendary Rune.</li>



<li>All <a href="https://www.icy-veins.com/d4/guides/kurast-undercity-guide/">Undercity runs</a> now reward at least one Rune.</li>
</ul>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" src="https://static.icy-veins.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-22-at-21.33.07.jpg" alt=""/></figure>



<p>These changes should make it easier for players to get their hands on Legendary Runes!</p>


Diablo 4 Patch 2.2.2 Cuts Masterwork Costs for Early Ranks and Resets!

Diablo IV News