Diablo IV Announces Season 9 Sins of the Horadrim

Diablo IV Season 9 will be releasing on July 1st, known as Sins of the Horadrim, according to the newest Blizzard blog post. Developers are still planning on livestreaming on June 27th at 11 am PDT to preview the game.

Like other seasonal changes for the game, Sins of the Horadrim will be a major update. Season 9 will allow players the opportunity to explore Cerrigar and a druid called Bryona. Fans will play a role in Bryona’s contention with decisions made by Donan, the Horadric Mage, who sealed away Astaroth through the discovery and purging of blood relics. The initial questline will be known as The Embers Yet Smolder after finding Bryona in Cerrigar to the northwest of the Waypoint. 

As a part of the seasonal questline, players will also be able to unlock Horadric Strongrooms and access the Horadric Focus in Cerrigar, allowing players to check their seasonal reputation to earn in-game rewards. Seasonal reputation can be increased through the killing of Mummifeid Horadrims, elite enemies, and bosses. Horadric Phials can be earned through Nightmare Dungeons, Nightmare escalations, Horadric Strongrooms, and Lair Boss Horde Chests, which can eventually be used to craft Horadric Jewels.

Spells will also change in the seasonal update, as characters will be able to modify the spells that they cast. The new season will include three potent elements: catalyst, infusions, and arcana. Horadric Spells, as they will be known, will be created using one main catalyst, an infusion to support, and up to three different arcana. Catalysts serve as the foundation of the spell with their one cooldown, luck hit, and Rank 10 bonus. They will also receive their own action bar skill that will glow with a purple magic when the Catalyst can be activated. Infusions will change the type of damage and damage over time that the catalyst deals. After leveling an infusion ot rank 5, each infusion will also grant its one bonus. Arcanas will come in three different levels of rarity: magic, rare, and legendary. Legendary Aarcana’s effects change based on the Catalyst and contain specific spell tags that modify the spell, which are further modified by Horadric Jewels. Currently, 5 catalysts, 5 infusions,  20 arcanas, and 15 Horadric Jewels have been revealed.

The Nightmare mode will also be season 9’s newest endgame mode that allows players to tackle a chain of three Nightmare dungeons. Players will obtain affixes that stack onto the next Dungeon, which eventually leads them to a fight with Astaroth. Astaroth will be accompanied by the monster Amalgen, meaning the final boss fight will be a double boss fight. Many of these changes, as well as new ones, will become permanent.

New changes are also seen in the unique items added to the game. Barbarians will receive the Hooves of the Mountain God, Druids the Rotting Lightbringer, Necromancers The Hand of Naz, Rogues the Deathmask of Nirtmitruq, Sorcerers the Ophidian Iris, and Spiritborns the Balazan’s Maxtlatl. These items are accompanied by the new Battle Passes, new armor, blessings, and cosmetics.

The combined cinematic and gameplay trailer showcases many features of the new season. A voice beckons us forward into a new adventure by putting us in charge of the defense of the sanctuary for “if you are reading this, I have fallen.”