Diablo 4’s next update makes Season of Loot Reborn look like a hotfix — a new level cap of 60, new difficulty levels, and the return of Runewords all in Season 6

What you need to know

• Diablo 4 held its longest-ever Campfire Chat today to discuss the huge changes coming to the game when Season 6 and Vessel of Hatred drop on October 8.
• Character progression will go through the same overhaul that loot itemization did in Season 4, with a new max character level of 60. 
• World Tier difficulty levels are being replaced with new Standard and Torment difficulties.
• All classes receive new skills, passives, and legendaries, and 2 new Mythic Uniques are added to the game. Runewords are also being added to the game.
• A Public Test Realm (PTR) will be held for players to test the changes.

Fresh from the reveals from Gamescom 2024 for Diablo 4, namely the new mercenary system and Dark Citadel PvE activity being introduced, we were also promised a huge livestream covering further changes coming to the game when Vessel of Hatred launches on October 8. In our interview with Rod Fergusson he said “one of the things we’re doing with Season 6, is what we did for Season 4 for loot,” and today we got to know what all that really means.

A fundamental change to progression for characters in Diablo 4 with a new level cap

The developers want to address what perhaps hasn’t aged well in the game since launch, as well as doubling down on what is fun and working for the community. Along with this, there needs to be a meaningful challenge and reward to compensate for our increasing power. With this in mind changes are coming to:

The Character Journey

• Levels 1-100 will now be split out, so the new max level will be 60. The difficulty will now be split into Normal, Hard, Expert, and Penitent then further Torment difficulties to offer significantly increased rewards for significantly harder challenges. Similarly to pushing difficulty in the Helltide with the Profane Mindcages, you will be able to increase the difficulty to your level of ability across the game. Player health, damage, and armor will be adjusted to be more readable and easy to understand.
• Monster health and damage will be streamlined with Minions, Elites, Bosses, etc, having a fixed HP relative to normal monsters. Combat is being adjusted to reduce instances of 1-shot mechanics and Boss HP will be less grindy at the end of activities like The Pit. 

Difficulty tiers

• The Pit behind the scenes will be used to set difficulty for the entire game with 5 Pit Tiers per Standard difficulty (Normal, Hard, Expert, Penitent) then 15 Pit Tiers per Torment difficulty (Torment 1, 2, 3 and 4).
• The Pit unlocks at Character level 60, Pit tiers associated with Standard difficulty levels will immediately unlock, including the Torment 1 Pit Tier (tiers 1-20)
• Pit tiers beyond 20 must be unlocked by progressing through the Pit, conquering a Pit tier that matches a Torment tier unlocks that Torment Tier.
• The highest Pit tier is now 100 instead of 200, but this doesn’t mean it will be easier, each tier will be harder.
• Smart-key being introduced so activity keys that drop make more sense, e.g if you are in Torment 3, the Infernal Hordes keys that drop will also be Tier 3.

Due to these changes, World Tiers as we know them are a thing of the past, but in real terms, this means we can explore Sanctuary on what would be equal to World Tier 5 and 6 if we wish to. Right now, the only way to increase the difficulty past World Tier 4 is by eating and stacking Profane Mindcages, and this difficulty only increases in the Helltide. With these changes, all activities in the game will be open to increased difficulty.

Boss ladder changes

The Boss Ladder is also undergoing some changes. No long will there be two versions of each boss (at the moment there is normal and Tormented) and no longer will there be different costs associated with summoning each difficulty of these bosses. If you can beat Duriel at Torment 1, he will cost the same to summon at Torment 4 but be tougher in line with the difficulty of that Tier, and drop more rewards. 

More Itemization changes with power jumps at new i-levels

• Affix bands on all items have been adjusted and items at the new level 60 character max out at item power 750.
• Levels 51-59 character level will offer significant item power jumps.
• From level 60 you’ll enjoy another significant item jump, with Ancestral items dropping once you enter Torment 1. They will become more frequent as you advance through the Torment levels. 
• Sacred items no longer exist.
• Every Ancestral item is now guaranteed at least one Greater Affix, and all items will be a jump in item power from 750 to 800.
• Ancestrals will have two tempering slots, and be masterworkable up to 12.

Finally we can level our Glyphs outside of Nightmare Dungeons

• Glyphs will now be leveling in The Pit, not Nightmare Dungeons.
• Glyphs now max out at level 100, a significant increase from the previous cap of 21.
• All Glyphs start as rare at rank 1 and update to legendary at rank 46.
• Glyph radius increases at ranks 15 and 46.
• When a Glyph becomes legendary, it unlocks a significant multiplicative stat bonus.
• The new system is attempt-based rank upgrades, so the success of an upgrade is guaranteed if your Pit level is 10 higher than the Glyph you want to level. If it’s 20 levels, you have Bonus ranks available. 

Paragon points will be shared across the Realm

• Once you have earned all of your Paragon Points on one character on a realm, for example a Seasonal softcore character, those Paragon Points will be available across all alts on that Realm.
• This means if you level another character to 60, the paragon points you earned on your previous character will be available immediately once you hit that level cap. 
• Each class will receive a new Paragon board in the update, so it’s changing from 5 to 6. Each board has been tuned with the progression updates in mind and to help you focus on your Glyph choices.

Runewords return from Diablo 2

The rumors were true! The beloved Runeword system is coming back, for players who are familiar with Diablo 2: Resurrected. The goal with introducing them to Diablo 4 is to do so by retaining the soul of the original socketable components but do it in a new and fresh way that feels on theme with Diablo 4’s modern gameplay.

• Runes will enable you to make your own spells.
• The Runes of Ritual specify trigger actions for the player, and Runes of Invocation grant powerful effects.
• A Rune of Ritual and Rune of Invocation must be paired in a two-socket item to form a Runeword. Runes can only be paired with a Rune of the opposite type.
• Runes will have levels of rarity.
• You can have a maximum of two Runewords equipped.
• You cannot equip the same Rune twice.
• Runes are for players who purchase Vessel of Hatred, and are unlocked as part of the campaign.
• Runes stack and will be stored in the new socketable inventory tab.
• Runes are tradeable. 

Runewords will be a way to customize our builds with skills from other classes. For example a Necromancer can become Berserk (Barbarian skill).

New Tempering Affixes coming to Diablo 4