Diablo 4 Season 8 will soon be with us. Here is everything we know about it so far, including PTR details and what the return of Belial, the Lord of Lies, could mean.
Season 8 of Diablo looks set to knock Season 7‘s witches off their broomsticks, and this time, a bad guy from Diablo 3 is returning to cause some havoc in Sanctuary.
While last season focused on Powers of Witchcraft for its theme, Season 8 is placing the focus on boss battles and letting players use some new powers that they unlock by defeating bosses. The PTR will give us our first look at this new mechanic, so here’s what you need to know.
Diablo 4 Season 8 PTR dates
During the last Campfire Chat, Blizzard confirmed that the PTR for Season 8 begins on March 11, 2025 and run until March 18 2025.
The release date of Season 8 hasn’t been revealed yet, but as Season 7 ends on April 29, 2025, we can expect the eighth season to start in early May, 2025.
Witch Powers will soon be a thing of the past – for now.
Belial and boss powers
Season 8 of Diablo 4 will be all about defeating bosses and stealing their powers, so expect the Seasonal Journey to be geared around this theme. Blizzard plans to make battling bosses simpler and more rewarding, so they’ll be overhauling how endgame bosses are unlocked when Season 8 goes live.
For example, Blizzard is simplifying the summoning process by scrapping the old system and creating a new mechanic around items called Lair Keys. This way, players will be able to find and battle bosses without needing to go through a lengthy and complicated process.
Not only will the apply to all existing bosses in Diablo 4, such as Andariel, Duriel, etc, but bosses from Vessel of Hatred’s campaign will now be added as endgame bosses, such as Urivar and the Harbinger of Hatred which was Mephisto in his wolf form.
However, a new boss will also be added in the form of Belial, the Lord of Lies, who was a major antagonist in Diablo 3. Blizzard has described Belial as the “highest challenge, the highest reward” in Season 8, so expect him to be the final boss of any story content (if there is any) as well as in the endgame.
Defeating a bosses in Season 8 will unlock one of the 24 boss powers that are being added, and to help players unlock them all quickly, Blizzard will be adding a new boss-rush event called Apparition Incursions.
After killing an endgame boss, players can then be attacked by a smaller version of Belial. If they’re able to kill him quickly, they’ll double their rewards such as gold and loot drops. Expect these events to happen in the open world, most likely during Helltides.
The lore implications of Belial’s return could be massive, and the demon is still likely to be salty about being consumed by Diablo, along with all the other Lesser and Prime Evils at the end of Diablo 3. Like Mephisto, he may now have given up on allying with his fellow “Evils” and just be out for himself.
Blizzard EntertainmentBelial was a major villain in Diablo 3.
Difficulty and pace changes
During the Season 8 PTR Campfire Chat, Blizzard revealed that Season 8 would feature a slower pace than Season 7 – which may have something to do with the criticisms the game has faced from Diablo’s creator. So, expect the push to endgame to be slowed down slightly this time around.
They also revealed some changes to the game’s difficulty system making things much harder this time around, as well as the usual class balancing updates. So, those who’ve been having fun with the Necromancer’s Blood Wave build may find it less overpowered in Season 8.
However, this will likely mean that other builds and classes will rise to the top of the meta instead, as is always the case when an OP build gets nerfed.
We’ll be sure to add more about Season 8 of Diablo 4 as the PTR gets underway and as Blizzard reveals more details of the full season. It’ll be interesting to see how it evolves after Season 7.
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