Prepare for Diablo IV Season 4 PTR: A Preview of Changes and Features

Prepare for change, adventurer. Are you ready to dive into what lies ahead for all of Sanctuary?


The first Public Test Realm (PTR) for Diablo IV is approaching, offering you the opportunity to preview upcoming changes and features for Season 4! The PTR will be accessible from April 2 to April 9 for players with a PC Battle.net account.

The purpose of the PTR is to test updates and features with you before the launch of Season 4. Your feedback from the PTR will help us make adjustments to Season 4 before its official release. Get ready for significant changes in your Sanctuary experience, here’s an overview of what you need to know.

CODEX

Itemization

Helltide Reborn

The Pit of Artificers

Boss Ladder Updates

Features Offered for Testing

How to Provide Feedback

How to Install the PTR

Class Updates and Full Patch Notes

ITEMIZATION

We have three guiding principles for our itemization updates: focusing on quality over quantity, ensuring the best items have a journey of power and improvement that you can strive for, and making sure items feel satisfying and exciting to use.

For a full list of what’s new or adjusted for Classes, check out the Class Update patch notes here, but here’s a summary of the itemization changes:

Basic Item UpdatesReduced number of affixes: now 3 on Legendary items, and 2 on Rare items.
Smaller pool of more potent affixes.
More relevant affixes (e.g., ranks of a single Core Skill).
Only Sacred items in World Tier 3, only Ancestral items in World Tier 4.
Affix values are tuned up to be punchier; we want you (and the fiends of Sanctuary) to really feel them!
New affixes and positioning of affixes:Resource per Second
Resource on Kill
Lucky Hit: Apply Vulnerable
Life per Hit
Basic Skill Ranks
Miscellaneous Updates

Legendary items dropped from enemy level 95+ are always 925 item power. Gems are simpler, more useful, and have a much longer crafting tail. Gems now have Core stats, and the more conditional bonuses have been simplified. Salvage, crafting, and rewards have all been tuned. Significantly reduced item drop rates (less time sorting, more time slaying!). Item rerolling gold cost capped when Enchanting. Material removal and consolidation. Forgotten Souls can now be obtained from Whispers and are now a global rare drop from Elites. Uniques appear earlier. Some Uniques now dropping starting in World Tier I and II. All Uniques can now drop in World Tier III. Uber Uniques can start dropping from monster level 55, drops at 925 item power. New crafting system: Tempering

This new system will allow you to add affixes to your items at the Blacksmith through a new reusable item that can drop from most content in-game, called Temper Manuals!

These are categorized like the Codex of Power (e.g., Resource, Mobility, etc) Once gained, you retain these for unlimited use! Each manual contains a handful of affixes; you can attach one at a time. Affixes can be rerolled up to the item’s Temper Reroll limit. Ancestral items can have two Tempered affixes from different categories.

Greater Affixes

Only appearing on Ancestral Legendary and Unique items, these are more powerful versions of normal affixes, with a 1.5x multiplier on the affix’s maximum roll. An item with a Greater Affix will be immediately obvious, with a unique audio cue, as well as a I up to a IV next to the item name indicating how many affixes are Greater. eg: Helm (Ancestral) – II Each affix on an item has a chance to be Greater in World Tier III & IV. Players cannot Enchant into a Greater affix – they can only be found!

Masterworking

A late-game crafting system to upgrade items, using materials gathered from The Pit. Improves the value of your current affixes. There are 12 upgrade ranks. Every 4 ranks, a single affix is massively upgraded. Other ranks slightly increase the value of all affixes.

Codex of Power updates

All Legendary Aspects now appear in the Codex of Power, so you can focus on chasing great items instead of managing your inventory. The highest roll Legendary you salvage is stored in your Codex. Legendary Affix ranged increase based on item tier (Normal, Sacred, Ancestral). Most Legendary Affix ranges have been increased. The UI has been revamped, now includes manual and keyword search. You can also favorite Legendary Aspects to make them easier to find!

HELLTIDE REBORN

Prepare for a revamped Helltide event that brings the depths of Hell to the surface of Sanctuary:

Helltide Threat

As you battle through Helltides, you will generate Threat – determined by the difficulty of monsters and how often you secure Tortured Gifts within Helltide. Dying will reset your Threat. There are three Helltide Threat Tiers, with each increasing the danger and frequency of monster ambushes. At Tier 3, you will become Hell-Marked. Achieving maximum Threat will initiate a brief ambush frenzy of maximum enemy density. The ambush will end with a final Hellborne spawn, an immensely powerful agent of Hell, resurrected from the tortured souls of Sanctuary’s most powerful champions. There are five variants representing each Class in Diablo IV. Upon activating the Hellborn ambush, your Threat will reset.

Accursed Ritual

Baneful Hearts can primarily be earned through opening Tortured Gift chests and can be used at the Accursed Ritual location. A scene of shocking gore, the Accursed Ritual is the ultimate testament to the disturbing lengths the manic Cultists will go to appease their dark wishes. It is here where you can begin the Accursed Ritual. Deposit three Baneful Hearts to begin the ritual, and you will be swarmed with a dense demonic ambush. Other players within your subzone will be alerted that the ritual has begun if they wish to join you in your fight. This ambush will climax with the arrival of the Blood Maiden, an immensely powerful demonic creature who will offer great reward upon her death.

World Tier I and II adjustments

To get players into the thick of Helltides much earlier in their overall Character journey, the PTR will see these upcoming adjustments to help make Helltide more fun and rewarding in World Tier I & II. All Tortured Gifts are Mystery Chests. No roaming bosses or ambient meteors. Less monster density overall compared to World Tier III and IV.

THE PIT OF ARTIFICERS

Rumors speak of strange varieties of ore deep within the dungeons of the north of Sanctuary, perfect for crafting exceptional armor with secret Horadric techniques.

Upon entering World Tier IV, you’ll receive a priority Quest to complete a Tier 46 Nightmare Dungeon. Upon completion, you’ll begin to collect Runeshard during endgame activities. Collect enough Runeshard to ultimately activate the Obelisk in Cerrigar. Activating the Obelisk will