Diablo 4 fans are counting down to the start of Season 5. Titled Season of the Infernal Hordes, the new Diablo 4 content has an August 6 release date on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC. The upcoming season has been given a 6pm BST UK start time, although it’s worth pointing out that the actual Season 5 update (update 1.5.0) will be available to download and install an hour before the launch of the new season. According to Blizzard community director Adam Fletcher, this will give users enough time to prepare for the new season. This means you’ll be able to jump into the action the moment the new season goes live.
The headline new feature is the launch of the game’s Horde mode, which sees players battle demonic forces in Seasonal and Eternal Realms.
Blizzard explains more: “The Infernal Hordes is an activity where you slay hordes while earning Burning Aether to unlock powerful weapons and rewards.
“Successfully slay the Hordes and you’ll be able to fight the powerful Fell Council.”
After previously testing the Infernal Horde mode, Blizzard has made a host of changes ahead of launch. As you can see from the patch notes highlights below, the mode now features more monsters, a reduced timer between waves, plus new audio cues at the beginning and end of encounters. Fans can also expect improved drops, as well as reduced health pools for some of the game’s new bosses.
Arguably the best part of the new season are the quality of life improvements, which more weapon availability for different classes, more ways to earn gold and more ways to earn powerful loot.
That’s on top of a free and Premium battle pass, which adds a ton of exclusive rewards. Fans can earn the Archenemy Armour, which is said to be forged in the flames of the Infernal Hordes.
Diablo 4 Season 5 Game Updates
Infernal Hordes
• Distinct audio queues have been added to signal the beginning and end of a wave.
• The number of waves has been tuned.
– Tiers 1-3: 6 Waves
– Tiers 4-5: 7 Waves
– All other tiers remain unchanged.
• The wave timer has been reduced to 60 seconds.
• The number of Monsters encountered has been generally increased across the board.
• The Health Pools of the Council and other Bosses have been reduced.
• Infernal Compasses can now be acquired more frequently and through more means.
– Tier 4-5 Compasses can drop in High Tier Nightmare Dungeons.
– Tiers 4-8 Compasses now naturally drop in high tier Pit runs.
– Tiers 4-8 Compasses will now rarely drop in Helltide and from Whisper caches after completing these tiers of Nightmare Dungeons or Pits.
– Tiers 4 and 5 Compasses can drop in Helltide and Whispers after completing Nightmare Dungeons of Tier 75 and 100 respectively.
– Infernal Compasses can now be crafted at the Occultist.
– They cost Forgotten Souls and Sigil Powder. Additionally, Compasses can now be salvaged for Sigil Powder.
• The drop rate of Compasses within the activity itself has been increased.
• Rewards from chests have been significantly increased, and the price of all chests have been decreased.
• The drop rate for Abyssal Scrolls has been increased.
• Common Herbs and Angelbreath have been added as potential drops. The drop rate for Shattered Prisms has been reduced.
• Defeating the council has an additional, guaranteed drop of Aether that scales with tier.
• Shocktroopers, Aether Masses, Hellseekers, and Soul Spires now drop more Aether.
• Pets now can pick up Aether on the ground.