When does Diablo 4 Season 2 begin? Taking over once you’ve cleared up the malignance spreading across Sanctuary in season one, the next chapter in D4’s hellish, blood-soaked story includes vampires, vampire hunters (naturally), and a new, inspirational sidekick voiced by Marvel actor Gemma Chan.
We’ve already calculated how long you’ll need to finish each of the Diablo 4 seasons, vital knowledge when it comes to collecting all those D4 Unique items and Legendary Diablo 4 Aspects that will be seasonal exclusives. Similarly, the arrival of D4 Season of Blood determines exactly when your Diablo 4 characters will transfer to the Eternal Realm at the end of Season 1.
Diablo 4 Season 2 release date
Blizzard confirmed the Diablo 4 Season 2 release date as Tuesday, October 17, 2023, during an announcement at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2023.
Diablo 4 Season 2, more colorfully known as Season of Blood, introduces five new endgame bosses, as well as updates to renown rewards, changes to status and resistance effects, and an overhaul to gem storage, in that they no longer take up valuable inventory space.
Diablo 4 Season of Blood gameplay
Following the October 2023 developer update, more details have been revealed about the second Diablo 4 season, the characters, and new vampiric powers.
The blood shed during the events of the D4 campaign has awoken vampires deep below Sanctuary, led by Lord Zir, who you must try and defeat once and for all. Accompanied by vampire hunter Erys (voiced by Chan), embark on a whole new journey through Sanctuary, battling the blood-drinking undead through a selection of additional quests and boss battles.
You’ve been infected but are slow to give in to your new vampiric desires. Erys has no doubt that this will happen eventually, though, making you a potentially disposable ally to her. Before the powers take over, you can use them to your advantage, as defeating blood seekers and other minions of Lord Zir provides you with potent blood, which is used to unlock and level up your vampiric powers.
Blood pact armor
Each new Diablo 4 season brings new mechanics and features, and the Season of Blood introduces the pact system. These pacts can be applied to armor in season 2 to imbue them with new vampiric bonuses, applied via the Sanguine Circle. Combine the right pacts to unlock your required powers.
Blood Harvest event
One of the best ways to acquire new seasonal items and potent blood is during new Blood Harvest events, in which large swarms of vampire foes take over an area of the map in an effort to turn more of the living into vampires. Head into these areas to take down some high-risk, high-reward enemies.
Season of Blood bosses
In World Tiers III and IV, you have the chance to go up against five new endgame bosses in the Season of Blood. In order to summon these bosses, you must complete a Whispers and D4 Helltide events. These new bosses have some powerful elemental resistances and attacks, so you must seek out and equip the right armor and weapons to best counter these new enemies, making these boss fights more tactical than ever.
Naturally, there has to be a pretty good reason to make you go head-to-head with these powerful vampiric bosses, and the Diablo 4 Uniques that can drop this season are better than ever, plus you have a chance to earn exclusive cosmetic items, too.
The five Season of Blood endgame bosses are:
- Grigoire
- The Beast in Ice
- Duriel
- Varshan
- Lord Zir
As with Season 1, you must have completed the main campaign, and you need to create another new character to take into the Season of Blood, while your Season 1 character will be moved to the Eternal Realm. This is a great opportunity to try out another of the Diablo 4 classes, and some of the best D4 builds you might not have tried yet. In a recent developer update, the Blizzard team confirm that new vampiric powers and Uniques have been balanced to include all classes, so there’s nothing limiting your choice this season.
As you await the Diablo 4 Season 2 release date, there is still time to make sure you’ve done all you want to do in the D4 Season of the Malignant. Also, to clarify, seasons are separate from the upcoming Diablo 4 DLC, which expands on the main story.
Additional contributions by Anja Koselke and Dave Irwin.
