There’s been some conjecture around Season 3 of Diablo IV, some concerns that there wasn’t much to offer; essentially founded on the — at the time — lack of information from Blizzard. Overnight for Australians, the season, its title and other important information have been announced.
The trailer above shows the foundation of the season story, and I’m pleased to say it looks quite interesting. The announcement blog carries on the story and fills in a number of the blanks around what to expect.
The season begins on January 23rd at 10 am PST — 5 am AEST for Aussies — and then the fun begins:
A new threat lurks deep beneath the sands of Kehjistan, where the Loom, an ancient technology—designed by Zoltun Kulle and Ayuzhan of Caldeum—has been usurped by the forces of evil. The Demon Malphas is responsible for twisting the Loom for his cruel whims. Zoltun’s former companion Ayuzhan leads you through the treacherous Vaults, desperate to stop the formidable Malphas and his deadly constructs from overtaking Sanctuary.
The culmination of all of the seasonal activities is a Seneschal Companion you can govern and tune through the use of stones:
- Autodefense: The Seneschal Construct activates an antimaterial field around itself shooting down enemy projectiles. Can not shoot down Boss or Player projectiles.
- Bushwhack: Quickly ambush dealing damage to each target. May strike the same target multiple times.
- Firefly: Deploy a small construct that lands on the target and explodes 3 times, dealing damage.
- Focus Fire: The Seneschal Construct channels a ray of fire onto targets dealing damage to each over time.
- Gyrate: The Seneschal Construct whirls its legs around quickly dealing damage to all surrounding enemies.
Impale: Perform a line attack to all enemies in front of the Seneschal Construct dealing damage. - Lightning Bolt: Launch a bolt of Lightning at the target dealing damage. Arcs to other targets dealing a portion of the original damage.
- Protect: The Seneschal Construct materializes a protective Barrier on the player for a portion of their Maximum Life.
- Reconstruct: The Seneschal Construct channels a reconstruction beam Healing the player for a portion of their Maximum Life over time.
- Slash: Pummel enemies in front of the Seneschal Construct dealing damage.
- Tempest: Electrically charge an enemy causing it to deal damage to themselves and additional each second over time. If the enemy is killed, Tempest spreads to another enemy gaining for additional time and bonus damage. These bonuses are also applied if Tempest is reapplied onto the same enemy.
Adding to this, the new dungeons and competitive leaderboard are going to create a new challenge and excitement to the game. I’m interested to see how this pans out and I’ll be putting up some gameplay videos on my YouTube Channel when I get a chance to play in The Season of the Construct.
