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With the successful launch of Diablo 4 Season 5, many players are looking forward to the upcoming Vessel of Hatred DLC on October 8, 2024. Here, we will talk about the new PvE Dungeon added to Diablo 4 DLC, Dark Citadel, which we already know so far.
From what we know, this will be a multiplayer mode, which they call Co-Op Dungeon, where you can defeat a series of bosses with other players while completing different tactics, such as throwing balls at the boss to make it vulnerable.
In fact, when we first heard about this feature, our first impression was that Diablo 4 didn’t need this. Then, when we heard more details, our opinion changed to Diablo 4 definitely didn’t need this. Although we are currently waiting for its PTR test, I believe my opinion will not change. Here, we will talk about why we have such a poor opinion about this new Dark Citadel mechanism.
First of all, you have to admit that Diablo 4 is a single-player game in every sense of the word. Although the developers have tried the concept of an open world before, they have basically failed. Because open world related activities such as World Bosses are still in a terrible state, especially when your character’s damage is compressed and you can only deal a fraction of the normal damage.
Although there are currently solutions to this problem, I believe that the poor experience caused by this absolutely overshadows the fun they brought to players when they first appeared.
In addition to this, there is a bigger joke that every World Boss will be killed in one hit as soon as it appears. The unchallenging content made Diablo 4 lose a lot of players.
Objectively speaking, the open world related content is not completely useless, but they only work in towns, where you can feel the presence of people around you, which makes the world more vivid. However, when it comes to combat, the open world completely fails because the power difference between two random players is huge. Pay to win also makes players who continue to spend time leveling feel meaningless.
Blood Maiden is also a joke in Helltides, not only because Leeching players’ thirst for Exquisite Blood makes challenging bosses just a tedious process of farming Diablo 4 Items, but more importantly, the difficulty setting is meaningless. Usually, Blood Maiden is either killed in one hit by some well-equipped players, or is too difficult for leveled players and takes a long time to kill.
You could say that the content they planned is not outdoor, not open world group play, but raids, so that you can choose your team to overcome these obstacles. The fact that you can choose your team for challenging Torment Bosses is also a joke. Because then people will only farm them for Uniques and Mythic Uniques that drop from those bosses, not because they like 5 seconds of soulless boss fights.
Let’s give the developers a chance and let’s assume that they can handle the balance of difficulty and boss health well in the new Diablo 4 DLC. But I am almost sure that there will be problems with the visibility of boss abilities.
If you’ve played Lightning Spear Sorcerer in the higher levels of Infernal Hordes, you’ll understand how difficult it is to see the boss’ abilities because the effects are everywhere.
Imagine how bad it would be if other players’ spells were 3-4 times more effective, and you had no idea. While the game could suppress other players’ abilities to make them less obvious, I honestly don’t have much faith in the developers’ ability to do this well in raids.
Speaking of this, there will definitely be some Diablo fans who will say that if you don’t like Co-Op Dungeons, you can just not play them. However, if they didn’t make Dark Citadel an almost essential node for character development, this would actually be a valid argument.
According to the developers, a new consumable, Scroll of Re-Tempering, was added in Vessel of Hatred DLC, and the primary place to farm them is Dark Citadel Dungeon.
Of course, they will also say that you can get this item from other sources, but I believe that any player who has tried to farm Mythic Unique items will find this to be nonsense. The developers have always said that technically players can also get Mythic Uniques from any monster. But how does this actually work? Aside from Torment Bosses, you have almost no chance of seeing Unique drops.
Besides this, there is another new update that has received a lot of attention, which is Looking for Group feature. Many people call it some kind of savior of random groups, but I am not sure about this. I think it is very likely to become a tool in the future where the group leader only invites the best equipped players, and many times, these people have obtained their equipment through real money transactions. This may only gradually lead the game to the abyss of pay-to-win.
All in all, I think World of WarCraft is a better choice for most players if we want to experience raiding, rather than Diablo 4. Therefore, unless the development team can provide a major improvement compared to the current multiplayer and Co-Op modes, it seems to me that Dark Citadel is likely to fail like Gauntlet.
Anyway, are you confident about the upcoming Dark Citadel feature? Do you think my point makes sense? Let’s wait and see!
Diablo 4 Season updates typically mean not only more new playstyles to try, but also the opportunity to use your creativity to create even more powerful builds that better suit the current season's mechanics.
The biggest contributors to this are usually the added seasonal powers and unique items granted to each class each season, and Season 10 is no exception.
The seasonal power of this season is Chaos Perks, and the unique items each class receives are:
Druid, a class that has been relatively underwhelming for several seasons, is expected to gain additional build crafting possibilities in Season 10 thanks to this new item, giving it a new advantage.
With this in mind, this time we'll introduce Storm Raven Build centered around the new Druid item, Kilt of Blackwing.
This new unique item can also be utilized as Chaos Armor in Season 10, so while it's a unique pants item, you can actually equip it in any slot this season.
The most important combat benefits of this item revolve around Raven. In addition to the basic affix effects, it increases the damage dealt by ravens by 60-100%, allows them to transform into alternate forms, activate companion skills, and even has a chance to summon more ravens.
Beyond the benefits provided by the core gear Kilt of Blackwing, to successfully craft and utilize this build, you'll need to farm more XP and Diablo 4 gold to ensure your character's smooth leveling and survival, and try to provide more bonuses to your ravens.
Ravens are essentially a companion skill for Druid, and the core concept of Storm Raven build is to leverage Kilt of Blackwing's Raven buffs, combining them with skills, gear, and other key mechanics to make their effects even more powerful.
As one of the key features of Season 10, Chaos Perks are worth adding to any build. However, the number of perks is enormous, and the power you can equip in a single battle is limited, so you need to choose carefully.
For a Storm Raven build, we recommend prioritizing the following perks:
For this reason, you must ensure your first attack triggers poison, then utilize Raven's Hover to attack more targets. Finally, Power Siphon allows you to deal more damage with your core skills.
If seasonal Chaos perks are the icing on the cake, then skills are the foundation of any build. The first essential element of a Storm Raven build is naturally Ravens. Their abilities include:
With this, combined with Kilt of Blackwing, your build's damage output is essentially guaranteed. The next skills you should add include:
Furthermore, you'll want to minimize your ability cooldowns to ensure your build remains effective throughout combat. If your cooldown is full, you can use Cataclysm unlimited times - keeping it active at 100% is key for this build.
Besides the core item, Kilt of Blackwing, the key to adding gear to this build is, as we've already mentioned, minimizing your cooldowns as much as possible.
In general, once your Cataclysm cooldown is at 100%, feel free to swap out gear for increased DPS, increased survivability, or whatever bonuses you desire.
For this reason, we recommend prioritizing the following gear:
Shroud of False Death:
Tassets of the Dawning Sky:
Another essential Legendary Aspect is Stormcrow's Aspect, which increases the lightning damage dealt by raven by 60-100%. Raven skill itself deals full damage for half the duration, and stuns enemies within range.
In fact, the gear options for this build are quite extensive. Besides the highly recommended ones listed above, you can freely farm and equip other builds based on your preferences and combat style.
Note that the above crafting plan is based on a trial of content from 2.4.0 PTR. There may be some minor differences after Season 10 officially launches. You'll need to decide how to utilize this build based on future Diablo 4 adjustments.
That's all we've covered. We hope this helps you embark on your Diablo 4 Season 10 journey. Thank you for reading.
Due to varying season mechanics and the effectiveness of new items, the most reliable class options fluctuate between each Diablo 4 season. A class that fell out of favor one season might become a popular choice in the next.
Take Druid, for example. Several nerfs to the game meant few players initially chose it when it launched in Season 9. However, the recent patch has revived its popularity in the middle of Season 9.
After the launch of 2.4.0 PTR, based on current performance, Druids are expected to maintain their dominance in Season 10 and offer multiple reliable builds. This is likely because of the addition of new unique items.
Next, we'll analyze the reasons why Druid has dominated 2.4.0 PTR, focusing on the unique item, Kilt of Blackwing.
This item, an exclusive Druid unique item added to PTR (Season 10), initially has the following base affixes:
Adding to this, these unique pants increase the damage dealt by ravens by 60.0 - 100.0%, allowing you to transform into other forms or activate your companion's abilities, summoning more ravens to attack nearby enemies.
Notably, if you summon ravens with this item, there is a chance to inflict Unkindness for 10 seconds, increasing the number of ravens you can summon to three for the duration.
In the past, when utilizing Companion Druid build, the two key components were ravens and wolves, making up the "companion" portion of the build. While wolves previously received a damage boost through Storm's Companion-specific affixes, ravens never received the same buff.
To address this long-standing shortcoming and to substantially enhance both Druid and related builds, Diablo 4 is adding Kilt of Blackwing to enhance the raven elemental's presence and allow you to deal more damage with these builds.
If you're considering using the new effects provided by Kilt of Blackwing with a Companion Druid build on PTR or in Season 10, you might be concerned that both it and Storm's Companion are unique pants, making them incompatible.
While this would have been a problem in other seasons, Season 10 new Chaos Armor mechanic effectively mitigates this issue - which is why Companion Druid build has existed for so long, while Kilt of Blackwing hasn't been added until now.
Chaos Armor is a more powerful version of the unique armor added in Season 10. One of its features is that all Chaos Armor items can appear in any inventory without specific restrictions, giving you more possibilities for using unique items.
So, in 2.4.0 PTR, you can utilize both items in a single build. For example, in addition to pants, you can also equip Kilt of Blackwing on boots or gloves.
Of course, to obtain these items, you must repeatedly farm the bosses that drop them. Although PTR may provide them directly to you, after Season 10 begins you must obtain unique items and sufficient Diablo 4 gold on your own.
In short, due to the unique nature of Chaos Armor's mechanics, you can equip both unique items as a Druid in Season 10, doubling their effectiveness and making them even more powerful, giving Druids advantages unmatched by other classes both in PTR and in the new season.
As a reminder, all Chaos Armor expected to be available to Druids in Season 10 includes:
Class Exclusives:
General Uniques:
Without a doubt, Companion Druid build is a top priority in PTR and even in Season 10, thanks to the reliable buffs provided by Kilt of Blackwing.
However, assuming no additional significant nerfs are made to Druid after Season 10 officially launches, the following builds will remain reliable:
Of course, different builds have different requirements for skills, gear, Spirit Boons, and more, and you'll need to craft them accordingly to maximize their effectiveness.
More importantly, in PTR, you can also farm new enemy types to get seasonal Chaos Powers, which are also an essential part of crafting and utilizing the new builds. You can also enhance your builds by upgrading Chaos Powers.
Overall, if you're aiming for quick dominance as a Druid in 2.4.0 PTR or Season 10, Companion Druid build is the better choice, as the new unique items are specifically designed for that purpose.
Alternatively, you can develop and experiment with a wider range of builds based on Kilt of Blackwing before PTR ends, incorporating your own unique playstyle. If you find some of them work, you can put them to the test before Season 10 launches!
That's all for this introduction. The new unique items obtained by other classes also have significant new uses, if you have time, you can also test them out in 2.4.0 PTR!
Since the game's launch, Diablo 4 has added seasonal powers to almost every season. While their names and specific functions vary, they essentially all provide new combat benefits in a season-specific manner.
Season 10, the final season of 2025, is expected to launch on September 23rd. A month before that, Diablo 4 2.4.0 PTR will be available from August 19th to 26th, allowing you to preview and test the main gameplay of Season 10.
This PTR will allow you to experience the power of Season 10 new Chaos Perks in advance and, combined with them, craft new builds to farm Diablo 4 gold in new dungeons and in-game events in a seasonally specific way.
With this in mind, we'll introduce all Chaos Perks that will appear in the game and their combat effects.
Chaos Perks, also known as Chaos Powers, are divided into general and class-specific types based on their stats. They rank on four rarity levels: magic, rare, legendary, and unique.
There are three general powers of each rarity, and every class has one specific Chaos Perk of each rarity, for a total of 36. Regardless of your playable class, you have access to 16 powers.
Equipping Chaos Powers activates their effects without attaching any other items. However, it's important to note that you can only equip one unique power and three non-unique powers per battle, and some perks may offer advantages as well as disadvantages.
However, by choosing perks wisely, they can be used in conjunction with your class skills and gear to craft new builds tailored for Season 10.
In all Season 10 updates, Chaos Rift is a seasonal event. These rifts will randomly appear throughout Diablo 4, including dungeons. Killing the monsters that spawn from these rifts will reward you with Chaos Perks, as well as special rewards like Chaos Armor.
Once you've earned Chaos Perks, you can consume seasonal currency to upgrade them, up to level 10. However, upgrades only increase the inherent stats of your powers and don't grant any additional effects.
The exact currency name and the required amount per level won't be fully known until 2.4.0 PTR or even the release of Season 10. But honestly, this won't ruin your PTR experience.
Here are all 12 general Chaos Powers and their effects, listed below by rarity:
Magic Chaos Perks:
Rare Chaos Perks:
Legendary Chaos Perks:
Unique Chaos Perks:
Specialized powers add benefits to your character based on the characteristics of their class, making them more targeted than generic ones.
Barbarian
Druid
Necromancer
Rogue
Sorcerer
Spiritborn
That's all for you, but the number of powers and their specific effects are subject to change after 2.4.0 PTR or Season 10 launches, so be sure to stay tuned for any game updates!
Perhaps because of the delay of the second DLC until 2026, Diablo 4's overall performance this year has been rather mediocre, seemingly lacking the appeal of other popular ARPGs. However, the reality is that no game can avoid this phase.
As the final season of 2025, Season 10 is expected to launch on September 23rd. The gameplay should remain largely the same as before: buffs from seasonal powers or items, new dungeons and events, and various minor optimizations.
While the gameplay isn't significantly different, there are still some subtle differences. Without a thorough understanding of these, it's difficult to fully enjoy Season 10. Therefore, it's worth checking out this guide to get your hands on 2.4.0 PTR.
PTR will launch on August 19, 2025, and will run until August 26th. Next week, in addition to previewing Season 10 content, you can also experience new changes coming to Vessel of Hatred.
2.4.0 PTR is expected to highlight Chaos Amor, Chaos Perks, and a revamped Infernal Hordes from Season 10. The game will continue to refine the content based on your feedback and that of other players participating in PTR, aiming for an even better Season 10 in September.
As the name of Season 10, Infernal Chaos, suggests, the first feature of this season is the addition of several Chaos-centric seasonal content, including new Chaos Perks and Chaos Armor items.
Chaos Perks, like Horadric Powers and Boss Powers from the previous two seasons, will provide new ways to gain combat benefits and will be available in four tiers:
You can expect to equip three non-unique perks and one unique perk per battle, and the maximum number of perks that can be obtained per class is 16.
As for Chaos Armor, it's an item that adds to your Chaos Perks and offers more combat possibilities. They're enhanced versions of existing Unique items. If you already own a Unique item, it can be used directly as Chaos Armor in Season 10.
Therefore, Chaos Armor should remain the same as before, dropping from certain bosses along with Diablo 4 gold. It's worth noting that the unique items added to each class in Season 10 are also Chaos Armor:
As one of Diablo 4's most significant endgame events, Infernal Hordes has become not only popular but also a valuable resource farming location since its introduction in Season 5.
Season 10 is expected to feature updates to Infernal Hordes, which will refine the event's gameplay and provide more value by adjusting offerings and base monster counts.
For example, the game will grant you an Infernal Offering upon entering the event, instantly igniting embers to inject a burst of fire into your battles, allowing you to clear enemies more quickly.
Infernal Hordes will also feature Chaos Monsters and Chaos Waves based on Chaos mechanic. Killing Chaos Monsters grants you special buffs, while Chaos Waves increase the difficulty of subsequent waves, giving you the opportunity to farm more loot.
Previously in Infernal Hordes, Fell Council was the final enemy type you encountered. In PTR and the official Season 10, one council member will be designated as the council speaker and gain enhanced skills.
Adding to this, you can also play the newly added Fleeting Hordes in PTR. After completing its four waves of attacks, defeat two Fell Council members before consuming Aether to redeem rewards.
In addition to the existing Fell Council, Season 10 will also add Bartuc, the Vizjerei Warlord, as the final boss of Infernal Hordes. If you enter Infernal Hordes as a group, every member must consume Aether to fight him.
Another new feature worth keeping an eye out for is the seasonal Chaos Rifts, which randomly spawn monsters and demons in Helltides and Nightmare Dungeons. Completing these events may reward gold, XP, gems, and Chaos Armor.
If you're lucky, you might encounter Mythic Chaos Rifts, and completing these events might even grant you Mythic Uniques.
2.4.0 PTR is expected to be available in the major regions of North America, Europe, Korea and Japan, South America, and Australia. And as with most previous PTRs, you can earn additional PTR boosts through vendor Mrak.
After creating a new PTR character, you can find Mrak near the main waypoint in Ked Bardu. He will provide segmented boosts for testing specific items. All available 2.4.0 PTR boost content includes:
Crafting & Materials
Equipment
Paragon
Progression
Seasonal
Expect further changes to the above content after Season 10 officially launches, which will also include new Season Journeys, Blessings, and Reliquary Battle Pass. While everything will be finalized with Season 10, until then, enjoy 2.4.0 PTR!
Thanks to the rapid development of social media, it's now possible to communicate with the creators of your favorite games directly! Some games even host exclusive panel discussions to gain a deeper understanding of player opinions.
For Diablo 4, this event is Sanctuary Sitdown - or, until August of this year, you might have been more accustomed to calling it Campfire Chats.
Regardless of the name, the two events' purpose remains to provide a platform for communication between the development team and players.
So, what is the purpose of this Sanctuary Sitdown, and how will you participate? What will it reveal about the future development path of Diablo 4? We will provide you with an introduction and speculation.
The event will begin at 11:00 AM PDT on August 14, 2025. It will feature a host, members of Diablo 4 development team, and players joining Sanctuary Discord to engage in discussion and answer questions from players in the channel.
This event is expected to focus on discussing and answering questions about Season 10 and its PTR. If you're interested and would like to ask the developers questions by participating, please follow these steps:
It's important to note that the specific content of Season 10 that will be discussed during Sanctuary Sitdown is currently unknown, and the players' questions that will be answered will be random, making the duration of the event uncertain.
While this isn't the first time Diablo 4 has held a Sanctuary Sitdown, developers are more accustomed to using Campfire Chats to communicate with you before the launch of a new season in the past.
Campfire Chats are typically broadcast live on Twitch or YouTube, allowing you to watch the live stream or replay it even if you don't have an account. However, due to platform changes, Sanctuary Sitdown on Discord not only requires a platform account but also doesn't offer replays.
This means that if no participants record the livestream content, you won't be able to view the interview content without participating in Sanctuary Sitdown.
As for the changes in live content, Campfire Chats will be more focused on "interviews," allowing the development team to directly inform you about changes related to the new season and PTR, such as possible new content and changes to Diablo 4 gold drop rates.
However, Sanctuary Sitdown will clearly place greater emphasis on communicating with you and other players, answering valuable player questions to share Diablo 4's plans and development schedule for the new season, allowing you to feel more engaged.
To be honest, this change in communication format has both advantages and disadvantages. On the positive side, Sanctuary Sitdown can raise the barrier to entry and ensure that players who participate are genuinely interested in game development.
This will ensure that questions received during the event are more targeted and valuable, avoiding interruptions from "guest" users and improving the effectiveness of the event.
However, the increased barrier to entry may also discourage some players from participating, and the inability to replay the event livestreams will deprive players of sufficient access to the new season's changes.
Given the mediocre performance of recent seasons, you might even consider this a "cop-out" strategy for Diablo 4: while avoiding more public feedback, the selected questions may already be predetermined.
While the livestream hasn't yet begun, it's clear that Season 10 will be the focus of discussion. However, the change in format also means that the season may lack sufficient content for developers to discuss, necessitating the use of Q&A to fill the time.
Currently known information about Season 10 primarily includes Chaos Powers, Infernal Hordes update, new pets, and more IP collaborations announced in the 2025 roadmap.
Therefore, we anticipate that Season 10 will not differ significantly from the previous two or three seasons in terms of overall season mechanics, continuing the same formula of new season power, dungeon updates, and other new events.
As the final Diablo 4 season in 2025, you might have hoped that S10 would deliver truly compelling new content, like S6, which launched at the same time last year, such as a new class or dungeon.
However, Season 6 was able to do so primarily because it launched alongside the first DLC.
Considering that the second DLC will launch sometime in 2026, likely not far from the end of Season 10, a lackluster performance for Season 10 as a transitional season is entirely acceptable.
In fact, rather than innovation, addressing long-standing shortcomings is more important for the current Diablo 4 regular season, such as increasing loot drop rates, further improving class balance, and adding player leaderboards.
Overall, we expect Sanctuary Sitdown to offer only a few details about Season 10 and PTR, with no surprise announcements expected unless they discuss the development progress of the next DLC.
However, if you have the time, you can definitely participate. While there are some requirements, it's not difficult to do. If your question is selected, it's a great experience! Good luck!
As Diablo 4 Season 9 progresses into the mid-to-late stages, some classes and builds' special advantages from the beginning of the season are becoming less pronounced, giving you a wider range of options if you're looking to play a new character.
For example, at the start of Season 9, Sorcerer's strongest build is undoubtedly Hydra Build. This is because the enhanced Hydra skill, combined with the new unique item, Ophidian Iris, boosts both resistance and damage output.
However, if you're looking for more versatile Sorcerer builds, that's entirely possible. In fact, with the right combination, the classic Ice Shards Sorcerer Build remains powerful in Season 9.
Below, we'll provide some tips for crafting and utilizing this build in Diablo 4 Season 9.
Although the names might seem contradictory, Flame Shield is indeed the first skill that makes sense for this build. This skill, by engulfing you, deals 40% burning damage per second to nearby enemies, granting you immunity.
The second skill to introduce is undoubtedly the core skill, Ice Shards. It fires five shards, each dealing 36% damage to enemies and an additional 25% damage to frozen enemies. If you enchant it, the ice shards will automatically fly towards frozen enemies.
These two skills, when used in conjunction with Teleport, further increase the overall build's mobility and activate the effects of the ring Tal Rasha's Iridescent Loop:
If you're interested, you can also replace these two skills with other ice skills, such as Frost Nova or Ice Blades. In fact, every ice skill in your skill list will help you gain damage bonuses from your passive skills.
However, if you want to build this build with the lightning skill Unstable Currents, you must ensure you have sufficient rare gear and consume materials such as Diablo 4 gold, Veiled Crystal, and Obducites to upgrade their affixes through Masterworking.
Overall, if you're looking for a more scalable build, a Flame Shield + Ice Shards + other ice skills combination is enough to complete an Ice Shards Sorcerer build. With a well-defined skill rotation, you can achieve adequate resistance and a decent damage multiplier.
In addition, with this build, aside from Ice Shards skill, you don't need to worry about enchantments; you can mix and match any ice skills. However, if you use a defensive ice skill, you'll need to activate it more frequently.
As for passive skills, you can unlock them according to the following recommendations if you have enough skill points:
In addition to the already mentioned Tal Rasha's Iridescent Loop, other essential gear for this build includes Helm Hail of Verglas, Shroud of False Death, and Fist of Fate, providing the following benefits:
Helm Hail of Verglas:
Chest Armor Shroud of False Death:
Gloves Fists of Fate:
Among the benefits of these three items, in addition to the various stat-boosting, resistances and the unique buff to Ice Shards, the lucky hit chance bonus is worth mentioning. It allows you to freeze enemies more frequently in combat, boosting the damage of your core abilities.
For two-handed weapons, Aspect of Piercing Cold is probably the best choice. While it reduces the damage of Ice Shards, it allows you to simultaneously attack and pierce multiple enemies, increasing the damage of your entire build through more flexible control.
Other gear worth acquiring includes:
As a Season 9 power, no Season 9 build should miss out on the new buffs Horadric Spells offer. For Ice Shards Sorcerer builds, the following Horadric Spells are particularly useful:
Of course, to obtain Horadric spells, you'll need to diligently farm Horadric dungeons and earn Horadric Phials by playing other regular Diablo 4 events, upgrading these spells to become more powerful.
In short, if you're looking to explore build possibilities beyond Hydra as a Sorcerer in Season 9, Ice Shards are a great option! Have fun!
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