Diablo 4 has finally announced a start date for Season 7: Season of Witchcraft—and behold Dorian the Diablo Pigeon – Windows Central
Something witchy this way comes on January 21
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Diablo 4 news has been pretty light over the holidays, but with a new developer stream coming up Blizzard have announced that Diablo 4 Season 7: Season of Witchcraft will officially start on January 21 at 10 a.m PST / 1:00 p.m EST. In a blogpost today we’ve been given a bunch of new information about Season 7, including new patch notes following a mixed response to the Public Test Realm (PTR) of Patch 2.1 in December.With the new patch and balancing changes, there is a seasonal questline, and an armory for both Eternal and Seasonal players to enjoy switching builds with ease. All of the above will be added with new Uniques and Legendary Aspects, and an all new pet to earn from completing the Seasonal Journey that I’m particularly excited about, let’s break it all down!”Heed the call of the Witches of Hawezar, a Coven that is bound by the deep magic oozing from the swamps they call home. The Coven are the protectors of the Tree of Whispers, who discovered its many captive Heads are missing. The Tree forgets no oaths and forgives no debts, and these Heads have dues to pay till the end of days. However, these missing Heads have been set loose—free to carry out their own hunt—travelling across Sanctuary to seek bodies and reclaim what was once theirs.”We’ll be collecting missing heads for the Tree of Whispers and handing in for completely on Coven’s Favor, this seasons version of the reputation board.Make sure you have selected ‘Seasonal’ character when starting your game, and ‘skip campaign’, then head to Gea Kul to speak with an NPC called Witch Gelena. The season quest will also gift us with new powers, which can be equipped from the character tab. This should be familiar to those who played Season 2 ‘Season of Blood’. There are 3 types of powers:To learn these powers of Witchcraft, we’ll need to complete a Seasonal Reputation board with the Coven, and the best way to complete this will be doing Whisper bounties and defeating the new Headrotten enemies to earn Restless Rot. The final reward is a Resplendant Spark, which you can use towards crafting a Mythic Unique.The favor earned with the Coven for completing this board can be used to upgrade Altars underneath the Tree of Whispers. This in turn will unlock new Witchcraft Powers. Some nodes are ‘Lost’ powers which need to be unlocked with a ‘Forgotten Altar’. These are found in random dungeons around Sanctuary, so exploration is encouraged.Witchcraft Powers can be upgraded directly in your inventory using the Restless Rot you’ve earned. Hunting down Headrotten in higher difficulty tiers will reward you with more Restless Rot.All the latest news, reviews, and guides for Windows and Xbox diehards.Here’s all the powers you can unlock in Season 7, with strikethroughs as indicated where there have been changes made following the testing in December.Eldritch PowersFirebat ServantsAbyssal ResonanceWave of WoePurging TouchShaken SoulHex of FlamesDoom OrbPsyche PowersLife LinkHex of ShatteringAura of MisfortuneAura of LamentVengeful SpiritTwilight WardingGrowth & Decay PowersPoison Frog ServantSoul HarvestHex of WhispersDecay AugmentationGrowAura of SiphoningThe CycleLost PowersBreath of the CovenHex SpecializationAura SpecializationPiranhadoThis update will be for both Seasonal and Eternal realms, and is a permanent quality of life change. Yes you can now, finally, save loadouts. So if you want to play different builds with your class at a click rather than a painstaking re-spec, the armory is your friend.You’ll be able to Save, Load and Name your loadouts, and you can have 5 loadouts per characAt a glance you’ll be able to see Equipment, Skills, selected Paragon Nodes and Glyphs that make up your saved build. Note: changing between Loadout slots with differing Paragon loadouts does not cost Gold.The Armory can be accessed in every major city in Sanctuary.There will be new Whisper bounties to complete for this season, and also a chance for the Tree to drop an Ancestral Collection as a reward. This cache guarantees at least 1 Ancestral item and considering they are now a rarity, granting at least one great affix, this will be a great way to farm them.”The Heads missing from the Tree of Whispers have become even more ghastly, true abominations. They are desperate to claim new bodies for themselves, to be whole and human again. But without the Tree they are incomplete, fragmented and mad. They spread a terrible rot to anyone they touch.”Headhunt zones are a new overworld activity, which will highlight an area of the Tmap that you can hunt down Headrotten enemies. These will be the best areas to complete Whisper bounties, and you won’t need to always return to the Tree of Whispers to hand in a full bounty collection. There will be a ‘Raven of the Tree’ in each Headhunt zone that will act as your quest receiver.Completing Whisper bounties within the Headhunt zone will also reveal Exposed Roots, which spawn an Uprooted Cocoon from which appears a new Headrotten Boss. Killing one of these powerful enemies and taking its head will give you rewards when handed in to the Coven. Socketable Occult Gems are crafted with materials earned both from the Whisper bounties and returning heads from the Headhunts. Gelena at the Tree of Whispers will craft these for you and they give additional affixes to complement the new Witchcraft powers. Each Occult Gem provides 160 Armor and 8% Resist All. Craft the following Occult Gems at Gelena:BarbarianMantle of the Mountain’s Fury Unique Chest ArmorAffixesPowerOf Incendiary Fissures Legendary AspectDruidMalefic Crescent Unique AmuletAffixesPowerOf Wolf’s Rain Legendary AspectOf Electrified Claws Legendary AspectNecromancerIndira’s Memory Unique PantsAffixesPowerKessime’s Legacy Unique PantsAffixesPowerOf Distilled Anima Legendary AspectBone Duster’s Legendary AspectRogueAssassin’s Stride Unique BootsAffixesPowerSlice and Dice Legendary AspectBitter Infection Legendary AspectSorcererStrike of Stormhorn Unique FocusAffixesPowerOkun’s Catalyst Unique FocusAffixesPowerOf Mind’s Awakening Legendary AspectCasting a Pyromancy Skill Immobilizes enemies hit for 0.5-1 seconds. Casting a Shock Skill grants a burst of 15-30% Movement speed for 1 second. Casting a Frost Skill grants a Barrier for 3-6% Maximum Life. While Enlightened, each Skill grants all benefits.SpiritbornSustained War-Crozier Unique QuarterstaffAffixesPowerEndless Talons Legendary AspectSince the launch of Vessel of Hatred and some pretty low key holiday events, it’s been pretty quiet on the Diablo 4 front. Silence even more deafening as many are currently diving into Path of Exile 2, so I’m really excited to see how Diablo 4 Season 7 fares in the face of its new competitor. We’ll hear more about what to expect from Season 7 and the game going forward in the next developer campfire chat, which you can watch on January 16 at 11 a.m PST on Youtube, or catch up later with my coverage here at Windows Central.Jen is a News Writer for Windows Central, focused on all things gaming and Microsoft. Anything slaying monsters with magical weapons will get a thumbs up such as Dark Souls, Dragon Age, Diablo, and Monster Hunter. When not playing games, she’ll be watching a horror or trash reality TV show, she hasn’t decided which of those categories the Kardashians fit into. You can follow Jen on Twitter @Jenbox360 for more Diablo fangirling and general moaning about British weather. Windows Central is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.©
Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street,
New York,
NY 10036.
