What to Expect From Season 12
Blizzard has described Season 12 as a "more focused, streamlined season" that supports their broader roadmap heading into the launch of The Lord of Hatred expansion on April 28. While the core features were previewed earlier this year, Blizzard also noted that additional surprise features would be revealed closer to launch.
Note: The information below is based on what was shown during the Public Test Realm earlier this year. We expect some of the specifics, particularly numbers and balance tuning, to change before the season goes live.
The Killstreak System
The headline feature of Season 12 is a brand new Killstreak system that fundamentally changes the way you play across every activity in Diablo 4.
The concept is simple: slaughter enemies in quick succession to build and maintain a Killstreak. As you rack up kills, a tracker will appear on-screen showing your current kill count. There's a short timer that begins to deplete once your streak starts. Keep it alive by landing additional kills, dealing direct damage, or applying damage-over-time effects.
Killstreaks are broken into five tiers based on your total kills:
- Killstreak
- Carnage
- Devastation
- Bloodbath
- Massacre
When your timer fully depletes and the Killstreak ends, you'll be rewarded with Experience and Seasonal Reputation based on the total number of monsters slain, plus a bonus based on the highest tier you reached. But be warned, if you die during a Killstreak, it ends immediately with no rewards.
Bloodied Items -- A New Item Quality
Season 12 introduces Bloodied Items, an entirely new item quality tier that works hand-in-hand with the Killstreak system.
Any item that can drop has the potential to appear as Bloodied, and this quality tag is non-exclusive, meaning an item can be both Ancestral and Bloodied. What makes these items special is a new category of affixes that scale based on your Killstreak performance.
Bloodied Affixes come in three categories:
- Rampage (found on Armor) These affixes increase in power based on your current Killstreak Tier. For example, you might see something like "7% Move Speed per Killstreak Tier."
- Feast (found on Weapons) Feast affixes grant combat bonuses based on the total number of kills in your current Killstreak. An example: "Every 40 kills in your Killstreak, reset 1 random Cooldown." These are constant bonuses not tied to your Killstreak Tier.
- Hunger (found on Jewelry) Hunger affixes customize your reward drops, scaling with Killstreak Tiers. For instance, "Elite kills drop Runes more frequently."
As with other affixes in Diablo 4, Bloodied Affixes can stack their effects across multiple items.
Bloodied Sigils -- A New Layer of Challenge
If you're looking for even more of a challenge (and better rewards), Season 12 also brings Bloodied Sigils, special sigils available for Nightmare Dungeons, Infernal Hordes, and Lair Bosses once you reach Torment I.
Every Bloodied Sigil carries a unique Bloodied Affix called Relentless Butcher. Yes, you read that right.. The Butcher will hunt you relentlessly throughout the entire activity. If you manage to kill him, he immediately returns. He will never stop.
This doesn't replace the existing random Butcher spawn chance either, so there's a real possibility you could be fighting two Butchers at the same time.
Expect the difficulty of a Bloodied Sigil activity to be roughly a full Torment Tier higher than your current one. In return for this significant challenge, Bloodied Sigils guarantee drops of Bloodied Items.
New Unique Items
Season 12 introduces five new Unique items, all of which drop from the new Butcher Lair Boss. Here's a look at each:
Blood-Mad Idol - Unique Amulet
Useable by: All Classes
An amulet that grants permanent Berserking at the cost of taking massively increased Burning damage. While you're Burning, Berserking grants an additional 75-125% increased damage. It also rolls with All Stats, Attack Speed, Critical Strike Chance, and Damage Reduction while Injured.
Wendigo Brand - Unique Ring
Useable by: All Classes
Every 15 kills in the last 30-60 seconds increases your damage dealt by 2% and Maximum Health by 1%. It comes loaded with Life, Life Regen, Life on Hit, and Physical Resistance.
Rustbitten Dirk - Unique Dagger
Useable by: Sorcerer, Druid, Rogue, Necromancer
A dagger that deals 50-100% increased damage to isolated enemies. Rolls with All Stats, Life, Attack Speed, and Vulnerable Damage.
Wyrdskin - Unique Gloves
Useable by: All Classes
Wyrdskin automatically applies Vulnerable to Distant Enemies and Weakened to Close Enemies. Enemies that are both Vulnerable and Weakened take an additional 10-30% increased damage. Comes with Life, Core Skill Ranks, Crit Chance, and Attack Speed.
Thousand-Eye Reaver - Unique One-Handed Axe
Useable by: Barbarian, Druid, Necromancer, Paladin
Moving grants stacks of Ferocity (with an increased max of 1-3), and each stack also provides 4-8% Movement Speed. Pairs naturally with the Killstreak playstyle of constant movement and aggression. Rolls with Life, Crit Chance, Movement Speed on Elite Kill, and a Lucky Hit Physical Damage proc.
Quality of Life & Misc Changes
Beyond the seasonal features, Patch 2.6.0 also includes several welcome quality-of-life improvements:
- Traversal speed now scales with movement speed, including mount speed for traversals that can be jumped while mounted.
- Using a traversal resets your Mount cooldown.
- Potion cooldown is no longer different in the Fields of Hatred.
- Masterworked Greater Affixes now have their own distinct icon.
- The Legendary Monster affix now only appears in Expert Difficulty and higher.
- The Unique Monster affix now only appears in Penitent Difficulty and higher.
- A new Hide Weapon option in the Wardrobe lets you conceal sheathed weapons for a cleaner look.
- DLSS Super Resolution presets have been updated to take advantage of DLSS 4.5 features.
- New monster types, tilesets, and art have been added to The Tower.
Wrapping Up
Season 12 looks like it's all about rewarding aggressive, fast-paced play. The Killstreak system, Bloodied Items, and Bloodied Sigils all feed into a gameplay loop that incentivizes constant momentum, and the new Unique items are clearly designed with that philosophy in mind.
Keep in mind that everything above was previewed during the PTR earlier this year, and Blizzard has indicated that changes and additional surprise features are coming before the season goes live. We'll update this article as new information drops.
Until then, happy slaying!