A lot of people who have never played a Diablo game (or aRPG) before are Big Mad today over the news that Diablo 4’s Season Pass will only be progressed within the Seasonal Realm, so I’d like to clear things up. To anyone who has enjoyed Diablo before, none of this is a surprise. Which is why it’s a little frustrating to see series newcomers fundamentally misunderstand the point of these games: experimentation.
Yes, it’s very fun to grind and grind an Eternal Realm character forever, but it also gets stale. Which is why seasons offer a fresh start for everyone with new items and mechanics to spice things up. Here’s how Seasons work in Diablo 4.
Diablo 4 Seasons Are a Fresh Start
Everyone, beginning in Season 1, will be tasked with creating a new character from scratch. Seasonal characters are not “temporary” – they become Eternal characters after the season ends, meaning you can play them as long as you like and even trade gear with your other Eternal characters that existed prior to the season.
But seasons require a new character because they introduce new balance, mechanics, and items for all classes that might not play nicely with uber-leveled existing character builds. Use seasons to play something new!
Related: Diablo 4 Battle Pass Explained: How Does it Work?
Seasons are also a form of competition – they give everyone a clean slate to set their own goals. Sometimes this means getting to level 100 as fast as possible. For others (like in my case), it means seeing how far I can take my off-meta build before it falls apart.
Battlepass Progression is Tied to Seasonal Progression
As mentioned before, you’ll only be able to get Battlepass unlocks on a Seasonal character. If this doesn’t sound fun, that’s fine! You can stick with your Eternal Realm characters until the end of time. Just remember, Battlepass unlocks (like cosmetics) can also be used in the Eternal Realm. So if you want these extra goodies, consider taking the plunge.
Some Items Are Also Coming to Eternal Realm in Season 1
On Twitter, Diablo 4 game director Joe Piepiora confirmed that new Legendary Aspects and Unique items are also coming to the Eternal Realm on seasonal release. This means some new content will be made available to your existing characters, but new seasonal mechanics (which we have yet to learn about) will be locked behind the Seasonal Realm.
Successful mechanics are sometimes brought to the Eternal Realm after a season ends. Seasons are a great way for the developers to incrementally test new mechanics safely, so it’s best to embrace them as a new twist on the game each time they release.
If you’d like to see some of the changes coming, check out our coverage of Diablo 4’s first Campfire Chat with the developers!
