Acolyte of Chayula

Barbarian

Druid

Necromancer

Rogue

Sorcerer

Spiritborn


<p>Blizzard have announced the next Campfire stream for Diablo! Next week brings us more details on Season 8, and possibly a bit more on the year&#8217;s roadmap as well! </p>



<p>The stream arrives on Thursday, April 24th! </p>



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            <a class="source-link" target="_blank" href="https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/article/24195998/join-our-next-developer-update-livestream"><span class="white">(</span> Source URL <span class="white">)</span> </a>
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        <section class="blog">Our next Developer Update Livestream begins on <b>April 24</b> at <b>11 a.m. PDT</b> and gives a preview of Season 8: Belial’s Return. Join members of the development team as they share details on what’s coming in our newest season.</p>
<p>Tune in to learn more about the new questline coming with the season, new seasonal powers, and more. There will also be a Q&amp;A segment at the end of the stream for players to field their questions directly to the team.</p>
<p>Visit our official Diablo <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/diablo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitch</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/Diablo/featured" target="_blank" rel="noopener">YouTube</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/Diablo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">X</a>, and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@diablo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TikTok</a> channels to watch live! Following the Developer Update Livestream’s conclusion, join us on our first Sanctuary Sitdown with Community Host, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@Lurkin17" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lurkin</a> and our very own Charles Dunn talking all things Diablo IV. They’ll be in the <a href="https://discord.gg/GdJfkuMtVh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sanctuary Discord</a> to answer your burning questions.</p>
<p>After the Livestream, we’ll post another article with a video of the chat so you can catch up on the details if you miss them.</p>
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Season 8 Developer Campfire Livestream: April 24th


<p>We have our first real batch of hotfixes after that single-issue one. </p>



<p>Hotfix 2 of Season 8 brings increases to reputation gains from bosses, as well as a reduction in Incursion boss HP. There&#8217;s also the always present stability improvements. </p>



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            <a class="source-link" target="_blank" href="https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/d4/t/psa-crown-of-lucion-temporarily-disabled-may-5-2025/220365"><span class="white">(</span> Source URL <span class="white">)</span> </a>
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        <p><strong>HOTFIX 2 &#8211; May 2, &#8211; 2.2.0</strong></p>
<p><strong>GAME UPDATES</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Reputation rewards for various activities have been increased:
<ul>
<li>World Boss: Increased from 250 to 2000.</li>
<li>Lair Boss: Increased from 750 to 1000.</li>
<li>Belial, Lord of Lies (Lair Boss Ambush): Increased from 1000 to 1500.</li>
<li>Blood Maiden: Increased from 250 to 1000.</li>
<li>Regular Boss: Increased from 250 to 750.-</li>
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</li>
<li>Apparition Incursion Bosses have had their Health reduced, particularly at lower levels.</li>
<li>Various Stability improvements.</li>
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Diablo 4 Season 8 Hotfixes: May 2nd


<p>Blizzard have announced that the <a class="icy-gtnbrg-link" href="#"><span class="icy-gtnbrg-tooltip"><img decoding="async" class="icy-gtnbrg-tooltip-img" src="https://static.icy-veins.com/wp/static/d4/latest/images/icons/2DInventory_Items_Helms_Generic_30.webp" alt="Crown of Lucion"><span class="tooltip-spell-name" data-item-type="Helm" data-item-quality="unique">Crown of Lucion</span></span></a> Unique has been disabled and will return in a future update. It seems the item had a damage-scaling issue, which was causing problems.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://static.icy-veins.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025-05-02-22_59_22-20-Facebook-Mozilla-Firefox.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image 72246" style="width:599px;height:408px" width="599" height="408"/></figure>



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        <p>Hi all,</p>
<p>A damage-scaling issue was discovered with <strong>Crown of Lucion</strong> . The item will be temporarily disabled and will return in an upcoming update. As always, we appreciate the share of discoveries and we will be quick to provide updates on when we’ll have the item back up for players to use.</p>
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Crown of Lucion Unique Helmet Temporarily Disabled


<p>While some players aren&#8217;t generally too happy with the seasonal event for Belial&#8217;s Return, others can&#8217;t even find them! </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">A Dramatic Change Since the Last Season</h2>



<p>It seems many players take a while to be able to find where the Apparition Incursions are happening on the world map. The timer indicating an Incursion is up is clear, but then players have to look around the map to find them, and that seems to take too long for their liking. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-reddit wp-block-embed-reddit"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="reddit-embed-bq" style="height:316px" ><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/comments/1kchn5c/wheres_all_the_incursions_wtf/">Wheres all the incursions? Wtf!</a><br> by<a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/JesusaurusWrecks/">u/JesusaurusWrecks</a> in<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/">diablo4</a></blockquote><script async src="https://embed.reddit.com/widgets.js" charset="UTF-8"></script>
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<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-reddit wp-block-embed-reddit"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="reddit-embed-bq" style="height:316px" ><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/comments/1kbha95/make_incursions_easier_to_see_on_world_map/">Make Incursions easier to see on world map.</a><br> by<a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/No_Barracuda1132/">u/No_Barracuda1132</a> in<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/">diablo4</a></blockquote><script async src="https://embed.reddit.com/widgets.js" charset="UTF-8"></script>
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<p>Some players actually did it to themselves, as the incursions are events, and if you filter those out, you won&#8217;t see them at all. </p>



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<blockquote class="reddit-embed-bq" style="height:316px" ><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/comments/1kbssl2/am_i_the_only_one_who_cant_find_the_incursions_on/">Am I the only one who can&#39;t find the Incursions on the map?</a><br> by<a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/xabth42/">u/xabth42</a> in<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/">diablo4</a></blockquote><script async src="https://embed.reddit.com/widgets.js" charset="UTF-8"></script>
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<p>The &#8220;Season of squinting at the map&#8221; may just be a moniker that sticks! </p>



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<blockquote class="reddit-embed-bq" ><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/comments/1kbssl2/comment/mpx6fwe/">Comment</a><br> by<a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/xabth42/">u/xabth42</a> from discussion<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/comments/1kbssl2/am_i_the_only_one_who_cant_find_the_incursions_on/"></a><br> in<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/">diablo4</a></blockquote><script async src="https://embed.reddit.com/widgets.js" charset="UTF-8"></script>
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<p>The icon is relatively small, just a little bigger than the Strongholds or Waypoints, and does look similar to the other icons like the lair bosses. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" src="https://static.icy-veins.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025-04-30-22_03_35-Discord-Overlay.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image 72160"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Do you see it?</figcaption></figure>



<p>So what do you think? Is this an issue that should be changed? Or are some players just not that observant when it comes to map icons? </p>


“Season of Squinting at the Map”: Incursions Are Hard to Find


<p>Players on Xbox Series X are hitting a roadblock in Diablo 4&#8217;s Spiritborn class quest. A growing number of players are unable to interact with the brazier after entering the quest portal, effectively halting heir their progression.</p>



<p>Blizzard Community Management respond quickly, offering a solution that many players might overlook: <strong>You need to use a specific emote</strong> <strong>to activate the brazier</strong>. While this isn&#8217;t explained in the quest log, subtle visual hints in the environment are meant to guide players towards the correct emote to use!</p>



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        <p>Hey! For this quest you have to use an emote to activate the brazier. There are small hints around the vicinity to guide you on which one to use.</p>
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Diablo 4 Spiritborn Quest Bug on Xbox Leaves Players Stuck—Here’s the Fix


<p><a href="https://www.dailystar.co.uk/tech/gaming/diablo4-interview-arpg-rivals-easy-35132881">Daily Star</a> interviewed Colin Finer, Design Director for Systems and Deric Nunez, Lead Seasons Designer for Season 8. They talked about what exactly makes Diablo 4 what it is and how Belial&#8217;s return focuses in on that identity. They discuss how the seasonal boss powers make the player feel overpowered and how they also have the build-crafting customization side of things in the seasonal mechanic as well. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">&#8220;Making Diablo Even Better for Fans of Diablo&#8221;</h2>



<p>When asked how much other games in the genre impact Diablo 4&#8217;s development, Finer had this to say:</p>



<p>&#8220;I think we always try and think about what&#8217;s right for Diablo and how we improve Diablo. It&#8217;s a very sort of &#8216;Diablo first approach&#8217;, and that sort of manifests itself, I think in the Season 8 boss powers.&#8221;</p>



<p>And Nunez added:<br>&#8220;It&#8217;s a great question, and I think we really try our best to service Diablo first, like &#8216;what can we do to improve the Diablo formula? How can we make Diablo even better for the fans of Diablo?&#8221;</p>



<p>The rest of the interview discusses the quality of life improvements and increased difficulty of lair bosses, with summoning materials being removed and new abilities added to bosses. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" src="https://static.icy-veins.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Belial2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image 67931"/></figure>



<p><br>So what do you think? Is this the right approach to designing future seasons? Did boss powers give players that overpowered feeling well enough? </p>


A “Diablo First” Approach to Making S8 Compared to Other ARPGs


<p>Diablo 4 devs talk about shrine improvements, Whisper Caches, <a href="https://www.icy-veins.com/d4/guides/tempering-guide/">Tempering</a> upgrades, refined leveling, and other updates that went live in Season 8!</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Highlights</h2>



<ul>
<li>The conduit shrine has been removed until Blizzard reworks it.</li>



<li>Ancestral Whisper Caches from Season 7 have been brought back for <a href="https://www.icy-veins.com/d4/guides/apparition-incursion-guide/">Apparition Incursions</a>.</li>



<li>Obol Gambler has been buffed.</li>



<li>Tempering will remember the recipe now, so you can just hit it.</li>



<li>Blizzard turned back the leveling speed reduction, so it&#8217;s a little bit slower, but not as slow as it was during the 2.2.0 PTR.</li>



<li>They want to make sure Torment progression feels like good as it did  in Season 6.</li>
</ul>



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<iframe loading="lazy" title="Diablo IV | Belial&#039;s Return | Tempering, Leveling, and Shrine Updates" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VES5Zp12B_8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Diablo 4 Season 8 Adds Whisper Caches, Shrine Changes, and Faster Leveling Adjustments


<p>We have some very interesting things happening here in Season 8! Seeing an Ancestral item drop is always a good thing, but it seems players are running across some not-so-useful ones. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Some Very Unique Non-Unique Quality Items</h2>



<p>We haven&#8217;t seen non-Legendary or Unique Ancestral items since the loot rework in Vessel of Hatred. Well, it seems they&#8217;re back! Players have been reporting finding both Magic and Rare quality items with the Ancestral tag. Unfortunately, these do not sport the guaranteed Greater Affix that their Legendary and Unique counterpart are. They do have the maximum Item Power level of 800, however. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-reddit wp-block-embed-reddit"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="reddit-embed-bq" style="height:500px" ><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/comments/1kcg6y4/blue_ancestral_gear_dropping_in_torment_1/">Blue ancestral gear dropping in Torment 1</a><br> by<a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/ZooeiiVJ/">u/ZooeiiVJ</a> in<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/">diablo4</a></blockquote><script async src="https://embed.reddit.com/widgets.js" charset="UTF-8"></script>
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<blockquote class="reddit-embed-bq" ><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/comments/1kcg6y4/comment/mq3g2jn/">Comment</a><br> by<a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/ZooeiiVJ/">u/ZooeiiVJ</a> from discussion<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/comments/1kcg6y4/blue_ancestral_gear_dropping_in_torment_1/"></a><br> in<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/">diablo4</a></blockquote><script async src="https://embed.reddit.com/widgets.js" charset="UTF-8"></script>
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<p>It seems some toggle got turned off with the season, and these are now dropping again. It&#8217;s unclear if these are rare drops or perhaps linked to specific quest rewards, which have seen weird item results in the past. It&#8217;s also possible they&#8217;re just dropping all the time, and players just don&#8217;t notice the Ancestral tag. This isn&#8217;t really an issue at all and is just a fun little bug. It also might just remain in the game for the season, because why not!  </p>



<p>What&#8217;s next, Sacreds returning?</p>


Magic and Rare Ancestral Items in Season 8?! Something’s Fishy!


<p>The Obol vendor has been dramatically improved this season. The drop rates of Legendary, Unique and Ancestral items have been <a href="https://www.icy-veins.com/d4/news/diablo-4-season-8-buffs-obol-vendor-guaranteed-ancestral-gear-in-torment/">significantly increased</a>. This may have also increased the vendor&#8217;s Mythic Unique drops (as they&#8217;re also always Ancestral) &#8211; and they didn&#8217;t affect their ability to transmute any gear slot you choose into any Mythic! </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Gloves to Two-Hander</h2>



<p>There are many gear slots that do not have a Mythic Unique for them. And so when the Obol vendor rolls one while you&#8217;re buying gear for that slot, it will randomly generate another! This has happened many times already and now it&#8217;s the first time we&#8217;re seeing it in Season 8. </p>



<p>As <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/odlavinroinuj/">odlavinroinuj</a> very succinctly puts it, they really just wanted gloves and were given a giant twop-hander! </p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-reddit wp-block-embed-reddit"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="reddit-embed-bq" style="height:500px" ><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/comments/1kc07mj/i_just_needed_a_ga_gloves_ffs/">I just needed a GA gloves ffs&#8230;</a><br> by<a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/odlavinroinuj/">u/odlavinroinuj</a> in<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/">diablo4</a></blockquote><script async src="https://embed.reddit.com/widgets.js" charset="UTF-8"></script>
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<p>And while <a class="icy-gtnbrg-link" href="#"><span class="icy-gtnbrg-tooltip"><img decoding="async" class="icy-gtnbrg-tooltip-img" src="https://static.icy-veins.com/wp/static/d4/latest/images/icons/2DInventory_Swords_40.webp" alt="The Grandfather"><span class="tooltip-spell-name" data-item-type="Two-Handed Sword" data-item-quality="mythic">The Grandfather</span></span></a> isn&#8217;t in any <a href="https://www.icy-veins.com/d4/necromancer/builds/">top Necromancer builds</a>, it&#8217;s still pretty great for gearing up, for an alt or, at worst, is a very nice Radiant Spark! </p>



<p>So don&#8217;t skip out on the Obol Vendor, as it might have some purples for you! </p>


Off-Slot Mythic Unique Returns: Obols Turn Gloves to Grandfather


<p>Good news for you Eternal players and those that don&#8217;t have the time to re-level a character in the new season! Blizzard has made it so you don&#8217;t have to play the new season to get the Seasonal Reliquary cosmetic rewards! </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Favor Tokens on Eternal</h2>



<p>If you decided to skip the season or simply don&#8217;t have the time to level a new character to gain the needed tokens, you can actually do so on Eternal characters. You can just log in to one of your previously leveled and geared characters and farm the Favor Tokens much faster. When you&#8217;ve gathered enough (35 for the free Reliquary, 20 for the Weapons, 42 for Beasts, 100 for Armor), just go to the Reliquaries tab (default keybind R, which is causing some trouble and deaths) and get your cosmetics! </p>



<p>Included in the free Belial&#8217;s Return Reliquary is 200 Platinum. So even if you decided to skip the season entirely, it&#8217;s worth logging in and grabbing 10 Favor Tokens to get the free premium currency. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" src="https://static.icy-veins.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025-05-01-11_51_32-Discord-Overlay.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image 71989"/></figure>


You Don’t Have to Play the Season to Get Reliquary Rewards and Platinum


<p>Many players shared their concerns over some potential AI usage in the Spanish version of the game. They took to Reddit and shared clips showcasing some very off-sounding lines and there was a consensus that something was very off, but no one could quite get a handle on it. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">A Simple Explanation</h2>



<p>Another theory on the terrible quality of the Spanish dub was that Text-to-Speech was used. Unfortunately, the video and several other threads on the subject were removed, so all we have is this. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-reddit wp-block-embed-reddit"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="reddit-embed-bq" style="height:500px" ><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/comments/1kb1irx/here_is_a_sample_of_the_aitexttospeechwhatever/">Here is a sample of the AI/TextToSpeech/whatever Spanish Dub for all the naysayers. The worst starts at 0:40</a><br> by<a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Lottus21/">u/Lottus21</a> in<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/">diablo4</a></blockquote><script async src="https://embed.reddit.com/widgets.js" charset="UTF-8"></script>
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<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-reddit wp-block-embed-reddit"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="reddit-embed-bq" style="height:316px" ><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/comments/1kavnth/new_voices_were_made_with_ai_at_least_in_spanish/">New voices were made with AI (at least in Spanish), new NPCS arent even speaking or pronouncing correctly&#8230; ITS REALLY BAD.</a><br> by<a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Lottus21/">u/Lottus21</a> in<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/">diablo4</a></blockquote><script async src="https://embed.reddit.com/widgets.js" charset="UTF-8"></script>
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<p>It seems the Text-to-Speech option was the correct one. A bug caused the old temporary voice-over to be used instead of the intended one from the voice actors. Director of Social &amp; Content Marketing Adam Fletcher explained what was going on in one of the deleted threads.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-reddit wp-block-embed-reddit"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="reddit-embed-bq" ><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/comments/1kavnth/comment/mpsmtci/">Comment</a><br> by<a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Lottus21/">u/Lottus21</a> from discussion<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/comments/1kavnth/new_voices_were_made_with_ai_at_least_in_spanish/"></a><br> in<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo4/">diablo4</a></blockquote><script async src="https://embed.reddit.com/widgets.js" charset="UTF-8"></script>
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<p>Players seem quick to call AI shenanigans, even when it&#8217;s fairly obvious it&#8217;s not the case. Either way the bug will be fixed in an upcoming client patch, along with the <a href="https://www.icy-veins.com/d4/news/dont-worry-smoldering-ashes-at-end-of-season-journey-is-a-visual-bug/">Season Journey rewards</a> visual issue, and even the &#8220;<a href="https://www.icy-veins.com/d4/news/the-reliquary-is-getting-players-killed-with-pop-ups/">pressing R always brings up the Reliquary screen</a> which might kill you&#8221; problem. </p>


Season 8 Developer Campfire Livestream: April 24th

Diablo IV News