Some Diablo 4 players are coming to terms with confirmation they must start a new character to play Season 1 content.
Diablo 4 launched early June, and while some fans raced towards the level cap of 100 (and some even managed it with a level 100 Hardcore character), Blizzard itself recently revealed the vast majority of Diablo 4 players have yet to complete the campaign. And yet, the start of Season 1 nears. While Blizzard has yet to announce its release date, amid-to-late July window has been confirmed.
This week, Diablo development chief Rod Fergusson took to Twitter to confirm Diablo 4 players must create a new seasonal character to enjoy the Season 1 content, including its battle pass.
“To take part in the seasonal questline, mechanics, season journey, and battle pass, you will need to create a new seasonal character,” Fergusson said. “Playing campaign with seasonal character (if you so desire or need to finish) will also progress the season journey and battle pass.”
While this is how seasons worked in previous Diablo games (players replay the game with each season's new content rather than hitting the ground running with a maxed out character), series newcomers weren’t necessarily in the know. And it should be noted Diablo 4 is the first game in the series to have a battle pass. As a result, Fergusson’s clarification sparked a number of comments from concerned Diablo 4 players who feel they’re already being left behind just a few weeks after the game came out.
“I’m a new Diablo player and a new dad,” Twitter user @putbackthestars said. “I only have maybe an hour a day to game, if that. So my current character is only level 11. You’re saying I should basically not even play this game then right?”
Fergusson replied to this comment, pointing out that once the Diablo 4 campaign is complete, it can be skipped (you only ever need to complete it once on any character on your account and then you can skip it for any character moving forward).
“No, you should definitely play,” Fergusson replied. “The new season mechanics/features come after the campaign is complete so you should focus on completing it now so you can just skip it when the season starts since you only ever need to complete the campaign once.”
But it’s the confirmation that existing characters cannot be used for Season 1 content, and the prospect of grinding a new seasonal character just to take part, that’s got so many Diablo 4 players worried.
“Gotta be honest, as a new player, I don’t see myself grinding like this again,” said Twitter user @chapmamba_. “If I have to start from scratch for Season 1 I’m likely done maining Diablo. And I know there’s a ton of people in the same boat. I care about my current character. I’d just say f**k it if I lost him.”
It’s worth pointing out existing characters are not “lost” with the launch of Season 1. Rather, they are moved to the Eternal Realm, a version of Diablo 4 without content from the latest season.
Blizzard may face a communication issue when Season 1 launches, as Twitter user @miketheitguy pointed out: “Most folks have no idea this is going to happen. When they get to the battle pass and find out, they'll know pretty quickly how bad of an idea this is and hopefully have a quick way out of it that can be implemented within a couple of weeks. Otherwise RIP Diablo 4.”
Fergusson continued to answer questions from worried Diablo 4 players on Twitter, addressing the issue of what happens when Season 1 ends.
“You're able to keep playing in the Eternal Realm, just like you are today, if you don't want to participate in seasonal activities,” Fergusson said. “And when a season ends, your seasonal character will move to the Eternal Realm so you can keep playing it there if you want.”
Diablo 4 seasons last three months, which means Season 1 should take players up to mid-October. Fergusson said the three month time period was set “to give people time to enjoy playing the content”.
Diablo 4’s endgame grind kicks off properly after the campaign is complete. As is typical with role-playing games of this type, the amount of experience you need to level up increases as you work your way towards the level cap. This means it takes much longer to level up from, say, 80 to 100 than it does from zero to 50.
Next month, Diablo 4 players will face a choice: ignore Season 1 and continue with their existing character, whatever level they’re at in the Eternal Realm, or create a brand new seasonal character and grind up through the levels once again.
This strikes at the heart of the appeal of Diablo 4: is it in focusing on just one character, slowly improving its power through farming loot? Or is it in leveling up multiple characters, each different than the last? Or perhaps it's a mix of both?
In IGN’s 9/10 review we described Diablo 4 as “a stunning sequel with near perfect endgame and progression design that makes it absolutely excruciating to put down”. Be sure to use our interactive map to keep track of your progress as you play.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
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