by dredscythe - 5 years ago     show comments

Here we are, the long-awaited information for Season 18! It’s all here for you.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: I pulled the patch notes into their own article]

See information below.

Season 18 begins August 23, alongside the latest Diablo III patch. Read on to learn more about the all-new Season of the Triune buff, the heap of brand-new Legendary powers, and handful of crafted item reworks in store for Patch 2.6.6!

Table of Contents

• Season 18 Theme
• Season 18 Cosmetic Rewards
• Season Journey Rewards
• Seasonal Conquests
• Haedrig’s Gift
• FAQ

New Season Theme

Season 18 introduced the Season of the Triune, a call-back to an ancient cult forged over three millennia ago by the Prime Evils of the Burning Hells. Masquerading as three benevolent deities dedicated to Determination, Creation, and Love, the Prime Evils sought to infiltrate the hearts of men in a bid to tilt the odds in their favor in the ongoing Eternal Conflict. Ultimately defeated by Uldyssian during the Sin War, the remnants of the Cult of the Triune still operate today as the more well-known Coven, whom continue the work of Adria and Magdha even after their deaths.

For the duration of Season 18, all players will benefit from the Power of the Triunebuff, which will periodically summon circles around the battlefield that provide one of three random buffs:

• Triune of Love (Power): Players in the circle receive a 100% damage bonus while active
• Triune of Determination (Resource Reduction): Players in the circle receive a 50% discount on resources spent while active
• Triune of Creation (Cooldown Reduction): While standing in an active circle, any skills currently on cooldown come off of cooldown more quickly

We wanted to try something different this Season, and especially wanted to provide a change to your gameplay from the very first moment you begin your journey. This buff alters gameplay from level 1 to level 70 and beyond, providing an enticing reason to move around the battlefield to leverage these powerful boosts. We’re looking forward to seeing how players utilize these ancient powers from their first level to their final Greater Rift push!

Season 18 Cosmetic Rewards

Beginning with Season 17, we began re-introducing previous Seasonal rewards to make them available to players who may have missed them the first time around. For Season 18, this means awards that were originally available from Season 6 are returning to the Season Journey.

In addition to the Chest and Gloves slots of the exclusive Conqueror Set, players will be able to earn a series of portrait frames bedecked with the mysterious beauty of Blood Shards. A ghastly All Hallow’s pennant will also be available, allowing you to proudly proclaim your love for all things grim and creepy.

Season Journey Rewards

If you’ve been diligently slaying demons for the past few Seasons and reached Conqueror in the Season Journey each time, you’ve surely acc rued a few extra stash tabs. You’ll earn one additional tab each Season by finising the Conqueror tier, up to a maximum of five:

• Guardian of Sanctuary: Finish a level 70 Nephalem Rift on Torment XIII within five minutes
• Gem of My Life: Level three Legendary Gems to level 55
• All I Do IS Win: Complete two Conquests this Season
• Disarm You: Kill Rakanoth at level 70 in under 15 seconds on Torment XIII difficulty
• Money Ain’t A Thang: Slay Greed on Torment XIII difficulty
• Take U There: Reach Greater Rift level 60 Solo
• Power Amplification: Use Kanai’s Cube to augment an Ancient Legendary item with a level 50+ gem
• Cubic Reconfiguration: Use Kanai’s Cube to reforge a Legendary item

Seasonal Conquests

Want to prepare your Conquest plan for Season 18? Here are the challenges you’ll face!

Push your way to Greater Rift level 75 to complete Divinity/Lionhearted. On a Good Day/I Can’t Stop guides you to get your Legendary Gem grind on; level three Legendary Gems to 65 to complete this challenge! For the speedy, Speed Demon/Need for Speed requires the fastest nephalem to complete a Nephalem Rift at level 70 on Torment X or higher in under two minutes. For Curses!/Stars Align, pick any Cursed Chest event that requires killing monsters and defeat over 350 or more at level 70 on Torment X or higher. For the fiercest demon slayers, Boss Mode/World’s Apart is a speed challenge where you’ll need to eliminate the following bosses at level 70 and Torment X in under twenty minutes:

• The Skeleton King
• The Butcher
• Zoltun Kulle
• Ghom
• Cydaea
• Rakanoth
• Diablo
• Adria
• Queen Araneae
• Maghda
• Belial
• Siegebreaker Assault Beast
• Azmodan
• Izual
• Urzael
• Malthael

Haedrig’s Gift

Finally, the Class Sets rewarded for completing certain chapters in the Season Journey courtesy of Haedrig’s Gift have rotated once more. We’ve listed the available Sets below. For those new to Seasons, here’s how it works:

Completing Chapters 2, 3, and 4 of the Season Journey will reward you with three of Haedrig’s Gifts. Each Gift contains a few pieces from one of your Class Sets. Players can only unlock one Class Set in this manner per Season across Hardcore and Non-Hardcore, so choose wisely!

The set you will receive depends on the class of the character you’re playing when you open each Haedrig’s Gift. To collect a full Class Set, you’ll need to open all three on the same character.

Here are the sets granted by Haedrig’s Gift in Season 18:

• Barbarian – The Legacy of Raekor
• Crusader – Armor of Akkhan
• Demon Hunter – Embodiment of the Marauder
• Monk – Inna’s Reach
• Necromancer – Pestilence Master’s Shroud
• Witch Doctor – Zunimassa’s Haunt
• Wizard – Delsere’s Magnum Opus

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an error that occurred when reporting a player via a friend request
• Fixed an error that occurred when saving an existing Friend Note without making changes

PTR-Specific Bug Fixes

• Squirt’s Necklace
  • Fixed an issue where the damage taken increase was not reaching the 50% cap
• Captain Crimson’s Trimmings
  • Fixed an issue where the bonus provided by this class set was subject to snapshotting

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FAQ

Q: When does Season 18 start?

A: Season 18 begins Friday, August 23 at 5:00 p.m. PDT in North America, 5:00 p.m. CEST in Europe, and 5:00 p.m. KST in Asia. For time zone conversion, see this site.

Q: When do Seasons go live for players on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch?

A: Seasons go live for all console players globally Friday, August 23 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, regardless of which regional version of the game you may have. Please note that Seasonal Leaderboards for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch are still separate by hardware platform.

Q: When will Season 18 end?

A: We are no longer providing anticipated end dates for Seasons. However, we are committed to keeping Seasons roughly three months in length (give or take a few weeks based on development needs) and will continue to provide a minimum of two weeks advance notice for when the Season will be ending.

Q: When are the non-Seasonal Leaderboards being wiped?

A: Non-Seasonal Leaderboards are tied to what we call “Eras,” each of which lasts about 6–12 months. The most recent era began January 8. For more information on Eras, please see this post.

Q: What will happen to older Seasonal and Era records?

A: Starting with Season 10, we removed old personal bests from Season 1. When Season 18 arrives, we will remove old personal bests from Season 9, and so on. We will be doing the same for personal bests from the previous Era when the next one goes live.

Seasonal Leaderboard records are not being cleared and will remain archived both in game and on our website.

Themed Seasons are continuing to evolve as we venture into the future, and we’re quite excited to see where this one leads. Are you looking forward to the Season of the Triune? How do you think you’ll utilize the powers the Triune will bestow upon you? Share your thoughts below and we’ll see you in Season 18!