Blizzard’s Diablo franchise is one of the most easily recognizable modern gaming franchises, partially because Blizzard does everything they can to keep it modern. Even though Diablo III is approaching a decade old in a franchise that has existed since late 1997, the title is still kept fresh by constant updates.
The most recent of those updates is live now! Blizzard refreshes the season every three months or so to help keep the gameplay fresh and give players something to continuing striving towards. Each season has its own theme and challenges, often coming with a season-long buff that applies to all seasonal characters. These buffs are often the definer of the way that the season will roll out.
This latest season is the twentieth one, titled the Season of the Forbidden Archives. Players will enjoy a buff that allows them to select whatever legendary powers they wish without having them restricted by the category slots within Kanai’s Cube. Normally restricted to one Weapon legendary power, one for Armor, and one for Jewelry, players will now be free to customize their powers as they see fit rather than by the restrictions given.
Which new class set are you going to try first?
Patch Notes: https://t.co/LLA79PKdGy pic.twitter.com/STikTaVSsW
— Diablo (@Diablo) March 3, 2020
Of course, that’s the season, which won’t start for another ten days or so in mid-March. This current patch is simply the pre-season update to bring the game to the playable build for the upcoming season.
So what are the changes being made? There’s quite a few coming, including the addition of three completely new class armor sets. There are also plenty of alterations and tweaks being made to the currently existing legendary items to alter the balance and bring new builds into the playable meta.
The same is true for these class sets, which are meant to make builds viable that haven’t been builds before. With one coming to the Barbarian, Witch Doctor, and Wizard, Blizzard hopes to make it so that there’s more to do with these classes than whirlwind, summon zombies, and launch disintegrating beams.
Diablo has enjoyed a great amount of fuel being added to the hype train since the Blizzcon 2019 announcement of Diablo IV, the latest in the franchise and the first addition since Diablo III’s release in May of 2012 (no, Diablo: Immortals absolutely does not count). With so much attention on the franchise to see what direction it moves in, it’s an excellent time for the Diablo team to showcase what they can really do in what could be the closing years of the title.
