Diablo IV introduces its third seasonal content drop, titled Season of the Construct. It will add a new mechanical menace companion for the player character.
Diablo IV Introduces Season of the Construct
Blizzard just unearthed a slew of information regarding their upcoming seasonal journey for Diablo IV. Titled “Season of the Construct”, this period will have heroes of Sanctuary delve deep within the sands of the Kehjistan region. It is here where the devious machinations of the late Zoltun Kulle have started to stir once more.
Alongside the usual new quests, dungeons, and bosses, Diablo IV’s Season of the Construct will give players their own Seneshal Companion that they can fully customize with various deadly abilities. Players will be able to find a workbench and get tinkering when the season goes live on January 23rd, at 10:00 AM PST.
Season of the Construct
A new demonic threat named Malphas will be the main antagonist of Diablo IV’s third season. He aims to bring life and corrupt the Loom, an arcane creation designed by Zoltun Kulle and his follower Ayuzhan. It will be Ayuzhan who will accompany us on this journey, helping us navigate and face off against the various Constructs and other traps that Kulle has laid bare to deter any greedy souls from accessing his vaults.
Gatehall will be the season’s newest hub area where you will take the fight to the constructs.
As with every season, players will need to create a fresh character in the seasonal realm to partake in the new bells and whistles. But due to the previous QoL features implemented over the past few patches, you no longer strictly start from scratch as you have the map unlocked and d few skill points to play with.
The Scheneschal Rises
A new first to the series is the introduction of the Seneschal Construct, a persistent companion that all characters will be able to recruit and customize. The Scheneschal in Diablo IV will be highly adaptable, as you can set it to be an active participant in combat or choose to have it hang back and buff you instead. The choice is yours.
Modifying the Seneschal’s behavior is a simple matter of equipping the right Governing Stones and Tuning Stones that will appear as regular drops throughout the season. Some stones may even be crafted, provided you can find the necessary materials.
These stones will initially be weaker at the start of the Diablo IV season. Their strength can be augmented as the game progresses by upgrading them to increase their power. Duplicate stones can be mashed together to create enhanced versions of the base forms.
Customizing the Critter
The first type of stone, Governing, will dictate what kind of active abilities your Construct will obtain. You will have defensive options such as Autodefense which creates a barrier that destroys enemy projectiles, or Reconstruct which will blast the player with a healing laser beam. Seneschals can even just inject the player with a Flash of Adrenaline, which will temporarily grant you a large damage boost.
Offensive-wise, we also have a lot of options. In direct contrast to Reconstruct, we have Focus Fire which creates a constant beam of pain and death and focuses on a nearby enemy. The questionably named Gyrate will let your construct unleash a whirlwind of fury with its tiny mechanical legs. We can also go a bit more elemental with Tempest, which strikes enemies with lightning bolts that spread whenever a target is killed.
Moving to Tuning Stones, this is where things get a bit more interesting. These types of stones will only augment the Governing Stones and will drastically change the way a skill operates. A Tuning Stone can increase the supported skill’s area of effect, attack speed, elemental damage type, or even increase the number of projectiles, and more.
Season of the Construct will have a total of 12 Governing Stones and 27 Tuning Stones. Players’ constructs can have 2 Governing Stones equipped, with 6 Tuning Stones supporting the active abilities.
The Vault Dwellers
Season of the Construct will also introduce a new dungeon sub-type called Vaults. These are forgotten sanctums of Zoltun Kulle’s experiments, which have been corrupted by Malphas. Inside these dungeons will be elemental traps and hazards that players must overcome. A new enemy type, The Constructs, will also be found in the new Vault areas, waiting to create mince meat out of any would-be adventurer.
Other changes that Diablo IV’s third season will bring are “Enduring Helltides”. This feature was brought upon by Season of Blood’s popular vampire-infested areas that are constantly active. Helltides will now be active for 55 minutes every hour, with a 5-minute breather in between. This will essentially let you keep farming Cinders to get more loot and Living Metal to farm Duriel.
Players on PC will also get another movement option in the form of WASD. Diablo IV fans have always wanted it to feel more like an action game, and this option should open up tons of enjoyment for those who prefer this input method.
My Little Diablo IV
Diablo IV’s third seasonal journey kicks off on January 23, 2023. As usual, another Season Pass will be active during this three-month affair. Those who opt-in to buy the Premium pass will be able to unlock various cosmetic armor, weapons, and horse skins.
In other news, check out Baldur’s Gate 3 Out Does Hogwarts Legacy and Starfield in Sales on Steam for 2023, and Dawnwalker A Dark Fantasy RPG Revealed By Ex-Witcher 3 Devs.
