Diablo 4 Season 5 Adventure: Infernal Hordes

Get your equipment ready, because Diablo 4 Season 5known as Season of the Infernal Hordeshas arrived and brought with it an avalanche of new features that promise to leave the demons of Sanctuary shaking in their boots.

Let's dive headfirst into the changes, take a deeper look and check out everything this season has to offer? Let's go!

What's New in Season 5?

Ah, the seasonal campaign. That cool little story that you play through quickly and think: “Okay, what now?”. But don’t worry, because the real fun begins later. Season 5 brings together the best mechanics from previous seasons, including temperings that are crucial to strengthening your character. So, get ready to see your hero shining like a diamond (or at least trying to).

After completing the campaign and defeating some new bosses, you will gain access to the Infernal Compass. Think of the Stealth Dungeons, but with a hellish twist. This is where things really get serious. Opening a Compass takes you to an arena with waves and waves of monsters. And with each wave, you can choose to increase the difficulty. The longer you endure, the better the rewards. It's like a casino from hell, only with more blood and fewer chips.

Imagine fighting hordes of demons, trying to survive in a tiny space while choosing between gaining new powers, like increased speed, or continuing on the standard difficulty. It's a real “where the son cries and the mother doesn't see”. And if you think that's hard, just wait until you reach the final trial: three new and very difficult bosses, all at once. Good luck, hero.

Strengths

Engaging Seasonal Mission

Let’s be honest, the seasonal quest is short, but it’s a good warm-up for what’s to come. It’s engaging and introduces you to the mechanics of the Infernal Hordes in an interesting way. It won’t take up too much of your time, but it will prepare you for the real challenge.

Mythic Items Gambling

Gambling! Who doesn’t love a good game of gambling? The ability to gamble for mythical items adds an extra layer of excitement to farming. It’s like playing the lottery, but with a giant hammer in your hand. One player on the Diablo forum created 100 new characters just to farm obols and managed to earn several mythical items. Imagine the fun and despair mixed together.

Helltide Events

The Helltide events have been balanced in terms of mob pacing and unique item drops. This means you can farm without feeling like you’re being unfairly targeted by the game (at least most of the time). One popular streamer, for example, farmed around 50 chests across three Helltide events and walked away with a random mythic drop and several unique items. Pretty rewarding, huh?

Boss Races

The constantly respawning boss altar has greatly improved the boss rush experience. Now you can test your builds and farm specific items without having to wait forever. Players loved the constant availability of bosses to test their builds and farm specific items. There’s nothing like facing the same boss for the hundredth time and still feeling the taste of victory.

Minion AI Improvements

The Necromancer’s minions have finally gotten smarter. They now automatically attack nearby enemies, which greatly improves the gameplay experience. Who would have thought an army of undead could be so useful? In other words, the minions are now more aggressive and responsive. Come on, skeleton, show them what you’re made of!

Negative points

Infernal Hordes Rewards

Sometimes, the time investment in the Infernal Hordes isn't worth the rewards you get. Some adjustments would be welcome to make the event more appealing. No one wants to waste time to get crumbs, right? I left an Infernal Horde with only 2 items, even though I finished it completely, including the bosses. On another occasion, I had so many drops that I used the chest they left nearby to store items. It seems like there are still some adjustments needed for this.

Temperament System

The current tempering system has been seen as very punishing. Many players ruin their items during rerolls, making the process frustrating and unproductive. Many players have reported on social media that they are frustrated with affixes, which really makes the tempering process a nightmare.

Blizzard is very aware of the complaints, and judging by the latest updates from other seasons, there are certainly good news coming. Usually, they usually change a lot of things every week, making the game more attractive. Just wait and see!

Some improvements that would be welcome:

Infernal Compass Rewards

The Infernal Compass reward structure needs to be reworked to make the investment more rewarding. Suggestions included reducing the cost of the 250 Ether chest and increasing the number of Legendary items dropped at lower levels to make the experience more rewarding.

Leaderboards and Community Activities

Adding more leaderboards for various achievements and community activities, similar to Uber Diablo, could improve community engagement.

Restructuring of the Excellence System

The Excellence System (paragon) needs to be more friendly to new players and more engaging to veterans. Maybe make the paragon path more linear with branches, reduce the number of paragon points, and make legendary nodes more impactful.

Experience with classes

• Necromancer: Additional AI improvements have made the Necromancer very strong. He is the best character so far to face the hellish hordes, if you use a corpse explosion build, go for it.
• Rogue: It's very strong, and of course, it's still very fast. Some aspects may need some balancing tweaks.
• Druid: Another beloved character in the seasons, he continues strong. His build based on Storm and wolves is doing well.
• Barbarian: It's pretty interesting, using Hammer of the Ancients and a combination of Crash and Shatter.
• Mage: It's still very appealing, and the Lightning Storm build does very well in the Infernal Hordes arena.

Conclusion

A Diablo 4 Season 5, Season of the Infernal Hordesis an intriguing mix of new and familiar challenges, continuing the franchise's tradition of delivering engaging and challenging content. With new mechanics like Infernal Compass and the Infernal Hordesplayers will find a fresh and exciting experience that adds depth to the endgame. Despite some issues, such as the punishing Temper system and less-than-appealing Hellfire rewards, the season brings significant improvements, such as improved Necromancer minion AI and well-balanced Helltide events. Overall, Season of the Infernal Hordes is a robust addition to the Diablo universe, promising hours of fun and challenge for players as they face the forces of evil in Sanctuary.

The History of the Diablo Franchise

Since its launch in 1996, Devil has been a cornerstone in the action RPG genre. Developed by Blizzard North, the first game set the standard with its dark setting, intense combat, and addictive loot system. Diablo IIreleased in 2000, expanded on these concepts, introducing new classes and a deeper story. After a long hiatus, Diablo III arrived in 2012, bringing modern graphics and refined gameplay. Now, with Diablo IVthe series returns to its dark roots, combining classic elements with new mechanics to create an epic experience.

With so many exciting seasons and a dedicated fan base, Devil continues to be one of the most influential and beloved franchises in gaming.