Blizzard releases details on Diablo 4: Season of the Construct

With the end of the vampiric menace on Sanctuary after the Season of Blood, a subterranean threat begins to wake underneath the sands of Kehjistan. Returning to Sanctuary after the events of Diablo 3, Zoltun Kulle’s influence remains in the world as his creations make their debut on Season of the Construct. Under Kehjistan, the demon Malphas seeks to use the elemental constructs found within Zoltun Kulle’s vaults to wreak havoc on Sanctuary, and players are tasked to stop Malphas from corrupting the constructs for his own plans. Season of the Construct will officially launch on January 23, so best prepare yourself by finishing all renown rewards for each region, getting all Altars of Lillith, and getting some gold to buy decent leveling gear for your Seasonal character.

The Seneschal Companion

Players will be given a customizable mechanized ally called the Seneschal Companion, which comes with its own power and Governing/Tuning Stone slots that will synergize with the player’s own build. As players explore the Vaults, more powerful stones can be found as they progress through the dungeons and seasonal storyline. Governing Stones dictate how the Seneschal Companion attacks, and Tuning Stones add bonuses to those attacks.

New Town Hub and Dungeon

This season is centered around the town of Gatehall, which is connected to the new Vault dungeon previously built by the Horadrim Zoltan Kulle. Here, players must prepare to delve into the Vaults, a new dungeon filled with many elemental traps and corrupted constructs to fight. The Constructs are a new enemy species, with each monster having different elemental variants and will be found alongside traps and other hazards in the Vault. 

Players can earn a currency called Pearls of Warding, which can be used to increase the rewards after clearing a Vault. Above ground, there’s a new open-world event called Arcane Tremors, where Constructs will emerge from below, and players must destroy them with the help of their Seneschal Companion, all within a time limit. Completing this event will reward Pearls of Warding, which will make future Vault runs more rewarding. Nightmare variant Vaults will also be implemented for players seeking more rewards in World Tier 3 and 4.

Weekly Leaderboard Challenges

A new activity called The Gauntlet is coming with Season of the Construct. There will be a weekly rotation of fixed dungeons where players compete to see who can speedrun through the dungeon for the fastest time possible. The top scorers will be enshrined forever in the Hall of the Ancients. Blizzard will release more information about this activity soon, so keep an eye out for more news.

Governing Stone Functions

Blizzard released a list of the Governing Stones available and their attack patterns for players to plan their builds ahead of time.

• Autodefense: The Seneschal Construct activates an anti-material field around itself, shooting down enemy projectiles. Can not shoot down Boss or Player projectiles.
• Bushwhack: Quickly ambush, dealing damage to each target. May strike the same target multiple times.
• Firefly: Deploy a small construct that lands on the target and explodes 3 times, dealing damage.
• Focus Fire: The Seneschal Construct channels a ray of fire onto targets, dealing damage to each over time.
• Gyrate: The Seneschal Construct whirls its legs around quickly, dealing damage to all surrounding enemies.
• Impale: Launches a line attack to all enemies in front of the Seneschal Construct, dealing damage.
• Lightning Bolt: Launch a bolt of Lightning at the target dealing damage, which arcs to other targets dealing a portion of the original damage.
• Protect: The Seneschal Construct materializes a protective barrier on the player for a portion of their Maximum Life.
• Reconstruct: The Seneschal Construct channels a reconstruction beam, Healing the player for a portion of their Maximum Life over time.
• Slash: Pummel enemies in front of the Seneschal Construct, dealing damage.
• Tempest: Electrically charge an enemy, causing it to damage itself and additional enemies each second over time. Tempest spreads to another enemy if the enemy is killed, gaining additional time and bonus damage. These bonuses are also applied if Tempest is reapplied to the same enemy.
• Flash of Adrenaline: Administers a quick flash of adrenaline into the player, granting bonus damage for a duration.

Tuning Stone Functions

To enhance the Seneschal Companion’s abilities, Tuning Stones alters the properties of the Governing Stones, further boosting its offensive capability. Players of Path of Exile will find this mechanic familiar as it is the support gem system, where slotting a support gem next to a damage ability will add benefits to the skill it supports.   These stones can help the player bounce off their synergies with the Companion, like debuffing mobs and setting them up for your own burst damage.

• Voluminous Support: The supported skill’s effect size is increased.
• Swift Support: The supported skill gains an Attack Speed bonus.
• Breaking Support: Damage from the supported skill instantly destroys enemy Barrier effects. In addition, there is a chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds.
• Tactical Support: Decrease the cooldown of the supported skill.
• Efficiency Support: When the supporting skill deals damage, you gain Critical Strike Chance to the same targets hit.
• Devastation Support: Supported skill gains a Critical Strike Damage bonus.
• Safeguard Support: When used, the supported skill grants Damage Reduction to you.
• Frigid Support: A portion of the supported skill’s damage dealt is applied as Cold damage over time and applies Chill.
• Burning Support: A portion of the supported skill’s damage is applied as Burning damage over time. Burning enemies take bonus Critical Strike Damage from the Seneschal Construct.
• Electrocution Support: A portion of the supported skill’s damage dealt is applied as Lightning damage over time and has a chance to Stun enemies.
• Bleeding Support: A portion of the supported skill’s damage dealt is applied as Bleeding damage over time. Enemies take bonus Bleeding damage from all sources while moving.
• Poison Support: A portion of the supported skill’s damage dealt is applied as Poison damage over time. This poison has a chance each second to spread all Poison damage to an additional enemy.
• Dusk Support: A portion of the supported skill’s damage dealt is applied as Shadow damage over time. Afflicted enemies who attack have a chance for their attacks to be interrupted. Does not interrupt Bosses.
• Duration Support: Supported skills have their durations increased.
• Fortify Support: When the Seneschal Construct uses the supported skill, you gain Fortify. Skills with slower attack speeds or skills with cooldowns will increase the amount of Fortify granted.
• Resource Support: The player gains an amount of Primary Resource when the supporting skill first deals damage.
• Initiative Support: The supported skill will cause the Seneschal Construct to teleport to the target if out of range. It can only occur once every so often seconds.
• Arcing Support: The supported skill can hit additional enemies.
• Multishot Support: Supported Projectile skills launch additional projectiles.
• Piercing Support: The supported Projectile skill will pierce multiple enemies.
• Gripping Support: Damage and effects done by the supporting skill to Distant enemies pull them towards the Seneschal Construct. It can only occur once every so often per enemy.
• Registered Damage Support: Any damage caused by the supported skill is registered. The registered damage explodes at effectiveness when the target dies as Fire damage.
• Seeking Support: The supported Projectile skill will track enemies for a limited duration.
• Slowing Support: Damage from the supported skill Slows enemy movement speed for a limited duration. The closer the enemy is to the Seneschal Construct, the greater the Slow amount. Enemies may be slowed up to a maximum amount.
• Mockery Support: Damage done by the supporting Skill Taunts enemies hit for a limited duration of time. This can only occur once every so often per enemy. Does not work on bosses.

Quality of Life Changes

This season will bring some QoL features to enhance the user experience for Diablo 4. While much of Diablo 4 still requires work, some accessibility options are a first step toward improvement. First, WASD key movements will soon be available, allowing for more fine-tuned control during combat. More stash tabs will also be added as an optional purchase using gold, so anyone with seasonal loot can rejoice as they can keep their build-enabling equipment. Finally, the skill tree will be easier to respec, some UI changes for gold trading, and other features will make their way to Season of the Construct.