Diablo 4 is gearing up for Season 8. As if fighting endless hordes of demonic creatures wasn’t enough, now we have to deal with Belial, the Lord of Lies.
Here’s everything you need to know for Season 8, including a revamped Battle Pass, more events, 24 new boss powers, a reworked boss system, and some fun little tweaks that make the monsters even more ridiculous.
Read the full patch notes here.
BlizzardSeason 8 questline
Belial is back, and he’s spreading chaos through his Apparition Monsters, wreaking havoc across Sanctuary. Your mission is to uncover his plans and put an end to his deception before his creations destroy everything.
Stop Belial and his monsters. Prepare for intense battles with lie-infested enemies and help Sayeena and Jarius uncover the dark secrets surrounding his return.
- Location: Speak to the Stranger near the Waypoint in Kyovashad’s city center.
- Requirements: Complete the base campaign and create a new character in the Seasonal Realm.
New characters
- Sayeena, a retired Vizjerei mage,
- Jarius, who claims to be a knight of the Cathedral of Light.
Rewards: Unlock new Boss Powers during the questline to enhance your character’s abilities.
All boss powers in Diablo 4 Season 8
BlizzardBoss Powers are special abilities you can steal from defeated bosses, giving your character a massive edge in battle. They come in two parts:
- Main effect: Alters core gameplay mechanics.
- Modifier effect: Enhances your Main Power, adding synergy with your build.
They can be unlocked by defeating bosses throughout the season and you can equip 1 Main Boss Power and up to 3 Modifier Boss Powers.
How to unlock
Here’s a detailed table of all the boss powers, their effects, and the requirements to unlock them:
| Boss Power | Obtained from | Main effect | Modifier | Unlock requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wandering Death’s Chest Beam | World Boss: Wandering Death | While channeling a Skill, spawn a beam dealing 300% Frostbite damage per second. Increases damage taken by 50% for 1 second. | Instantly executes enemies with d> | Can be acquired at any difficulty level. |
| Ashava’s Poison Breath | World Boss: Ashava | Hitting a DoT-affected enemy spawns a wave of acid, dealing 1,200% Poisoning damage over 4 seconds. | Deals 45% Poisoning damage over 3 seconds when activated. | Can be acquired at any difficulty level. |
| Avarice’s Explosive Ore | World Boss: Avarice the Gold Cursed | Spawns explosive ore after gaining excess Primary Resource, dealing 700% Fire damage after 2.5 seconds. | Damage increases by 0.01% per Primary Resource spent. | Can be acquired at any difficulty level. |
| Allek’s Talons | Apparition Incursion Event: Allek | Basic Skill applies 200% Sparking damage over 4 seconds to enemies. | Gain 5% Movement Speed, increased by 0.5% per 1% Cooldown Reduction (max 11%). | Can be acquired at any difficulty level. |
| Beastmaster’s Training | Apparition Incursion Event: Beastmaster | Summons or Mercenaries Stun surrounding enemies for 2 seconds and gain 75% Damage Reduction. | Summons deal 5% more damage, increased by 0.25% per 1% Critical Strike Damage (max 17%). | Can be acquired at any difficulty level. |
| Blackmailer’s Sabotage | Apparition Incursion Event: Blackmailer | Casting a Core Skill with a Barrier Knocks Down close enemies for 1.1 seconds. | Gain 11% of Fortify as a barrier for 6 seconds. | Can be acquired at any difficulty level. |
| Flesh Reaper’s Disruption | Apparition Incursion Event: Flesh Reaper | Damaging a Vulnerable enemy removes Vulnerable and stuns them and surrounding enemies for 0.5 seconds. | Gain 5% Vulnerable Damage, increased by 0.5% per 1% Crowd Control Duration (max 10.5%). | Can be acquired at any difficulty level. |
| Hatred’s Embrace’s Haste | Apparition Incursion Event: Hatred | Casting a Shadow or Fire Skill grants 1.1% Movement Speed for 3 seconds (up to 11%). | Gain 5% Critical Strike Chance, increased by 0.5% per 1% Shadow Resistance (max 12%). | Can be acquired at any difficulty level. |
| Kirma’s Sparks | Apparition Incursion Event: Kirma | Evading applies 200% Sparking damage over 4 seconds to close enemies. | Reduce Evade Cooldown by 5%, increased by 0.2% per 1% Lightning Resistance (max 11%). | Can be acquired at any difficulty level. |
| Outlaw Sharpshooter’s Eye | Apparition Incursion Event: Outlaw | Dealing direct damage to distant enemies slows them and surrounding enemies by 40% for 5 seconds. | Deal increased damage to distant enemies, up to 10.5%. | Can be acquired at any difficulty level. |
| Sinerat’s Flames | Apparition Incursion Event: Sinerat | Using a Mobility Skill Burns close enemies for 50% Burning damage over 4 seconds. | Gain 5% increased damage to all Elements. For each 1% Resistance, gain 0.2% increased damage to that Element (max 15.5%). | Can be acquired at any difficulty level. |
| Skerg’s Toxins | Apparition Incursion Event: Skerg | Taking damage applies 600% Poisoning damage over 4 seconds to enemies. | 5% chance to heal from Damage over Time effects, increased by 50% Poison Resistance (max 12%). | Can be acquired at any difficulty level. |
| Torusk’s Rage | Apparition Incursion Event: Torusk | Damaging a Crowd Controlled enemy gives Unstoppable for 3 seconds and increases Damage, Attack Speed, and Movement Speed by 10.5%. | Gain 5% Attack Speed, increased by 0.25% per 1% Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies (max 10.5%). | Can be acquired at any difficulty level. |
| Belial’s Crystal Decoy | Lair Boss: Belial (Ambush) | Casting Agility, Defensive, or Macabre skill spawns a crystal that Taunts and explodes for 600% Shadow damage. | Activating this power, Fears enemies and deals 50% Shadow damage. | Torment I or Higher required. |
| Lilith’s Wind of Hate | World Boss: Lilith | Casting a skill creates a wave of spikes dealing 400% Physical damage. Increases damage taken by 60% up to 300%. | Hitting an Elite creates a Blister Clone with 10% of the Elite’s life; killing it removes 2.1% of the Elite’s Life. | Torment I or Higher required. |
| Duriel’s Burrow | Greater Lair Boss: Duriel | Evade burrows you underground, immobilizing enemies for 5 seconds and dealing damage every 0.25 seconds. | Activating the power grants a 21% dodge chance for 5 seconds, and dodge immobilizes nearby enemies. | Torment I or Higher required. |
| Belial’s Eye Beams | Exalted Lair Boss: Belial, Lord of Lies | After healing, gain 50% damage reduction for 2 seconds and summon eye beams that corrupt enemies for 438% damage. | Activating this power grants Stealth for 2 seconds, dealing 11% increased Overpower Damage for 2 seconds. | Torment I or Higher required. |
| Andariel’s Flaming Skull | Greater Lair Boss: Andariel | After standing still, summon a skull rotating around you, dealing 450% Burning damage. | Enemies take 10.5% more damage from your Damage over Time effects. | Torment I or Higher required. |
| Beast in the Ice’s Sleet | Initiate Lair Boss: Beast in the Ice | After casting 3 Crowd Control or Stagger skills, shoot sleet spikes that deal 800% Cold damage and Freeze enemies. | Your Main Boss Power now chills enemies, it damages for 2.5%. | Torment I or Higher required. |
| Grigoire’s Lightning Square | Initiate Lair Boss: Grigoire | After casting a Core Skill, lightning tiles outward, dealing 250% Lightning damage per strike. | Once per activation, enemies hit by the skill are Stunned for 0.25 seconds. | Torment I or Higher required. |
| Lord Zir’s Blood Pool | Initiate Lair Boss: Lord Zir | After damaging an enemy, spawn a blood pool dealing 400% Bleeding damage per second for 4 seconds. | Activating this power Heals you for 17% of your Maximum Life over 3 seconds. | Torment I or Higher required. |
| Varshan’s Life Steal | Initiate Lair Boss: Varshan | Leeching beam attaches to an enemy, dealing 700% Corrupting damage and restoring 15% of your Life per second. | Activating this power inflicts Nearby enemies with 200% Corrupting damage over 2 seconds. | Torment I or Higher required. |
| Urivar’s Lobbed Bombs | Initiate Lair Boss: Urivar | After casting an Ultimate Skill, lob 4 bombs dealing 400% Fire damage. Gain 15% Cooldown Reduction. | Killing an enemy with this power reduces your Ultimate Skill Cooldown by 0.2 seconds. | Requires Vessel of Hatred expansion, Torment I or Higher required. |
| Harbinger of Hatred’s Volley | Greater Lair Boss: Harbinger of Hatred | Damaging a Vulnerable enemy shoots piercing projectiles, dealing 250% Fire damage and applying Vulnerable. | Casting a Basic Skill at Max Resource makes all Nearby enemies Vulnerable and grants 11% increased Vulnerable Damage for 5 seconds. | Requires Vessel of Hatred expansion, Torment I or Higher required. |
Season 8 event
Belial’s return brings with it the Apparition Monsters, whose green eye-marked presence spreads his lies and chaos. Here’s what you need to know about this event:
- Available for all characters across any difficulty.
- Found throughout Sanctuary, identifiable by a green eye marking.
- Defeat them to trigger a boss fight with one of 10 Apparition Bosses.
Apparition monsters appear around Sanctuary, in different zones every few minutes. When you defeat an Apparition monster, an Apparition Boss will appear. These drop unique Boss Powers when defeated. After clearing the bosses, face off against Belial in a final showdown.
Lair Bosses rework
BlizzardLair Bosses, formerly known as Endgame or Ladder Bosses, have been reworked for Season 8. Here are the major changes:
To fight lair bosses, you must be on Torment Difficulty 1 or higher. You’ll find map icons for each boss lair to help you track them down. There’s also a new teleport feature, so you can get there quickly.
| Tier | Bosses |
|---|---|
| Initiate Lair | Easier bosses for newer players: Beast in the Ice, Grigoire, Lord Zir |
| Greater Lair | Intermediate bosses: Andariel, Duriel, Harbinger of Hatred |
| Exalted Lair | Toughest challenges: Belial, Lord of Lies |
Each Lair Boss requires specific keys to open their loot chests:
| Tier | Keys Needed |
|---|---|
| Initiate Lair | 12 Keys |
| Greater Lair | 3 Keys |
| Exalted Lair | 2 Keys |
There are also a few loot changes:
- Lair Bosses now drop 7 Unique Items on Torment IV.
- Guaranteed Uniques: The first item comes from the boss’s unique pool; further drops have a 50% chance to come from the general Unique pool.
- Party Loot: In a party, there’s a 33% chance per additional member for extra unique drops.
New Legendary items
Barbarian
- Bane of Ahjed-Den (Unique Gloves)
- Affixes: +4-6 Ranks of Mighty Throw, +114-150% Critical Strike Damage, +7-10 Fury Per Second
- Unique Power: Every 12 seconds, Mighty Throw detonates instantly as Fire Damage, dealing 400-600% increased damage.
Druid
- Gathlen’s Birthright (Unique Helm)
- Affixes: +15% Attack Speed, +10.5-15% Willpower
- Unique Power: Critically striking with Nature Magic grants Anima of the Forest, boosting key passives like Perfect Storm.
Necromancer
- Sanquivor, Blade of Zir (Unique Two-Hand Sword)
- Affixes: +60% Summoning Damage, +32-50% Chance for Army of the Dead to deal double damage
- Unique Power: Summons’ damage afflicts enemies with Vampiric Curse, stacking up to 20 souls.
Rogue
- Band of Ichorous Rose (Unique Gloves)
- Affixes: +4 Maximum Poison Traps, +10.5-15% Attack Speed
- Unique Power: Poison Trap deals full damage over 3 seconds, benefiting from Combo Points.
Sorcerer
- Hail of Verglas (Unique Helm)
- Affixes: +7.5% Maximum Cold Resist, +50% Cold Resistance
- Unique Power: Ice Shards spread out with 2 additional shards, gaining increased damage from frequent hits.
Reworked Battle Pass system
The Battle Pass system gets a significant overhaul with Reliquaries, offering more flexibility in unlocking rewards.
BlizzardReliquaries offer a new way to earn rewards, allowing you to choose the order in which you unlock them. They’re reward catalogs that can be bought with a special currency, and most require purchasing with Platinum to access.
Types of reliquaries
| Reliquary | Cost | Bonus Reward |
|---|---|---|
| Belial’s Return | Free | Gloves from the Guise of the Deceiver |
| Weapons | 200 Platinum | Boots from the Guise of the Deceiver |
| Beasts | 500 Platinum | Legs from the Guise of the Deceiver |
| Armor | 800 Platinum | Chest & Helm from the Guise of the Deceiver |
Bonus Rewards: These are unlocked once you claim all other items in a Reliquary. They don’t require Favor Tokens.
Deluxe Battle Pass Bundle
- Price: 2,800 Platinum
- Benefits:
- Immediate access to the Guise of the Deceiver Armor Set for all classes.
- Deceiver’s Final Form Wings.
- Orinocta the Owl Pet.
- Access to the Weapons, Beasts, and Armor Reliquaries.
Diablo 4 Season 8 is coming, whether casuals like it or not; all that’s left to do is wait for the changes and see how they affect Sanctuary.
