These reaching the top of Diablo 4 Season 14’s seasonal storyline are being handled to some main teases about what’s subsequent for Blizzard’s ARPG, although these eagerly anticipating the return of the Lord of Terror himself is perhaps upset.
Spoilers for Diablo 4 Season 14 beneath.
Season 14, titled Dying’s Awakening, sees gamers combating a dying cult seeking to finish Sanctuary’s struggling within the wake of Mephisto’s defeat. That finally leads gamers to none aside from the Pandemonium Fortress, beforehand seen in Diablo 2 and Diablo 3’s Reaper of Souls enlargement, the place they encounter the corrupted angel Seraziel. Upon their defeat, Seraziel leaves gamers with an ominous warning: “He’s coming.”
That “he” in query is probably going Malthael, whom Seraziel serves and gamers beforehand defeated in Reaper of Souls. That is not precisely a shock given the “dying” theme of the season, however the return of the Pandemonium Fortress (the place Malthael was final seen and slain) and Seraziel does make it all of the extra express what Blizzard is organising.
However that is not all gamers must go on. As damaged down by Diablo content material creator LoatheBurger, after Seraziel’s defeat, gamers encounter a mysterious stranger who says there may be nothing that may be finished in opposition to Dying itself. When requested who they’re, the stranger merely replies “I’m nobody, courageous baby. And for all of your would possibly, neither are you.”
Speaking to the questgiver Dannica in regards to the odd encounter afterwards, gamers can choose a dialogue possibility that states “There was one thing acquainted about that previous man,” with the participant character particularly saying their voice sounded acquainted.
That appears to suggest it is somebody Diablo 4 gamers have beforehand encountered, however who this stranger is stays to be seen. Some lengthy misplaced Horadrim? Lorath (someway?) again from the useless? The triumphant return of Deckard Cain? Solely time will inform.
All of this taking place in a seasonal storyline is new territory for Diablo 4. Earlier seasons have been largely self-contained tales that had little to do with the overarching sport’s plot, and positively weren’t used to tee up attainable future expansions.
In an interview with GameSpot forward of Season 14, Dan Tanguay, Diablo 4’s design director for reside providers, stated it was an intentional option to have the season relate extra on to the occasions of the sport’s foremost story. He additionally stated the season was an opportunity to get extra story-focused gamers concerned.
“We all know there is a group of gamers who’re actually invested within the lore, most likely extra so than resetting energy chases,” Tanguay stated. “They do not are likely to play seasons as a lot. Right here, we stated ‘Properly, they’ve gotten a extremely good conclusion to the Mephisto arc, and now it is a chance to see if we are able to take them alongside on this experience with us.'”
Following the top of the Lord of Hatred enlargement, many gamers assumed Blizzard can be constructing in direction of the return of villains like Baal, the Lord of Destruction, or Diablo himself. Now, it seems like Malthael is as an alternative taking heart stage, although Blizzard does a minimum of have choices on the subject of what main villain to deliver again subsequent.
Fortunately, gamers will not have to attend lengthy to be taught extra about Diablo 4’s future, as BlizzCon is true across the nook on September 12-13. A Change 2 model of Diablo 4 could possibly be introduced on the present, and whereas Blizzard has already shared some details about what’s in retailer for Diablo 4 Season 15 (like the flexibility to make use of the identical character every season and the return of iconic gadgets from previous Diablo video games), extra particulars can be shared at BlizzCon.