The Diablo 4 Season 4 PTR is currently ongoing, giving us an early look at the extensive overhaul we’re going to get as part of the Blizzard RPG’s next season. With a complete rework to the way items are designed, a new crafting system, and a complete balance overhaul, we’re already looking at the biggest update for Diablo 4 since launch even before the reveal of the Season 4 theme. One of the most welcome changes, however, is a change to the Helltide system that has completely freshened up one of the more stale parts of the game.
Diablo 4 Helltide events have always been a big part of the later leveling process past level 50 and into the endgame, transforming a section of the world into a more dangerous zone packed with higher-level enemies. Previously, however, they were on an on-off rotation, meaning they were only available every other hour in the RPG game. As of the current Diablo 4 season, however, they’re now on almost always, with just a five minute downtime between Helltides.
Perhaps more importantly, however, with Season 4 they’ll also now appear in Diablo 4 world tiers one and two. That means they’re now the go-to way to level at the start of the game, far eclipsing the previous favored strategy of running Domhainne Tunnels (colloquially known as ‘Dopamine Tunnels’ for the oodles of experience that could be earned repeatedly running the first half of the dungeon).
The numbers are here to back that up, too. D4 streamer Ryan ‘Raxxanterax’ S. – a very practiced veteran at leveling as quickly as possible – did some PTR testing and found that the old Domhainne method got him to level 25 in 58 minutes, while running Helltide events got him done in just over 40 minutes. That’s an incredible saving, cutting down your total time by almost a third.
That’s great news, as it adds a lot more variety to the leveling process if you’re looking to get up to the higher world tiers as quickly as possible. It’s actually even better, too, because Helltides are also likely to drop better items for you, and will also give you the opportunity to both try out the new Helltide events (inspired by the popular Blood Harvest from season two) and complete Whispers of the Dead, which grants you a huge helping of additional gold to help you get your gear in shape quickly.
All of this is very exciting for the potential of Season 4, removing some of the most tedious parts of the game and helping us experience all the Diablo 4 Season 4 changes that are being introduced, with the seasonal theme set to be unveiled in a campfire chat ahead of its arrival.
It’s still a little while longer until the Diablo 4 Season 4 start date arrives, so you’ll have to wait a bit longer to try these changes out in the full game. Fortunately, there’s lots more of the best games like Diablo to keep you busy once the PTR wraps up.
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