Diablo 3 news » First Look - Season 5

The Season Journey feature was introduced in Patch 2.3.0 for Season 4, and we’ve made a few updates in time for Season 5 to begin. The first major change is a direct response to popular player feedback, as we have removed Seasonal Legendaries from the game. All new Legendaries included in Patch 2.4.0 will be made immediately available to be found by players regardless of Season participation.

However, we still want there to be item-based rewards as part of the Season experience. We’ve introduced Haedrig’s Gift, a special bundle of Set items you’ll receive on completion of certain stages of the Season Journey. Starting in Chapter 3, three of the objectives in the Season Journey will reward you one of these bags, each containing two pieces of one of your class sets.

Conquests continue to be a staple of the Seasonal experience, and we’ve updated some of our existing Conquests and added some new ones based on features included in Patch 2.4.0.

If you’re looking for an entirely new challenge, you should try tackling the Masters of the Universe / Masters of Sets Conquest! Designed around the new Set Dungeon feature, this Conquest requires you to complete 8 different Set Dungeons of your choosing.

Starting with Season 5 and moving forward, we will provide a variety of cosmetic rewards, and what type of reward you will receive will rotate with each new Season.

In addition to the usual exclusive Portrait Frames and pieces of the Conqueror’s Transmogrification set, you will also receive either a pair of wings, an exclusive pennant, or a non-combat pet. For Season 5, players who reach level 70 will receive the Wickerman pet.

Last, but certainly not least, is the addition of a totally new Season-exclusive feature called the Season Rebirth. This allows you to take any non-Seasonal character you have and instantly transform them into a Seasonal character, ready to jump straight into the action on day one.

Any of the gear or items equipped on your character or in your inventory will be automatically stripped from the hero and mailed to your non-Seasonal characters, similar to the rollover process that occurs with your stash space when a Season ends. In addition, your character will be reduced to level 1, ready to start the process as though they were freshly created!

Accomplishments like achievements, crafting recipes learned, artisan levels, or unlocked stash tabs will be left behind as part of your non-Seasonal progression. However, personal records like your character name or time played will be retained and carry on through your Seasonal adventures.

There are a few things to keep in mind when using Season Rebirth:

• Gear mailed to your non-Seasonal characters will only be available for reclamation for up to 30 days from the time it is mailed!
• You may only Rebirth up to three characters per Season.
• Hardcore characters who have fallen are not eligible to use the Season Rebirth feature.

Q: When does Season 5 start?

A: Season 5 will begin Friday, January 15 at 5:00 p.m. CEST in Europe, 5:00 p.m. PDT in North America, and 5:00 p.m. KST in Asia. For assistance with time zones, click here.

Q: How long will Season 5 last?

A: Starting with Season 5, all seasons going forward will last approximately three months.

Q: When are the non-Seasonal Leaderboards being wiped?

A: Non-Seasonal Leaderboards are tied to what we call “Eras.” We currently anticipate the next wipe to coincide with the end of Season 4, although this may not be the case for future Seasons.

Q: Will Seasons be coming to console?

A: Some features on console are best designed for that platform, and the same is true for the PC version of the game. A large part of the fun of Seasons is the entire community rerolling heroes together at the same time. Because the offline and disconnected nature of console does not support this style of play, we do not currently have plans to implement Seasons on console.

Q: What will happen to older Seasonal records?

A: As we continue on into additional Seasons, we will no longer be able to store some personal Seasonal records. While Season 5 will store your personal bests for all Seasons to date, at some point in a future Season, we will begin removing old personal bests, beginning with Season 1. This will be true regardless of your personal participation in previous Seasons. We will have more information on this change at a later date.