The Internet is still reeling from the Diablo Immortal announcement, but just because the game is in development, Blizzard will not let Diablo III give up the ghost. Starting today, Diablo III’s Season 16 launches with new buffs, rewards, challenges, and tweaks.
The name of the game this time around is “Grandeur,” which takes its name from the legendary Ring of Royal Grandeur. For those of you who never laid eyes on the item, this enchanted piece of jewelry increases a character’s attack speed, siphons thousands of hit points from enemies with every attack, and reduces the number of armor pieces players need to wear to obtain special bonuses. Oh, and the ring increases random stats like Strength and Intelligence.
In other words, the ring lets players mix and match different armors to combine set bonuses. Best of all, throughout Season 16, the ring’s power is free for all participants, including those who don’t own it. However, for the sake of balance, the ambient bonus won’t stack with other Rings of Royal Grandeur.
Of course, that’s just the tip of the loot-based iceberg. Players who want to bling out their characters will be pleased to hear this season brings the Helm and Shoulders of the cosmetic Conqueror Set, as well as a new portrait frame and a pair of monarch butterfly wings. Sure, the forces of evil might snicker at adventurers who sport these wings, but players will get the last laugh as they tear through demons in a never-ending search for loot.
Not all of Season 16’s rewards are cosmetic, though. Players can unlock class armor sets with the special Haedrig’s Gift, and Season 16 brings with it yet another rotation of class armor sets bestowed by Haedrig. However, as always, players can only unlock one set per Season, which means gamers who obtained the Barbarian class armor last season might want to show their Necromancer a little love with the Trag’Oul’s Avatar set.
Some players, however, complete quests for the thrill rather than reward, and Season 16 has them covered with new Seasonal Conquests. Gamers can channel their inner speedrunner with the Speed Demon/Need for Speed and Boss Mode/World’s Apart conquests, and players can also show they’re the king of every class, ability, and armor set with the Years of War/Dynasty conquest.
Now, with every new Season comes an excuse to tweak gameplay mechanics, and Season 16 is no different. Players can expect quite a few quality of life changes, such as no longer worrying about Legendary potions taking up valuable bag space and easily finding Primal Legendaries (some of the strongest items in the game) with easy-to-find signal beams. Oh, and Season 16 also comes with a new patch, complete with changes such as ludicrous increases to the set bonuses of certain class abilities.
Season 16 will begin later today at 5 PM PST for all consoles and will run until around 5 PM PST March 17th. Plus, the annual Darkening of Tristram event is still going strong, just in case players want to mix seasonal competition with some retro references.
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