Diablo 2 Warlock Levitation Mastery Guide – Best Weapons, Grimoires and Runewords

Diablo II has spent more than twenty-five years teaching players a few fundamental rules. Barbarians swing enormous weapons, Sorceresses throw spells from a safe distance, and anything requiring six high runes will probably remain a pleasant dream for most of your natural life. Then Reign of the Warlock arrived and introduced a character who apparently never bothered reading the equipment restrictions. The Warlock can carry a two-handed weapon while simultaneously holding a magical book, and he does it without the slightest concern for how many arms a normal human being possesses.

Levitation Mastery is one of the most unusual skills in Diablo II: Resurrected, and it opens up equipment combinations unavailable to any other class. A Warlock can wield an enormous polearm with a powerful Runeword while keeping a Grimoire equipped in the off-hand, gaining additional skills, resistances and other bonuses. But the mechanic has changed considerably since the expansion launched, and some of the early equipment recommendations circulating online are now outdated.

If you're building a Warlock in Ladder Season 15, understanding those restrictions is almost as important as finding the weapon itself.

How Levitation Mastery Actually Works

Levitation Mastery is a passive skill in the Warlock's Eldritch skill tree, available from level 1. Its most recognizable feature is the ability to wield a two-handed weapon alongside an off-hand Grimoire. It also provides additional physical weapon damage, Attack Rating, Critical Strike chance and reduced Strength and Dexterity requirements for weapons.

At skill level 1, those bonuses are relatively modest: 25% additional damage, 40% Attack Rating, 5% Critical Strike chance and a 2% reduction to weapon requirements. With 20 points invested, the bonuses rise to 101% damage, 135% Attack Rating, 29% Critical Strike chance and 40% reduced weapon requirements. Further skill bonuses can push the requirement reduction toward its 50% cap.

For a physical-damage Warlock, these bonuses make Levitation Mastery a serious investment rather than simply a convenient way to equip a larger weapon. The Critical Strike chance and damage bonuses improve ordinary weapon-based attacks, including builds using Echoing Strike and Mirrored Blades.

Pure spellcasters have different priorities. A Warlock concentrating on Abyss or other magical attacks may benefit from the equipment flexibility without needing to maximize every physical weapon bonus. One point can be enough to unlock the core mechanic while leaving more skill points available for the spells that actually deal the damage.

Patch 3.2 Changed the Rules: No More Two-Handed Weapons With Shields

When Reign of the Warlock first launched, players quickly discovered some rather extraordinary combinations involving two-handed weapons and ordinary shields. Spirit Monarch was particularly attractive, while more expensive setups experimented with Phoenix and other powerful shield options. The result was a character enjoying both the advantages of an enormous weapon and the protection normally reserved for somebody carrying something considerably smaller.

Blizzard eventually decided that this was a little too generous.

Patch 3.2 restricted Levitation Mastery's two-handed weapon interaction so that the off-hand must now be a Grimoire-class item. Ordinary shields are no longer compatible with this particular setup. That includes Spirit Monarch and Phoenix, regardless of how impressive their bonuses might look on paper.

We covered the wider balance changes when Ladder Season 14 brought substantial Warlock adjustments. At the time, some players considered the restrictions an overdue correction, while others were understandably disappointed after spending considerable time and trading wealth assembling equipment combinations that would no longer function.

Patch 3.3 subsequently addressed several Warlock-related bugs but did not reverse the Grimoire restriction. Anyone following a guide written around the expansion's original launch should therefore check the recommended off-hand carefully before spending valuable runes.

The Best Two-Handed Weapons for Levitation Mastery

The obvious temptation is to equip the biggest weapon you can find, but that is not necessarily the smartest approach. Different Warlock builds benefit from different weapon properties, and a spectacular Runeword can become a very expensive mistake if it does little for your chosen skills.

Insight – The Practical Early Choice

Insight remains one of the most accessible and useful options for experimenting with Levitation Mastery. Created using Ral, Tir, Tal and Sol in a suitable four-socket weapon, it provides the Meditation aura and useful additional combat bonuses. Equipping an Insight polearm yourself can solve much of the Warlock's early mana problem while leaving the mercenary free to carry something else.

It is an especially attractive stepping stone because the required runes are relatively affordable. You can learn how the two-handed weapon and Grimoire combination feels without investing an entire season's savings into the experiment.

Obedience – Serious Physical Damage Without a Fortune in Runes

For players concentrating on weapon damage, Obedience is worth considering. The Hel, Ko, Thul, Eth and Fal combination creates a powerful five-socket polearm Runeword with substantial Enhanced Damage, Crushing Blow and useful resistances. It works particularly well for a Warlock who wants to hit enemies with something larger than a dagger while maintaining a useful Grimoire in the other slot.

The weapon's relatively modest rune cost compared with the most expensive endgame alternatives makes it an attractive choice for Echoing Strike builds progressing through Hell difficulty.

Breath of the Dying – The Expensive Physical Endgame

Breath of the Dying needs little introduction to Diablo II veterans. Its enormous damage potential, attack speed bonuses and indestructibility make it one of the classic high-end physical weapon Runewords. With Levitation Mastery, a Warlock can combine a suitable two-handed Breath of the Dying weapon with the bonuses from a Grimoire.

That combination can be devastating for a weapon-focused build, although the Zod rune requirement makes it considerably less practical for ordinary progression. This is endgame equipment for players who already know exactly what they want from their character.

Infinity – An Interesting Alternative for Elemental Builds

Infinity deserves attention for a different reason. Its Conviction aura can reduce enemy elemental resistances, making it useful for certain Warlock setups built around elemental damage. Equipping it personally also creates different mercenary equipment possibilities.

However, Infinity is not automatically the best weapon for every Warlock. Its aura does not improve all damage types equally, and a magic-damage-focused build should not assume that Conviction provides the same benefit it offers to elemental attacks. With several valuable runes involved, this is a weapon to choose for a specific build rather than because it looks impressive.

Choosing the Right Grimoire

The weapon is only half the equation. Grimoires are exclusive Warlock off-hand items introduced with Reign of the Warlock, and they offer something more interesting than simply occupying a slot that would otherwise be empty. These magical books can appear with bonuses to Warlock skills, and suitable bases can be used to create Runewords.

The best Grimoire is not necessarily the one with the highest defence. A book with useful skill bonuses, resistances or other properties relevant to your build may provide considerably more value than a higher-level base with unimpressive attributes.

For early progression, Rhyme is a practical and affordable option. Made with Shael and Eth in a suitable two-socket Grimoire, it provides useful defensive bonuses, including Cannot Be Frozen. That makes it particularly convenient for physical Warlocks who would rather spend their time attacking enemies than waiting for a freezing effect to wear off.

Later, the Vigilance Runeword becomes an attractive alternative. Created with Dol and Gul, Vigilance offers resistances, Faster Block Rate, life, mana and other defensive improvements. It can be made in an eligible Grimoire, making it compatible with Levitation Mastery's two-handed weapon setup.

Rare Grimoires with desirable skill bonuses can also be worth keeping. Before automatically selling a magical book, check whether its modifiers support your main attack or important utility skills. Diablo II has always enjoyed hiding surprisingly useful equipment behind items that initially appear unremarkable.

How Many Points Should You Put Into Levitation Mastery?

This depends almost entirely on the build. A physical Eldritch Warlock benefits much more directly from investing heavily in the passive than a character whose primary damage comes from Chaos spells.

For an Echoing Strike Warlock, a useful approach is to invest an early point into Levitation Mastery, then prioritize Echoing Strike and its important synergies, particularly Mirrored Blades and Blade Warp. Once the central damage skills are established, additional Levitation Mastery points can improve weapon damage, Attack Rating and Critical Strike chance.

Mirrored Blades is particularly important because it contributes additional echoes to Echoing Strike through hard-point investment. Blade Warp provides both mobility and a damage synergy, giving the Warlock an unusually useful combination of offensive scaling and movement.

For a more spell-oriented character, an early point in Levitation Mastery may be sufficient. The weapon and Grimoire combination can still provide valuable equipment bonuses, but investing heavily in physical damage modifiers makes less sense if most enemies are dying to spells rather than weapon attacks.

It is also worth remembering that Levitation Mastery reduces weapon requirements, not the requirements of every piece of equipment you wear. Check your Grimoire and armour separately before planning an extremely low-Strength character around the passive.

Common Levitation Mastery Mistakes

The most expensive mistake is following an outdated launch guide and attempting to combine a two-handed weapon with an ordinary shield. That setup stopped being supported with Patch 3.2, and there is no clever rune arrangement that makes Spirit Monarch an acceptable replacement for a Grimoire.

Another mistake is spending heavily on a weapon without considering the skills it supports. Breath of the Dying can make sense for physical weapon attacks, while an expensive polearm may offer considerably less value to a caster whose damage depends on entirely different modifiers. The Warlock is unusually flexible, but flexibility does not automatically make every equipment combination effective.

Players should also remember that the Warlock's other powerful abilities have received significant balance changes. We previously explained why Bind Demon now requires substantial hard-point investment to capture powerful Super Unique demons, and how Patch 3.3 corrected an unintended damage bonus. Those changes matter when planning hybrid builds that combine physical attacks with summoned demons.

On the other hand, Patch 3.3 also delivered an unexpected benefit for some spellcasters when the Miasma Chain collision fix improved the practical performance of Abyss Warlock builds. It is a reminder that equipment and skill decisions should be made around the current version of the game rather than whichever spectacular build video happened to appear shortly after the expansion launched.

Is Levitation Mastery Still Worth Using in Season 15?

Absolutely, provided you understand what it is supposed to accomplish. The removal of two-handed weapon and shield combinations narrowed the possibilities, but it did not remove the mechanic that makes the Warlock so unusual. You can still carry a powerful two-handed weapon alongside a class-specific magical book, build around weapon damage and critical strikes, or use the arrangement to support more specialized hybrid characters.

And there is a rather pleasing historical irony in all this. Diablo II spent decades being a game where equipment choices followed familiar patterns. Sorceresses carried Orbs, Necromancers carried Shrunken Heads, and enormous polearms generally belonged to characters prepared to dedicate both hands to the job. Then Blizzard introduced a scholar who can keep a book open while swinging a weapon large enough to make a Barbarian mildly envious.

Reign of the Warlock has not always been perfectly balanced. We have already seen just how strongly the community reacted to the first major Warlock nerfs. But Levitation Mastery remains one of the expansion's more imaginative additions because it changes how players think about equipment instead of simply increasing another damage percentage.

Twenty-six years after Diablo II first arrived, we are still discovering new ways to combine weapons, skills and obscure magical objects.

And apparently, all it took was a man who refused to put his book down.

Sources: Blizzard's Patch 3.2 notes, Blizzard's Reign of the Warlock overview, Icy Veins Echoing Strike build guide, and Levitation Mastery mechanics and skill data.

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Diablo 3 Season 40 Rathma Necromancer Build Guide – Skills, Gear and Angelic Crucibles

There was a time when playing a Necromancer in Diablo III meant standing behind an increasingly unreasonable collection of skeletons and hoping they would eventually kill whatever was troubling you. The Bones of Rathma set has evolved considerably since those days. Your undead companions are still important, naturally, but their principal responsibility is now helping you unleash Army of the Dead with enough frequency to make the average demon wonder whether joining the forces of Hell was a sensible career decision.

In Season 40, the Rathma Army of the Dead Necromancer is one of the strongest options for solo Greater Rift pushing. The returning Light's Calling theme makes it particularly entertaining, because Angelic Crucibles can add a Sanctified Power that continuously assaults nearby enemies with Army of the Dead. Combined with the set's usual cooldown mechanics, the result is an exceptionally powerful character built around commanding skeletons, maintaining Revive minions and delivering enormous bursts of physical damage.

It is not a completely effortless build, however. Rathma rewards careful positioning, proper equipment and an understanding of how its cooldown reductions work. Simply putting on six green items and waiting for your skeletons to do everything is unlikely to produce spectacular results. Fortunately, the basic idea is easier to understand than the equipment screen initially suggests.

How the Rathma Army of the Dead Build Works

The modern Bones of Rathma set revolves around two important abilities: Army of the Dead and your permanent undead servants. Command Skeletons provides a steady stream of attacks, while Revive supplies additional minions and defensive benefits. The Rathma set allows minion attacks to reduce Army of the Dead's cooldown, turning what would normally be an occasional devastating ability into the centre of your entire combat rotation.

The goal is to keep your undead companions active, command your skeletons against suitable enemies and repeatedly unleash Army of the Dead whenever its cooldown becomes available. The build becomes particularly dangerous when the proper Legendary items multiply that damage and control effects activate Krysbin's Sentence.

Season 40 adds another layer through Angelic Crucibles. We covered the return of these heavenly consumables in our Season 40 Light's Calling overview, but Rathma is one of the clearest examples of why their return matters. The correct Sanctified Power makes Army of the Dead an almost constant presence on the battlefield rather than something you occasionally summon between long cooldowns.

Best Skills and Runes for Rathma Necromancer

For solo Greater Rift pushing, the following setup provides a strong foundation. It combines reliable damage, cooldown management, crowd control and enough mobility to prevent the Necromancer from spending the entire Rift face-down on the floor.

Skill	Rune	Purpose
Siphon Blood	Power Shift	Essence generation and damage amplification through Funerary Pick
Command Skeletons	Frenzy	Accelerates skeleton attacks and supports cooldown reduction
Bone Armor	Dislocation	Defensive protection and stun for Krysbin's Sentence
Army of the Dead	Death Valley	Main burst damage with useful enemy grouping
Blood Rush	Potency	Mobility and temporary defensive protection
Revive	Personal Army	Additional minions and damage reduction

For passive skills, use Rigor Mortis, Final Service, Rathma's Shield and Grisly Tribute. Together they provide useful control, survivability and additional healing from your minions. Rathma's Shield is particularly valuable when dealing with dangerous encounters, although it should not be mistaken for permission to stand directly inside every explosion on the screen.

One important detail is that Fate's Vow grants Army of the Dead the Unconventional Warfare rune effect through its Legendary Power. This is why Death Valley remains a useful selected rune even though the build benefits from Unconventional Warfare as well.

Best Gear for Rathma Army of the Dead

The preferred setup combines five pieces of Bones of Rathma with two pieces of Captain Crimson's Trimmings. Ring of Royal Grandeur, equipped through Kanai's Cube, reduces the number of pieces required to activate the full Set bonuses. This combination is particularly useful because Captain Crimson converts Cooldown Reduction and Resource Cost Reduction into offensive and defensive benefits.

Slot	Recommended Item
Helm	Rathma's Skull Helm
Shoulders	Rathma's Spikes
Chest	Rathma's Ribcage Plate
Gloves	Rathma's Macabre Vambraces
Boots	Rathma's Ossified Sabatons
Bracers	Bonds of C'Lena
Belt	Captain Crimson's Silk Girdle
Pants	Captain Crimson's Thrust
Amulet	Squirt's Necklace
Ring 1	Krysbin's Sentence
Ring 2	Convention of Elements
Weapon	Jesseth Skullscythe
Off-hand	Jesseth Skullshield

The Jesseth weapon combination is essential to the build's damage potential. Command Skeletons activates its offensive bonus, making it important to direct your skeletons toward enemies rather than simply allowing them to wander about. Krysbin's Sentence supplies a powerful damage multiplier against controlled enemies, while Convention of Elements rewards timing your largest attacks during its Physical damage cycle.

Squirt's Necklace provides another substantial offensive bonus, but there is an obvious disadvantage: taking damage can quickly remove its benefit, and the amulet makes incoming attacks more dangerous. Rathma is therefore a build where good positioning has a measurable effect on your damage output. Standing in poison while admiring your skeleton army is not recommended.

Kanai's Cube and Legendary Gems

The recommended Kanai's Cube powers are Funerary Pick in the weapon slot, Fate's Vow in the armour slot and Ring of Royal Grandeur in the jewellery slot.

Funerary Pick turns Siphon Blood into an important source of damage amplification, especially against individual enemies. Fate's Vow strengthens Army of the Dead and provides the Unconventional Warfare effect, while Ring of Royal Grandeur makes the Rathma and Captain Crimson combination possible. Remember that Season 39's additional Cube slot is no longer available. Season 40 returns to the standard three-slot arrangement.

For Legendary Gems, the recommended combination is Bane of the Trapped, Gogok of Swiftness and Zei's Stone of Vengeance. Bane of the Trapped rewards crowd control, Gogok helps with Attack Speed and Cooldown Reduction, and Zei's increases damage according to your distance from enemies. If survival becomes a problem, Esoteric Alteration can replace Zei's for a more defensive approach.

Use a Diamond in your helm for Cooldown Reduction, Topazes in your chest and pants for Intelligence, and an Emerald in your weapon for Critical Hit Damage. When enchanting gear, prioritize Cooldown Reduction, Critical Hit Chance, Critical Hit Damage and useful Area Damage rolls. Cooldown Reduction deserves particular attention because it improves both your general rotation and the effectiveness of Captain Crimson's Set bonus.

Best Angelic Crucible Power in Season 40

This is where the build becomes especially interesting. Season 40's Angelic Crucibles can Sanctify eligible Legendary equipment, granting Ancient-level attributes and one of three class-specific powers. For Rathma, the ability to look for is the Army of the Dead Sanctified Power, which continuously attacks enemies within 50 yards using Unconventional Warfare.

The effect operates independently of your manually activated Army of the Dead, meaning the regular skill remains useful for carefully timed bursts of damage. It is a splendidly excessive combination, and very much in keeping with Diablo III's modern approach to character power: if one enormous supernatural army is effective, perhaps two would be even better.

Krysbin's Sentence is an excellent candidate for Sanctification because its attributes are important and obtaining a near-perfect version can take considerable farming. Jesseth Skullscythe and Jesseth Skullshield are also possible candidates, depending on which equipment piece you most need to improve.

Remember that you can equip only one Sanctified item at a time. The power is randomly selected from the Necromancer's three available options, so obtaining the Army of the Dead version may require several Crucibles. Do not spend all your resources repeatedly rerolling a perfectly usable item before the rest of your equipment is properly assembled.

Greater Rift Pushing Versus Speed Farming

Rathma is particularly impressive when pushing challenging Greater Rifts, where enemies survive long enough for the build's powerful damage multipliers and controlled bursts to matter. Your priority should be maintaining skeleton activity, refreshing Revive and Bone Armor when necessary, and coordinating Army of the Dead with crowd control and the Physical cycle of Convention of Elements.

Blood Rush provides the mobility needed to escape dangerous attacks, while Bone Armor's Dislocation rune can stun nearby enemies and activate the stronger effect of Krysbin's Sentence. The build benefits from approaching enemy packs carefully rather than charging straight into them. Necromancers have never been famous for enjoying direct physical contact with angry monsters.

For Nephalem Rift and lower Greater Rift farming, the objective changes. Raw damage becomes less important once enemies die almost immediately, and movement speed becomes more valuable. Rathma can be adapted for faster clears through alternative skill choices and mobility-focused equipment, although players interested exclusively in rapid Torment XVI farming may find other Necromancer builds more comfortable.

It is also worth investing in the permanent seasonal Altar of Rites. Movement bonuses, extra materials and automatic loot collection make repeated farming considerably smoother, while the later offensive improvements help when progressing into more demanding content. If you are still working through the Altar, our earlier coverage of the Challenge Rift Cache problem explains why planning ahead for that particular sacrifice is important, especially for console players.

How to Get Rathma Gear in Season 40

One important detail for anyone starting a Necromancer this season: Haedrig's Gift does not provide Bones of Rathma in Season 40. The Necromancer's free seasonal Set is Masquerade of the Burning Carnival. If you want to play Rathma, you will need to collect its pieces through ordinary farming, gambling and Kanai's Cube upgrades.

Begin by reaching level 70 and establishing a functional farming build with whatever equipment you have available. Use Greater Rifts to improve Legendary Gems and collect equipment, spend Blood Shards on missing armour pieces, and upgrade suitable rare weapons through Kanai's Cube when searching for essential Legendary powers. Once your Rathma equipment and Jesseth weapons are ready, begin shifting toward the Army of the Dead setup.

There is no need to chase perfectly rolled Ancient versions of every item before testing the build. A complete collection of the correct equipment with reasonable attributes will usually accomplish far more than several individually impressive Legendary items that have nothing to do with one another.

Is Rathma Worth Playing in Season 40?

For players who enjoy Necromancers and want a serious solo Greater Rift build, Rathma is an excellent choice. It combines the class's traditional undead army with enormous burst damage, and the returning Angelic Crucible mechanic gives it an additional source of destruction without requiring an entirely different playstyle.

It does have weaknesses. Cooldown management matters, the optimal equipment combination requires some farming, and careless positioning can turn an otherwise impressive Rift attempt into a sudden visit to the resurrection screen. But those limitations also make the build more interesting to master than some of Diablo III's simpler farming setups.

Fourteen years after its original release, Diablo III continues to offer builds capable of filling the screen with more supernatural violence than seems entirely necessary. We recently explored whether Diablo III remains worth playing in 2026, and Rathma provides another rather convincing argument for the game's continued appeal.

The Necromancer once needed an army because fighting alone seemed dangerous.

In Season 40, the army mostly exists to make sure everyone else is in considerably more danger.

Sources: Blizzard's official Season 40 announcement, Icy Veins Rathma Army of the Dead guide, and Rathma gear and Legendary Gem recommendations.

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Diablo 4's Missing Bovine Armor Piece Has Finally Been Found – Here's How to Get the Complete Set

For nearly a month, Diablo IV players have been searching for a missing pair of gloves. They have fought the Cow King, summoned Moophisto, gone fishing on a secret island and investigated just about every suspicious bovine object Sanctuary has to offer. Some of these activities require more preparation than defeating a Prime Evil. And now, after weeks of increasingly elaborate theories, the final piece of Season 15's Bovine armor set has been discovered. The solution is wonderfully simple. There is a cow behind the Cathedral in Old Tristram. You pet it. It gives you the gloves.

Yes, really. Following Patch 3.2.3, players discovered that a cow standing behind the Cathedral drops the Foreshanks of the Bovine when interacted with. No complicated Horadric Cube recipe, no secret boss requiring seventeen ingredients, and apparently no need to sacrifice anything except a little dignity. Considering the extraordinary lengths Diablo's community has gone to uncover the game's hidden cow mythology, this may be Blizzard's finest joke of the anniversary season.

How to Get the Foreshanks of the Bovine

The first step is reaching Old Tristram, which is not accessible through an ordinary waypoint. Players need to complete Deckard's Journey by locating ten of Deckard Cain's hidden journals around Sanctuary. Once all ten have been collected, return to Cain at the Imperial Library and enter the Deckard's Memory portal. This takes you back to the original Tristram, recreated as part of Season 15's enormous collection of nostalgic secrets.

We previously explored this location in our guide to the hidden Ogden's Sign quest and its guaranteed Harlequin Crest. If you have already completed that adventure, you should know the way. Otherwise, the ten journals are your starting point.

Once inside Old Tristram, head north toward the Cathedral. Walk around the building to the rear, where you should find a perfectly ordinary-looking cow. Interact with it to pet it, and the Foreshanks of the Bovine will drop. That's the complete solution to a mystery that had players wondering whether another hidden dungeon, undiscovered boss or particularly obscure fishing technique was involved.

There is one complication. Some players report that the cow cannot always be interacted with, especially when several people are gathered around it. If the interaction prompt does not appear, try leaving and re-entering the instance or switching difficulty to find a quieter version of Old Tristram. Community reports suggest this usually resolves the problem, although it is not an officially documented fix.

Where to Find All Five Bovine Armor Pieces

The discovery completes a collection we first examined in our September investigation into Diablo IV's secret Bovine armor. Back then, four pieces had been identified, while the gloves remained frustratingly elusive. With the final mystery solved, the entire outfit can now be assembled through five different activities.

• Head of the Bovine (Helm): Find the Diablo: Hellfire – Tristram Outskirts Waking Nightmare, which appears through a random outdoor rift. Speak repeatedly to Complete Nut, defeat the hostile cows that appear and finish the encounter to obtain the cosmetic.
• Brisket of the Bovine (Chest): Defeat Moophisto, the Divine Bovine, in the Bovine Sanctum. Community reports indicate that the chest is not a guaranteed drop, so repeat attempts may be necessary.
• Foreshanks of the Bovine (Gloves): Pet the cow behind the Cathedral in Old Tristram. This is the final piece discovered after Patch 3.2.3.
• Sirloin of the Bovine (Legs): Defeat the Cow King inside Diablo IV's Secret Cow Level.
• Hooves of the Bovine (Boots): Go fishing on the hidden Cow Island, reached through the Secret Cow Level. The boots can be obtained from the water around the island.

These are cosmetic appearances rather than equipment with combat attributes or Set bonuses. Once unlocked, the pieces can be used for transmog across classes. The collection is therefore an exercise in determination, nostalgia and making your character look like somebody who has taken Diablo's oldest running joke considerably too seriously.

The Cow Level Is Still the Hardest Part

Finding the gloves may be straightforward, but obtaining the rest of the outfit requires considerably more work. The Secret Cow Level has its own elaborate questline, and players have spent months uncovering the rituals needed to access it. Some have even encountered the notorious Hadopelagic Key soft-lock, which can interrupt progression before they ever reach the Cow King.

That makes the contrast rather beautiful. Obtaining the Sirloin requires access to one of the game's most complicated secrets. Getting the Hooves involves travelling to a hidden island and fishing for them. The Brisket means summoning an enormous demonic cow who has apparently developed a personal interest in your equipment collection. And after all that, Blizzard has placed the final piece behind a church, attached to an animal that simply wants some attention.

Season 15 has been particularly good at this sort of absurdity. We have already seen Whimsyshire return with the magnificently named Neigh'relle, while the recreation of Uber Tristram brought back the Hellfire Torch. Blizzard has effectively turned thirty years of Diablo history into an elaborate treasure hunt, and the community has responded by clicking everything that looks even remotely suspicious.

Thirty Years of Clicking Cows Finally Pays Off

There is a certain historical elegance to the discovery. Long before Diablo II introduced its famous Secret Cow Level, players of the original Diablo were already convinced that repeatedly clicking the cows in Tristram would reveal some extraordinary hidden secret. It didn't, of course. The rumours became so persistent that Blizzard eventually turned the joke into one of gaming's most famous hidden areas.

Now, three decades later, clicking a cow in Tristram really does reward players with something secret. Not a portal to an underground kingdom, not an army of polearm-wielding cattle, but a pair of gloves that completes an entire bovine costume.

It has taken thirty years, several Diablo games and one increasingly unreasonable community treasure hunt to reach this point.

Sometimes the simplest answer really is to pet the cow.

Sources: Icy Veins – Foreshanks of the Bovine discovery, Duskforge – Complete Bovine cosmetic guide, and the original community discovery on Reddit.

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Diablo Immortal Blessed Hunter Guide: How to Farm Better Set Items Before November 3

There is a particular kind of disappointment that every Diablo Immortal player knows. You finish a dungeon for the twentieth time, a beautiful green item finally appears, and for one glorious moment you believe your evening has been worthwhile. Then you identify it. Wrong Set, disappointing attributes, or simply another piece destined for the Blacksmith. Sanctuary may be full of demons, but sometimes the most persistent enemy is the equipment system itself. Fortunately, Blizzard has introduced something that might make those dungeon runs rather less exhausting. Blessed Hunter is now live, running from October 15 until November 3, 2026, and it gives dropped Set Items several opportunities to become considerably more useful.

The event builds on the older Set Hunter system but introduces additional ways to influence the equipment you receive. Instead of merely hoping the correct green item appears, players can now select preferred Sets for individual equipment slots, while newly dropped dungeon Set Items receive automatic blessing rolls. It is not quite the same as ordering your dream equipment from a catalogue, but after years of watching the wrong boots appear at precisely the wrong moment, the idea is certainly appealing.

How Blessed Hunter Works

During the event, Set Items obtained from dungeons automatically undergo four blessing rolls when collected. Each roll has a chance to improve the item, and an individual piece can receive up to four successful blessings. Those improvements can increase the item's quality by adding attributes or Magic Properties, raise an existing attribute's value, or convert the item into a different Set selected by the player.

The distinction between four rolls and four guaranteed improvements matters. Blizzard is not promising that every green item becomes a magnificent piece of equipment. The system provides four opportunities for improvements, with the actual outcome depending on the rolls. The item arrives fully identified in your inventory, so there is no additional identification process to complete before examining the result.

Players can check the blessing notification to understand what happened. Diamonds beneath the notification indicate the number of blessings received, while a heart means the item was converted into one of your selected Sets. For a more detailed account, open My Log in the chat channels, where the game records the blessings applied to the item.

Choose Your Set Items Before Entering the Dungeon

The most useful change may actually be the new selection system. Previously, Set Hunter required players to select the same Set across their equipment slots. Blessed Hunter allows different preferred Sets to be chosen for individual slots, making it much better suited to builds that combine bonuses from several equipment collections.

You can make these selections at any dungeon entrance or through the Random Dungeon interface. Before beginning a farming session, check which pieces your build needs and configure the corresponding slots. If your character uses a mixture of two Sets, there is no reason to treat every slot as though it belongs to the same collection.

This is particularly welcome after Blizzard's earlier attempts to make Set farming more manageable. In July, the developers removed four underused Set Items from the active loot pool, reducing the number of unwanted possibilities competing for dungeon drops. August brought another round of retirement with Issatar Imbued leaving the active Set collection. Blessed Hunter approaches the same problem differently: rather than simply removing unwanted equipment, it gives players more influence over what their remaining drops might become.

How to Get the Most From Blessed Hunter

The sensible approach is to treat Blessed Hunter as an opportunity to improve an existing build rather than an invitation to collect everything that happens to glow green. Check your current Set bonuses, identify the weakest pieces and select the Sets you actually need for those slots. Then concentrate on dungeon runs you can complete efficiently. The blessing system operates when Set Items drop inside dungeons, so spending the entire evening wandering around the open world is not the way to take advantage of this particular event.

Do not overlook items simply because their original Set name is wrong. One of Blessed Hunter's central features is the chance to convert an item into a preferred Set, and the notification will tell you when that happens. Likewise, a piece that initially looks ordinary may receive additional attributes or stronger values. Examine the finished item before deciding whether it belongs in your equipment collection or the recycling pile.

The event also arrives after two important equipment improvements. Blizzard's Patch 4.3 guaranteed maximum sockets on Set Items, while September's update gave every newly obtained green Set Ring a Versatile Socket. Together with Blessed Hunter, these changes remove several of the little disappointments that traditionally followed an otherwise promising dungeon drop. The perfect item is still difficult to find, but at least the game is gradually running out of unnecessary ways to spoil it.

Don't Confuse Blessed Hunter With Treasure Goblins

There is another reason October is becoming an interesting month for equipment collectors. Blizzard has also introduced five new Treasure Goblin varieties and a special Avarice dungeon encounter. The Mythstealer specializes in Set Item drops, making it particularly interesting to anyone hunting green equipment.

However, Blizzard specifically describes Blessed Hunter blessings as applying to Set Items dropped within dungeons. Players should not assume that every Set Item obtained from other activities automatically qualifies for the same treatment. The two systems may encourage similar farming habits, but they have different rules.

There is also Winds of Fortune, with its temporary reward bonuses and important activation rules, running until October 22. Players planning long dungeon sessions should examine that event as well, particularly before activating its 24-hour bonus. Several useful farming opportunities are overlapping, which is convenient for players and presumably rather less pleasant for Sanctuary's increasingly overworked dungeon bosses.

November 3 Is the Deadline

Blessed Hunter ends on November 3 at 3:00 a.m. local server time. Blizzard has not published exact probabilities for individual blessings, so there is no reliable basis for promising a particular number of runs or guaranteed perfect equipment. What players can do is prepare their preferred Set selections, use the event's automatic rolls and inspect the results carefully.

For a game that has spent years asking players to accept increasingly elaborate combinations of randomness, that is a welcome improvement. The familiar dungeon grind remains, naturally. Diablo would hardly be Diablo if you could simply request a perfect pair of boots and collect them from a helpful merchant.

But until November 3, at least those disappointing green drops have another chance to surprise you.

And after the twentieth run through the same dungeon, that might be exactly the encouragement you need.

Source: Blizzard Entertainment – Defy the Vessels of the Husk, Blessed Hunter Event.

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Diablo 2 Is Closing Character Transfers to Reign of the Warlock, and Bots Are the Reason

Diablo II players have spent more than twenty-five years developing a remarkable talent for moving valuable objects from one place to another. Runes, charms, weapons, armour, entire collections of equipment that might become useful someday. Nothing is ever quite ready to be thrown away, and an old character can easily become a walking museum of Sanctuary's economic history. But Blizzard has decided that one particular form of moving things around has gone on long enough. Starting November 16, 2026, players will no longer be able to transfer existing Expansion characters into Reign of the Warlock. And the reason is a problem almost as old as Diablo II itself: bots.

The announcement appeared on Blizzard's official forums on October 6, explaining that the transfer system has become a way for items obtained through automated farming to enter the newer Reign of the Warlock environment. Blizzard wants to close that route to protect the game's economy and provide a fairer experience. It is a relatively small administrative change on paper, but for a game where the value of a single rune can become the subject of an evening's negotiations, the implications are rather more interesting.

Three Versions of Diablo II, but One Door Is Closing

When Reign of the Warlock arrived earlier this year, it did considerably more than introduce a new character class. Blizzard divided Diablo II: Resurrected into three separate eras: Classic, Expansion and Reign of the Warlock. Characters could move forward from one era to the next, bringing their equipment and progress with them, but could not travel backwards. It was an elegant way of preserving the old game while allowing the new expansion to develop its own rules.

That arrangement is now changing. Anyone with an eligible Expansion character they intend to bring into Reign of the Warlock must complete the transfer before November 16. Blizzard has not announced that existing characters will be deleted, nor is this a normal Ladder reset. The restriction concerns moving characters between the separate game eras. Players who are happy remaining in Expansion do not need to abandon their characters simply because the deadline arrives.

It is nevertheless worth checking your old characters now, particularly if you have spent the year playing both versions. Diablo II veterans are notoriously good at remembering where they found their first Stone of Jordan and remarkably bad at remembering which mule is currently holding their spare Enigma.

The Old Problem of Bots and the Diablo Economy

Blizzard's explanation goes straight to one of Diablo II's most persistent problems. Automated farming has existed in various forms for decades, allowing characters to repeat profitable activities without somebody necessarily sitting at the keyboard. When that equipment enters a trading economy, the consequences extend beyond the people operating the bots. Artificially increased supplies can affect item values, distort trading and make legitimate farming feel rather less rewarding.

The problem becomes particularly sensitive when different game versions share a route for transferring equipment. Reign of the Warlock has its own progression systems, new items and an expanded endgame. Blizzard clearly does not want its economy supplied through a doorway that allows equipment farmed in the older Expansion environment to enter indefinitely.

That separation also reflects how much Diablo II has changed during 2026. The expansion introduced new systems that would once have seemed unimaginable, while Season 15 brought eight previously Ladder-only Runewords into Non-Ladder. Blizzard is still trying to balance the traditions of the original game with an increasingly complicated modern item economy.

Not Everyone Is Happy About the Decision

The reaction on Blizzard's forums has been divided. Some players welcome the restriction as an overdue attempt to keep bot-farmed equipment out of Reign of the Warlock. Others argue that the change punishes ordinary players who deliberately maintained characters in the older Expansion environment and intended to transfer them later.

There is a reasonable question underneath those disagreements: should stopping automated farming require removing a legitimate feature from everyone? Closing the transfer route may prevent one method of introducing questionable equipment into Reign of the Warlock, but it does not automatically eliminate bots operating inside the newer version itself.

It is also another reminder that Diablo II's different eras are becoming increasingly distinct. Players have already debated the absence of Legacy Graphics in Reign of the Warlock, while technical differences between the versions have created their own controversies. Blizzard is gradually turning the expansion into something more separate from the experience players have known for decades.

What Players Should Do Before November 16

For anyone still maintaining characters in Expansion, the sensible approach is to check which ones they eventually want to play in Reign of the Warlock. Review their equipment, confirm that the destination version offers the features you want, and complete any intended transfers before the deadline. Remember that the era-transfer system only moves characters forward, so the decision should not be treated as a reversible experiment.

This is separate from the familiar problem of managing Ladder characters and their shared storage. We have previously covered how easily old Ladder loot can disappear during a seasonal transition, and the subsequent reports that some players received misleading in-game stash deadlines. Those incidents involved different systems, but they demonstrate why it pays to read Blizzard's dates carefully whenever permanent characters and valuable equipment are involved.

Blizzard's official notice does not explain every possible edge case, including all questions surrounding future Classic character conversions. Players with unusual character arrangements should therefore consult the latest official guidance rather than assume a workaround will remain available.

For now, the message is simple. The door between Expansion and Reign of the Warlock closes on November 16, and Blizzard is giving players one final opportunity to move their eligible characters through it.

Whether that makes Sanctuary's economy healthier remains to be seen.

But if you have a twenty-year-old habit of keeping absolutely everything, now would be an excellent time to check which version of Hell you're keeping it in.

Sources: Blizzard's official character transfer announcement and Blizzard's Reign of the Warlock overview.

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Diablo 5 Has Started Filming Its Cinematics, and Sanctuary Is Getting Ready for Another Disaster

There is something rather reassuring about knowing that, somewhere inside Blizzard, people are already preparing the next elaborate cinematic demonstration of why living in Sanctuary is a terrible idea. The Diablo series has spent thirty years turning demonic invasions into something approaching high art, and now the machinery behind its next great catastrophe is beginning to move. Diablo V has officially started shooting its cinematics, with Blizzard's cinematic director Neil David Carter offering our first glimpse behind the scenes. Admittedly, the glimpse consists mainly of an empty studio. But for Diablo fans, even an empty room can be interesting when you know what will eventually crawl out of it.

On October 14, Carter shared a photograph from a production stage on X with the wonderfully economical message: "First shoot #Diablo5." There were no actors, no recognizable characters, and certainly no enormous horned demon posing obligingly for the camera. Just the equipment and space where the performances behind Diablo V's cinematic sequences are beginning to take shape. After Blizzard's September announcement that Diablo V will arrive in Spring 2029, this is one of the first tangible signs of the work happening behind the curtain.

Diablo Has Always Known How to Make an Entrance

Blizzard's cinematics have been part of Diablo's identity almost as long as the games themselves. The original Diablo introduced players to a gloomy world of gothic architecture and miserable villagers, but Diablo II took the storytelling considerably further. Its cinematics followed Marius through a series of increasingly unfortunate decisions, culminating in the sort of revelation that would make most people reconsider their travelling companions. They remain some of the most memorable sequences Blizzard has ever produced.

Diablo III preferred grander gestures, with angels descending from the heavens, entire armies being reduced to glowing dust, and enough supernatural destruction to keep the High Heavens' rebuilding contractors employed indefinitely. Diablo IV returned to a more intimate kind of horror, particularly with Lilith's introduction and the extraordinary confrontation between Lilith and Inarius. The technology had changed, but the old trick remained the same. Blizzard knew how to make the end of the world look magnificent.

That tradition matters even more for Diablo V because Blizzard deliberately saved Diablo himself for the next chapter. The Lord of Terror is no longer merely threatening Sanctuary from somewhere beyond the next dungeon. This time, he has already won.

Filming Has Started, but Diablo V Is Still Years Away

It is worth keeping the excitement within reasonable limits. Beginning cinematic shoots does not mean the game is approaching completion. Blizzard was producing finished cinematic material for Diablo IV years before that game finally launched in June 2023. Large productions develop their storytelling, animation, environments and gameplay systems across overlapping schedules, and a camera appearing on a studio floor tells us remarkably little about the state of the inventory system.

We do know that Blizzard has ambitious plans. The developers have described their goal of creating the best Diablo campaign yet, which is a rather dangerous promise when your own back catalogue includes Diablo II. The new story takes place roughly a century after Diablo IV, in a ruined Sanctuary where the heroes have failed and civilization has largely collapsed. It is not exactly the sort of setting that calls for cheerful musical numbers.

And the changes go beyond the narrative. Blizzard is returning to a more procedural approach to Sanctuary's environments, while the developers are also looking back toward Diablo II's approach to loot and character progression. Even the class roster is becoming unusually ambitious, with more playable classes planned at launch than any previous Diablo game has offered.

That is an enormous amount of work to complete before Spring 2029, and plenty can change along the way. For now, Carter's photograph simply confirms that another important part of the production has begun. It does not reveal which characters are being filmed, whether the footage belongs to the opening cinematic or an in-game sequence, or how much of the script has been finalized.

Still, there is something charming about seeing the first physical traces of a game that currently exists mostly as promises, concept art and the knowledge that Diablo has finally managed to do his job properly.

Somewhere in that empty studio, Blizzard is preparing the next chapter of Sanctuary's history. We have no idea what the finished scenes will look like.

But judging by the previous thirty years, somebody is going to have a spectacularly unpleasant afternoon.

Sources: PureDiablo's report on the first cinematic shoot and Blizzard's official Diablo V announcement.

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Diablo Immortal Adds Five New Treasure Goblins and a Surprise Portal to Avarice

There are few creatures in Diablo quite as universally appreciated as the Treasure Goblin. Demons are dangerous, skeletons are irritating, and bosses have an unfortunate habit of demanding several minutes of your attention before surrendering anything useful. A Treasure Goblin, on the other hand, has the decency to run away screaming while carrying a sack full of valuables. It is one of Sanctuary's more agreeable traditions, and Blizzard has now decided that Diablo Immortal needs considerably more of it.

The October update introduces five new Treasure Goblin varieties, a special dungeon event and changes to Avarice the Gold-Cursed. What initially sounds like a minor addition to the loot system could actually become one of the more useful improvements to everyday farming. For once, the little creatures are carrying something more interesting than another collection of gold and disappointment.

Five Goblins, Five Different Reasons to Chase Them

The most noticeable change is that Treasure Goblins now come with distinct specialties. The Mythstealer drops Set Items, while the Malevolent Tormentor carries Legendary Equipment. Gem Hoarders provide Gems, Odious Collectors drop Flowing Shards and other salvage materials, and Draff Gatherers carry Rhodolite and crafting resources. Blizzard has essentially divided the Goblin population into specialized departments, presumably without consulting anybody about working conditions.

There is a practical advantage to this arrangement. Diablo Immortal has become an increasingly complicated game of collecting, upgrading and replacing equipment. A player hunting for a missing Set piece has very different priorities from somebody gathering materials for another upgrade. Knowing that a particular Goblin specializes in the resources you need gives those sudden encounters a little more purpose.

Set Items are especially interesting right now. Blizzard recently changed the equipment system so that every newly obtained Set Ring comes with a Versatile Socket, removing one of the more irritating elements of ring farming. More opportunities to obtain Set Items fit rather neatly into that improvement, particularly for players still trying to complete their preferred equipment combinations.

The new Gem Hoarder is another welcome addition. Diablo Immortal's gem economy remains one of its longest progression grinds, even after Blizzard introduced Progressive Upgrades for Normal Gems beginning at Rank 6. Blizzard has not promised that every Goblin encounter will suddenly shower players with valuable gemstones, so expectations should remain sensible. But another potential source of Gems is hardly something Sanctuary's adventurers are likely to complain about.

Avarice Can Now Interrupt Your Dungeon Run

The more entertaining addition involves Avarice the Gold-Cursed, a creature whose entire personality can be summarized as an unhealthy attachment to valuable objects. Treasure Goblins will continue appearing randomly in outdoor zones and dungeons, but Blizzard has introduced the possibility of triggering a special Goblin event during a dungeon run. When that happens, a portal appears at the dungeon entrance and takes players directly to the final arena, where Avarice is waiting.

Defeating him grants rewards equivalent to those normally received from the dungeon's final boss. That is an important distinction. Blizzard is not promising an additional boss's worth of loot on top of every completed dungeon, nor has it published an exact probability for the portal to appear. This is a special encounter that can occur during ordinary dungeon farming, rather than a guaranteed shortcut players can activate whenever they feel like earning another Legendary item.

Avarice himself has also received some attention. His familiar portal dash has been restored, and several other attacks have been adjusted. Blizzard wants the encounter to feel more involved, which is probably reasonable when the opponent is an enormous treasure-obsessed monster who has spent much of his existence behaving like a walking bank vault.

Long-time players may remember that Avarice was already part of Diablo Immortal's anniversary plans alongside Baal. This latest appearance is different because it integrates the encounter into the regular dungeon experience rather than treating the boss simply as another returning attraction.

A Small Change That Could Make Farming More Enjoyable

What makes these additions interesting is how neatly they fit into Blizzard's recent attempts to smooth out Diablo Immortal's progression systems. Between the new Set Ring sockets, gradual Gem upgrades and the continuing adjustments to equipment acquisition, the developers have been removing some of the frustration surrounding familiar activities. There are still plenty of problems to solve, particularly in a game where even the Legendary Gem market has grown into a cross-server trading system, but the direction is encouraging.

Crafting materials deserve attention too. Anyone who remembers the recent player reports of enormous resource stacks disappearing after updates knows just how much effort can be tied up in an inventory full of apparently unremarkable materials. A Goblin carrying Flowing Shards or Rhodolite may not inspire the same excitement as a rare Legendary drop, but for somebody working toward an upgrade, those resources can be considerably more useful.

The timing also places the new Goblins alongside another return of Winds of Fortune, which gives players additional reasons to spend time farming Sanctuary's familiar activities. It makes for a busy October without requiring everyone to abandon their existing characters and start an entirely new progression system.

Whether the new Goblins become genuinely valuable farming targets will depend on their appearance rates and the quality of their drops. Those are questions players will answer through ordinary gameplay rather than promotional descriptions.

Still, the idea is sound. Treasure Goblins have always provided one of Diablo's simplest pleasures: spotting something valuable, abandoning whatever sensible task you were doing, and chasing it halfway across the map.

Now there are five more reasons to do exactly that.

And occasionally, an enormous golden monster waiting at the end.

Source: Blizzard Entertainment – Defy the Vessels of the Husk.

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Diablo 4's Steam Comeback Is Losing Steam, but Sanctuary Is Far From Empty

Three weeks ago, Diablo IV was enjoying something it had not experienced for quite some time: a genuinely crowded Sanctuary. Season 15 had arrived, Blizzard had temporarily opened the gates for free, and a 75% discount persuaded thousands of players to give the game another chance. Steam's player counter climbed toward 50,000, and for a brief moment, the familiar arguments about Diablo IV being a dying game went rather quiet. Now October has arrived, the promotion is a distant memory, and those numbers are beginning to tell a different story.

According to Steam player statistics, Diablo IV recorded a daily peak of 18,483 concurrent players on October 14. Compare that with September 27, when the same tracking service recorded 48,620, and the decline is substantial. That's roughly 62% fewer players at the daily peak in just over two weeks. Not exactly the sort of graph Blizzard would print on a celebratory anniversary cake.

But there is a rather important detail hiding behind those numbers.

The September Comeback Was Real

At the beginning of September, we reported that Diablo IV had fallen to around 2,500 concurrent Steam players. Season 14 was winding down, most dedicated players had exhausted its rewards, and the community was waiting for something new. It was the familiar end-of-season wilderness, where even the Treasure Goblins seem to have packed their bags.

Then came Season of Hell's Legacy. Blizzard combined its anniversary celebrations with free access and an unusually aggressive Steam discount, and players returned in considerable numbers. By September 19, we were watching Steam peaks approaching 50,000. More importantly, those players did not immediately disappear when the free period ended.

On September 28, we examined what happened after the discount disappeared. The daily peak remained close to 50,000, suggesting that the surge had survived its first serious test. We also pointed out that the more revealing moment would arrive in mid-October, once the excitement surrounding the new season had begun to settle.

Well, here we are.

Season 15 Has Plenty to Offer, but the Honeymoon Is Ending

It would be tempting to blame the falling numbers on disappointment with Season 15, but that would be considerably more confident than the evidence allows. Seasonal action RPGs have always experienced sharp fluctuations. Players return for new content, spend a few enthusiastic weeks discovering everything, finish their characters, and gradually wander off to other games. Diablo has followed that rhythm for years, long before anybody thought to turn concurrent-player charts into a spectator sport.

And Season 15 has genuinely offered an unusual amount to discover. Players uncovered the return of Whimsyshire and its thoroughly ridiculous unicorn boss, Neigh'relle, alongside hidden Runewords, anniversary items and references to Diablo II that have kept the community investigating for weeks. There is something refreshing about a Diablo season where the conversation occasionally concerns a mysterious secret rather than which build can erase a boss in the fewest frames.

Not everything has been quite so charming, of course. Season 15 arrived with technical problems, missing rewards and progression bugs. Blizzard has spent much of the season repairing things, including issues addressed in Patch 3.2.2's extensive collection of fixes. Whether those problems have contributed to the falling Steam population is impossible to determine from the player chart alone.

18,000 Players Is Not the Same as an Empty Game

There is another distinction worth making before anyone starts preparing Diablo IV's obituary. These figures only cover Steam. They do not include players using Battle.net, PlayStation or Xbox, and Blizzard does not provide a public real-time total across every platform. Steam offers a useful window into player behaviour, but it is not a census of the entire population.

Even within that limited picture, the current numbers tell a more complicated story than simple collapse. October 14's daily peak of 18,483 is well below September's promotional highs, but still considerably above the low point we observed at the beginning of September. In other words, much of the anniversary crowd has gone home, yet Sanctuary has not returned to its pre-season silence.

The next few weeks will tell us whether that remaining audience represents a healthier long-term Steam baseline or simply the slower part of the usual seasonal decline. Blizzard has managed to bring players back through the gates. Keeping them interested after the anniversary surprises have been discovered is the harder part.

For now, the figures suggest neither a miraculous resurrection nor an impending funeral.

Diablo IV has simply reached that familiar point in every Diablo season when the excitement begins to fade, the loot becomes harder to improve, and players remember that other games exist.

Some of them even have fewer demons.

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Diablo Immortal's Halloween Event Is Back With Free Headless Rewards and a Deadly Game of Betrayal

Halloween has returned to Sanctuary, although one might reasonably ask whether anybody would notice the difference. Diablo Immortal already has more walking corpses than most cemeteries, demons lurking in every cellar, and enough dismembered body parts to keep a particularly unpleasant butcher busy for several lifetimes. Still, Blizzard has decided that October deserves its own horrors, and Hallow's Wake is now underway, running from October 15 to November 12. There are free rewards to collect, familiar activities with a Halloween twist, and an opportunity to discover that the most dangerous monster in Sanctuary might be standing right beside you.

The celebration follows a rather eventful September, when Spawn arrived in Diablo Immortal alongside the Made to Suffer update. That crossover brought a comic-book visitor whose professional relationship with Hell is complicated even by Diablo standards. Hallow's Wake takes things in a more traditional direction, with ghostly enemies, suspicious adventurers and a slightly disturbing collection of headless cosmetics.

Survivor's Bane Gets a Halloween Makeover

The festivities begin with Survivor's Bane, available from October 15 until October 29 at 3 a.m. local server time. The familiar survival mode has acquired some seasonal visitors, including supernatural enemies that appear specifically during Hallow's Wake. Strange forces can also restrict visibility, making it considerably harder to see what is approaching. Given that most things approaching you in Diablo Immortal have fairly unpleasant intentions, this is something of a disadvantage.

Survivor's Bane has always been about making the best of whatever abilities and opportunities the game throws your way. It shares some of that improvisational spirit with Fractured Plane, although players will hopefully avoid the sort of technical complications we saw when retired Legendary Essences mysteriously continued appearing in Fractured Plane earlier this year. Halloween monsters are one thing. Equipment that no longer works is a rather less entertaining surprise.

Howler's Hunt Is Where Your Friends Become the Problem

On October 29, Survivor's Bane gives way to Howler's Hunt, which continues until November 12. Here Blizzard abandons the usual arrangement of putting a large monster in front of a group of adventurers and asking everyone to hit it. Instead, one member of the group is secretly a traitor, and the others must identify the culprit before too many innocent players meet an unfortunate end. Accuse the wrong person and your chances of survival become considerably worse.

It is a rather splendid idea for a Diablo event. Normally, arguments between players revolve around loot, class balance or whether Bout of Realms matchmaking gives ordinary teams a fighting chance. Howler's Hunt simplifies matters considerably. One of your companions wants you dead, and for once it has nothing to do with Resonance.

Free Headless Cosmetics and a Visit to the Crone

Both activities reward Hallowed Stones, which can be exchanged with the Crone in Westmarch. Her seasonal inventory includes Legendary Items, Legendary Crests and new Headless cosmetics. The latter allow characters to wander around Sanctuary without the inconvenience of possessing a head, which feels like a natural development for a franchise that has spent thirty years experimenting with increasingly elaborate armour designs. These appearances are temporary, however, so collectors should not mistake them for permanent cosmetic unlocks.

The returning Mythslayer cosmetic is also available separately through the in-game shop, with purchases starting at 1,000 Eternal Orbs. That distinction between gameplay rewards and premium purchases is worth remembering, particularly while Diablo Immortal's virtual currency systems are facing scrutiny from European consumer authorities. Hallow's Wake offers rewards earned by playing, but the premium wardrobe remains very much open for business.

And the Treasure Goblins Have Been Busy

Halloween also arrives alongside a broader update to Treasure Goblins. Five new varieties now specialize in different rewards, including Set Items, Legendary Equipment, Gems and crafting materials. Dungeon runs can even trigger a special Goblin event leading directly to Avarice the Gold-Cursed. For players already taking advantage of changes such as the introduction of Versatile Sockets on all newly acquired Set Rings, there are more reasons to keep hunting for equipment.

It is all part of an increasingly generous autumn schedule that also includes another Winds of Fortune event. We previously looked at why Winds of Fortune can be particularly valuable for Normal Gem farming, and the October return offers another opportunity to make ordinary activities more rewarding.

Hallow's Wake is hardly going to transform Diablo Immortal, nor does it need to. There is something rather charming about a Halloween celebration in a game where Halloween is effectively the normal state of affairs. A few strange costumes, some supernatural mischief and the chance to accuse your friends of being murderous impostors are perfectly respectable reasons to return to Sanctuary.

Just remember to collect your rewards before November 12.

Losing your head is one thing. Losing your free loot would be considerably worse.

Sources: Blizzard's Hallow's Wake announcement and Defy the Vessels of the Husk update notes.

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Diablo 3 Season 40 Altar of Rites Guide: Best Unlock Order, Materials and Mistakes to Avoid

Diablo III Season 40 has given the Nephalem another collection of Angelic Crucibles, ridiculous Sanctified Powers and perfectly reasonable excuses to spend the weekend exterminating entire demon populations. But before you get too distracted by all that divine weaponry, there is another system sitting quietly in New Tristram that can make your seasonal journey considerably easier. The Altar of Rites has returned, and while it does not attract quite the same attention as a Crusader casually summoning lightning from horseback, its bonuses are among the most useful things a seasonal character can unlock.

The Altar offers everything from equipment without level requirements to extra Death's Breaths, automatic loot collection and additional Primal Ancient drops. Naturally, none of this comes free. You must sacrifice increasingly inconvenient combinations of crafting materials, equipment and rare consumables, occasionally wondering whether the people who designed the system have a personal grievance against your inventory.

In this guide, we'll explain where to find the Altar of Rites in Season 40, which Seals to prioritise, every material requirement and how to avoid the mistakes that can delay your progression. If you are still getting your character established, our Season 40 Light's Calling overview explains the returning seasonal theme and the available Haedrig's Gift sets.

Where Is the Altar of Rites in Diablo 3 Season 40?

The Altar of Rites is located in Act I, New Tristram, and is available in Seasonal Adventure Mode from level 1. From the town waypoint, head towards the Slaughtered Calf Inn and follow the path around the building towards the exits leading to Wortham and the Weeping Hollow. The Altar sits along that route and is marked by a large golden symbol on the minimap.

It contains 26 regular Seals and three Legendary Potion Powers. Each unlock grants a permanent seasonal benefit shared across your characters in the relevant seasonal mode. You can eventually unlock everything, but individual choices cannot be undone, and the cost of each successive sacrifice increases regardless of which path you take through the tree.

That last point is important. The Altar does not punish you with more expensive materials because you chose the wrong branch. The sacrifices become progressively more demanding according to the number of unlocks you have completed. Choosing an efficient route therefore means collecting the most useful bonuses before the difficult material requirements begin.

Best Altar of Rites Unlock Order in Season 40

There is no single perfect route for every character. A player levelling a fresh seasonal hero benefits from different powers than someone already clearing Greater Rift 100. The following priorities offer a practical route for most players, with an emphasis on movement, easier farming and fewer trips back to town.

Priority	Seal	Why It Matters
1	Gateway (A)	Doubles kill streak duration and reward bonus; mandatory first unlock.
2	Anointed (C)	Removes item level requirements, particularly useful when levelling.
3	Mirror (B)	Keeps Pools of Reflection active throughout the season.
4	Uncapped Movement Speed (F)	Makes farming and travelling more efficient.
5	Double Death's Breaths (M)	Accelerates crafting and Kanai's Cube progression.
6	Double Bounty Caches (O)	Improves material collection from Bounties.
7	Progress Orb Pickup (P)	Automatically collects nearby Rift progress orbs.
8	Pet Pickup and Salvage (X)	Lets pets collect and salvage unwanted normal, magic and rare equipment.
9	Legendary Chance at Kadala (Z)	Improves gearing through Blood Shard gambling.

This is a priority list, not a literal click-by-click path. The Altar is an interconnected tree, so you must unlock the necessary connecting Seals before reaching some of these bonuses. Check the connections in your Altar menu and adjust your route accordingly. The precise order between Anointed and Mirror is also flexible: take Anointed early if you are still levelling or plan to create another character, but consider Mirror first if you are already level 70 and want the long-term experience benefit.

Why Anointed Is So Powerful While Levelling

The Anointed Seal removes level requirements from equipment. That sounds convenient, but in practice it can completely change the levelling process. Once unlocked, a character can use powerful equipment that would ordinarily require a much higher level. A carefully chosen level 70 weapon becomes particularly entertaining when placed in the hands of someone who has only recently learned which end of it to hold.

There are two things to remember. First, the benefit applies to your seasonal characters, not followers. Second, item levels can display differently once the Seal is active, so pay attention to equipment names when crafting. Most level 70 rare weapons use the Sovereign naming convention, while the Necromancer's level 70 rare scythe is called the Grandmaster Saber.

For players already established in Season 40, Anointed is still excellent when levelling alternative characters. It is less urgent if you have no intention of creating another hero and are primarily interested in Greater Rift farming.

Every Altar of Rites Sacrifice in Season 40

The Altar's costs are determined by how many regular Seals you have unlocked, not by which specific Seal you choose. The table below gives the regular 26-step sacrifice progression, allowing you to prepare important materials before you reach the relevant stage.

Unlock	Required Sacrifice
1	10 Reusable Parts
2	1 Flawless Diamond or higher, 15 Arcane Dust, 20 Reusable Parts
3	1 Greater Rift Keystone, 10 Death's Breaths
4	Any class-specific Set Helm
5	20 Forgotten Souls and 10 of each Act Bounty material
6	1 Leoric's Regret, 1 Vial of Putridness, 1 Idol of Terror, 1 Heart of Fright
7	1 crafted Reaper's Wraps
8	30 Forgotten Souls
9	1,100 Blood Shards
10	1 Flawless Royal Ruby, 20 Death's Breaths, 1 Ring of Royal Grandeur
11	1 Flawless Royal Emerald and 30 of each Act Bounty material
12	20 Greater Rift Keystones, 1 Ramaladni's Gift
13	1,300 Blood Shards
14	1 Petrified Scream
15	1 unopened Challenge Rift Cache
16	250 Forgotten Souls
17	1,400 Blood Shards
18	1 Ancient Hellfire Amulet
19	4 different Tome of Set Dungeon Pages from the same class
20	1 Ancient Puzzle Ring and 50 of each Act Bounty material
21	500 Death's Breaths, 300 Forgotten Souls
22	1,500 Blood Shards
23	1 Rank 125 Whisper of Atonement
24	1 Augmented Weapon
25	1 Staff of Herding
26	1,600 Blood Shards

The five Act Bounty materials are Khanduran Runes, Caldeum Nightshade, Arreat War Tapestry, Corrupted Angel Flesh and Westmarch Holy Water. Whenever the table asks for a quantity of each material, you must provide that quantity for all five Acts.

The three Legendary Potion Powers use a separate currency rather than the regular sacrifice sequence. The first costs 55 Primordial Ashes, the second requires 110, and the third costs 165. You obtain these Ashes by salvaging Primal Ancient equipment. The Potion Powers also require you to reach the relevant connecting Seal in the Altar tree.

The Challenge Rift Cache Mistake That Can Delay Your Altar

If there is one mistake that deserves its own warning sign, it is the Challenge Rift Cache. The 15th regular Altar sacrifice requires an unopened Challenge Rift Cache, which means the usual advice to open your weekly cache immediately is not always the best decision.

At the start of a season, opening the cache provides Blood Shards, gold and crafting materials that can dramatically accelerate levelling. For casual players, that early boost is often worth taking. By the time they reach the 15th sacrifice, another weekly Challenge Rift may already be available.

Dedicated players can progress through the Altar much faster, however. If you expect to reach the 15th requirement before the next weekly reset, saving an unopened cache can prevent an otherwise unavoidable delay. Remember that only one Challenge Rift reward cache can be earned from each weekly challenge.

Season 40 began on October 2, so most players starting the season now face a slightly different decision than those competing during the opening weekend. If you are already level 70 and working towards your 15th unlock, do not open the next Challenge Rift Cache you intend to sacrifice. The Altar needs the cache itself, not the crafting materials inside it.

We previously covered the console Challenge Rift problem that prevented players from progressing through the Altar. That was a separate technical issue, but it illustrates just how important these weekly caches have become to the seasonal progression system.

How to Prepare the Difficult Materials

Reaper's Wraps and the Ring of Royal Grandeur

For the seventh sacrifice, you need an actual crafted pair of Reaper's Wraps, not merely the crafting plan. The plan is obtained from Malthael in Act V. Once you have learned it, craft the item at the Blacksmith and sacrifice the finished equipment.

The Ring of Royal Grandeur required at step 10 is most reliably pursued through Act I Horadric Caches obtained from Bounties. Players should consider saving the first ring they find for the Altar rather than immediately equipping or extracting its power. If you only have one copy and your build depends on it, secure a replacement before making the sacrifice.

Blood Shards and Greater Rift Capacity

Several sacrifices require large amounts of Blood Shards, eventually reaching 1,600. You must have enough storage capacity to hold the required amount, which means progressing through solo Greater Rifts to increase your Blood Shard cap.

For the standard progression thresholds, Greater Rift 60 supports a 1,100 cap, Greater Rift 80 supports 1,300, Greater Rift 90 supports 1,400, Greater Rift 100 supports 1,500 and Greater Rift 110 supports 1,600. Reaching those levels may be considerably easier once you have assembled your full class set and a few supporting Legendary items.

Console players should also be careful when approaching the required amount. Depending on the size of a Blood Shard pickup, it may not be possible to collect the pile if doing so would exceed the current cap. Spending a few Shards at Kadala before another Rift can solve that problem.

Petrified Screams and Ramaladni's Gift

The 12th sacrifice requires 20 Greater Rift Keystones and a Ramaladni's Gift, while the 14th requires a Petrified Scream. Both consumables are worth saving as you encounter them during normal farming. Petrified Screams can drop from Greater Rift Guardians, providing access to Echoing Nightmares and the Whisper of Atonement gems you will eventually need.

Do not use your only Petrified Scream immediately if you are approaching sacrifice 14. Likewise, keep a Ramaladni's Gift in reserve rather than automatically applying it to your first respectable weapon. There will be plenty of opportunities to optimise equipment later. Getting stuck because you consumed your only required item is a considerably less entertaining form of seasonal progression.

Step 19: How to Get Four Tome of Set Dungeon Pages

This requirement catches many returning players because older guides sometimes mention the Never Ending Questions lore item. That requirement was replaced. The current Altar asks for four different Tome of Set Dungeon Pages from one class.

To obtain them, collect the four traditional class sets associated with Set Dungeons. Equip one qualifying set, travel to Leoric's Manor in Act I, find the Tome of Set Dungeons and interact with it to receive the corresponding page. Repeat with the remaining three sets.

Here is the important Season 40 complication: none of this season's Haedrig's Gift sets has an associated Set Dungeon. That includes Aegis of Valor, Gears of Dreadlands, Horde of the Ninety Savages, Patterns of Justice, Masquerade of the Burning Carnival, Mundunugu's Regalia and Typhon's Veil.

Consequently, players must collect older qualifying sets rather than expecting the free seasonal set to provide a page. You do not need to complete the actual Set Dungeons, and you do not obtain these pages by searching inside them. The Tome in Leoric's Manor is the important interaction.

Start collecting extra Set pieces early instead of salvaging everything that does not belong to your primary build. This is especially useful in a season where Diablo III's fast seasonal progression makes it surprisingly easy to reach endgame long before you have gathered the equipment needed for every optional objective.

Can Angelic Crucibles Help With an Ancient Puzzle Ring?

Season 40 offers one particularly useful interaction between its main seasonal theme and the Altar. The 20th sacrifice requires an Ancient Puzzle Ring, and Sanctified items are treated as Ancient-quality equipment. Community testing indicates that a Puzzle Ring Sanctified with an Angelic Crucible can satisfy the Ancient Puzzle Ring requirement.

That gives players an alternative to repeatedly reforging a Puzzle Ring or hoping for a naturally dropped Ancient version. The cost is an Angelic Crucible and a Puzzle Ring, so it is best used when you can afford to sacrifice both. If you have only one Crucible and still need your desired Sanctified Power, you may prefer to finish your build first.

We explored the returning Crucible mechanic in our Season 40 Angelic Crucibles coverage. It is a good example of how the returning season theme can make an otherwise awkward Altar requirement easier.

The Final Grind: Whisper of Atonement, Staff of Herding and Primal Ashes

The last sacrifices are designed to keep even well-equipped characters busy. Step 23 requires a Rank 125 Whisper of Atonement, obtained by progressing through Echoing Nightmares. The next stage asks for an Augmented Weapon, which means using Kanai's Cube to apply an augment to suitable equipment. Those are useful endgame objectives in their own right, so neither needs to be treated as wasted effort.

The Staff of Herding at step 25 is another matter. This returning Diablo III curiosity demands its own collection of materials and crafting steps, and some components can take repeated attempts to find. Begin working on it before you reach the final sacrifices if you intend to complete the entire Altar. Waiting until the last moment can transform a relatively relaxed project into an extended search for materials that refuse to appear.

Legendary Potion Powers introduce another long-term objective. Primordial Ashes come from salvaging Primal Ancient items, so resist the temptation to salvage or spend important Primal drops carelessly. The Altar requires 330 Primordial Ashes in total across its three Potion Powers.

Don't Forget the Final Warning Seal

Even after completing all 26 regular Seals and unlocking the three Potion Powers, there is one final interaction. The Warning Seal at the bottom of the Altar becomes available when the requirements are satisfied. Activate it to receive the final benefit, which causes an additional random Primal item to drop whenever a Primal drops.

This also awards the Wings of Terror cosmetic. The additional Primal is a separate random item, not a duplicate of the original drop, and it is still subject to the normal rules governing the extra reward.

Several players have completed every visible sacrifice only to wonder why their double-Primal bonus has not activated. The reason is frequently that they have not clicked the final Seal itself. After all that farming, missing one final button would be a particularly Diablo III way to finish the season.

Common Altar of Rites Mistakes to Avoid

• Opening your Challenge Rift Cache too early: Save an unopened cache when approaching the 15th sacrifice.
• Sacrificing your only useful Set Helm: Keep a spare if your starter build still needs the item.
• Salvaging every traditional class set: You will need four qualifying Tome of Set Dungeon Pages later.
• Confusing a Reaper's Wraps plan with the item: The Altar needs the crafted bracers.
• Using your only Petrified Scream or Ramaladni's Gift: Both are required for specific sacrifices.
• Ignoring Blood Shard capacity: Later sacrifices demand up to 1,600 Shards at once.
• Following an outdated Season 28 guide blindly: Some powers were adjusted when the Altar became a permanent seasonal feature.
• Forgetting the final Warning Seal: Unlock it after completing the Altar to activate the additional Primal drops.

Is Completing the Altar of Rites Worth It in Season 40?

For players interested in seasonal progression, absolutely. The early unlocks improve levelling and farming, the middle of the tree provides valuable convenience and material bonuses, and the completed Altar offers long-term advantages that remain useful throughout the season. You do not need to rush through every sacrifice in your first weekend to benefit from it.

Season 40's Light's Calling theme makes the process especially entertaining because Angelic Crucibles give players powerful ways to improve their builds while working through the Altar. A fast farming character becomes even more effective when movement, loot collection and material bonuses begin stacking together. The result is Diablo III at its most efficient, which generally means spending less time managing inventory and more time making enormous groups of monsters regret their career choices.

Start with the useful quality-of-life powers, keep rare sacrifice materials when they drop, and plan ahead for the Challenge Rift Cache, Set Dungeon Pages and Staff of Herding. The Altar will still be there when your character becomes stronger, and unlocking everything is entirely achievable with a little patience.

Of course, this is Diablo III, where a little patience usually means killing several thousand demons while waiting for one specific object to fall out of a corpse. Some things never change.

References: Blizzard's official Altar of Rites rules and sacrifice requirements, updated Altar mechanics and Seal effects, and the Season 40 community tips and reminders.

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