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Over two years and nine seasons later,Diablo 4has been a mixed bag of content throughout its life so far. While the game has undoubtedly undergone some drastic improvements in that time,Diablo 4has seen its fair share of rough patches. Some seasons have struck a chord with players, and others have fallen flat. Through it all,Diablo 4has largely come out a better game than when it first launched, but the quality of seasons in between has varied greatly.
This list will rankDiablo 4seasons based on what new content they brought to the game and how impactful they ended up being to the game as a whole.
S-Tier: Game-Changing Diablo 4 Seasons
Season 2: The Season of Blood Put Diablo 4 on Track for Success
The first season to really hit a home run forDiablo 4was its second season, titled The Season of Blood. Not only didDiablo 4Season 2 add a much more popular season gimmick in the form of Vampiric Powers—one that has become the gold standard for recent seasons—but it also reshaped the endgame loop by adding the Boss Ladder along with five bosses for players to challenge. Players could nowfarm these Tormented Bosses for mythics, called uber uniques at the time, pitting themselves against the likes of Lord Zir, Echo of Varshan, Gigoire the Galvanic Saint, The Beast in the Ice, and Andariel.
Season 4: Loot Reborn Addressed the Most Pressing Player Complaints
Diablo 4transformed the game into something really special with Season 4 after a lackluster previous season. The Loot Reborn update completely overhauled itemization, adding the ability to improve gear throughTempering and Masterworking to helpDiablo 4playersrefine their endgame builds. Additionally, Season 4 made Helltides much more enjoyable to farm by increasing monster density and adding new events like Accursed Rituals to summon Blood Maidens.
Season 6: Hatred Rising Ushered in Vessel of Hatred with Style
Launching alongside the release of the Vessel of Hatred expansion, Season 6 helped support the new DLC content with some important changes to the base game. While the seasonal mechanic that saw Realmwalkers open Hell Portals across Sanctuary was only somewhat entertaining, the changes to the level cap andDiablo 4Paragon systemthat came with Season 6 went a long way towards streamlining the game’s leveling system.
A-Tier: Solid Diablo 4 Seasons
The Season of Witchcraft had the tough task of recouping players after the hype of Vessel of Hatred had died down. In general, theWitchcraft Powers ofDiablo 4Season 7were an enjoyable riff onDiablo 4’s recurring seasonal power gimmick, but the larger changes made to the game didn’t feel as substantial as the previous season. The return of the Armory fromDiablo 3: Reaper of Soulsfor storing multiple builds was a much-needed addition, even if it didn’t necessarily appeal to every player.
Season 9: Sins of the Horadrim Makes Some Underrated Improvements
As the current ongoing season, it’s hard to foresee how exactlyDiablo 4Season 9 will impact the future of the game. However, after nine seasons, it’s nice to see the game continuing to improve with a feature like Escalating Nightmares to make Nightmare Dungeon runs feel refreshed. This season’sHoradric Spellsmay be starting to feel derivative, but they still add an interesting layer to the seasonal meta for players to experiment with.
B-Tier: Underwhelming Diablo 4 Seasons
Of all theDiablo 4seasons, Season 8 felt like the most mixed bag of the bunch. While an overhauled boss ladder that added new fights against Belial, Urivar, and the Harbinger of Hatred helped Belial’s Return feel like a substantial improvement, it was somewhat dampened by thecontroversy surroundingDiablo 4’s Berserk collab. SeeingDiablo 4crossover with a non-Blizzard IP was an exciting first, but the high prices for the Berserk cosmetic bundles overshadowed what would otherwise have been a solid season.
Season 5: Infernal Hordes Was Overshadowed by Vessel of Hatred Hype
AnotherDiablo 4season that was overshadowed by a different aspect of the game was Season 5. Sandwiched between the popular Loot Reborn season and the release of Vessel of Hatred,Diablo 4Season 5 was best known for adding theInfernal Hordes game modeas a new endgame activity for players to enjoy. Unfortunately, the season itself was largely lost among discussion about Vessel of Hatred, the new Spiritborn class, and the changing Paragon system.
C-Tier: Flawed Diablo 4 Seasons
Season 3: The Construct Was a Failed Diablo 4 Experiment
Outside of Season 2, the first few seasons ofDiablo 4struggled to gain traction for a variety of reasons. Season 3 made a bold attempt to shake up gameplay by introducing Vaults and the Seneschal companion, but neither felt at home in theDiablo 4gameplay loop, with Vaults relying on players navigating traps rather than fighting enemies and the Seneschal companion feeling largely ineffective.The Gauntlet and Leaderboardswere the biggest additions in Season 3, but have since been removed from the game pending a future rework.
Season 1: The Season of the Malignant Was a False Start for Diablo 4
The inaugural season ofDiablo 4had high expectations to live up to, but ultimately stumbled over the starting block. The Season of the Malignant’s main focus was on obtaining Caged Hearts from Malignant Tunnels to socket into their gear for unique seasonal augments. However, the season felt very bare bones as a whole, lacking any meaningful new content for players who had completed themainDiablo 4campaign.
