Diablo IV Season 9 Evolves Endgame With Permanent Updates to Nightmare Dungeons of Both Realms

Permanent changes to Nightmare Dungeons within both Seasonal and Eternal Realms, including new Horadric Strongroom mini dungeons and a new endgame activity called Escalating Nightmares, will drop in Diablo IV Season 9, titled Sins of the Horadrim, which is set for launch on July 1, 2025.

In the new seasonal questline, the druid Bryona will task players with discovering and purging blood relics infused with Astaroth’s blood before they fall into demonic hands. To start The Embers Yet Smolder quest, players can find Bryona in Cerrigar, northwest of the Waypoint, provided they have completed Diablo IV’s base game campaign and created a new character on the Seasonal Realm.

The story of The Embers Yet Smolder will reveal the secret to unlocking Horadric Strongrooms and guide players toward the Horadric Focus in Cerrigar, a powerful Horadrim device used to track the player’s Horadric Knowledge level (Seasonal Reputation) and grant rewards upon reaching specific milestones. This questline of Season 9 will also unlock access to the Horadric Wayfinder, which highlights Horadric Strongrooms hidden within Nightmare Dungeons. In Season 9, Nightmare Dungeons will hide Horadric Strongrooms, created for the protection of Horadric Relics. The developer promises that these micro-dungeons will offer powerful rewards. Horadric Strongrooms become time-limited once they are unsealed.

Points of Horadric Knowledge can be gained by defeating Mummified Horadrim in Strongrooms, as well as Elite Enemies and Bosses. Notably, Lair Bosses can also be a source of Horadric Knowledge, but players must unlock their respective Hoard during the encounter to claim the points.

In Diablo IV Season 9, Nightmare Dungeons, Nightmare Escalations, Horadric Strongrooms and Lair Boss Hoard Chests will drop Horadric Phials, a material used to craft Horadric Jewels, which can also be exchanged for Horadric Knowledge at the Lapidary.

On top of that, Sins of the Horadrim introduces a new Spellcrafting ability that allows players to create Horadric Spells by combining Catalysts, Infusions and Arcana, then linking them to their character’s abilities. Catalysts serve as the base power of the Horadric Spell, Infusions modify the type of elemental damage, and Arcanas add additional effects to the spell’s base power.

A new endgame challenge will join Diablo IV in Season 9, requiring an Escalation Sigil to start. Escalating Nightmares will throw players into a chain of three Nightmare Dungeons, culminating in a battle against the Exalted version of Astaroth.

As permanent Nightmare Dungeon updates to both Seasonal and Eternal Realms, Diablo IV will see new Nightmare Dungeon affixes, Escalating Nightmares and Horadric Strongrooms that will stay in the game after the end of Season 9. Also, the game will get new Uniques for each Class and quality-of-life fixes for mouse and keyboard on console. The game’s developer also highlighted that Horadric Spellcraft, Horadric Jewels and Horadric Knowledge.

Developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment, Diablo IV was released on June 5, 2023, for PlayStation 4 and 5, PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. The game has won four industry awards across different categories and received four honorable mentions at the 24th Game Developers Choice Awards.

In its first five days, the game earned $666 million, becoming Blizzard Entertainment’s fastest-selling game at that time. As of September 2024, Diablo IV has generated over $1 billion in revenue since its release in June 2023. This figure includes approximately $150 million from in-game microtransactions.