Recently, we discovered through developer chat some of the new changes coming to Diablo 4 Loot Reborn, including Helltide density, bosses, mechanics, quests, events, and even Andariel is making a comeback with Tormented Boss changes.

In this guide, we’ll summarize some of the key changes to help you quickly understand how Season 4 is different from previous seasons and get a head start on Loot Reborn!

Helltide

For Helltide, the developers looked closely at player feedback and general experience gained from other popular activities that players seemed to enjoy, such as Blood Harvests in Season 2. So, what’s the difference?

Threat Meter

When you step into Helltide, you’ll notice a new Threat meter on the right side of the screen. This one fills up as you kill demons and engage in content.

Threat levels are divided into three levels. Each level increases the rewards and difficulty of monsters. They will throw ambushes at you, and elites will start spawning. But it also means you’ll get more Diablo 4 Gold and loot from it.

Once the meter is completely filled, you become Hell-Marked. Hell-Marked triggers the final ambush, which means a full-scale wave of demons will be thrown at you, all culminating in the last battle against Hellborne. Hellborne is very challenging and actually resurrected the hero of Sanctuary.

Regardless, once the frenzy wave ends, or if you die, Threat meter resets.

Baneful Hearts

Another new addition is the ability to collect a new material called Baneful Hearts. They mainly drop from Tortured Gifts around Helltide, which are basically Helltide Chests, and sometimes you may see them from various demons around the area, such as Doomsayers and Hellborne.

These Baneful Hearts are important because you can summon a zone-wide boss for each one, called Blood Maiden.

To find this demon, head to the demon head icon on the map. Summoning the big bad requires three Hearts, but if you’re leaching from a friend, you’ll need zero Hearts. Instead, contributors who summon Blood Maiden receive additional rewards. No matter what, everyone is a winner.

Other Changes

There are many other major changes, including new random pop-up Doomsayer, Iron Wolf, and Demonic events waiting to be discovered. Additionally, Helltide-specific Whisper Bounties are included here, and Whispers in general have been fully enhanced.

Boss Ladder

Next, let’s talk about some Tormented Bosses. Joining Boss Ladder is Maiden of Anguish, Andariel. She shares the same loot table as Duriel, so you can get some of the best items in the game from both sources.

Additionally, this encounter has been updated, so it should feel different than before. You can expect to encounter a variety of elements in combat, even her signature Poison Nova attack.

Andariel is located in Hanged Man’s Hall, east of Tasarak. You will need the summoning parts for Lord Zir and Beast in Ice.

Besides this, you can now summon level 200 versions of each Tormented boss, which are called Tormented Echoes. If you level them up to Echo, you’ll get five times more rewards than a normal Tormented Boss, but it only costs three times the materials and a new summoning item called Stygian Stones.

They can be summoned from the same altar as the normal boss, so just click through to Tormented version.

Stygian Stones can be found deep in Pit. After completing Nightmare Dungeon Tier 45, you will be given a priority task to unlock Pit. You can run them individually or in a team. Additionally, when you first kill any of these Tormented Echo bosses, you’ll gain a Resplendent Spark for your troubles, which can go a long way toward crafting some unique items.

Helltides May Become The Best Leveling Place

Currently, Helltides can still be unlocked by completing the campaign or creating a campaign-skipped character. I’m guessing some of Season 4’s updates like Helltide expansions will cause them to appear in World Tiers 1 and 2 now. If you create a campaign-skipped character, you can use Helltides from level 1 to level 100.

So do Helltides’ changes now pose a threat? Undoubtedly, through the feedback of some PTR players, it is obvious that Helltides is actually more threatening than in any previous season.

Helltides are definitely the most effective upgrades we have in Season 4. Both Hell on Sanctuary and Demonic Invasions provide significant challenges for players.

Additionally, in Season 4 PTR, the developers actually increased the pickup radius of Aberrant Cinder, and they also stated that it will definitely still be there in Season 4.

As we all know, one pillar of Helltides upgrades is to find opportunities to maximize efficiency, and increasing Aberrant Cinder pickup radius is undoubtedly a huge quality of life change. Because you know, no one likes to backtrack and pick up Cinder and interrupt your flow.

On the subject of maximizing efficiency, one thing that wasn’t present in PTR but was present in Season 4 release is that the developers actually reduced the time required to interact with and open Tortured Gifts. As monster density increases, this could play a key role in a player’s endgame journey.

Will There Be More Encounters In Helltides?

Finally, the developers also stated that they may add more encounters to Helltides, like a Butcher-style mechanic. While considering Helltides upgrades, these types of chance encounters, random encounters, or just the opportunity to add some novelty or surprise are definitely something to look forward to, and are definitely in the spirit of Doomsayer events.

To be honest, most of these changes are prompted by the community, and hopefully Diablo developers will hear more feedback. That’s all for today. See you at the Sanctuary!