Season of the Awakened Death: Everything About the Season 14 Launch

On June 30 at 19:00 CEST, in the wake of Mephisto's defeat, the Season of the Awakened Death (Season 14) descends upon Sanctuary. Dark rituals tear open the border to the Planes of Madness, a death cult is on the loose – and it falls to you to stop it. Here's everything you need to know about the season launch at a glance: new rifts, Mythic Uniques 3.0, Solo Self-Found, the Diablo IV × Overwatch collaboration, a free Warlock trial, and more.

Face the Horror of the Awakened Death

Dark rituals open arcane chasms all across Sanctuary – the Rifts of Madness. They appear most often in Hellflood zones. The longer you keep a rift open, the better the loot. Closing one rewards you with Glimmers of Hope, which you redeem at the Reputation Table in Zarbinzet. Through the Reputation Table and the seasonal boss you also gather Fragments of Madness to craft Mythic items.

The season begins in Kyovashad: a raven warns you of a death cult – read the scroll and start the seasonal quest "A Gospel of Despair."

There are three rift types:

• Normal Rifts: Everywhere in the overworld, especially common in Hellfloods.
• Swelling Rifts: Replace local events within Hellflood zones.
• Colossal Rifts: Only in the Fields of Desecration (the world boss arena southeast of Zarbinzet).

Realmwalker 2.0

The Realmwalkers return to challenge everyone brave enough to take on the most dangerous rifts. Swelling Rifts can spawn a Realmwalker; Colossal Rifts guarantee one. Defeat it and a portal to the Blood Toll Chamber opens.

The Blood Toll Chamber is a single-room mini-dungeon – reachable by defeating a Realmwalker or through Nightmare Dungeons with the "Rift" affix. It's the best source of Superior Lair Keys, which you need to open the seasonal boss hoard.

The Risen & the Corrupted Soul Reaper

The Risen bring a new monster family: Corpse Trackers pour out of the rifts and the Blood Toll Chamber. When killed, they drop orbs that strengthen the Exarch – intercept the orbs early to prevent its most powerful attacks.

The new seasonal boss is the Corrupted Soul Reaper at the Threshold of Madness in Zarbinzet. After the seasonal quest you can challenge it as often as you like – Superior Lair Keys unlock its reward chests. It offers the best drop rates for Mythic Uniques and Fragments of Madness.

Mythic Unique Items 3.0

A major shift: "Mythic" is no longer a rarity tier, but a modifiable item quality. This means any unique can become a game-changing Mythic.

How to get Mythics:

• Horadric Cube: Upgrade uniques with Fragments of Madness (5 Fragments, item power 850+).
• Jeweler: Craft using Magnificent Sparks and specific runes.
• Seasonal boss: Direct drops from the Corrupted Soul Reaper.
• Seasonal rank & drops: Class-specific Mythic chests, plus very rare drops from ancestral uniques.

Following PTR feedback, the rules were improved: upgrading now preserves the item slot (boots become Mythic boots), and all affixes are rerolled to their maximum values.

Dominate the Tower and the Leaderboards

The Tower and Leaderboards leave beta. Depending on the rank you reach, there are cosmetic rewards – halos, prestige titles, and a season emblem showing your highest rank. They're handed out at the end of each reset and each season. New are dedicated leaderboards for Solo Self-Found (Normal and Hardcore).

Solo Self-Found Mode

Solo Self-Found (SSF) is a new character state for lone wolves: no groups, no trading, sharing only with other SSF characters on the same account. Seasonal only (Normal or Hardcore) and not changeable afterward. You enable it when creating a character.

Gameplay Updates

• Sync War Plans: Groups can now align their War Plan boards in Temis (cost: 2 El'Druin Marks, by vote).
• Increased XP scaling from Torment VIII and higher, plus a higher baseline XP for Hellhordes and Nightmare Dungeons.
• The obol cap is now 25,000 and the gold cap is 999,999,999,999.
• Missing minimap icons in Nightmare Dungeons and the Pit, as well as boss trophies (incl. Astaroth and Bartuc), were added.

Free Warlock Trial

From June 30 to July 7 at 19:00 CEST you can try the Warlock class for free – on Battle.net, Xbox, and PlayStation, up to level 30. Your progress carries over if you purchase the expansion later.

Collaboration: Diablo IV × Overwatch

Starting June 30, you collect the "Overwatch Eye" currency by defeating elite and champion monsters. Use it to unlock legendary cosmetics in the free Overwatch Reliquary – including 2 emblems, 1 mount trophy, 3 weapon skins, and, for the first time, an earnable cosmetic color. The completion reward is Kiriko's nimble and mischievous fox spirit as a companion.

Earn New Rewards Through the Season Rank

Across nine ranks and more than 120 account-wide goals you can earn, among other things, up to 12 Skill Points, up to 42 Paragon Points, up to 7 Magnificent Sparks, 5 Mythic chests, the "Greystone" companion, a mount trophy, and several titles.

With Smoldering Ash you unlock seasonal blessings:

• Urn of the Awakened Death: More Glimmers of Hope from all sources.
• Urn of Reclamation: Higher chance of rare materials when salvaging.
• Urn of Completion: Higher chance of additional Obducite.
• Urn of Glyphs: Bonus chance for an extra glyph upgrade.
• Urn of Ancestral Whispers: Higher chance of ancestral chests on Whisper turn-ins.

Look Forward to Twitch Drops

Watch eligible Diablo IV streamers for a total of at least 2 hours between June 30 and July 15 (08:59 CEST) and claim the cosmetic two-handed mace "Final Brain Bash."

Reliquary for the Season of the Awakened Death

The new Season Reliquary again offers a free and a deluxe track:

• Free: Mount Nangaria, mount armor Immortal's Horse Armor, and town portal Eye of Tyranny.
• Deluxe Battle Pass: Armor set Winged Redeemer, companion Netherbeing, and reactive Redeemer's Wings.

"When death awakens, it comes for us all." – The Diablo IV team

For all the details and the full patch notes, see the official Blizzard article.