Diablo 4 Season 8 has begun.
I took advantage of the holiday period to dive into the new Season 8.
As before, I still haven’t purchased the expansion pack.
Although the Diablo 4 expansion is currently on sale, I’m considering buying it only if the discount gets deeper.
Diablo 4 Season 8 – Return of Belial
Diablo 4 Season 8 is titled “Return of Belial.”
A new boss, Belial, has been added, and there are various minor changes. However, the biggest feature of this Season 8 is the ability to use Boss Powers.
Owners of the original game who haven’t purchased the expansion cannot utilize two of the Boss Powers, as shown in the image above [Translator’s Note: Assuming an image was present in the original post].
However, the unavailable powers don’t seem to be the Legendary or Rare tier ones, leaning more towards standard Boss Powers, so it probably won’t be a huge issue for general gameplay.
Diablo 4 Season 8 Experience
Just like in previous seasons, I played a Necromancer with a Bone Spear + Minions build, using the exact same setup.
Early leveling felt much slower compared to Season 7, making me consider quitting Season 8 altogether.
Especially since the seasonal content, “Phantom Assaults” [Translator’s Note: “환영급습” translated descriptively, official English term may vary], wasn’t particularly fun, it felt like a slog just to level up.
However, things started to get easier after I obtained a Boss Power dropped by a World Boss.
I began to feel the fun of a hack-and-slash game again, mindlessly cutting through enemies.
The Boss Powers added in this Season 8 are quite strong.
I progressed easily up to Torment 2.
While a new boss has been added, the gameplay after reaching the Torment difficulty remains the same as before.
You have to go through the endless repetitive grind to get Uber items, and the instant-kill abilities of the added over-bosses are frustrating.
Other than that, there don’t seem to be any major differences.
For Original Game Owners Without the Expansion
It’s the same as previous seasons.
You cannot use Runes.
Mercenaries are unavailable.
Two specific Boss Powers are excluded.
There are limitations on crafting Uber items (due to material acquisition) because you cannot access the expansion zones. This remains unchanged.
You cannot choose the Spiritborn class.
Despite these limitations, there’s no major problem enjoying Season 8.
The only real difference is that you can’t reach the same peak potential as expansion players.
Overall Thoughts
It seems likely that some players will already have enjoyed Season 8 to a certain extent during this holiday period and might be quitting soon.
They’ll probably move on to POE2 or Last Epoch.
Although it’s a new season, there aren’t any fundamental changes, so it doesn’t feel significantly different.
It seems fine to just enjoy it casually, much like previous seasons.
Still, it’s a relief that it isn’t an unenjoyable season like some of the failed ones in the past.
It looks like I’ll have to postpone buying the expansion again.
With the Vessel of Hatred expansion currently discounted to around the ₩30,000 range, it might be better to buy and enjoy Last Epoch instead.