Season 30 The Lords of Hell - Now Live

The Lords of Hell brings some interesting features to the game. The inclusion of The Lords of Hell Season Theme, along with the now-permanent Rites of Sanctuary and Visions of Enmity themes, suggests that players will have new and exciting gameplay experiences.

It involves the remnants of The Lords of Hell persisting in Sanctuary through fragments of the destroyed Black Soulstone. These Soul Shards carry immense power that was once possessed by the Prime and Lesser Evils. It adds an intriguing twist to the lore and suggests that players, as Nephalem, can find and wield these powerful Soul Stones.

The cautionary note about the alluring nature of power and the potential consequences of meddling with the remnants of The Lords of Hell adds a layer of complexity to the storyline. It's a reminder that the forces within Sanctuary are not to be underestimated, and the balance between good and evil is delicate.

The introduction of the new Season theme rotation system in Season 30, along with the return of The Lords of Hell theme from Season 25, sounds like an exciting addition to Diablo III. The concept of infusing players with the essences of Hell's Lords through Soul Shards and allowing them to embody both Prime and Lesser Evils adds a unique twist to gameplay.

The idea of discovering and upgrading demonic Soul Shards based on the seven Lords of Hell sounds like an engaging Season Journey. It provides players with the opportunity to unlock new powers and abilities, bringing a fresh and dynamic experience to their adventures in Sanctuary.

Embracing the dark side and unleashing new forms of pain and suffering on the demons of Sanctuary adds an interesting dimension to the narrative and gameplay. It's always thrilling to see how these thematic elements impact the overall player experience.

The introduction of 7 unique Soul Shards, each based on one of the seven Lords of Hell, adds a compelling dimension to Diablo III Season 30. The ability to equip Prime Evil Soul Shards into Helms and Lesser Evil Soul Shards into Weapons offers players strategic choices in customizing their characters.

The inclusion of a new seasonal-exclusive consumable, the Hellforge Ember, for upgrading the Soul Shards provides a progression system that encourages players to engage further in the seasonal content. This mechanic likely adds a layer of depth and strategy to character builds, allowing players to tailor their abilities to their preferred playstyles.

Here's a summary of the key points:
Dropping Mechanism: Soul Shards and Hellforge Embers can drop from anywhere in Sanctuary, but Soul Shards have a higher chance to drop from Bosses. This encourages players to engage with challenging content and bosses to acquire these powerful items.
Trade and Salvage: Soul Shards cannot be traded between players, maintaining a personal and self-found aspect to their acquisition. However, they can be salvaged or utilized in Caldesann’s Despair, providing players with flexibility in managing their resources.
Equipping Restrictions: Players are limited to equipping one Prime Evil Soul Shard and one Lesser Evil Soul Shard at a time. This limitation likely adds a layer of strategic decision-making, forcing players to choose and optimize their build based on the unique powers each Soul Shard provides.
Seasonal Exclusive: Soul Shards and Hellforge Embers only drop-in Seasonal play, emphasizing the seasonal nature of these unique features. It's important for players to engage with the seasonal content to take full advantage of these new powers.
Non-Seasonal Transfer: It's highlighted that Soul Shards and Hellforge Embers obtained during the season will not transfer to non-seasonal characters when the season ends. This underlines the temporary and exclusive nature of these items to the current seasonal experience.

Prime Evil Soul Shards

The powers bestowed by these Prime Evil Soul Shards are likely to be themed around the characteristics and abilities associated with each Prime Evil. For instance, Diablo is often associated with fire and shadow, Mephisto with cold and lightning, and Baal with destruction and chaos.
The Sliver of Terror seems to offer a unique and strategic playstyle for Diablo III Season 30. Here's a breakdown of its powers:
Base Power: Cooldown Increase: Your cooldowns are increased by 25%. This introduces a challenge by lengthening the cooldowns of your skills, making timing and resource management more crucial.
Damage Mitigation and Increase: For every skill on cooldown, you take 12.5% reduced damage and deal 12.5% increased damage. This creates a balance where having skills on cooldown provides both defensive and offensive benefits.
Additional Powers: Attack Speed and Critical Hit Chance Increase: Your attack speed and critical hit chance are increased by 5% for each skill on cooldown. This encourages players to have multiple skills on cooldown to maximize their offensive capabilities.
Ring of Fire: After killing 100 enemies, you cast a devastating Ring of Fire. This adds an interesting dynamic, rewarding players for engaging in combat and maintaining an aggressive playstyle.
Elemental Damage Increase: If three or more skills are on cooldown, your lightning and fire skill damage are increased by 50%. This introduces an elemental aspect to the build, encouraging players to focus on specific types of skills for increased damage.
These powers create a nuanced and strategic approach to gameplay, requiring players to manage cooldowns effectively, balance offensive and defensive considerations, and capitalize on the unique bonuses provided by the Sliver of Terror.

The Shard of Hatred

Season 30 offers an interesting mix of powers and mechanics, encouraging a playstyle that revolves around the number of enemies in proximity. Here's a breakdown of its powers:

Base Power:

Damage Modifiers:
- Reduced Damage: You deal 15% reduced damage while you have 3 or fewer enemies within 25 yards.
- Increased Damage: If more than 3 enemies are within the same distance, you deal 5% increased damage per enemy, up to a maximum of 50%. This provides a scaling damage bonus based on the number of enemies nearby.

Additional Powers:

Elite Enemy Interaction: Killing an elite enemy pulls all enemies within 40 yards to where the elite died. This power enhances crowd control and positioning strategies during combat.
Movement Speed Modifiers:
- Increased Speed: Your movement speed is increased by 50%.
- Decreased Speed: Each enemy within 25 yards reduces your movement speed by 10%, up to a maximum of 70%. This introduces a tactical element where positioning and mobility become essential for optimal performance.
Enhanced Damage Scaling: You now deal 15% increased damage for every enemy instead of 5%, up to a maximum of 100%. This amplifies the damage potential based on the number of enemies, rewarding players for engaging larger groups.

The Shard of Hatred seems to promote a dynamic and strategic approach to combat, with players benefiting from larger groups of enemies and employing tactical movement to maximize damage and survivability.

The Fragment of Destruction introduces a unique set of powers, emphasizing mobility and strategic engagement with enemies. Here's a breakdown of its powers:

Base Power:

Unhindered Movement: You can move unhindered through enemies, promoting fluid and dynamic navigation through hordes of foes.
Mark of Destruction: Each enemy you pass through receives Mark of Destruction for 7 seconds. This mark has several effects:
- Cooldown Reduction: Each marked enemy that dies removes 1 second from one of your skills on cooldown.
- Health Penalty: If the Mark of Destruction expires before the enemies die, you lose 2% of your maximum health as damage.
- Exclusion at Low Health: Marks are not applied if you are below 35% health.

Additional Powers:

Health Restoration: You have a 25% chance to restore 5% health when an enemy dies with Mark of Destruction active. This adds a survivability component to the build.
Movement Speed Boost: When you apply Mark of Destruction to an enemy, you increase your movement speed by 5% for 7 seconds. This effect can stack up to 10 times, providing a significant mobility boost.
Fire Trail: You now leave a trail of fire in your wake that slays enemies with the Mark of Destruction and are below 10% health. This introduces an area-of-effect damage component, potentially aiding in clearing groups of enemies.

The Fragment of Destruction seems designed to reward a fast-paced and agile playstyle, where players can strategically navigate through enemies, apply marks for cooldown reduction, and capitalize on movement speed boosts and health restoration.

Base Power:

Unhindered Movement: You can move unhindered through enemies, promoting fluid and dynamic navigation through hordes of foes.
Mark of Destruction: Each enemy you pass through receives Mark of Destruction for 7 seconds. This mark has several effects:
- Cooldown Reduction: Each marked enemy that dies removes 1 second from one of your skills on cooldown.
- Health Penalty: If the Mark of Destruction expires before the enemies die, you lose 2% of your maximum health as damage.
- Exclusion at Low Health: Marks are not applied if you are below 35% health.

Additional Powers:

Health Restoration: You have a 25% chance to restore 5% health when an enemy dies with Mark of Destruction active. This adds a survivability component to the build.
Movement Speed Boost: When you apply Mark of Destruction to an enemy, you increase your movement speed by 5% for 7 seconds. This effect can stack up to 10 times, providing a significant mobility boost.
Fire Trail: You now leave a trail of fire in your wake that slays enemies with the Mark of Destruction and are below 10% health. This introduces an area-of-effect damage component, potentially aiding in clearing groups of enemies.

Lesser Evil Soul Shards

The Stain of Sin introduces an interesting mechanic where players willingly take a damage penalty in exchange for the potential to enhance their ability to handle elite enemies and progress through rifts. Here's a breakdown of its powers:

Base Power:

Damage Penalty: You deal 25% less damage, creating a challenge by reducing overall damage output.
Blood Pool Generation: When you kill 50 enemies, you spawn a pool of blood that increases the damage done to elite enemies by 150% and lasts for 15 seconds. This provides a strategic benefit for tackling tougher enemies.

Additional Powers:

Elite Affix Negation: The pool of blood now negates Elite affixes within its area. This significantly improves survivability when facing elite enemies, as it removes certain dangerous affixes.
Rift Progression Bonus: You gain an additional Rift Progress Orb when you kill an elite pack. This accelerates the pace at which players can progress through rifts.
Rift Progress Orb Collection: The pool of blood now collects Rift Progress Orbs. This synergizes with the previous power, allowing players to accumulate progress orbs in a centralized location, potentially streamlining the process of completing rifts.

The Stain of Sin seems to offer a trade-off between immediate damage output and strategic benefits for handling elite enemies and progressing through rifts. The combination of affix negation and bonus Rift Progress Orbs adds a layer of depth to the gameplay, encouraging players to adapt their playstyle for maximum efficiency.

Base Power:

Damage Penalty: You deal 25% less damage, creating a challenge by reducing overall damage output.
Blood Pool Generation: When you kill 50 enemies, you spawn a pool of blood that increases the damage done to elite enemies by 150% and lasts for 15 seconds. This provides a strategic benefit for tackling tougher enemies.

Additional Powers:

Elite Affix Negation: The pool of blood now negates Elite affixes within its area. This significantly improves survivability when facing elite enemies, as it removes certain dangerous affixes.
Rift Progression Bonus: You gain an additional Rift Progress Orb when you kill an elite pack. This accelerates the pace at which players can progress through rifts.
Rift Progress Orb Collection: The pool of blood now collects Rift Progress Orbs. This synergizes with the previous power, allowing players to accumulate progress orbs in a centralized location, potentially streamlining the process of completing rifts.

The Dregs of Lies Soul Shard introduces a set of powers that revolve around a pet-focused playstyle, enhancing the capabilities of summoned creatures and providing additional survival and cooldown reduction benefits. Here's a breakdown of its powers:

Base Power:

Damage Trade-Off: You deal 25% less damage, emphasizing a sacrifice in personal damage output.

Pet Damage Increase: Your pets, on the other hand, deal 25% increased damage. This power enhances the effectiveness of summoned creatures in combat.

Additional Powers:

Cooldown Reduction on Elite Kill: Killing an elite enemy reduces all your active cooldowns by 5 seconds. This provides a tactical advantage, allowing for more frequent use of skills and abilities.

Survivability Mechanism: On receiving fatal damage, you spawn a shadow that prevents your death, restores your health to 35%, and grants +225 All Resist to all party members while it is active. The shadow lasts only 15 seconds. This power serves as a potent survival tool for both the player and the party.

Damage Stacking Mechanism: Each time your pet hits an enemy, your damage is increased by 0.5% for 5 seconds. This effect can stack up to 100 times. When you reach 100 stacks, the stacks quickly reset to 0. This introduces a dynamic element where pet attacks contribute to a temporary but powerful damage increase, creating a rhythm in gameplay.

The Dregs of Lies appears to cater to a pet-oriented build, promoting both offensive and defensive strategies with the emphasis on pet damage, cooldown reduction, and survivability through the shadow spawn.

The Remnant of Pain introduces a set of powers that revolve around critical hits, incapacitation, and cold damage. Here's a breakdown of its powers:

Base Power:

Critical Hit Reduction: Your Critical Hit Chance is reduced by 15%. This presents a challenge by decreasing the frequency of critical hits for your character.
Automatic Critical Hits: Attacks against incapacitated enemies are automatically critical hits. This power introduces a synergy with crowd control effects that incapacitate enemies, offering guaranteed critical hits under those conditions.

Additional Powers:

Cold Damage Freeze Chance: Hitting enemies with cold damage has a 50% chance to freeze them. Cold skill damage is increased to frozen targets by 20%. This enhances the utility of cold-based skills, providing both crowd control and increased damage against frozen enemies.
Movement Speed Bonus: Gain passability while your movement speed bonus is over 50%. When you move through enemies, you knock them back and stun them for 2 seconds. This power emphasizes mobility and crowd control, allowing for strategic positioning and disruption of enemy formations.
Critical Hit Attack Speed Buff: When you critically hit an enemy, you increase the attack speed of all players by 5% for 5 seconds. This effect can stack up to 10 times. This introduces a team-oriented support mechanic, encouraging a playstyle that benefits not only the player but also their allies.

The Remnant of Pain seems to offer a versatile and team-focused approach to gameplay, combining crowd control effects, increased damage against frozen enemies, and a support role through attack speed buffs for the party.

Essence of Anguish introduces a dynamic playstyle centered around poison damage, with a mix of offensive and defensive mechanics. Here's a breakdown of its powers:

Base Power:

Stacking Buffs and Debuffs:
- Every time you deal poison damage to an enemy, you increase your cooldown reduction and movement speed by 2.5%. However, your damage received is increased by 5% for 10 seconds. This creates a stacking mechanic, with a maximum of 10 stacks. It adds a risk-and-reward element to your poison-based attacks, offering increased mobility and cooldown reduction at the cost of increased damage taken.

Additional Powers:

Extended Buffs:
- Your movement speed and cooldown reduction can be increased up to 15 times by dealing poison damage to an enemy. This extends the stacking benefits, rewarding continued engagement with poison-based attacks.
Poison Damage Amplification:
- When you deal poison damage to an enemy, they receive 50% increased poison damage from all sources for 10 seconds. This synergizes with other poison-based abilities in your arsenal, enhancing the overall damage potential against affected enemies.
Killing Blow Damage Reflection:
- Killing an enemy deals the damage done by... (The sentence seems to be cut off, and the specific details are missing.) This power implies that there is an additional effect or consequence upon killing an enemy, potentially reflecting damage based on the damage dealt.

Essence of Anguish offers a strategic and engaging playstyle, encouraging players to leverage poison damage for both offensive and defensive benefits. The stacking buffs and debuffs add a layer of decision-making, requiring players to balance the advantages of increased movement speed and cooldown reduction with the drawback of heightened damage received

Rites of Sanctuary and Visions of Enmity

Rites of Sanctuary and Visions of Enmity Season themes have become a permanent feature in Diablo III, which is exciting news for the community. However, it's mentioned that adjustments have been made to the bonuses provided by the Altar of Rites to maintain game balance, especially in the context of these continual Season themes and changes to class balance.

Here's a summary of the changes for each force:

Force
- Decreased damage to +100 from +200.
Shadow
- Decreased Missile Damage Reduction to 5% from 25%.
Exodus
- Decreased Movement Speed (Uncapped) to +10% from +25%.
Command
- Increased damage against Elites reduced to 5% from 15%.
Tenacity
- Increased damage reduced to 5% from 20%.
Reverence
- Reduces damage taken from Elites by 5%, previously 25%.
Numb
- 25% Decreased Melee Damage Reduction to 5% from 25%.
Nature
- Highest elemental skill damage bonus increased by 5%, previously 10%.
Prowess
- Increased damage against Elites reduced to 5% from 20%.
Roar
- Damage done to Bosses increased to 5% from 50%.
Elegance
- Chance to Dodge increased by 5%, previously 15%.
Malice
- Decreased to +5% Damage from +30% Damage.
Father
- Power pylon has been removed from random Shrine effect.
Mother
- Triune of Love Circle now increases damage by 50%, previously 100%.

These adjustments seem to aim at balancing the power level of each force, addressing both offensive and defensive aspects. Players will need to adapt their strategies based on these changes, and it adds a layer of decision-making when choosing and utilizing the Rites of Sanctuary.

It seems that the adjustments to the Altar of Rites, specifically the removal of the Empowered shrine from the random Shrine effect of the Father Seal, aim to maintain a balance between fun and challenge in Diablo III. This change suggests a strategic decision to ensure that the progression and benefits provided by the Altar of Rites align with the overall gameplay experience and don't conflict with other features.

As the game developers continue to refine and balance various systems, players can adapt their strategies accordingly, enhancing the overall experience of slaying demons in Sanctuary.

Season 30 Cosmetic Rewards

The exclusive Conqueror Set with slots for Chest and Gloves offers a thematic and powerful incentive for players to strive and conquer challenges in the game.

In addition to the Conqueror Set, players will also have the opportunity to earn portrait frames adorned with the mysterious beauty of Blood Shards. These frames likely provide a unique and distinctive visual flair for characters, allowing players to showcase their achievements in style.

The mention of a ghastly All Hallow's pennant is intriguing. This cosmetic item not only adds a thematic touch but also allows players to proudly display their love for the eerie and creepy aspects of the game. Pennants are a great way to personalize your character and make a visual statement in Sanctuary.

Overall, these rewards seem to add depth and variety to the player's customization options, making the journey in Diablo III even more rewarding.

Season Journey Rewards

These are the Conqueror tier objectives in the Season Journey for Diablo III, which allow players to earn additional Stash tabs. Completing these challenging tasks showcases dedication and prowess in the game. Here's a breakdown of each objective:

Guardian of Sanctuary:
- Finish a level 70 Nephalem Rift on Torment XIII within five minutes.
Gem of My Life:
- Level three Legendary Gems to level 55.
All I Do IS Win:
- Complete two Conquests this Season.
Disarm You:
- Kill Rakanoth at level 70 in under 15 seconds on Torment XIII difficulty.
Money Ain’t A Thang:
- Slay Greed on Torment XIII difficulty.
Take U There:
- Reach Greater Rift level 60 Solo.
Power Amplification:
- Use Kanai’s Cube to augment an Ancient Legendary item with a level 50+ gem.
Cubic Reconfiguration:
- Use Kanai’s Cube to reforge a Legendary item.

Completing these objectives not only earns you the prestigious Conqueror title but also grants additional Stash tabs, enhancing your storage capacity. The tasks are diverse, challenging, and encourage players to explore various aspects of the game, including rifts, gems, conquests, and utilizing Kanai’s Cube.

Seasonal Conquest

These are the Conquests challenges for Season 30 in Diablo III. Conquests are special achievements that offer an additional layer of challenge and accomplishment for seasoned players. Here's a breakdown of the Season 30 Conquests challenges:

Divinity/Lionhearted:
- Push your way to Greater Rift level 75.
On a Good Day/I Can’t Stop:
- Level three Legendary Gems to 65.
Speed Demon/Need for Speed:
- Complete a Nephalem Rift at level 70 on Torment X or higher in under two minutes.
Curses!/Stars Align:
- Pick any Cursed Chest event that requires killing monsters and defeat over 350 or more at level 70 on Torment X or higher.
Boss Mode/World’s Apart:
- Eliminate the following bosses at level 70 and Torment X in under twenty minutes:
  - Skeleton King
  - The Butcher
  - Zoltun Kulle
  - Ghom
  - Cydaea
  - Rakanoth
  - Diablo
  - Adria
  - Queen Araneae
  - Maghda
  - Belial
  - Siegebreaker Assault Beast
  - Azmodan
  - Izual
  - Urzael
  - Malthael

These challenges cover a range of objectives, from pushing Greater Rift levels to defeating bosses within tight time constraints. Each Conquest has its own unique requirements, offering diverse and engaging goals for players to pursue during Season 30.

Haedrig’s Gift

Class Sets rewarded by Haedrig's Gift in Season 30 of Diablo III. Here's a list of the sets available for each class:

Barbarian:
- The Legacy of Raekor
Crusader:
- Armor of Akkhan
Demon Hunter:
- Embodiment of the Marauder
Monk:
- Inna’s Reach
Necromancer:
- Pestilence Master’s Shroud
Witch Doctor:
- Zunimassa’s Haunt

Players can earn these sets by completing Chapters 2, 3, and 4 of the Season Journey and receiving Haedrig's Gifts. Each Haedrig's Gift will contain a few pieces from one of the listed Class Sets. It's important to note that players can only unlock one Class Set per Season across Hardcore and Non-Hardcore, so choosing the class wisely is crucial.

This rotation of Class Sets adds variety to the gameplay experience, allowing players to explore different playstyles and builds based on the set they receive.