Diablo IV: Season of the Infernal Hordes Developer Q&A
Madeleine James (Game Designer, Quest), Dan Tanguay (Sr. Manager Game Design) and Timothy Ismay (Lead Game Producer), share what they are most excited about for Diablo Season of the Infernal Hordes!
The infernal legions stir once more, and the acrid air of Hell crackles with anticipation for the Season of the Infernal Hordes! Prepare to descend once more into the merciless depths of Hell, where a revamped demonic onslaught and a treasure-laden adventure awaits.
The dreaded Infernal Hordes are here, and with them comes a wave of exciting new content and refinements. Regardless if people lean towards the Eternal or Seasonal Realm, all players reaching World Tier 3 in either realm can dive into the new questline. Explore new adventures, uncover powerful loot, and encounter a host of gameplay improvements designed to make your adventures even more enjoyable. This is Hell reborn, and only the most worthy will survive.
The Diablo IV development team has been hard at work taking on player feedback, and Season of the Infernal Hordes is a testament to their commitment to deliver action-packed rewarding experience.
Q: What inspired the return to hell for this season and was this related to any player feedback?
Dan Tanguay: “For Season 5, the focus was on expanding the endgame based on what players loved about Season 4 and what they felt was missing. Players wanted to feel more powerful through automation and innovation, as well as having a dedicated endgame space. For the first time in Diablo IV, players can freely battle through hell whenever they choose as part of the endgame. The cinematic sequence with the Cathedral of Light marching on Hell in the Campaign really solidified this idea. We were inspired by the number of demons flooding the map and wanted to push the “horde” aspect even further than with Helltides. Once those core elements had been figured out, designing the rest of the Season 5 experience came together easily.
Q: What type of loot can players expect to earn?
Dan Tanguay: “The loot from Season 5’s Infernal Hordes had to be valuable for endgame progression. Player feedback from Season 4 highlighted the desire for more ways to earn Masterworking materials, essential for crafting powerful weapons. As a result, the Infernal Hordes rewards now provide even meaningful choices. Players can target specific hell-themed unique items or invest in more crafting resources to complete their endgame builds. We believe this approach gives players more agency over their progression and has been well-received so far.”
Madeleine James: “Besides the loot from Infernal Hordes, Season 5 offers the red track with 20 tiers of rewards. Season 5 takes inspiration from Season 4’s popular Resplendent Sparks rewards, giving players another opportunity to craft powerful mythic items. We’ve also listened to player feedback and brought back other well-received rewards from Season 4, combining them with brand new loot for a fulfilling Season 5 experience.”
Timothy Ismay: “Infernal Hordes will introduce for the first time a designated location where you can have a little bit more targeted farming of greater mining items if that is something you want to pursue”.
Q: What are your favorite Uniques and Legendaries in Season 5?
Madeleine James: “My favourite is ‘Crown of Lucion’. I had a blast naming that one based on its appearance, and it’s perfect for my blood surge Necromancer build. I’m also a big fan of ‘Rakanoth’s Wake’, as it allows you to burn and cast fire, even if you’re not a sorcerer class which is fun as it feels like a completely new build. And of course, we’re all excited to see how sorcerer players leverage ‘The Sorc Staff’ this season. It’s going to be an absolute game-changer!”
Dan Tanguay: “I also think that ‘Locran’s Talisman’ and ‘The Necro Dagger’ are very exciting. We added 15 new uniques this season, so there are a lot to play with”
Q: What did you learn from Season of the Construct and Season 4: Loot Reborn that you’re taking into Season of the Infernal Hordes?
Timothy Ismay: “One of our biggest takeaways from previous seasons was the importance of adding something truly substantial to the base game. We wanted to create a truly impactful element for Season 5, something that would fundamentally change the base game for the better, rather than just give players a temporary experience. That’s how the concept of Infernal Hordes was created for Season 5. We’re not just talking about a new activity here; we’re changing the way Diablo IV feels with this update.
Q: Has introducing the PTR changed the way that you approached the live service since its introduction?
Timothy Ismay: “The PTR has had a big impact on development. It was first introduced in Season 4, and it was crucial for testing the underlying systems and getting player feedback on the Helltide changes. We knew we were making significant changes with Infernal Hordes, so the PTR was used to fine-tune the experience of Season 5. Some of the changes that were made based on feedback included making sure players can more often and more quickly get stuck into the action. We added entirely new gameplay elements, boosted the number of monsters, and increased the rewards for players. Our goal was to ensure that even if players weren’t optimising their experience in the Infernal Hordes, their time spent battling through them would still be compensated.”
Q: Give us an overview on the Hellbreach micro-dungeons?
Madeleine James: “For Season 5, the idea was to give the returning players some seasonal novelty to engage with – this is how we came up with the Hellbreach. A Hellbreach is a small-to-medium sized dungeons where, as the name suggests, Hell has breached into Earth. Unlike Infernal Hordes, which are open and chaotic, the Hellbreach dungeons are about navigating a confined space. The feature also provides a chance to gather aether and make strategic choices that directly impact your run – all of which culminates in an explosive boss fight. My favourite part about the Hellbreach dungeons is that you get to choose the boss’s difficulty; choosing whether to opt for a casual clear run or challenge yourself for envy-inducing rewards. The main goal of this was to evoke some nostalgia for returning players. The locations are also a good place to farm Mother’s Gift, which is the new reputation system; they have a lot of targeted content in there for you to grind.”
Q: How do the Infernal Hordes boss encounters work and what inspired you to do this mechanic?
Madeleine James: “A key goal this season was to significantly boost player progression speed. With our new reputation system, players will level-up this season faster than they ever have before. As they earn experience points alongside reputation, they can power-level themselves as they progress through the rewards track.
The idea was to create dedicated spaces for efficient reputation farming, and that’s where the Hellbreach micro-dungeons come into play. They offer a focused and thrilling way to level up quickly. We were also inspired by what players dubbed “dopamine tunnels” – those densely packed areas players used for earning high-level rewards and efficient power-levelling before Season 4. While not a direct copy, the concept of a focused gameplay with high-rewards influenced our design for this feature.”
Q: What player feedback has inspired Season of the Infernal Hordes prior to the PTR?
Madeleine James: “Inspiration was taken from player feedback on Season 1’s Malignant Tunnels and Season 3’s Vaults. Our goal with the Hellbreach dungeons was to take the most successful elements of those previous seasonal features and combine them into a single piece of content.”
Q: What’s your favourite new feature introduced for Season of the Infernal Hordes that players should be excited about?
Madeleine James: “I am really excited about reputation. The Iron Wolves were trialled in Season 4, and players were generally very receptive. For Season 5, this core concept was used to make significant improvements based on player feedback. One thing that was loud and clear in the PTR was the frustration of not being able to easily track reputation progress while out in the world. Now, you can see exactly how much reputation you’ve earned up to Tier 6 and once you’ve completed the Season 5 questline – it’s a small change with a huge impact on the overall experience.”
Timothy Ismay: “For me, the most exciting addition in Season 5 has to be the Infernal Hordes. They’re not just a new activity; they’re a fundamental shift in how the game feels, offering both a unique challenge and a whole new avenue for earning rewards. Beyond that, I think players are going to be blown away by the sheer variety of new build options available for each class. We took player feedback from the PTR to heart and made significant changes, buffing skills and items to make more builds viable. One of the biggest changes that has been made is a comprehensive overhaul of unique items. Players consistently expressed a desire for uniques to feel more impactful, leading to a massive pass to increase their power across the board. This overhaul means Uniques are now viable endgame options, that open up a ton of new build possibilities that simply weren’t there in Season 4. I think there are going to be some really exciting builds coming out of this.
Q: How does Season of the Infernal Hordes connect to Vessel of Hatred and will Mephisto play a part?
Madeleine James: “The Season 5 questline was designed so that it would make sense even before the events of the first expansion. This way, new players wouldn’t feel lost and could easily jump into the action. Season 5 shares the theme of Mephisto and his demons threatening Sanctuary, but this storyline and the pre-expansion 1 storyline do not directly depend on the other. For the Infernal Hordes bosses, we imagined Mephisto’s minions wreaking havoc in hell while he’s busy in Sanctuary. Our goal was to ensure that players can jump into Diablo IV at any point, even Season 6, with each season offering a complete experience. Playing previous content is a bonus, not a requirement.”
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share that fans should know about Season 5?
Madeleine James: “I am excited for players to see the Seasonal questline. The Eternal questline was really well received in the PTR but there are entirely new characters and questlines in this season for players to enjoy as well”.
Dan Tanguay: “There are also a number of great quality-of-life improvements as well that are scattered throughout Season 5, raising the overall convenience and fun of playing the game.”
Timothy Ismay: “We’ve made a lot of smaller quality-of-life improvements in Season 5 that, when combined, make a big difference. For example, we heard from players who were struggling to manage the growing list of aspects and legendary powers. Now, each aspect has a unique icon, making it much easier to sort through your options and find what you need. Another significant addition is the new in-game Game Guide, which exists just off the escape menu and provides a centralised hub for all tutorials. These changes are those tweaks and improvements that we know players will love.”
Diablo IV: Season of the Infernal Hordes is available from August 6th. If you want to learn more about Diablo IV, check out the Diablo website, or for real-time updates, follow the official X.”
See you in Hell.
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