Diablo 4 Season 8: Everything You Need to Know

Season 8 Updates

The Season of Belial’s Return will bring new content and systems to Diablo 4, such as:

• Boss Powers: 24 new powers to customize your playstyle.
• Apparition Incursion Events: Defeat waves of enemies across Sanctuary and push back against Belial.
• Lair Boss System: Lair Bosses have been reworked and improved to challenge you.
• Belial’s return: Run through the seasonal questline and fight against Belial’s return to power.
• Reliquaries: New battles pass system and season journey.

Season 8 Start Date

Season 8: Belial’s Return launches April 29th, 2025, at 10:00 am PST / 07:00 pm CET.
If you are a new player, check out our guide on seasons and how to create your seasonal character:

Look at our Season Checklist for interesting tips and tricks on how to approach the start of a new season:

New With Season 8

The Season of Belial’s Return features a new questline, new boss powers, Apparition Incursions, as well as a very popular update to the Battle Pass System.

Seasonal Questline: Lord of Lies

Belial is back, and no one really knows why. But his return has torn open the veil between realities, flooding Sanctuary with strange Apparition monsters. Locals are not just sitting around while the chaos spreads. Two unlikely allies have stepped up: Sayeena, a retired Vizjerei mage, and Jarius, a self-proclaimed knight of the Cathedral of Light. They do not exactly see eye to eye, but they both know something is wrong.

Together, you will hunt down the source of these apparitions and face Belial’s illusions head-on.

To start the Lord of Lies questline, talk to the Stranger in Kyovashad near the Waypoint. Just make sure you have finished the main campaign and created a new character in the Seasonal Realm.

Boss Powers

In Season 8, you will finally get to use powers from the bosses you have faced. There are 24 Boss Powers to collect, each one is a direct copy of a real boss ability. Every power comes with two effects: a main effect and a modifier. You can equip up to four powers total: one main, and three modifiers.

The main power is the core of your setup, often having a rather big impact on your build. Modifiers act as enhancers, adding extra effects or boosts that improve your chosen main power. Your power combos will define your gameplay, so make sure to check out the Boss Power section of your build.

Check out our full guide here:

Apparition Incursion Events

Belial is spreading chaos across Sanctuary. His twisted Apparition monsters are showing up everywhere. You will face them in the new Apparition Incursion events, open to all characters and available on any difficulty.

These events spawn frequently, so keep your map open and watch out for them. When you arrive, look for enemies marked with Belial’s green eye. These are his illusions. Defeat enough of them, and an Apparition Boss will appear. Take them down to earn one of the 24 new Boss Powers.

This is one of the best ways to collect Boss Powers while leveling, most of them drop from these events, except a few reserved for Torment Bosses.

Check out the complete Apparition Incursion guide here:

Apparition Incursions also reward reputation, helping you complete the seasonal board and earn valuable rewards, including a Resplendent Spark, which can be of great use if you plan on crafting a Mythic Unique.

Lair Boss System Rework

Season 8 revamps Diablo 4’s endgame with the Lair Boss System, introducing a tiered structure, reworking boss summoning, and adding powerful new enemies: Belial, Urivar, and the Harbinger of Hatred. If you are planning to get to high-tier content and chase those uniques, get familiar with how these Lair Bosses work.

The system is now split into three tiers: Initiate, Greater, and Exalted Lair Bosses. Here are a few key changes:

• You do not need materials to summon bosses, just walk in and fight.
• You will still need materials, now called keys, to open the loot chest after defeating the boss, and each party member must bring their own.

Catch up on all the changes in our full Lair Boss guide:

New Uniques and Aspects

Season 8 also brings new Uniques and Aspects. This gives you a great opportunity to test new builds and find new synergies. Especially now that you can easily swap loadouts with the Armory. Please check our guide to see all the new items here:

Additionally, for more information on how to farm Uniques from bosses, we recommend visiting our respective guide below.

Other Season 8 Changes

Here are some additional changes worth mentioning:

• Torment 4 and Pit scaling are now a bit more difficult.
• Tree of Whispers ancestral caches return from Season 7.
• Conduit Shrines were removed, which were too slow.
• Improvements to the Obol Gambler ratio, promising better loot this season.
• Teleport to a party member instantly through the Social Menu rather than heading back to town.
• Skills and paragon adjustments.

Seasonal Rewards

Season 8 Battle Pass – Reliquaries

Season 8: Belial’s Return comes with a few big changes to Diablo 4’s reward systems with the introduction of Reliquaries. A new take on the Battle Pass that gives us more freedom in how we earn and unlock cosmetics.

Reliquaries in Season 8 work like mini battle passes, but with way more freedom. Instead of being locked into a single track, you only unlock what you actually want. Each Reliquary costs Platinum, so if you are not into a specific theme, you can skip it entirely. No more wasting rewards on cosmetics you will never use.

There are four main Reliquaries this season:

• Belial’s Return – Free for everyone. Includes portals, weapon skins, gear cosmetics, and even some Platinum.
• Weapons – 200 Platinum. Packed with weapon skins for all classes.
• Beasts – 500 Platinum. Focused on mounts and pets.
• Armor – 800 Platinum. Loaded with armor sets for every class.

If you want it all, there is a bundle for 1,000 Platinum that unlocks the three premium Reliquaries in one go. You have more questions? Read our full guide on how the system works.

You can gain Favor tokens by playing the game, slaying monsters, and completing quests. Each Reliquary will offer you a piece of the Guise of the Deceiver armor set as bonus once you complete it.

You can also buy the Deluxe Battle Pass Bundle for 2,800 Platinum, which will give you access to:

• Guise of the Deceiver armor set, immediate unlock for each Class
• Deceiver’s Final Form Wings for each Class
• Orinocta the Owl pet
• Access to the Weapons, Beasts, and Armor Reliquaries

Season Journey

Just like in Diablo 3 and other similar ARPGs, seasons in Diablo 4 follow a familiar structure. Progress through chapters, fulfill various objectives, and unlock rewards to advance the season story. The ultimate aim is to complete all 7 chapters to unlock every reward. For guidance on which objectives to prioritize in order to successfully complete the Season Journey, check out our recommendations by clicking the link below!

The Season 8 Journey will reward players with a new pet, Iris the Cat, a Resplendent Spark, and a set of gear optimized for one specific build per class.

Season Blessings and Smoldering Ashes

Another big reward from the season journey chapter objectives is Smoldering Ashes, a special currency used to unlock and boost Season Blessings. Furthermore, these blessings remain active for all your characters throughout the whole season. While the Season Blessings are shown below, you can have a more in-depth look at our comprehensive guide for more insights on Season Blessings by clicking on the following link:

Here are the Season Blessings coming with Season 8, the Season of Belial’s Return:

• Urn of Oaths: Boosts the amount of Unveiler’s Oath reputation (season rep) earned.
• Urn of Masterworking: Boosts the chance for Nightmare Dungeons and Infernal Hordes to drop additional Obducite.
• Urn of Lies: Boosts the chance for Belial, Lord of Lies to appear after defeating a Lair Boss.
• Urn of Ancestral Whispers: Boosts the chance for an Ancestral Cache to appear when turning in Whispers.
• Urn of Glyphs: Grants a chance to earn an extra upgrade when improving glyphs.

Seasonal Tips & Tricks

Diablo 4: Season 8, the Season of Belial’s Return, introduces a new leveling activity, the Apparition Incursion, and Boss Powers, giving you the opportunity to improve and vary your builds and gameplay. If you are a seasoned veteran or a newcomer to the game, here are a few tips and tricks to help you make the most of this season.

• Apparition Incursion: take the opportunity to level your characters in those incursions by following and defeating Belial’s minions, killing the apparition bosses, and ending the event by fighting against Belial’s smaller form. Those fights will reward you with experience, boss powers, and loot as you level up.
• Boss Powers: Build strong synergies between your build and Boss Powers.
• Tempering and Masterworking are useful ways to make your gear even more powerful and complementary to your build. Adding Tempers to your items can boost your character power immensely, especially early on!
• Lair Bosses: Once you are max level, increase your difficulty to Torment and fight all the Lair Bosses. They will reward you with their Boss Powers, but also some Unique loot to complete your builds.
• Infernal Hordes and The Pit are excellent replayable endgame content for greater gear and Masterworking materials.
• As with the previous seasons, it is likely that several builds will emerge as strong contenders for Season 8, each excelling in specific areas. Check out our respective Tier Lists for a closer look at which builds are exceptionally strong this time around.
  • Diablo 4 Build Tier Lists

If you are unsure of what to tackle during a new season, have a look at our suggested season checklist.