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Season of Belial’s Return Guide

Season 8 - Belial's Return

Last Updated:May 1, 2025|Changelog

Diablo 4 strikes again with season 8 : Belial's Return released alongside the 2.2 Patch! Seasons within Diablo IV bear their mark on Sanctuary in the Seasonal Realm similarly to late Diablo 3 seasons, unearthing new quests and fresh mechanics to explore and master.

Season of Belial's Return

Deception has descended upon Sanctuary—Belial has returned, or has he? Only the Lord of Lies knows for certain, but that is the truth you must uncover in Season 8: Belial’s Return, wanderer. Starting on April 29, 10 a.m. PDT, you’ll ally with new friendly faces, harness Boss Powers, and dissipate peculiar Apparition Monsters in your pursuit of the truth.

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Gameplay Trailer

Confront Belial in the Lord of Lies

Belial’s motive is unknown, but his return has unleashed mysterious Apparition Monsters into Sanctuary. The residents of the land won’t take Belial’s intrusion laying down. Some have taken it upon themselves to investigate these monsters. Meet Sayeena, a retired Vizjerei mage, and Jarius, who claims to be a Cathedral of Light knight. While initially wary of each other, Sayeena and Jarius are dedicated to snuffing out the source of these monsters. You must all band together to unravel Belial’s ploy.

Together, you’ll pursue the truth and gain immeasurable power along the way through new Boss Powers. Sanctuary’s fate is in the hands of your trio—failure is not an option.

To embark upon the Lord of Lies quest, speak to the Stranger located in Kyovashad’s city center next to the Waypoint. You must also have completed Diablo IV’s base game campaign and created a new character on the Seasonal Realm.

Deliver Retribution with Boss Powers

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Using illusory magic, you can now command the very power foes once manipulated to send your wanderer to the dreaded “You Have Died” screen. Boss Powers are a new way to further deepen your builds using abilities siphoned from the carcasses of defeated World, Event, and Lair (formerly Endgame) Bosses. There are 24 Bosses across Sanctuary you can claim Boss Powers from. Each Boss Power has 2 effects—a Main and Modifier—that can be activated depending on the Power Slot you equip it to. You can have up to 1 Main and 3 Modifier Powers active at a time.

Whichever Main Boss Power you equip will be the star of the show, the ability you feel most in your build. Whereas the Modifier Boss Powers are meant to bolster the Main Boss Power you selected, taking it to new heights. Tinker with different combinations of Main and Modifier powers to find the mix that best supports your build’s fantasy.

Boss Powers can be acquired after killing targeted bosses across Sanctuary for the first time this season. Various World Bosses, new Apparition Incursion event bosses (more information about this can be found further in the article), and even Lilith herself are among the line-up of diabolical titans who provide Boss Powers.

A complete list of all 24 Boss Powers, including their Main and Modifier effects can be found below:

Incur Deadly Apparitions in a New Event

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Belial makes his first bid for Sanctuary since Lilith met her tragic end. His Apparition Monsters—illusory foot soldiers who sow his lies into reality—have been spotted throughout Sanctuary.

You must cull them from your home by participating in the new Apparition Incursion event. Any character playing on any Difficulty Level can participate in this event. The event occurs in a different part of Sanctuary’s wilderness every few minutes, so keep an eye on your map for its current location.

Belial makes his first bid for Sanctuary since Lilith met her tragic end. His Apparition Monsters—illusory foot soldiers who sow his lies into reality—have been spotted throughout Sanctuary.

You must cull them from your home by participating in the new Apparition Incursion event. Any character playing on any Difficulty Level can participate in this event. The event occurs in a different part of Sanctuary’s wilderness every few minutes, so keep an eye on your map for its current location.

Grow Your Reputation

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Sending Belial’s Apparition Monsters packing is no easy task. Overcome Belial’s band of illusion spreaders, complete Apparition Incursion events, and slay Bosses across Sanctuary to earn Reputation. This Reputation can be exchanged for long-forgotten caches containing uncommon items, such as a Resplendent Spark, Hoard Keys, and more.

Lair Boss Rework

  • Bosses formerly known as Endgame or Ladder Bosses have been broken out into 3 tiers: Initiate, Greater, and Exalted Lair Bosses to convey their varying difficulty and rewards.
    • Initiate Lair Bosses: Beast in the Ice, Grigoire, Lord Zir, Varshan, and Urivar (available for Vessel of Hatred owners only).
    • Greater Lair Bosses: Andariel, Duriel, and Harbringer of Hatred (available for Vessel of Hatred owners only).
    • Exalted Lair Bosses: Belial, Lord of Lies.
  • You must be on Torment Difficulty I or higher to fight any Lair Boss.
  • Lair Boss Loot
    • Lair Bosses no longer require boss materials to summon and provide a vastly reduced reward upon death. Instead, when a Lair boss dies, a chest called a Hoard will spawn containing its loot. Each player must individually use Lair Boss keys to open their Hoard.
    • The first Unique item dropped by a Lair Boss will be from their unique pool. Further Unique Items will have a 50% chance to be from the general Unique pool. In Torment Difficulty III, an additional guaranteed Unique item from the item pool will drop.
    • When playing in a party, Lair Bosses have a 33% chance per additional party member to drop an extra Unique Item from their unique pool.
    • More loot will drop from Lair Bosses. Lair Bosses now drop 7 Unique Items in Torment IV, instead of 6.
  • Lair Boss Keys
    • Each boss requires a number Lair Boss Keys to unlock their Hoard. Here’s a breakdown:
      • Initiate: 12
      • Greater: 3
      • Exalted: 2
    • This is one specific item for each boss, such as: Malignant Heart (Varshan), Living Steel (Grigorie), Distilled Fear (Beast in the Ice), Exquisite Blood (Lord Zir), Judicator’s Mask (Urivar), Shard of Agony (Duriel), Pin-Cushioned Doll (Andariel), Hatred Hearts (Harbringer of Hatred, Betrayer’s Husk (Belial, Lord of Lies).
    • All Initiate Lair Bosses have the chance to drop a Stygian Stone, which can be converted into any Greater Lair Boss Key of your choice.
    • Lair Boss Keys can stack up to 99.
    • Increased the number of Lair Boss Keys you receive each time:
      • Helltide Chests will drop more Living Steel.
      • Nightmare Dungeons will drop more Distilled Fear.
      • Blood Maiden will drop more Exquisite Blood for each contributed Baneful Heart.
      • Legion Events drop more Exquisite Blood.
      • World Bosses drop more Exquisite Blood.
      • Random Boss Keys are more likely to be a key other than Malignant Heart.
  • Locating Boss Lairs—the home of Lair Bosses Boss Lairs have a unique map icon to help distinguish them.
    • Once discovered, you can now teleport directly to a Boss Lair using the new teleport feature.
    • Each Boss Lair description on the map lists the required Lair Boss Key and if you currently own a sufficient amount.

Developer’s Note: We’ve received feedback that players would jump into a party, have a member of their party pay the material cost to summon a boss, kill the boss to earn the rewards, then leave the party. This behavior felt unfair to players who were paying the material cost to summon the boss, so now each player must pay the material cost to reap a boss’ rewards from their Hoard. Additionally, we received feedback that it felt unfair to pay the material cost to summon a boss to test your build against, only to die and not receive any rewards. Now, you can fight any Lair Boss on Torment Difficulty I and higher to determine if you have what it takes to best the boss before sinking materials into them.

Video Guide

Credits

Written by Chewingnom

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