Season of Loot Reborn Guide

Diablo 4 strikes again with season 4 : Season of Loot Reborn! 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. However this time around, Loot Reborn instead overhauls many core game systems especially regarding itemization. Unlike previous Seasonal themes that affect only the Seasonal Realm, with Season 4: Loot Reborn, these Itemization changes persist beyond the Seasonal Realm and affect the Eternal Realm as well.

Season of Loot Reborn Overview

Loot Reborn brings global changes to itemization as well as tempering and masterworking. These changes are also paired with changes to affixes, gems and codex of power!

Unlike previous Seasonal themes that affect only the Seasonal Realm, with Season 4: Loot Reborn, these Itemization changes persist beyond the Seasonal Realm and affect the Eternal Realm as well.

General Item Updates

One of our several goals for the Itemization changes is to make it easier to understand which items are upgrades when they drop. We reduced the number of affixes on items (down to 3 on Legendary items, 2 on Rare items) and made these affixes more effective. Instead of seeing an affix that relies on conditional values (+10% damage on non-injured Elites), you'll see affixes such as base increases to your Movement Speed, Max life, or single ranks of a Core Skill. Dropped Items are now simpler to evaluate, and we've moved their complexity and customization to our new crafting systems, Tempering and Masterworking, which we will describe in more detail below. We've also increased the overall values of these affixes, so they should feel more powerful!

By making items more individually impactful, we’ve significantly decreased the number of items that drop when slaying Monsters. The goal here is to spend more time obliterating and less time sorting through the many items that drop. The result is that fewer items will drop overall, but those items will be more likely to be valuable. To compensate and stay on par with the norm, materials gained from Salvaging and Crafting have been adjusted to match this change. Also, Forgotten Souls can now be earned from Whisper bounties and are a rare drop from all Elites. The Gold cost to re-roll items when Enchanting now has a maximum, and we’ve cut down on the materials needed to perform all activities when at the Blacksmith.

Additionally, which World Tier you play in will directly affect the rarity of the items you earn. Sacred items or higher only drop in World Tier III, and only Ancestral items will appear in World Tier IV. Similarly, Legendary items dropped from enemies over Level 95 will always have a value of 925 Item Power.

However, keep an eye out for Uniques—some have a chance to appear starting in World Tier I and II. All Uniques have a chance to drop starting in World Tier III, and Uber Uniques can start appearing as once you’re killing monsters that are Level 55 at max Item Power level.

Codex of Power Updates

Extracting Aspects from Legendary items now stores them in your Codex of Power to be used indefinitely. Instead of taking up space in your inventory, the Codex of Power is a library that stores your most-powerful extracted version of that Aspect, which can be used as many times as you want.

The Codex of Power displays all available Aspects, so you can spend more time seeking the highest Aspect rolls possible. Once the Aspect with the maximum potential value is extracted, a specific border indicates the Aspect has been completed.

Aspects can now be favorited within the Codex of Power, and a tooltip will denote whether you already have that Aspect equipped when searching within the Codex. Note that in the Seasonal Realm, when the Season ends, your Codex of Power will reset and retain those learned affixes for the Eternal Realm. If you already have the same Aspect learned in the Eternal Realm, the Codex of Power will keep the higher of the two.

Tempering System

As you find and learn Tempering Manuals, Blacksmiths across Sanctuary will be able to use these manuals of craftsmanship to shape the qualities of your equipment. Tempering allows you to add potent affixes to your item.

Crafting Manuals can be found as a regular item throughout the game. Once learned, they can be used as many times as desired (like the new Codex of Power changes). Each Crafting Manual contains a small number of affixes, and typically correspond to six different categories: Weapons, Offensive, Defensive, Mobility, Utility and Resource. Simply head to a Blacksmith to Temper your item and add one of the available affixes, greatly reducing the time it takes to ensure your weapon has the affix you desire. Note that Ancestral items can have two Tempered affixes from different categories!

Remember, the Tempering Durability indicates how many times you can Temper an item…even the most battle honed blades can lose their edge. The manuals you learn on the Seasonal Realm last until the end of the season, and manuals learned on the Eternal Realm will be known permanently.

Masterworking System

Using the rarest of materials found within the deepest mines and caverns, improve your weapons to the absolute pinnacle of their potential. Masterworking is an end-game crafting system, using materials earned from The Pit of Artificers to upgrade your weapons.

Masterworking improves the overall strength of all affixes on your weapon, and at every 4th tier, massively upgrades one of your equipped affixes. The affix that receives the bonus will turn Blue. If the same affix is improved again, it will change to Yellow, and in rare cases, it will turn Orange if improved a third time.

If you hit the max level of Masterworking on a given weapon and you’re unsatisfied with the improvements on your weapon, you can reset and begin the process again.

Greater Affixes

Appearing only on Ancestral Legendary and Unique Items, Greater Affixes are 1.5x more powerful versions of normal affixes. Items with Greater Affixes drop with a distinct audio cue, alerting you to their presence, and have a unique icon both in the world and within your inventory. Each affix on an item has a chance to be a Greater Affix in World Tier III and IV. You cannot Enchant an affix into a Greater Affix—their awesome power may only be discovered.

Gems

Gems are simpler, streamlined and more effective across your Character’s journey. Crude Gems have been removed, and crafting levels have been shifted back:

• Normals Gems are available at Level 51.
• Flawless Gems are available at Level 71.
• Royal Gems are available at Level 91.
• Diamonds have had their All Resistance values increased.
• Topaz now provide increases to Intelligence
• Sapphires now provide increases to Willpower.
• Amethyst now provide increases to Strength.
• Emeralds now provide increases to Dexterity.

Video Guide

Summary

• Season of Loot Reborn introduces a full overhauling of core game systems regarding loot and itemization.
• These changes are vilable in all game modes and will stay after Season 4 ends.

Credits

Written by Chewingnom
Reviewed by Dredscythe