Diablo 4's Latest Season Adds Spellcrafting

Diablo 4 Season 9: Sins of the Horadrim has kicked off this week, where, in addition to introducing a new questline and story focused on mysterious Blood Relics and the return of Astaroth to Sanctuary, the seasonal gameplay hook or power is something we haven’t seen before. Spellcrafting.

Yes, in Season 9: Sins of the Horadrim, you’ll be able to craft, customise, and level up Horadric Spells that can be used to augment skills and abilities. As we’re talking about a temporary seasonal event, the whole process is kept simple with Horadric Spells comprising three components - Catalysts, Infusions, and Arcana.

“There are numerous possibilities through the different combinations of Catalysts, Infusions, and Arcana,” Blizzard writes. “To build your Horadric Spell, you can equip a main Catalyst, an Infusion to support, and three Arcana to augment and build your spell. Each element contributes to your overall spell, allowing you to tinker and discover incredible results. This is your chance to really experiment and wield Horadric magic with untold potential.”

A couple of examples of Catalysts include ‘Disintegrate,’ which casts a beam between you and an Arcane Conductor, and ‘Propulsion,’ which deals area-of-effect damage and knocks back enemies. Infusions then imbue your Catalyst with damage and elemental modifiers like burning and chilling effects. Arcanas are the final pieces of building a custom Horadric Spell. They can do things like turn Catalyst damage into Thorn damage, boost your Resistances, add a Barrier, or increase the overall area-of-effect of spells.

For Diablo fans, being able to augment abilities and skills with new custom spells sounds like a fun diversion from the usual itemization route, but this isn’t the only significant change coming with Season 9. Nightmare Dungeons are getting a much-needed overhaul, with new affixes, more rewards, challenging time-based Horadric Strongrooms, and a new type of dungeon called Escalating Nightmares that challenges you with three increasingly more difficult Nightmare Dungeons back-to-back before you face Astaroth.

These Nightmware Dungeon updates are permanent, just like how Season 8 overhauled the endgame boss system. For a full breakdown on Season 9: Sins of the Horadrim, head here.