Diablo 4: Season 8 Explained - All Changes

Diablo 4 Season 8, titled "Belial's Return," releases today, April 29. This season introduces the Lord of Lies as a key antagonist who furthers Mephisto's influence throughout Sanctuary.

According to Blizzard's 2025 content roadmap, Season 8 brings several new features and changes to the game while players await the previously announced major expansion.

Though some details about the upcoming season were revealed earlier through previews, Blizzard has since provided a more comprehensive overview of what players can expect. Here's a complete rundown of all confirmed features and changes coming to Diablo 4 in Season 8.

Diablo 4 Season 8 Launch Date

The Diablo 4 Season 8 release date is Tuesday, April 29, 2025.

Diablo 4 Season 8 Lore

In Season 8, Belial's emergence in Sanctuary creates a new crisis that players must address. The wanderer is tasked with confronting the Lord of Lies, uncovering his deceptions, and ultimately defeating him.

The season introduces several gameplay enhancements, including new Boss Powers that expand combat options. Players won't face this challenge alone, as companions Sayeena and Jarius join the quest to protect Sanctuary.

This storyline provides context for the new Apparition Incursion event, where players battle Belial's minions and face powerful Apparition Bosses. Successfully completing these encounters rewards players with character progression opportunities.

Diablo 4 Season 8 New Features

New Bosses

Season 8 adds three familiar bosses from the Diablo franchise to the growing roster of endgame challenges.

Urivar, the knight previously encountered in the Vessel of Hatred Campaign, now appears as an Initiate-tier Lair Boss alongside Varshan and Beast in the Ice.

The Harbinger of Hatred enters as a Greater-tier threat, presenting a challenge comparable to existing bosses Duriel and Andariel.

Belial, the Lord of Lies from Diablo 3, arrives as the premier Exalted Lair Boss in Season 8.

Beyond his primary encounter, a weaker manifestation of Belial may appear as a bonus challenge after defeating other Lair Bosses and Apparition Incursion Bosses. Season 8 implements substantial changes to boss mechanics across all tiers. These adjustments increase fight complexity and duration, requiring greater tactical awareness from players.

The summoning material requirement has been eliminated for all boss encounters. Instead, players now use Lair Keys to access boss rewards after defeating them. Each participant must possess their own keys to claim loot.

The key requirements follow a tiered structure:

• Initiate Bosses: 12 Lair Keys (Beast in the Ice, Grigoire, Lord Zir, Varshan, Urivar)


• Greater Bosses: 3 Lair Keys (Andariel, Duriel, Harbinger of Hatred)


• Exalted Bosses: 2 Lair Keys (Belial)

These key requirements remain consistent across all Torment difficulty levels (1-4), though higher difficulties provide improved rewards.

Just like every season, we can help you kill bosses with our Diablo 4 boss kill service. We can also get you D4 Lair boss keys.

Boss Powers

Boss Powers function similarly to Season 7's Witch Powers, allowing players to absorb abilities from defeated Bosses throughout Sanctuary.

Season 8 introduces a total of 24 Boss Powers across three rarity tiers:

• 10 Magic Powers


• 9 Rare Powers


• 5 Legendary Powers

The system offers significant customization options, as players can equip one Main Boss Power and three Modifiers simultaneously. Each Boss Power has versatility built in, as powers can function as either a Main Power or a Modifier depending on your build strategy.

We can help you get any boss power to max with our service.

Apparition Incursions

Season 8 introduces Apparition Incursions, a new type of open-world encounter designed to enhance the leveling experience.

These events appear frequently throughout Sanctuary and function as smaller-scale alternatives to World Bosses, making them consistently accessible during regular gameplay.

Each Apparition Incursion follows a structured format that culminates in battles against three distinct bosses. The season features 10 total Apparition Bosses, providing variety across different encounters.

Upon defeating an Apparition Boss, players are rewarded with a Boss Power, integrating this new event type with the season's primary progression system.

New Legendary and Unique Items

Each of the game's classes receives at least one new Unique item, providing additional build options and strategic possibilities.

Barbarians, Druids, Necromancers, Rogues, Sorcerers, and Spiritborns all benefit from these class-specific additions. The new items are designed to complement various playstyles, allowing players to further customize their character's capabilities.

Reliquaries: A Battle Pass Rework

This new approach divides rewards into Battle Pass Reliquaries and Event Reliquaries.

The Battle Pass offers four distinct Reliquary options: Belial's Return (free), Weapons (200 Platinum), Beasts (500 Platinum), and Armor (800 Platinum). Before purchasing, players can preview the contents of each tier to make informed decisions about their Platinum expenditure. For convenience, a Premium Battle Pass bundle containing all Reliquaries is available for 1000 Platinum.

Event Reliquaries appear temporarily during special events and collaborations. These limited-time offerings contain cosmetic rewards unlockable with Favor Tokens, which players earn by defeating monsters and completing quests. Players can hold a maximum of 99 Favor Tokens at once, though these tokens can be saved for future seasons. Unclaimed rewards from Event Reliquaries will expire when their timer ends.

With this restructuring, Season's Blessings and Smoldering Ashes now appear in the Season Journey menu. Complete the Season Journey to receive Iris the Cat, a new pet companion for The Wanderer.

Existing Premium Battle Pass Tokens will automatically convert to Reliquary Premium Battle Pass Tokens, while Accelerated Battle Pass Upgrade Tokens will become 1800 Platinum. Starting April 29, Tejal's shop will feature new equipment, armor, mounts, and accessories, with regular inventory updates throughout Season 8.

Summary

I hope you enjoy Diablo 4 Season 8 as much as I will! Don't forget that we will be boosting in this season as well. Check our Diablo 4 powerleveling service, or Diablo 4 boss kills service. We offer all types of services you might need on your way in Season 8. See you!