Diablo IV New Beta Information

Diablo IV has just updated their Open Beta blog post to provide more information regarding both the Early Access and Open Betas that will be occurring over the coming weeks. This article will only be covering the new information added to this blog. If you’d like to read the full post, you can do so here.

Fractured Peaks

The first new section of the blog post goes over some details related to the main zone and hub of the upcoming betas. Fractured Peaks is a snow-filled area where players will begin their experience in Act I of Diablo IV. Kyovashad will be the main city in Fractured Peaks, where players will be able to accept and complete quests, purchase gear, upgrade items, such as health potions, and access their stash. While in this zone, players will follow the path of the Main Questline, but players will also be able to venture off and discover Side Quests, Altars of Lilith, World Events, Legion Events, Strongholds, and Dungeons.

Altars of Lilith are objects spread throughout the world of Sanctuary, and act as a kind of “explore and collect” type of content. Finding these Altars will be an important task for players, as discovering an Altar of Lilith will permanently increase the Core Stats of all of a player’s characters on the Realm.

World Events are short and spontaneous side quests that players will be able to complete very quickly. As you’re running around between Side quests, or on your way to complete an objective, you might encounter some of these World Events randomly. These events are completely optional, but they do provide a reward, so they might be worth completing.

Legion Events are much more challenging. While not too much information has been shared about these events so far, it seems like Legion Events will happen on a timed basis. Players will be able to prepare in advance, and form groups in order to take on waves of enemies. While these events are also optional, since they are much more difficult than World Events, their rewards will also be more substantial.

Dungeons will be instanced content in Diablo IV. Dungeons will display a recommended level, so that players will have a good idea of what they’ll be up against before entering. And while Dungeons are pretty common throughout the world of Sanctuary, they're really just a warm up for the most difficult content that players will face in the Diablo IV beta - World Bosses.

World Boss

Ashava the Pestilent has been the only confirmed World Boss that will be present during Diablo IV’s beta sessions. Ashava is a level 25 World Boss, and players will be able to take her on in a group of up to 12. Ashava is said to be the most dangerous piece of content that players will be able to experience during Diablo IV’s betas. Since this is the case, players will need to come prepared. Ashava the Pestilent will only be available to fight at specific time periods during each beta session, and the recent blog update confirmed her available times:

Early Access Beta:
March 18th at 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 10 p.m. and midnight PDT

Open Beta:
March 25th at 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 10 p.m. and midnight PDT

Players will have four opportunities to fight Ashava during each of the Beta periods, and all four spawn times will occur on each Saturday of the Beta.

Pre-Download

The blog update confirmed the times that players will be able to pre-download each Beta:

Early Access:
Early Download begins Wednesday, March 15 at 9 a.m. PDT

Open Beta:
Early Download begins Wednesday, March 22 at 9 a.m. PDT

It is also noted that if you have already downloaded the beta during Early Access, you will not need to download it again during the Open Beta.

Forums

It was announced that Diablo IV’s official forums will be opened on March 17th, along with the first day of the Early Access Beta. The Forums will appear in the top left corner of this page whenever they go live.

Community Play Livestream

Finally, the team also announced new information related to the upcoming Community Play Livestream. This event will take place on March 24 at 11 a.m. PDT, and will feature content creators and members of the development team who will share some tips and tricks related to this highly anticipated ARPG.

This blog post is expected to continue to be updated until the release of Diablo IV. So, keep an eye out for even more Diablo IV-related news and information coming soon.