What you need to know
- Diablo 4 launches Season 6: Season of Hatred Rising on October 8 with a new Battle Pass and Seasonal Rewards.
- The launch coincides with the first expansion for the game, Vessel of Hatred.
- The Premium Battle Pass is optional, but you can get one for free as well as 20 tier skips through Microsoft Rewards.
If you've jumped back into Diablo 4 for the sixth season, Season of Hatred Rising, or you just coming back to the game for the Vessel of Hatred expansion, you may be eyeing up the Premium or Accelerated Battle Pass. If you've purchased the Deluxe or Ultimate Editions of Vessel of Hatred, you will already have a Battle Pass with your purchase. However, if you've gone for the Standard edition, or haven't purchased the expansion at all and just want to check out the new season, I have a way you can potentially get your upgraded Battle Passes for free.
How to claim a free Premium or Accelerated Battle Pass using Microsoft Reward points
Simply head on over to Microsoft Rewards and you can bag the accelerated pass for 22,500 points. The accelerated pass costs $25 normally, and this adds up considerably if you want to buy each season.
The Accelerated Pass comes with 20 tier skips to speed up your journey through the Diablo 6 Season and an emote.
If you don't have the points for the Accelerated Pass, you can get the Premium Battle Pass for only 9000 points, saving you $10 in 'real money'. This gets you the 90 tiers but no skips, and no fancy emote. Though this would be my choice for the best value.
If you already have the Battle Pass, you can still get 20 tier skips for the lowly fee of 1700 reward points, which should shave off a fair amount of time it will take you to complete your Season of Hatred Rising pass. Normally skipping a tier costs 200 Platinum in game, or $1.99 in real money terms.
Once you have redeemed, you'll receive an email with a code. Use this code on battle.net, as explained in the email, rather than on your Xbox or on Steam.
What are Microsoft Reward points?
Microsoft Reward points can be exchanged for gift cards, movies, games, nonprofit donations, and more. They can be earnt simply by interacting with Microsoft's eco system like Xbox and Bing.
How do I earn Microsoft Reward points?
- Searching with Bing on your browser nets you up to 5 points per search, and up to 150 points per day.
- Purchases from the Microsoft store will reward 1 point per dollar spent.
- Downloading the Rewards app on your Xbox will give you simple activities to complete to earn points daily, weekly and monthly.
- Playing games on Xbox or watching movies and TV shows as indicated on your Xbox dashboard.
- Downloading the Microsoft Rewards browser extension on Google Chrome will set your default search engine to Bing and track your point balance if you prefer this browser.
- Download the Xbox Game Pass app on your mobile.
If you play games on Xbox, it's ridiculously easy to build up reward points; in fact reward points have funded many of my Xbox controller purchases over the years and they will now be financing my Diablo 4 Battle Passes.
Is Diablo 4 Season 6 Battle Pass worth purchasing?
The Season of Hatred Rising cosmetics obtainable through the Battle Pass are certainly some of the highest quality I've seen so far, so I do think you'll be happy with a Battle Pass purchase this season. If you've already purchased the Vessel of Hatred Deluxe or Ultimate editions, you'll have a Premium Battle Pass ready to go. However if you saved some money grabbing the standard edition, this method could get you the pass for free.
