What you need to know
- Blizzard has announced Season 27 of Diablo ‘Light’s Calling’ will start on Aug. 26 at 5 p.m. PDT.
- Players have until Aug. 21 to finish any Season 26 activities and claim rewards.
- Completion of Season 27 to the final chapter will reap two all-new cosmetic rewards, the Corvus Cadaverous pet, and Laurels of Knowledge portrait frame.
With Diablo fans eagerly awaiting the next instalment in the franchise, Diablo 4, Blizzard has been putting more effort into their Diablo 3 seasons to keep the players satiated. This season brings with it another exciting theme with a range of new rewards and activities.
In Light's Calling, players must recover Angelic Crucibles, a consumable item that can be used on any equippable Legendary item to give it perfectly rolled stats on all affixes. This update also includes new cosmetics, a very zombified-looking dog pet, and much more.
Diablo 3 Season 27: New sanctified powers
In addition to new challenges and cosmetics detailed on Blizzard's website, the Crucible will add one more randomly generated power unique to the player’s chosen class. What are the new powers? Here's what Blizzard is rolling with so far.
Barbarian
- Whirlwind pulls in and holds all enemies within 25 yards.
- Hammer of the Ancients hits in all directions around the Barbarian. Every tenth cast of Hammer of the Ancients unleashes a powerful shockwave. This shockwave deals 10x damage.
- Hitting enemies generates stacks of Tempest Rhythm. Activating Wrath of the Berserker consumes 50 stacks of Tempest Rhythm and startles enemies within 16 yards, causing them to take 2% increased damage per stack for 20 seconds. Max 50 stacks.
Crusader
- Blessed Hammer now crackles with energy, damaging enemies within 15 yards of its path. All runes but Dominion now throw the hammer in a direct path in front of the Crusader.
- Every two seconds, call down Fist of the Heavens on a random nearby enemy. After casting Steed Charge, this effect occurs more rapidly for five seconds.
- After casting Falling Sword, you descend from the sky with two Archangels that can cast Consecration and Condemn.
Demon Hunter
- Strafe now casts the last non-channeled Hatred spending ability cast.
- Casting Vengeance unleashes a barrage of rockets that deal damage equal to a percentage of the maximum life enemies possess. The number of rockets fired increases over 30 seconds. Elites and Bosses receive less damage per rocket.
- Firing Cluster Arrow no longer drops explosive ordinance. Instead, it concentrates its explosive force into piercing rays of light.
Monk
- Casting Wave of Light now summons a bell at the target location that deals damage when any player attacks the bell. Up to five bells can be active at one time.
- All Way of the Hundred Fists combo punches use the second stage combo punch. Consecutive hits from Way of the Hundred Fists increases its damage by 2%. Max 350 stacks.
- The target of your Seven-Sided Strike is barraged with spiritual punches for 15 seconds. This can only affect one enemy at a time.
Necromancer
- Your Golem now picks up corpses within 20 yards. Each corpse it stores allows you to cast any corpse spending ability with the max number of corpses consumed per cast. Up to 30 corpses can be stored.
- Enemies within 50 yards are constantly assaulted by the Army of the Dead - Unconventional Warfare while this item is equipped.
- Hitting enemies with Death Nova five consecutive times adds a spirit that afflicts an enemy every fifth cast of Death Nova. Up to three spirits can be sent at a time.
Witch Doctor
- Enemies affected by Locust Swarm are also Haunted. When you cast Piranhas, all Haunted enemies within 60 yards are pulled into the pool. A lesser enemy stunned by Bogadile is instantly killed. Elites and Bosses stunned by Bogadile take massive damage.
- Horrify becomes an aura that causes enemies to receive 100% more damage and deal 15% less damage in addition to its other effects.
- You summon two Gargantuans and three Zombie Dogs periodically. Gargantuans gain the effect of the Restless Giant rune. Zombie Dogs gain the effect of all runes. Enemies hit by Sacrifice are Immolated, causing them to take 100% more damage from your Pets.
Wizard
- Your Storm Armor charges over 30 seconds. Casting Storm Armor at full charge releases a powerful thunderbolt, instantly killing a random enemy within 30 yards. Bosses and Elites are not killed but take significant damage.
- Arcane Orb now periodically spawns up to four orbiting charges that will generate an additional orb when cast. All charges from the Arcane Orbit rune now detonate at the same time.
- Magic Missile fires 10 missiles and gains the effect of the Seeker rune.
What are the rewards in Season 27?
Blizzard likes to repeat rewards from previous seasons so that those who missed out get a chance to collect all cosmetics, so for Season 27, we see the return of Season 15’s Conqueror set Chest and Gloves, and pet Belpegor to collect all your gold. PC players will also gain a new stash tab for completing the Conqueror tier if they haven’t already hit the max of four.
The two new additions this season are reserved for those who rise to the ranks of the top level ‘Guardian of Sanctuary.' The Laurels of Knowledge portrait and the Corvus Cadaverous pet, a wolf wielding a dismembered arm who resembles a zombie Sif from Dark Souls.
How do I get the zombie doggo in Season 27?
Completing the Guardian chapter will be more difficult than ever this season, with the need to complete at least three conquests as one step to victory. Completing three conquests has always been a prerequisite, but the pool of conquests this season is tougher than usual. There are five challenges to choose from, 10 if you count that each has a Hardcore counterpart, Diablo’s permadeath mode.
- Sprinter/Speed Racer – Complete the entire campaign, Acts 1–5 at level 70 in under an hour.
- Avarice/ Avaritia – Get a 50 million gold streak. This cannot be done inside the Vault or Greed’s Inner Sanctum.
- Boss Mode/Worlds Apart – Kill all the bosses in the game on Torment X difficulty or above in 20 minutes The Thrill/Superhuman – Complete a Greater Rift level 45 solo, with no Set items equipped.
- Masters of the Universe/Masters of Sets – Complete eight different Set dungeons.
Are there any other updates in Season 27?
As of the most recent patch, you can jump straight into Adventure mode to complete your season challenges. The need to complete the story on a new game has been removed, so what better excuse to jump in as a new player? Echoing Nightmares, a wave-based challenge rift from season 26 has been kept as a permanent feature of the end game. The XP gained from these however has been greatly reduced.
Diablo 3 Season 27 starts rolling out on Aug. 26
Season 27 begins Thursday, Aug. 26, at 5 p.m. PDT/CEST/KST, 4 p.m. BST, and the equivalent of 5 p.m. PDT in other time zones. For consoles, the patch will release on Aug. 26, 5 p.m. PDT globally, regardless of your region.
While waiting for more updates on Diablo 4, I can’t wait to dive into this season and complete the challenges. Despite being over 10 years old, Diablo 3 is still going strong. However, it's more than likely Blizzard will be eager to start shifting its service focus to Diablo 4 soon, given its expected launch in 2023.
If Diablo 2: Resurrected is more your vibe, don’t forget to check out our comprehensive guide to Diablo 2 runes and runewords here.
Correction: The original version of this article had a couple incorrect times listed for Season 27's launch. We've corrected the error.
