Diablo 4 finally gets shared map progress between characters – but there’s a catch

Diablo 4’s forthcoming Season 1 update will finally allow players to carry over map progress between their created characters. There is a caveat, though.

With the current state of things, Diablo 4 users who beat the campaign and then build a new character must start from scratch. Thus, if a player’s Barbarian explored every bit of the map and found several Altars of Lilith, their newly minted Rogue hero won’t reap those benefits.

Multiple playthroughs of the latest Diablo adventure may feel like a chore for even the most dedicated of players, then. As such, fans have asked Blizzard to introduce the ability to transfer map progress between characters.

The first details about Diablo 4 Season 1 will no doubt please those looking forward to repeat playthroughs. For the most part.

Shared map progress between characters is coming to Diablo 4

In a developer blog about the newly announced Season 1 content, Blizzard explained what players can expect when jumping into the free update.

Users must complete the Campaign at least once to join the Seasonal Realm. From there, a new Seasonal character will begin the game with a few features already activated. They include all of the following:

• The option to skip the Campaign.
• Your Mount available immediately.
• All previously discovered Altars of Lilith unlocked, and the corresponding Renown for them.
• All previously discovered areas of the map revealed, and the corresponding renown for them.

Blizzard previously confirmed the Campaign skipping feature. But starting with a mount and previous map progress will especially please many fans.

Blizzard Entertainment

The caveat, however, is that a player with more than one character who wants to transfer map progress will have to log into every character once Season 1 goes live on July 20.

Associate Game Director Joseph Piepiora explained it as follows:

“So let’s say you’ve got two characters you play. One who’s uncovered everything in Fractured Peaks… and you’ve got another character who’s gotten everything in Scosglen… if I log in on my Fractured Peaks character, all of that [progress] will be transferred to my Scosglen character.

“When I log into my Scosglen character, all of that credit will be transferred to my Fractured Peaks character. [From that point forward], all of that progress has been propagated to the entirety of my account… You want to log into every account that might have tons of progress they’ve made in different directions.”

Piepiora’s explanation begins at the 1:37:19 mark in the video below:

The developers acknowledged the convoluted nature of this process. According to Diablo GM Rod Fergusson, there’s a reason for such complexity. Initially, the plan was to have players totally start from scratch, including uncovering the Fog of War, re-earning renown, etc.

Complaints about creating new characters at the start of each season encouraged Blizzard to draft the system described above. That is to say – things could’ve been worse.

The patch for Season 1 will go live on July 18; meanwhile, the content itself will become available two days later on July 20.