Diablo 4 Season 7 needs to offer something fresh after Vessel of Hatred

The Season of the Witch may be upon us, but after Vessel of Hatred, Season 7 of Diablo 4 has a difficult balancing act to get right.

Thanks to the Diablo Season 7 PTR, we know that next season will focus heavily on Witch Powers. These, like the Vampire Powers from Season 2, will give players some cool new abilities and the origin of the powers will likely be explained as part of Season 7’s story.

However, Season 7 is unique as far as Diablo seasons go, as it’s the first one to arrive after the Vessel of Hatred expansion. Now, the world is bigger and there are more endgame activities than before, so Season 7 will need to differentiate itself in a meaningful way.

The Season of the Witch

Seasons aren’t expansions; they are just another way to play the existing game for a few months, but some have been transformative in the past. In terms of content, Season 4 offered the least, but its Loot Reborn theme gave the experience a much-needed overhaul. But it was still lacking in terms of things to do.

Season 5 on the other hand introduced the fantastic Infernal Hordes mechanic, and even provided some new campaign missions to bridge the gap between the ending of Diablo 4 and Vessel of Hatred. More importantly, it allowed players on the Eternal Realm to enjoy this content too.

The current Season 6 mostly hid behind Vessel of Hatred for its content, but Season 7 won’t be able to do this. The issue is that Season 7 can’t just add yet another endgame mode after VoH introduced so many. But it also can’t just make a new NPC who tells us to go and do Helltides, then act like that’s a story, something new, or even interesting.

Essentially, Season 7 needs to be more like Season 5 and less like 4, or 6. Some seasonal campaign quests make all the difference. For example, the stories told in Seasons 2 and 3, with the vampires and the constructs, helped elevate those seasons and give them some character. But what really helps Diablo 4 seasons stand out is when they take advantage of their setting.

As Season 5 was the season before a major expansion, it hyped the return of Mephisto and made that its story and theme. This was perfect. So Season 7 could do something similar but set it after Vessel of Hatred.

For example, Mephisto is now loose in the world and the hunt for him is on, so seeing the characters get on his trail only for them to be sidetracked by his witchy allies could be a great way to kick off the season.

On Hatred’s trail

Focusing on Witch Powers rather than a new endgame mode is smart. There’s enough endgame content in Diablo 4 for now. Instead, Blizzard needs to focus on the things our characters can do and take advantage of this post-DLC era for the moment.

For Season 7, Diablo 4 needs to let us catch up with our protagonists who are licking their wounds from the DLC, only for a new set of quests to begin, introducing the Witch Powers.

Ideally, both seasonal and Eternal Realm players should get the chance to play this content, but the Seasonal Journey rewards should remain exclusive to seasonal players, of course. This way, all players are being catered for and will get a chance to use Witch Powers in the various endgame modes that Diablo 4 now offers.

As the Realmwalker events have been a great way to spice up Helltides, these should also remain in Season 7 and cross over into the Eternal Realm as Infernal Hordes did. That’s because not everyone is going to want to start a new character for Season 7. The fact is, some players may have tried every class now, and many won’t have the motivation to start another.

This was always going to be an issue in Season 7, and Blizzard can combat it by making sure players in the Eternal Realm can play casually – as many of them do – but still experience something fresh. After all, the hunt for Mephisto is now on, and between Season 7 and the next expansion, this needs to be something Diablo 4 capitalizes on.