Sep 26, 2026 · News
Hell's Legacy Is Here: What Diablo IV Season 15 Brings to the Squad
Thirty years of Diablo in one season. Prime Evil Splinters, remastered dungeons from every era of the franchise, Deckard Cain, cheaper crafting and a Switch 2 launch. Here's what Season 15 means for us.
Diablo turned 30 this year, and Blizzard threw the party in Sanctuary. Season 15, Season of Hell's Legacy, went live September 15 with patch 3.2.1, and after ten days of grinding it together, we can say it plainly: this is one of the best seasons to play with a group in a long time.
Here's what's new, what changed, and why it matters for the CNC crew.
The big idea: carry a piece of a Prime Evil
Diablo, Baal and Mephisto are back, and this season you're literally carrying a splinter of one of their souls. Pick a Splinter and it gives you a power that fires on its own in combat:
Splinter of Terror (Diablo) throws lines of fire that burn everything they touch. Its War Plan bonus pushes Helltide and Infernal Hordes.
Splinter of Destruction (Baal) blasts out cold and throws ice projectiles. Its bonus pushes Undercity and boss fights.
Splinter of Hatred (Mephisto) sends ghosts at your enemies over and over. Its bonus pushes Nightmare Dungeons and The Pit.
Each Splinter has its own reputation track with six upgrades, and once you unlock them they all stay on together. The one everybody is chasing sits at rank 21: extra damage based on 20% of the enemy's max life. That's the upgrade that makes high Pit tiers feel doable.
One warning. Swapping Splinters is not a menu toggle. It costs time and progress, so pick based on where you actually spend your nights, not on what looked cool in a video.
Waking Nightmares: 30 years of Diablo in one dungeon list
This is the part that got the old heads in our Discord talking. Waking Nightmares are seasonal dungeons that rebuild encounters from across the whole franchise: Diablo I, Hellfire, Diablo II, Diablo III and even Diablo Immortal, all remade in D4's engine.
There are 33 of them. Some are story dungeons that unlock your first Splinters. Some are endgame capstones gated behind Torment levels. Some pop up randomly around Sanctuary as one-room rifts, and some are hidden and take a little poking around to find. They drop Splinter reputation, Soul Splinters you socket into jewelry, and Legacy Uniques, classic gear from older Diablo games brought into D4 for the first time.
If you played the original in 1997, walking into some of these rooms hits different. If you didn't, it's the best history lesson the franchise has ever given.
Stay a while and listen
Deckard Cain is back as "the lost soul," guiding a new questline through the season. The seasonal story builds to a climax you reach through a Tristram portal, paid for with Wirt's Lucky Coins, and a fight against the Prime Evil Council.
Heads up: early in the season, the fountain was eating coins without opening the portal. Blizzard's fourth hotfix on September 22 fixed it, and also put a longer cooldown on Council loot after people started farming it back to back. If you lost coins early, it's worth checking in again.
The loot and crafting changes are the real win
This is the stuff that makes the season friendlier for everyone, not just the Pit pushers:
- Legendary drop rates went up across Torment I through V.
- Every Unique can now drop at level 1, on any difficulty.
- Mythic Unique drop rates went up from Lair Bosses and Belial, and Echo of Mephisto now guarantees a Mythic.
- Royal Gems dropped from 30 Forgotten Souls to 10. Grand Gems dropped from 300 to 50. Ancestral enchanting dropped from 25 to 10.
- Expert and Penitent difficulties now unlock after the Prologue instead of after the whole campaign.
- High-end rewards got a big bump: Pit 150 bonus XP jumped to 2700%, and Torment XII Whispers now pay around 100 million gold.
Translation: gearing up a fresh character is faster and cheaper than it's ever been, and the grind at the top end finally pays like a grind at the top end should.
Class shake-up
Blizzard reworked how main stats scale damage. Barbarian got pulled back after running the last few seasons. Druid, Necromancer, Paladin and Sorcerer all got roughly a 30% bump from the new scaling. Spiritborn, Warlock and Rogue kept their scaling and got targeted skill buffs instead.
Necro players, this is your season. Corpse Explosion went from 110% to 180%, Bone Spear went from 130% to 160%, and Soulrift's cooldown dropped from 50 seconds to 40.
At the very top, Warlock still owns the Pit. Apocalypse and Blazing Scream builds are clearing Pit 150, Poison Swarm Spiritborn is the fastest speed farmer, and Poison Pen Shot Rogue and Charge Barbarian both have a real seat at the table. Hotfix 4 also cleaned up two damage bugs, one on Warlock and one on Druid, so if your numbers dipped after September 22, that's why.
Switch 2 players, welcome in
Season 15 launched the same day Diablo IV hit Nintendo Switch 2 as the Age of Hatred Collection, with the base game and both expansions. That means a lot of new faces in Sanctuary, and some of them are going to be ours.
What this season means for CNC
Every season, somebody in the Discord says "I'm just going to solo this one." This season makes that a harder sell.
The Splinters are built for groups. A party running Terror, Destruction and Hatred covers Helltides, bosses and the Pit all at once. Waking Nightmares are more fun with somebody next to you yelling "I remember this room." The cheaper crafting means a new player can get geared in a weekend with a squad helping them, instead of burning a month alone.
So here's what we're doing:
Squad nights. Check the ops board for Diablo IV runs. Nightmare pushes, Pit runs and Helltide sweeps, all levels welcome.
Build help. Stuck on your gear or your Splinter pick? Post it in the Diablo channel. Somebody will help you sort it out, and nobody gets roasted for asking.
New and returning players. If you're coming back after a few seasons away, or you just picked it up on Switch 2, say so. We'll get you through the seasonal questline and into your first Capstone.
Thirty years in, Diablo is still at its best when you're fighting through Hell with people you trust. Grab your crew. We'll see you in Sanctuary.
By CNC Gaming
Sources: season launch details via timesaver.gg; Splinter powers and reputation ranks via d4guides.gg; Waking Nightmares breakdown via AOEAH; patch 3.2.1 changes via AllThings.How and Maxroll; Hotfix 4 details via PCGamesN and AccountShark; build tiers via AOEAH.