Diablo 4 Season 11 review: Light on story, heavy on fun

Diablo 4 Season 11 is one I went into very nervous, very unsure of how it was going to play out. I have to say, now that I’m pushing into the deepest parts of Torment, and making my way through The Pit, I’m pleasantly surprised! At first, Masterworking was going to be dreadful, but thankfully, the developers walked that back due to fan feedback.

Season 11 also dropped with a Lord of Hatred trailer that also gave fans something they’ve been begging for since Diablo 4 first dropped: The Paladin class! Sure, you have to buy the expansion first, but that’s not a shock. While this season is light on story quests, it’s heavy on fun and mystery. Let’s get into it.

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The story of Diablo 4 Season 11 is very simple to get into

Diablo 4 Season 11, Season of Divine Intervention, is all about pushing back an invasion of the Lesser Evils. This is thanks to the intervention of Hadriel of the High Heavens. Diablo 2 fans will no doubt remember this angel as a follower of Tyrael. Though technically forbidden to interfere in the affairs of Sanctuary, Hadriel has appeared, informed the players of the Lesser Evil invasion, and conveniently left a forge behind to help them fight.

Hadriel has his own sneaky way of helping (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Unlike previous Diablo 4 seasons, you aren’t grinding through the season to pick up more story quests. In fact, there are only three story/seasonal quests I’ve played so far. The opening quest, the grind quest, and Call of the Paladin, which just sort of introduces players to the Paladin, in case they didn’t know about them.

You still get tons of rewards from grinding the seasonal faction though, including unlocks for the Divine Gifts system. It’s the newest Borrowed Power, but unlike previous seasons, it doesn’t give you new special attacks, or Witch Spells. Instead, it gives you powers once you slay each of the four Lesser Evils in their new domains.

You get a Corrupted Slot for each of the Lesser Evils, and as you build reputation, you can slot the powers into one of four Purified Slots. Gaining the powers is easy, you just have to beat each boss once. Each boss gives two powers. The powers are all built around completing certain content:

• Duriel: Helltides
• Belial: The Pit
• Azmodan: World Bosses
• Andariel: The Undercity

The new powers are great. Not obtrusive, not game-breaking, but helpful (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

The Corrupted Slots give you extra rewards, but also challenges/punishments, while the Purified Slots give you double the rewards you would normally receive. You only need to equip the boosts you’re currently working towards, so it’s a really easy to use system.

There’s no “right or wrong” here, just equipping what you want to work towards in-game. If you need more boss keys, you might want to equip the Essence of Hellfire ability, for example. All told, this season is very simple, and easy to interact with, which is great for returning players.

I’m a huge fan of the Lesser Evils showing up in new places in Diablo 4 Season 11, replacing old bosses for the time being. Duriel replaces the Blood Maiden for example, and Belial replaces all of The Pit bosses. Azmodan is just out in the world for you to summon and battle, and Andariel lurks in The Undercity.

However, this season also featured an incredibly fun mystery! There were mysterious Altars scattered across Sanctuary, and Unique Purified Essence that seemed to have no purpose. Between Reddit, some legwork from me, and the rest of the community, the riddle was solved.

If you manage to figure it all out, you get to take part in a battle against Uber versions of the Lesser Evils, with a ton of loot as your reward. It’s a nice little mystery bonus that brought the community together to work on it, and it was fun! You can see the fight in the video above, completed by yours truly.

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Diablo 4 Season 11’s Sanctify system is absolutely bonkers

This isn't the best possible result, but it's been good enough for me (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

In addition to updating the Masterworking system instead of nerfing it, Diablo 4 Season 11 also has the RNG-filled Sanctify system. If you have a Heavenly Sigil, which drops from a variety of places, you can use it to Sanctify a piece of gear.

If you Sanctify it, it completely locks that gear from ever being updated/changed again, so make sure you’ve Masterworked it completely, and put whatever Temper you want on it. You can remove gems/Runes, but that’s it.

You can get so many things out of Sanctify. I watched someone Sanctify a Shako (Harlequin Crest), and got a second copy of the Shako ability! You can get Mythic Unique powers, extra Legendary powers, or just more Quality on your gear.

It’s a real gamble, but there are some truly fantastic things that come from it. It also makes it worthwhile to keep hunting gear after you perfect your build. You never know when you will be able to add a Mythic Unique effect onto a Legendary gear slot.

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Diablo 4 Season 11 also (sort of) introduces the amazing Paladin class

A LOT of people are playing Paladin right now (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Diablo 4 Season 11 unlocks the Paladin class as well, as long as you purchased the Lord of Hatred expansion. Normally, I pretty much only play Necromancer, but Paladin was my most-played class in Diablo 2, even more than Necro. Naturally, that means I took the new class for a spin.

I don’t think it’s quite as overtuned as the Spiritborn was at launch, but it is powerful. Most of the builds are perfect for doing whatever content you want, whether it’s Brandish, Zealadin, or Blessed Hammer builds. The class is tanky, deals great damage, and has awesome powers. If there was ever a reason to get an expansion early, this is the best one.

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Final Thoughts on Diablo 4 Season 11

Making extra Talent Points/Paragon Points a part of the seasonal challenges instead of mindless grinding is another positive (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

I can typically tell how I feel about a season pretty early in Diablo 4. I judge it by how aggressively I grind through the seasonal rep. At the time of writing, I’m at 21/25 ranks completed, and plan on going the rest of the way. This season has been simple, but brilliant. I imagine Blizzard understood people were going to come back to the game for Paladin (true), and wanted something easy, but fun.

Season 11 delivered in a way that I haven’t seen in quite a while. Sure, I enjoyed Season 10, but I don’t know that I’ve felt this happy and positive about Diablo 4 in quite a few months. I love the game, and did before this, but some of the seasons just felt like mindless grinds without anything fun, mysterious, or interesting to them. I hope this is the start of a renaissance for D4 content going forward.

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Check out our other Diablo 4 guides and features

• Diablo 4 Season 11: Hadriel’s Divine Missive walkthrough
• Diablo 4 Season 11: Call of the Paladin walkthrough (Path of the Paladin)
• Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred DLC: Release date, known features, and more
• Diablo 4: What to do with Unique Purified Essences?

Edited by Jason Parker