Diablo 4 Season 15 PTR Is Coming: New Soul Splitters, Returning Diablo Classics, and Huge Balance Changes

Blizzard has just released an announcement for Diablo 4 Season 15 3.2.0 PTR. PTR testing period is from 10:00 AM Pacific Time on August 4th to 10:00 AM Pacific Time on August 11th. It includes many long-awaited changes and some new content, such as the new Soul Splitters mechanic, challenge dungeons, and respawn mechanics.

This article will introduce you to the new content of Diablo 4 Season 15 PTR, allowing you to better experience the game. Now, let's get started.

Soul Splitters Mechanics

Soul Splitters are a brand new type of jewel inlay, with different types, all possessing curse-like effects. Each shard provides a powerful effect, but also comes at a cost, requiring players to choose based on their build.

First, I want to talk about Splinter of the Mother. It allows you to move freely, weakening enemies upon contact, but stunning you after contacting 250 enemies.

Another very interesting shard is Splinter of Lies, which increases your Diablo 4 Gold, crafting materials, and experience drop rate by 60%, but at the cost of making you weak and vulnerable. This is fine if you just want to farm materials on easier, faster difficulties.

In addition, Splinter of Sin increases your maximum health, but reduces your primary resource cost by 30%. It's essentially the reverse of Melted Heart of Selig. Splinter of Hellfire can increase your damage by up to 100%, but completely removes your critical strike ability.

There's also Splinter of Pain, which looks like a turtle. Using it grants you damage immunity, but at the cost of reduced movement speed.

Legacy Uniques Return

A major highlight of Diablo 4 Season 15 PTR test server is the permanent addition of ten classic legendary items from the series' history.

These Diablo 4 Items should be instantly recognizable to veteran players. Let me briefly introduce them to newcomers. Ten items are returning, five of which are usable by all classes. The details are as follows:

• Leoric's Crown (Helm): From Diablo 3, it enhances the effect of any gem socketed into a helmet.
• Stone of Jordan (Ring): One of the most iconic rings from Diablo 2, providing increased elemental damage and elite damage.
• Ring of Royal Grandeur (Ring): The most important legendary ring from Diablo 3, reducing the number of items required to activate a set bonus.
• Nemesis Bracers (Gloves): Also from Diablo 3, these are classic support bracers that summon additional elite monsters to increase your experience gain.
• Squirt's Blouse (Chest): A new version of the classic Squirt's Necklace from Diablo 3.

The other five are class-specific, including Arioc's Needle (2H Polearm), Henri's Perquisition (Offhand Focus), In-Geom (1H Sword), Furnace (2H Mace), and Messerschmidt's Reaver (2H Axe). However, it's important to note that 2H Axe will not be available on PTR server but will be officially released in Diablo 4 Season 15.

Massive Class Balance Shifts

Season 15 3.2.0 PTR server brought significant balance adjustments, with some classes being drastically nerfed while others received significant buffs.

Nerfs

Barbarian class suffered a major blow and will be the biggest loser in the next season. Its core damage was reduced, and multiple skills, Paragon points, and legendary items were directly nerfed. The player community reacted strongly, with many players supporting the nerfs but deeming them excessive.

Enhancements

Meanwhile, four classes have received buffs: Druid, Necromancer, Paladin, and Sorcerer. Their core attributes and damage have been significantly increased, but which is truly stronger requires further evaluation.

New Endgame Options

Two classes will also receive new endgame tools. Spiritborn will gain a new Paragon talent panel called Storm Swarm, while Warlock will receive a new glyph called Superior.

Read More: Diablo 4 Season 15 PTR Could Fix One of Diablo 4's Biggest Seasonal Problems

New Activities

Challenge Dungeons

Challenge Dungeons are a new mechanic added to Sanctuary. Players can enter through portals in Overworld. These highly challenging boss fights can be increased to three Torment levels higher than your current difficulty for greater rewards.

However, it's important to note that the encounters you encounter in PTR are for testing the underlying systems and will be different in Diablo 4 Season 15.

Overland Ambush

During your exploration, demons will occasionally begin to hunt you. You'll have 30 seconds of warning time to decide whether to flee or hold your ground in this difficult encounter.

Mythic Unique Crafting

Based on player feedback in Diablo 4 Season 14, Mythic Unique system is being optimized. Horadric Cubes can now directly upgrade common unique items to their Mythic versions. While the upgrade cost is higher, it's a 1:1 upgrade, and affixes, enhancements, and refinements are retained.

Jewelers can now craft Mythics, and Blacksmith Mythic Chests will now drop Mythic Uniques and Iconic Mythics.

Return of Rebirth

After a long wait, Diablo 4 Season 15 will finally introduce the rebirth feature. You can now convert an Eternal realm character into a seasonal character and reset their level to 1. This will retain your character's name, appearance, playtime statistics, and appearance preferences, allowing you to continue experiencing their story without creating a new character every season.

This concludes our article on Diablo 4 Season 15. Blizzard has confirmed that PTR testing is limited, and they are only retaining some key features of the new season. More details will be revealed at BlizzCon in September.

Based on the information available so far, I feel Season 15 should be quite well-done, with both new content and returning content. Let's look forward to more surprises in September!