Diablo 4's Season of the Construct detailed ahead of next week's launch

eurogamer.net:

With Diablo 4's third season of post-launch content — now officially titled Season of the Construct — rapidly approaching, Blizzard has finally deemed it time to share some details about what it'll bring when it arrives on 23rd January next week.

«Ancient forces threaten Sanctuary,» the studio writes in a bout of scene-setting over on its blog. «Aided by your Seneschal Companion, hazard the many traps and devastating Constructs beneath the deserts of Kehjistan.» Here, it continues, «elemental forces are amassing for malicious whims of the demon Malphas. Only by descending far below the surface will you be able to cull this cursed threat from its root.»

Breaking that down into more specific terms, Season of the Construct introduces the seasonal robotic Seneschal Companion — available during the Seasonal Questline — a new dungeon type Blizzard is calling Vaults, weekly leaderboards in The Gauntlet, and a number of «key» new quality of life features, including WASD movement support on PC.

Starting with Vaults, these are described as «specialised dungeons that house elemental Hazards devised by Zoltun Kulle and Ayuzha», alongside a new mechanical monster type known as The Constructs. Players gain access to the Vault after converting Pearls of Warding, whereupon they'll receive the Zoltun's Warding blessing. This diminishes stack-by-stack as players succumb to the Vault's perils, but they'll unlock a Wardwoven Chest — providing a higher chance of granting Legendary items — if they defeat the boss while the blessing remains intact. Players can also spend additional Pearls of Wisdom to increase a Vault's risk to increase their reward, and tougher Nightmare Vaults become available at World Tier 3.

Vault rewards include Shattered Stone, while Pearls of Warding are granted for dispatching Elite Constructs. Additionally, players can gather levellable Governing and Turning Stones by playing Vaults — either collected