Diablo 4 – Season 4 PTR Notes Detail Helltide Changes, The Pit of Artificers and More

gamingbolt.com:

Blizzard is making numerous changes to Diablo 4 in Season 4, with a Public Test Realm going live on April 2nd for PC players to try them out. The crafting and itemization changes have already been detailed, but according to the PTR notes, changes to Helltides are also coming.

Instead of slaying Helltide mobs and opening chests, players will now generate threat, which increases based on the amount of Tortured Gifts gathered and monster difficulty. On reaching the highest tier, Hell-Marked, you’re ambushed by enemies and battle a Hellborne spawn resurrected “from the tortured souls of Sanctuary’s most powerful champions.” Slaying them resets your threat.

There’s also the Accursed Ritual, where players deposit Baneful Hearts gathered from Tortured Gift chests and slay enemies, ultimately fighting a Blood Maiden who drops a “great reward.” Blizzard is also changing Helltides in World Tiers 1 and 2, turning Tortured Gifts into Mystery Chests, removing ambient meteors and roaming bosses and reducing monster density compared to higher tiers. This is to  “get players into the thick of Helltides much earlier in their overall Character journey.”

If that wasn’t enough, there’s a new activity, The Pit of Artificers. Available at World Tier 4, it’s somewhat similar to Greater Rifts, with a time limit to slay enemies and ultimately slay the boss. Defeat a boss before the timer runs out and The Pit’s next tier becomes available. Kill it in four to six minutes to unlock an additional tier and within six or more minutes for two, thus hastening progress.

The Pit offers “hundreds of Tiers of difficulty” and even supports four-player groups (though the player who opens it gets the most rewards). Finally, the Echo of Andariel will join the ladder in Season 4’s PTR, possessing Shadow, Fire, Lighting and Poison attacks. She has the same Uber Unique drop rate as Duriel, and completing the first Tormented Echo drops a Resplendent Spark as a one-time reward.

Diablo 4: Season 4 begins on May