On August 29, 2014, Diablo III did something that made many players really excited. They released the very first Season! I quickly rolled a male Barbarian named Gurr and started playing. If you know what a Ladder is, then you pretty much have the idea of what a Season is.
A Season lasts for a certain amount of time. There are special Achievements, loot, Legendary items, and other stuff involved with it. I decided to push myself to do as much as I can in this very first Season. Ideally, I want to make blogs about the progress I made each day. Yesterday, I managed to get through all of Act I in one session – something I’d never done before. The screenshots you see in this blog are from August 29, 2014, and the wee morning hours of August 30, 2014.
SEASON 1 has begun! This screen showed some of the new stuff that players can encounter in this Season. There are new banner rewards to earn. There are Leaderboards that let you compete against your Clan, Friends, and everyone else as you all go through Season 1. There are Conquests “in the mortal realm”. I’m not yet sure what that means. There are new Legendaries to collect and new designs to transmogrify (for players who get their Season character to Level 70).
The button in the center says “CREATE SEASONAL HERO” See that little green leaf that is on it? That leaf appears in the portrait for all Season characters. I like that this is an easy way to tell them apart from your other characters.
I decided that my first Seasonal character would be a male Barbarian. I named him Gurr.
Why a Barbarian? By the time I was able to download the patch and get into the game, I just wanted to smash stuff. It’s been a rough week for me! I picked a male Barbarian because I’ve already leveled up a female Barbarian. Why not listen to a different voice actor this time around?
I went with “soft core” because of a comment that my husband Shawn made when we were rolling characters. He pointed out that if we played hardcore, and died right away… we wouldn’t have had much experience in Seasons. So, we both rolled “soft core” Season characters. His is a male Monk. We started in Normal Difficulty, figuring we could always go back through the content at a higher difficulty later if we wanted to (and there was still time to do it).
You get a little “warning” screen that pops up when you make a Seasonal character. It is basically a reminder that your Seasonal character is completely separate from your previous characters. You cannot access anything that is in your “regular” or “hard core” stash. It really is a new start!
It says: A New Start – Participating in a Season gives you the opportunity to reap exclusive rewards. Seasonal Heroes start completely fresh and can only play with other Seasonal Heroes. You will not be able to use Non-Seasonal items in your stash, you will have to start at 0 Gold, and you will have to retrain your Artisans.
The two buttons says “ACCEPT” and “DECLINE”. This is your last chance to change your mind about rolling a Seasonal character.
Here’s Gurr, at Level 1, ready to begin an adventure in Season 1!
I’m going to assume that most people who are checking out this blog are already familiar with the content in Story Mode of Act 1. I’m going to break up my experience in Season 1 into categories because I think it will be easier for me to chart my progress if I do that. It seems appropriate to start with the Legendary items that I found in Act 1.
I found my first Legendary item, Vigilante Belt, on my way to the Skeleton King, some time after I’d unlocked The Templar. The flavor text says: He stalked his prey by dark of night, separating the evil ones from their lives. It requires Level 11.
Primary: +23 Strength, +17 Vitality, Regenerates 19 Life per Second, Reduces cool down of all skills by 3.0%. Secondary: +9% Extra Gold from Monsters, Increases Gold and Health Pickup by 2 Yards.
The Broken Crown dropped after I killed the Skeleton King. The flavor text says: The ancient crown of Rakkis, first ruler of Westmarch. It requires Level 13.
Primary: +29 Strength, +28 Vitality, Critical Hit Chance Increased by 2.0%, +43 Life per Hit. Secondary: Ranged and melee attackers take 3 damage per hit, Monster kills grant +13 experience.
The Monster Hunter dropped somewhere in The Cave of the Moon Clan. This was a while after the point in the game where players unlock the Scoundrel. The flavor text says: Be wary when you fight monsters, lest you become one. It requires Level 18.
Primary: +12 -15 Fire Damage, +54 Vitality, Increases Attack Speed by 3%, Chance to Deal 14% Area Damage on Hit. Secondary: +5% Damage to Beasts, Monster kills grant +17 experience. I eventually gave this weapon to my Templar.
Heart of Iron dropped right after I defeated Nalghban the Foul, at the Caravan where you go to pick up the Khazra Staff. The flavor text says: It is said that those who wear this breastplate will display extraordinary valor in even the direst of circumstances. It requires Level 19.
Primary: +36 Strength, +32 Vitality, +17 Resistance to All Elements Secondary: +38 Life after Each Kill, Monster kills grant +15% experience. It had one socket – so I put a little tiny Diamond Gem into it.
Lut Socks dropped somewhere in the Northern Highlands. I can’t remember what monster dropped it. The flavor text says: Southal of Lut Bahadur crafted these boots in order to reach high, open windows to make his thieving easier. He was last seen disappearing into the night in the claws of a giant carrion bat. It requires Level 19.
Primary: +31 Strength, +35 Vitality, Regenerates 44 Life per Second, +10% Movement Speed Secondary: Ranged and melee attackers take 4 damage per hit. Leap can be cast again within 2 second before the cooldown begins. I remember that I started using Leap after I equipped the Lut Socks. But, then I forgot why I was using Leap and changed it. I’ll have to put back that skill.
Pledge of Caldeum dropped after I killed The Butcher. The flavor text says: Long a symbol of an open and free society, this weapon has come to represent the tyranny and corruption that have befallen the great city. It requires Level 22. It is a Legendary Polearm.
Primary: +13 – 16 Fire Damage, +96 Strength, +107 Vitality, Increase Attack Speed by 2% Secondary: +137 Life after Each Kill, Monster kills grant +21 experience.
LEVELING UP!
Gurr hit Level 22 when he was somewhere in the Halls of Agony Level 3.
I should probably clarify a few things. You may have noticed that my Barbarian is wearing gold, shiny, wings (that look remarkably like Imperius’ wings). He’s also got a skeletal pug dog snuffling along behind him. This has nothing to do with Seasons. I got those because I have the Collector’s Edition of Diablo III: Reaper of Souls. Those two items (and a few I’ll mention in another blog), carry over to all of your characters – even the one in Seasons.
Liber Canis Mortui – Summons a spectral Hound. The flavor text says: “When first practicing the Art of Rathma, it pays to start small. Trust me on this.” – Mehtan the Necromancer.
Wings of Valor – Unleashes a display of heavenly power. The flavor text says: “With valor, all things become possible. Strike with every ounce of righteous wrath you possess, and you shall be lifted on high by wings of valor.” – Imperius
There were also some special Community Event Buffs going on. Those started a couple of days before Season 1 started. I don’t think we can expect them to happen for each and every Season. One was: All gold rewards are increased by 100%. The other was: Treasure Goblins appear in pairs.
I was lucky enough to find Double Treasure Goblins more than once. I didn’t always catch both of them, but I did get at least one every time. Sometimes, the little buggers ran off in opposite directions, and I just wasn’t quick enough to chase down and kill the second one before he jumped into a portal and disappeared.
Gurr found a Black Mushroom!
The item name that amused me the most this time around was Pack Rats Fortitude. I find it funny because when you start Seasons, your stash is almost entirely empty (except for some health potions). A pack rat, with a constantly full stash outside of the Season, would probably panic at the sight of the new empty one. To be honest, it did throw me a little. When I found it, I joked to Shawn that Blizzard was hinting at something….
One new thing I found is probably from patch 2.0.1, and not necessarily due to Seasons. There are now spider eggs on the bridge that leads to the Spider Queen’s Lair.
These are all the gold monsters that I ran into somewhere in Act I. The first one is Kargra the Unforgiven. I didn’t manage to get a screenshot with his name on it.
I found a Zarhym!!!
Here is a quick review of all of the gold monsters – with special names that are in purple colored text – that I ran into in Seasons in Act I.
I forgot to take a screenshot of a few that should have been included in that collection. The Skeleton King is one of them. I also forgot to include Brother Karel, Brother Larel and Brother Moek, the brothers that Ezek the Prophet summons shortly before you kill him off.
I stopped playing shortly after Gurr the Barbarian entered Act II. That is where I shall start with the next part of Gurr’s Adventure through Season 1.
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