Diablo IV Season 16 PTR: Tyrael’s Boons, Horadric Items and More

The Diablo IV Season 16 PTR for Patch 3.3.0 opens on October 27 at 10:00 a.m. PDT and runs until November 3 at 10:00 a.m. PST, giving PC players a first look at War Plans Tactics, Tyrael's Boons, Horadric Items and a major Druid rework. Every class gets changes, and several endgame activities are being reworked. At gamemarket.gg, we broke down how to join the PTR, every new system and the class changes worth testing before Season 16 goes live.

Season 16 PTR at a Glance

• Patch: 3.3.0 PTR
• Dates: October 27, 10:00 a.m. PDT to November 3, 10:00 a.m. PST
• Platform: PC only, through Battle.net (PC Game Pass players can join through the Xbox App)
• New systems: War Plans Tactics, Marks of Wisdom, Tyrael's Boons and Horadric Items
• Endgame: new Pandemonium's Dual Threat lair encounter, plus reworked Infernal Hordes, Pit and Lair Boss
• Season 16 launch date: not announced yet
• Note: all PTR numbers are expected to change before Season 16 launches

How to Join the 3.3.0 PTR

1. Open Battle.net and select Diablo IV.
2. Choose Public Test Realm in the game version dropdown above the Play button.
3. Click Install, then Play, and pick a Test Server.
4. Create a new character. Make it Seasonal if you want to test the Season 16 features.

Once you are in, look for Mrak, the PTR vendor next to the main Waypoint in major cities. He offers boosts to Level 70, Paragon 200, free gold and materials, max War Plans and Horadric Items, so you can test endgame builds right away.

War Plans Tactics and Marks of Wisdom

War Plans Tactics is a new meta progression tree for both Seasonal and Eternal realms. You earn points from War Plans activities and spend them on two kinds of nodes:

• Activity nodes: up to 3 points each. Putting at least 1 point into Helltides or Nightmare Dungeons unlocks Greater Helltides or Escalation Dungeons.
• Reward nodes: up to 3 points each, covering Armor, Weapons, Jewelry, Obducite, Salvage, Gems, Gold, Activity Keys, Horadric Cube Materials and Talisman Items.

Turning in completed War Plans also gives Marks of Wisdom, a new currency used instead of gold to respec your War Plans Tactics and Activity trees. Marks of Wisdom are capped at 20 on the PTR.

Tyrael's Boons

Tyrael's Boons is the Season 16 War Plans tree for Seasonal players, and you do not need the Lord of Hatred expansion to use it.

• Up to 132 points to spend
• Choose up to 4 of 6 selections across four paths
• Unassigning a point costs 5,000,000 gold per point
• Seasonal Blessings become static, giving you the same five Blessings every time

The four paths:

• Curious Addition: adds the Purveyor of Curiosities
• Merchant of Mystery: a Torment merchant that sells caches for Forgotten Souls
• Scent of Gold: a gold-focused path
• Trash for Treasure: adds an Alchemist recipe for Greater Temper, which costs 30 Scrolls of Restoration and 1,000 Obducite

If you picked up the expansion earlier, our Lord of Hatred expansion update covers what it adds on top of the seasonal content.

Horadric Items

Horadric Items are new Legendary items from the Death Cult of Ullo Sar, built to work with Talisman sets:

• Horadric jewelry increases your set bonus count by 1, so a single charm can activate a 2-piece bonus
• Horadric Armor and Weapons add extra effects when you have at least a 2-piece set bonus from the matching Talisman set

Horadric Items could change how many slots you need to commit to a set, so they are worth testing early on the PTR.

Endgame Changes

• Pandemonium's Dual Threat: the Fractured Reaper joins the Corrupted Reaper in a combined lair boss encounter
• Reworked activities: Infernal Hordes, the Pit and Lair Boss
• Helltides: start on the hour in base game zones and at the 30-minute mark in expansion zones, and Aberrant Cinders no longer reset between Helltides
• Runes: the Que offering rises from 300 to 500, and Lac rises from 400 to 600
• Mounts: faster baseline speed, with less benefit from spurring

Class Changes Worth Testing

Druid

The Druid gets a major rework. Skills no longer gain Nature Magic or Shapeshifting tags from upgrades, Landslide's Resolve upgrade is renamed Overpower, Petrify's base stun is 10 seconds and Grizzly Rage's Fortify upgrade now grants 8 stacks of Resolve. Several Spirit Boons and Paragon nodes were also reworked.

Barbarian

• Double Swing damage up from 75% to 150% per swing
• War Cry now has diminishing returns, capped at 15%

Necromancer

• Blood Orbs healing down from 15% to 10% of Maximum Life
• The Mortacrux was reworked

Paladin

• Aura Potency now scales with Skill Ranks
• Zealot Oath damage up from 35% to 45%

Rogue

• Shadow Imbuement no longer refreshes on reapplication and stacks instead

Sorcerer

• Incinerate gains Intensity
• Firewall's Ring of Fire cooldown down from 12 to 8 seconds

Spiritborn

• Razor Wings damage up from 120% to 160%

Warlock

• Metamorphosis Basic Attack base damage up from 65% to 95%
• Apocalypse's Annihilation max stacks up from 100 to 200

Warlock players running Apocalypse should keep an eye on that stack change, and our Apocalypse Hellfire Warlock build is a good starting point for testing it.

Unique changes

• Thundergod's Blessing damage up from 250-300% to 300-350%
• Banished Lord's Talisman Critical Strike Damage down from 130-150% to 80-100%
• Signet of Pelghain is now usable only by Necromancers, Sorcerers and Rogues

Your Season 16 PTR Checklist

1. Install the PTR through Battle.net before November 3.
2. Create a Seasonal character and visit Mrak for boosts.
3. Test Tyrael's Boons and plan which 4 of 6 selections you want.
4. Try Horadric Items with your favorite Talisman set.
5. Report bugs and feedback through the in-game tool or the PTR forums.

While you wait for Season 16, there is still time to finish the current season, and our guide on which Splinter to choose in Season of Hell's Legacy can help you wrap it up. The launch date for Season 16 has not been announced, so expect more details soon.

If you want an account with more classes and endgame gear already in place, you can explore trusted Diablo IV Accounts, keep your season progress on track with reliable Diablo IV Hourly Services, or clear the Pit and lair bosses faster through dependable Diablo IV Boosting.

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