0 Comments 
The Public Test Realm for the upcoming Diablo 4 Season has been announced, and is it packed with content. Keep reading to see how to join the Diablo 4 Season 5 PTR, and what are all the upcoming features.
Seasons are how Diablo 4 devs add new mechanics to the game. Those that prove incredibly popular have a chance of being added to the core game. On the other hand, some new mechanics can be quite uninteresting. That can lead to a drop in player count and general dissatisfaction. That is why Blizzard started using a PTR, to test out upcoming Seasonal mechanics before the Season’s release. And now, a PTR for Diablo 4 Season 5 is about to go live, so let’s see how to join it, and all features and updates.
How to Join Diablo 4 Season 5 PTR
The Season 5 PTR goes live on June 25 and will be available until July 2. That gives you a week to test it out. Blizzard have been kind enough to provide us with an official step-by-step instruction on how to install and join the latest PTR.
- Open the Blizzard Battle.net App and select Diablo IV from your Games list.
- In the selector above the Play button, there is a game version drop-down menu. Select the option ‘Public Test Realm’
- Click Install to install the PTR client. This becomes a Play button when ready.
- Click Play to log in to the PTR, and select any of the available Test Servers.
- Create a new test character.
- Enter the game and test Season 5.
Note that there is an NPC that boosts you to Level 100 (found as soon as you enter the PTR). They also provide you with items, currencies, materials, and anything else that you will need to fully test out the new mechanics and updates.
Season 5 PTR Features
New Questline
Without giving us much detail, Blizzard announced a new questline, titled The Eyes of the Enemy, planned to be integrated into the main game and available for both Eternal and Seasonal characters. The main focus will be on battling Infernal Hordes, a new gameplay activity.
Infernal Hordes
Infernal Hordes are a new activity coming in Season 5. It is a special run, similar to roguelike games, where you fight increasingly powerful waves of enemies and bosses, in hopes that you will reach the end and claim valuable spoils.
You’ll have to look for Infernal Compasses (dropped by World Bosses, found in Helltides, etc) which you use to access the Realm of Hatred. There are different tiers of Compasses, each offering greater rewards, but making the enemies stronger and increasing the number of waves.
In short, the Infernal Hordes play like this: find and activate an Infernal Compass to begin your Infernal Hordes run. You will face swarms of enemies, and each wave lasts for 90 seconds. Each wave will reward you with Burning Aether, a special currency used to claim rewards if you complete the run. Additionally, once you defeat each wave, you get to pick an Infernal Offer. They modify your run with Boons & Banes, ie., positive and negative modifiers (for example: Elite damage increased, Elites grant increased Burning Aether). When you complete enough runs to reach the end stage, called The Well of Hatred, you will face the Fell Council. The Fell Council is comprised of five unique Council Members, and you will face three of them in each run, randomly chosen. Once defeated, you can finally claim the spoils (named Spoils of Hell) of your Infernal Hordes run, using your accumulated Aether.
Quality-of-Life and Other Improvements
A new activity is not all you get in the PTR. Some new Uniques and Legendaries are also coming. They drop in the usual way but have the highest chance to drop when playing Infernal Hordes.
The summoning of some endgame bosses has been simplified. The Beast in Ice will no longer be in a special Nightmare Dungeon (no Sigils are needed to summon it). Additionally, Echo of Varshan no longer requires Trembling Hands, Blackened Femurs, and Gurgling Heads, only Malignant Hearts.
More minor updates are on the way, such as allowing some Classes to equip weapon types they previously couldn’t and adding a compass to your minimap that will guide you to your chosen location, without you having to open the map every now and again. Unique and Mythic Unique Items can now be acquired through Whisper Caches, the Purveyor of Curiosities, and Tortured Gifts in Helltide, and Treasure Goblins provide better quality loot than they did before.
All in all, Season 5 seems to be chock full of improvements and updates, alongside a new end-game activity. So far, it looks like Diablo 4 Season 5 will be a successful one.
