Diablo 4 Season 12 is certainly an interesting one. It might be the shortest season yet, but it’s definitely one where you can jump in with any class, and power up rather easily. While there are some minor issues with the season, I’ve really been enjoying this blood-soaked season, with its Doom collaboration, and the Butcher-themed violence. The Bloodied Sigils are a nice new way to offer a new challenge to your endgame as well.
Other than one very annoying bug, and some issues farming, I’ve had a blast playing Diablo 4 Season 12. The balance doesn’t feel that bad, even if I am still mostly seeing Paladins, compared to other classes. Even with the nerfs, they’re still super fun to play. Let’s talk about Season 12, though!
Diablo 4 Season 12 is all about the iconic Butcher
The story of Diablo 4 Season 12 is all about trying to use the power of Hell against itself, which, instead of giving us Warlocks, gives us the Butcher! It’s honestly kind of an interesting lead up to ultimately unlocking the Warlock in Lord of Hatred in April, and the Butcher is one of the more iconic foes across the Diablo franchise. Complete with hooks, fire, and a lot of bloodlust, players can transform into him, or repeatedly do battle with him instead.
With Meaty Offerings, you can become the Butcher for a limited time, or, if you’re taking part in endgame Bloodied Sigils, the Butcher can power-up, and chase you around, no matter what you’re doing. Boss Lairs, Nightmare Dungeons, and Infernal Hordes, he keeps respawning, from start to finish, and makes his presence known.
I think, at first, this can feel incredibly frustrating, because you may not have the damage to deal with him. However, the more powerful you get, the easier he’ll be to deal with. No matter what Bloodied Sigil you use, he’s going to be a threat. I think personally, he’s most dangerous in Infernal Hordes, though. He felt much tougher, and more annoying, when you consider the constant chaos and fire that fills the screen.
Becoming the Butcher is incredibly fun, though. You get his full kit: Throwing hooks, big AOE fire, dashing around, smashing stuff, it’s all brilliant. The Shrine of Slaughter is limited to about a minute, and the Slaughterhouses are a bit longer, but more involved.
Slaughterhouses put you in a city/town, and you slaughter the guards and citizens, as well as Wandering Heroes. It’s the first time you’ve been able to step into the shoes of a villain in the game, and it is just so satisfying. I wish they were a little longer, but I also have more Slaughterhouse Keys than I could possibly know what to do with, so that’s a positive.
There’s a version of the Shrine of Slaughter in the PVP area too, and while, I don’t really agree with the PVP part being in the Seasonal Objectives, you just have to take part, which is easy. You can also just do it early in the day when fewer people are on, and just win.
Now, this can be infuriating, when you’re just starting out in Torment. He just keeps coming back every few seconds, and if you’re not strong enough, it can be a slog. You can also just let him chase you around, with a fast enough movement build (virtually any Wing Strike/Arbiter build as a Paladin).
If all of this isn’t enough Butcher-flavored action for you, the Butcher is now a permanent Lair Boss (Greater Lair Boss) as of Diablo 4 Season 12! I think the boss fight is one of the better tuned, difficulty wise, but I do have a minor problem.
I haven’t seen too many uses for his Uniques yet. Now, that could change in the future, as people put more work into them, but I haven’t really found any that I felt must be equipped on a character I’m playing.
Getting powered up in Diablo 4 Season 12 has never been faster
Overall, the actual gameplay for Diablo 4 Season 12 has been solid, and leveling has felt incredibly fast, thanks to the new Killstreak mechanic. Getting 4 or 8x bonus exp and seasonal reputation for a Killstreak is brilliant. I was done with the Seasonal Rep grind in record time in Season 12. As long as you’re in combat and hitting something, you can keep a Killstreak going, so with the right movement and attacks, you can seamlessly transition between enemy groups, and rack up truly monumental Killstreaks.
Leveling up is nice and fast, and gear just falls out of the sky, practically. Bloodied gear drops pretty frequently, which is gear that has an additional, Killstreak-themed affix to it. They drop from everything, but if you farm plenty of Fresh Meat as the Butcher, you can just go gamble for it with a Butcher NPC in Gea Kul. Like the Murmuring Obol gambler, you can pick up Uniques and Mythic Uniques this way, and I’ve picked up quite a few of my best pieces of gear this way.
There are also lots of really powerful builds in Diablo 4 Season 12. I think every class has at least one amazing Endgame build, with some classes admittedly having more options than others. It’s one of the seasons where I really feel amazingly powerful, and while it will be a short season, it’s one I’ve really had a blast going through.
There are only one or two minor problems in this Season from my experience
While Diablo 4 Season 12 has been a lot of fun, it’s not a perfect one, not by any stretch. It’s very light on story, but that’s not really a big deal. However, farming Pound of Flesh, the item you use to loot the Butcher’s chest as a Lair Boss, is miserable to farm. The only place I’ve seen it reliably drop is from the seasonal caches, and that shouldn’t be the case. I should not have an easier time farming Betrayer’s Husks!
Other than that, there’s a bug with The PIt/Tower in Diablo 4 Season 12, where if you clear Level 100 of either event, the scaling goes wildly out of control. Instead of +15 monsters, it’s +90, and it’s a terrifying, unpleasant amount of power. Suddenly, it takes 20+ minutes just to clear the health bar of a Lair Boss.
I have a strong suspicion this is just a bug, and not intentional. Players have been completely locked out of completing content, because they played the game the way they always have, and got hit with monsters that now have something in the range of 200x more damage and health.
Final Thoughts: Diablo 4 Season 12 is a short, but fun romp until Lord of Hatred drops
Honestly, though Season 12 of Diablo 4 is going to be a short one, it’s been a lot of fun. It’s been easy to power up, and push myself through the game. While I’ve mostly been playing Paladin, now that I’m happy with where that is, it’s time to play other classes. I’m glad that this season is short, though. We don’t want it to run through the launch of Lord of Hatred, and then either have to update game mechanics, or just be locked out of new gameplay on the seasonal ladder.
It’s a simple, fun season, without Borrowed Power. I know some people feel very strongly about that, whether it’s having them, or not having them. Part of me misses having additional powers, but I’ve also found that I don’t really need them to have fun. Season 12’s Killstreaks, Butcher transformations, and Bloodied content has really been enjoyable.
Edited by Jason Parker
