Diablo 4 Season 9: All new Uniques

Diablo 4 Season 9’s Campfire Chat took place on May 22, 205, and offered players a sneak peek into what awaits in terms of powers, Uniques, and more. While it is another Borrowed Power season, like every other before it, I think the potential for the Spellcraft system is an interesting one. This means we also get some incredible new Uniques to chase down. If you’re a fan of poison effects, Unique changes to your undead minions, or cleaving, there’s stuff for you this Season.

Honestly, some of the new Uniques introduced in Diablo 4 Season 9 have me very excited; especially as a Minion Necromancer fan. I’m very curious how the wave of spell casts are going to look as I run around, crushing enemies behind a variety of crowd control effects. Here’s what’s coming in Sins of the Horadrim.

All revealed Uniques for Diablo 4 Season 9

Hooves of the Mountain God (Barbarian)
Noxious Spine-Breaker (Druid)
The Hand of Naz (Necromancer)
Deathmask of Nirmitruq (Rogue)
Ophidian Iris (Sorcerer)
Balazan’s Maxtlatl (Spiritborn)

Unfortunately, no new generic Uniques or Mythic Uniques in Diablo 4 Season 9, but that’s okay. Each of these new offerings changes the way a class plays in little, but important ways. Here’s what we know about them so far. They could change as the Season draws closer, but for now, here’s what we’ve got.

1) Hooves of the Mountain God (Barbarian)

Barbarians can cleave more than ever before, for a time, at least (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Hooves of the Mountain God are a new Diablo 4 Unique for Season 9, offering Barbarians something fascinating. In addition to Movement Speed, Basic Attack Speed, Fury Generation and ranks to Belligerence, they have a Unique effect for fans of Basic skills:

“When reaching Maximum Fury, your Fury will rapidly drain until you run out and all your Basic skills now cleave and deal 70-100%[x] increased damage.”

It will be interesting to see if any Basic skills get buffed before the official launch of patch 2.3, because it could be that the Hooves of the Mountain God are a must-have Unique in the next season. Maybe for Bash Barbarians? Very curious to see how this plays out.

2) Noxious Spine-Breaker (Druid)

That's right, more Poison! (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

If there’s anything that could get me playing Druid again, it’s a new poison addition, and Noxious Spine-Breaker does that in Diablo 4 Season 9 as a new Unique. Poison’s not a new thing in a Druid’s arsenal, but I want more. This increases damage to Poisoned enemies, adds Poison Damage, a chance for Pulverize to hit Twice, and reduces your Resource Costs. That’s all pretty great on its face. The new Unique effect naturally increases the usefulness of Pulverize:

“Every 10 seconds, Pulverize forms a puddle that deals 200-400% of its damage as Poisoning damage over 6 seconds. Pulverizing the puddle splashes an additional 20-40% of the puddle’s total damage within the area and around it.”

I don’t know if this is going to be overpowered or not, but I’m certainly keen to try it out. Especially if I can get lucky and get some more “Chance for Pulverize to Hit Twice” beyond this piece of gear.

3) The Hand of Naz (Necromancer)

The time of Skeletal Warriors is over. The time of Skeletal Mages has come (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

A Necromancer Unique in Diablo 4 Season 9, that’s actually designed for Minion builds, despite sacrificing minions? Now that’s a wild idea. This particular item, The Hand of Naz, increases Skeletal Mage damage, ranks of Skeletal Mage Mastery, Attack Speed and Maximum Life. It also wants you to ditch those tedious Skeletal Warriors and Golems:

“Sacrificing both Skeletal Warriors and Golems grants an additional Skeletal Mage for each Minion sacrificed. When a Skeletal Mage attacks enemies 25 times without dying it upgrades to a Skeletal Arch-Mage. Skeletal Arch-Mages teleport to safety when attacked and their attacks occasionally shatter on impact dealing 50-100% increased damage to the target and up to 3 additional targets.”

I love this, especially with skills like Bone Prison, Iron Maiden, and Decrepify. With the right curse loadout, you could make this a devastating wave of pain, using just Skeletal Mages. Around 10-11 Skeletal Mages bombarding people? I love that idea, that’s for sure.

4) Deathmask of Nirmitruq (Rogue)

I want to be excited about this one, I really do. (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Though conceptually, I like the Deathmask of Nirmitruq in Diablo 4 Season 9 for Rogues, I know enough to know the helmet is a highly-contested slot. Just look at Andariel Rogues for example. This is a Unique built for flurry, with ranks to Flurry, movement speed, armor, and Maximum Life. Here’s what makes it special:

“You can now overexert yourself while Casting Flurry, spending 10% life when you don’t have enough Energy. Spending life to Cast Flurry increases its damage by 30-50% and your Attack Speed by 50% for 5 seconds.”

Flurry won’t cast if you lack the energy and health as well. I like the idea a lot, especially for Flurry Builds, but I don’t know if the helmet slot was really the right pick for this particular Unique. I’m not hardcore enough of a Rogue to know right now, so I’ll have to see how it shakes out.

5) Ophidian Iris (Sorcerer)

The next Godzilla film is going to need to borrow footage from D4 (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

I love Hydras in Diablo 4, and the Season 9 Unique Ophidian Iris is exactly what I want it to be. It offers, as a Unique Amulet, solid stats. It grants Resistance to All Elements, more Intelligence, Critical Strike Chance, Pyromancy Damage, Ranks to Devouring Blaze, and +2 Heads to Casted Hydras. However, for each head over 3, it does something pretty special:

“Hydra is now a Core Skill and always Summons a 3-headed Hydra whose attacks explode on impact. For each head above 3 that it would have had, the Hydra instead grows larger and deals 50-100%[x] increased damage.”

All you need are increases to the amount of heads your Hydra can have, which is certainly feasible in the current meta of Diablo 4. I can’t wait to see giant Hydras smashing whole screens of enemies.

6) Balazan’s Maxtlatl (Spiritborn)

Yes, more Thorns! More tankiness! More damage! (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Balazan’s Maxtlatl are some of the most interesting Unique pants I’ve ever seen, and they’re coming in Diablo 4 Season 9. These pants grant Thorns, Ranks to Bastion, Maximum Life, and Dexterity, but are also a new take on Thorns builds. I love tanky Thorns builds, but I didn’t expect to see such a cool idea come to Spiritborn:

“Each attack damage Close enemies for 200-300% of your Thorns and also deals 100% of this damage as Poisoning over 3 seconds. Each time you’ve retaliated with Thorns, for 5 seconds the Poisoning damage is increased by 100%, up to 300%.”

Suddenly I want to slap a Razorplate on a Spiritborn and see how that shakes out. A Thorns build that’s also a crazy Poison build at the same time? Definitely want to pick one of these up.

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About the author

Jason is an Esports and Gaming journalist at Sportskeeda holding an amazing 11 years of experience under his belt. Having put out 4000-plus articles and amassing over 12 million reads for Sportskeeda, he is among the company’s most experienced writers. Jason holds a Bachelor's degree in English from UNC Pembroke and was inspired to become a gaming journalist very early on in life after reading Nintendo Power.

Jason is a jack of all trades when it comes to gaming journalism. He’s a key writer in Sportskeeda's MMO department, but he also likes to help out in other categories, like streamers, RPG, card games, and whatever else is needed. A solo gamer at heart, Jason's favorite titles include Earthbound and Dragon Warrior.

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Edited by Jason Parker