Diablo 4 Season 9: What awaits in the "Sins of the Horadrim"?

Diablo 4 Season 9 is slated to begin in July, with “Sins of the Horadrim”. It’s another Borrowed Power Season, which shouldn’t be much of a surprise, but this one sounds interesting in ways that previous seasons have not. While Season 8 was okay, it really quickly felt repetitive. The grind wasn’t especially fun, though it did see me using the Party Finder more than I ever have since it was introduced to the game.

From customizable spells, to challenging gauntlets, there’s a lot to potentially love about Diablo 4 Season 9. We’ll have to wait and see how we feel when we get hands-on with it, but it sounds like the power grind might be less frustrating. Let’s talk about the Sins of the Horadrim.

Diablo 4 Season 9’s Sins of the Horadrim features powerful customizable spells and more

The big feature in Season 9 of Diablo 4, Sins of the Horadrim, are Horadric Spells. Using this system will allow players to take part in Spellcraft, customizing a spell that will work for their build. You have three parts - Catalysts, Infusions, and Arcana. The baseline is the Catalyst, the Infusion adjusts the Elemental Damage, and the Arcana is a fine-tuning system to give the spell a few tweaks.

Between Horadric Spells and Horadric Jewels, you can make some devastating setups (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Now, it looks like you can cast a spell with just a Catalyst, which means you can get started faster. This spellcraft connects to an ability on your hotbar of your choice, so you determine when you start using it. When that ability flashes purple, that means it’s ready to be unleashed. The customization is high, and I’m very curious to see what people do with it.

Hidden within Nightmare Dungeons, you can also find Horadric Strongholds, mini-dungeons with their own set of specific challenges. This is where you’ll ultimately find the tomes that let you craft Horadric Jewels, so it’s worth seeking these out when you’re ready for real power.

That's right, Astaroth's back, and he's got some new tricks up his ... fiery arms (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

The other major feature is the Escalating Nightmares. A new endgame feature, players will be hurled into a chain of three Nightmare Dungeons, back-to-back-to-back in Diablo 4 Season 9.

As you clear through these dungeons, you’ll get additional affixes stacked on, to make them harder. However, as the difficulty increases, your rewards get better as well. If you should make it to the ends, a familiar face appears as a boss: Astaroth is back, in Exalted form.

Unlike the first fight with him, he’ll dismount, and you’ll have to fight two bosses at the same time. While there are other minor changes in this season, these are the primary, major features coming, along with, no doubt, a storyline connected to the Horadrim.

Check out our other Diablo 4 guides and features

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.

Jason places high value on accuracy and relevance in his write-ups. He achieves this with thorough research to sift facts from rumors. One of the biggest highlights of his career is his interview with Canadian pro wrestler Kenny Omega about his inclusion in the Like a Dragon game series. He is also good friends with journalist Kazumo Hashimoto, who he admires for the kind of stories he works on and his deep ethics.

A true cinephile, one of Jason’s primary hobbies involves enjoying cinematic experiences. He also loves reading, be it fiction or manga, when not working. Additionally, he streams on Twitch and posts his gaming insights on YouTube.

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Edited by Jason Parker