Diablo Immortal has spent four years proving that there is apparently no upper limit to how many things can happen in Sanctuary at once. Its next major update continues that noble tradition. Blizzard has revealed the first details of Made to Suffer, continuing the Nation in Agony storyline with a new part of Lut Gholein, another battle involving Andariel and Duriel, new Legendary Gems and further Battleground changes. And then, almost casually, Blizzard announced that Spawn is coming to Diablo Immortal. Yes, Todd McFarlane's chains, hellfire and necroplasm-powered antihero is crossing into Sanctuary this fall, because apparently Diablo looked at Spawn and concluded that what the man really needed was slightly more Hell.
The announcement comes through Blizzard's first official look at Made to Suffer, with the full patch notes scheduled for September 14. Spawn does not yet have an exact event date, reward list or cosmetic breakdown, so there is still plenty Blizzard is keeping hidden. What we do know is that this will be a limited-time crossover built around the character's familiar chains, hellfire and necroplasmic powers, with Blizzard promising a proper first look later.
Spawn Might Be the Most Natural Weird Crossover Yet
Diablo Immortal has never been particularly shy about collaborations, but Spawn feels unusually comfortable inside Sanctuary. Todd McFarlane's character has spent decades dealing with Hell, demons, infernal bargains, grotesque monsters and supernatural violence. Compared with some gaming crossovers where a guest character arrives looking like they accidentally walked through the wrong convention door, Spawn barely needs directions.
Blizzard describes the event as a collision between worlds, with Spawn preparing to leave his mark on the Eternal Conflict. That is deliberately vague, and right now we do not know whether the crossover will include playable transformations, cosmetics, boss encounters, story content or some combination of those things. The sensible move is therefore to enjoy the concept without inventing the feature list ourselves.
Chains and Hell are confirmed.
Everything beyond that can wait.
Lut Gholein Is Getting Bigger Again
The Spawn reveal risks overshadowing what is actually a fairly substantial update to Diablo Immortal's current story. Nation in Agony continues inside Lut Gholein, where Blizzard is opening a new area called the High Ward. The district surrounds Sultan Jerhyn's palace and is described as a once-prosperous section of the city now being consumed by the spreading darkness.
That continues the expansion of Lut Gholein that began with The Taking and its new Rocky Waste storyline earlier this year. Immortal has gradually been turning one of Diablo II's most recognizable locations into something considerably larger than a nostalgia backdrop, and Blizzard says the final portion of the Lut Gholein zone will arrive toward the end of the year.
For a game originally dismissed by plenty of Diablo players as the mobile side project, Immortal has become rather enthusiastic about expanding Sanctuary's actual geography.
Andariel and Duriel Are Now Fighting Over Who Gets to Ruin Your Afternoon
The Rocky Waste is also getting a new zone event called Twisting Torments. Andariel and Duriel are effectively competing over whose particular flavor of misery should dominate the area, causing their influence to spill across the region. Enemy groups become empowered by Pain or Anguish-themed affixes, including Andariel's chains and Duriel-style maggot-spawning effects.
Players who defeat these empowered enemies will receive increased rewards, including a weekly Legendary equipment drop. It is the sort of Diablo setup that sounds very serious in lore terms and considerably simpler once translated into player language: two Lesser Evils are having an argument, please kill everything until loot falls out.
Two New Legendary Gems Are Coming
Made to Suffer also introduces two Legendary Gems. Enigma Latera is a new 5-Star Gem built around a Primary Attack effect called Cruel Enigma, which chains between enemies, increases damage against affected targets and reduces the damage they deal. More unusually, the effect can steal several seconds from one of an enemy's non-Skill beneficial effects and give that benefit to you instead.
The second Gem, Prong Crag, is a 2-Star option focused on surviving heavy incoming hits. Taking sufficiently large single-hit damage builds Resolve, increasing damage dealt while reducing subsequent damage from that source, while also improving Critical Resistance.
Diablo Immortal certainly does not suffer from a shortage of build pieces. Blizzard recently added 60 new Legendary Affixes across its ten classes, so anyone hoping the September update might provide an opportunity to finish organizing their builds has once again misunderstood the game they are playing.
Battlegrounds Are Going Back to Their Nephalem Look
Blizzard is also changing Battlegrounds again. The current demonic invasion theme is ending, returning PvP to the familiar Nephalem visual style while retaining some changes players responded positively to. The Final Guardian mechanic is effectively moving back toward its previous form: defeating the Final Guardian grants the entire team Nephalem Power, allowing players to execute enemies below 20% Life even through effects such as Undying and invulnerability.
That continues a year in which Blizzard has spent considerable effort adjusting Immortal's competitive side. Earlier updates experimented with equalized PvP and broader Battleground changes, which matters in a game where competitive balance and account power have never exactly enjoyed a quiet relationship.
And Blizzard Is Already Teasing What Comes After Spawn
The roadmap does not stop with Made to Suffer. Blizzard says the Spawn collaboration will be followed by a Halloween celebration, which will then lead into a special Diablo 30th Anniversary event the studio is not ready to discuss yet. Later in the year, Nation in Agony will reach its conclusion alongside the final section of Lut Gholein and additional Helliquary bosses.
All of this also lands around the same period as Diablo Immortal's substantial engine upgrade, which overhauls lighting, environmental materials and visual effects across the game. Put together, September is looking less like another routine Immortal patch and more like the beginning of a fairly busy final quarter.
Spawn is inevitably going to get most of the attention.
That is what happens when you invite a cape-wearing corpse powered by Hell into a Diablo game.
But underneath the crossover is a proper expansion of Immortal's current storyline, a larger Lut Gholein, new build options, another PvP revision and a roadmap stretching through Diablo's 30th anniversary.
Apparently Sanctuary was not busy enough already.
