Blizzard has announced the main new mechanic for Season 7 of Diablo IV - Witchcraft Powers. There will be 24 different Witchcraft Powers (including 4 Lost Powers) that players can unlock and combine for deadly new builds. Read this concise guide on how to unlock Witchcraft Powers and what each Witchcraft Power does in Diablo IV: Season 7.
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Witchcraft Powers will be the new seasonal effect for Diablo IV Season 7. There will be 24 possible Witchcraft powers that players can learn, divided into Eldritch Powers, Psyche Powers, Growth & Decay Powers, and rare Lost powers.
Unlocking Witchcraft Powers
To unlock Witchcraft, players will need to earn Seasonal reputation by completing Whisper bounties and defeating Headrotten enemies. Not all Witchcraft powers will be available to players at the start of Season 7. You'll have to level up your reputation with the Coven's Favor to unlock new powers.
Headrotten enemies will be located in new Headhunt zones where there will also be unique Headrotten bosses like the Headless Husk and Fugitive Heads. These elite mobs will have even rarer items for players to look forward to. Taking Fugitive Heads to the Tree of Whispers will reward players with Occult Gems.
Occult Gems will be used to buff certain Witch Powers or entire Witch power classes (like Eldritch or Psyche) as a whole.
The new Headhunt zones will also give players a chance to collect Fugitive Heads. There will an exposed root in each Headhunt zone around Sanctuary that has a chance to drop a Fugitive Head. Players can also increase their chances of seeing a Fugitive Head by increasing the game difficulty by choosing a higher Torment Tier, and by using a Draught of Whispers.
Restless Rot will be a new currency received from specific bounties and enemies that can be exchanged for Witchcraft Powers or used to upgrade existing powers. By completing seasonal content and collecting Restless Rot, players will advance through tiers to be able to unlock more Witchcraft Powers to use simultaneously.
Rootholds will be a new micro-dungeon during Season 7 that also gives players a chance to hunt Headrotten and collect Restless Rot. Rootholds will only be accessible by using Whisper Wood sigils found in Whisper Caches and Silent Chests.
All Witchcraft Powers will be unlocked and upgraded at the Tree of Whispers. The Tree is Whisper is also where players can pick up bounties to hunt the Headrotten.
Players will be able to learn Witchcraft powers in Diablo IV at their respective altars: Eldritch Powers will have an Altar of the Eldritch, and so on. The Lost Powers can only be learned by finding a Forgotten Altar inside of dungeons around Sanctuary. It sounds like these altars will be very rare, and the powers that come from them incredibly powerful.
Eldritch Powers
The PTR currently has 7 Eldritch Powers, the most out of the Witchcraft Power categories. The Eldritch Powers are Firebat Servants, Abyssal Resonance, Wave of Woe, Purging Touch, Shaken Soul, Hex of Flames, and Doom Orb. Here's what each power does:
Firebat Servants - Summon a deadly swarm of Firebats and inflict fire damage
Abyssal Resonance - Every 250 Resource spent, release an explosion of shadow damage, increasing in size and damage by 130% up to three stacks
Wave of Woe - Release a wave of woe when damaging enemies that deals an additional amount of shadow damage
Purging Touch - Eldritch Effects have increased damage against Headrotten, and all monsters at rank 10
Hex of Flames - You have a % chance to apply Hex of Flames to mobs, and it deals 1600 additional Fire damage every time you deal damage to that mob.
Doom Orb - An ominous orb of Eldritch power encircles you, damaging any enemy near you. Doom Orb will also randomly launch at distant enemies and then return.
Psyche Powers
There are 5 deadly Psyche Powers that allow players to drain life, form a barrier around them, or plant curses on their enemies. The Psyche Powers are Life Link, Aura of Misfortune, Aura of Lament, Vengeful Spirit, and Twilight Warding:
Life Link - Link your life force with 3 nearby targets. Damage you take is shared with the linked targets
Aura of Misfortune - Enemies near you have a chance for their attacks to be interrupted. At rank 5, enemies are slowed by 30%
Aura of Lament - Upon hitting an enemy, it and nearby mobs are slowed by 70%. For each enemy affected, gain 1 Primary Resource per second
Vengeful Spirit - Every 19 seconds, a Vengeful Spirit is summoned. All damage taken is instead taken by the Vengeful Spirit.
Twilight Warding - Every X seconds, gain a Barrier for 5 seconds. At rank 12, this power also reflects enemy projectiles.
Growth & Decay Powers
There are 7 Growth & Decay Powers that allow players to summon poisonous minions, inflict decay damage, and heal allies. The Growth & Decay Powers are Poison Frog Servant, Soul Harvest, Hex of Whispers, Decay Augmentation, Grow, Aura of Siphoning, and The Cycle. Here is what each of the powers do:
Poison Frog Servant - Summon a poison frog that attacks and applies Poison for 3 seconds. Upon death, the frog will explode dealing poison damage. At Rank 5, the Frog will taunt enemies and pull them towards itself for the explosion.
Soul Harvest - When you use a CD, increase your primary stat by 3% per nearby monster. At rank 9, this ability is permanently up.
Hex of Whispers - Apply Hex of Whispers to damaged enemies, dealing shadow damage after the next time they take damage. Hex of Whispers will jump to nearby enemies up to 6 times.
Decay Augmentation - Your Witchcraft effect deals damage dependent on your class over 5 seconds.
Grow - After casting an ultimate skill, all of your summons are empowered with dark magic, dealing bonus damage
Aura of Siphoning - Conjure an aura of decay that deals Poison damage to nearby enemies
The Cycle - Dealing any damage has a 15% chance to grow a flower from the ground that heals nearby allies and deals poison damage to enemies
Lost Powers
Lost Powers are high-level Witchcraft abilities. The 4 Lost Powers are Breath of the Coven, Hex Specialization, Aura Specialization, and Piranhado.
Breath of the Coven encourages players to combine Eldritch, Psyche, and Growth & Decay abilities. At its base rank, dealing damage or applying a CC with any Witchcraft Effect will increase your attack speed for 10 seconds. At Rank 8, you will gain 40% Lucky Hit chance when Eldritch, Psyche, and Growth & Decay are active at the same time.
Hex Specialization increases the potency of all Hexes. At rank 10, you will also get 10% Crit chance against allies with any kind of Hex.
Aura Specialization is similar. At rank 10, it will increase Critical Strike Damage by 50% against any enemies within an aura.
Piranhado is a unique ultimate Witchcraft ability that encourages players to combine hexes and auras. When an enemy is afflicted by both a Hex and an Aura, a Piranhado is summoned, pulling in enemies. At Rank 5, the Piranhado will move independently towards enemies.
If you want to experience these 24 Witchcraft Powers before Season 7 releases, the Diablo IV PTR will be open from December 3rd to December 10th, 2024! Blizzard has not yet released what the Witchcraft Power trees will look like, or how many powers players will be able to combine at once.
What Witchcraft Powers are you most excited for in Diablo IV Season 7?
Eldritch
Psyche
Growth & Decay
Lost Powers
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