Battlegrounds
Battlegrounds are 8 vs 8 timed PvP event available every day at 8:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 6:00 PM and 10:00 PM server time. To participate you must be level 55+ and can queue up by talking to the Battleground Captain located in the top right corner of Westmarch.
Players are randomly distributed into 2 teams: Attackers and Defenders.
- Enemies are shown as red dots on the mini-map.
- Allies are shown as blue dots on the mini-map.
- You use Bandages to heal yourself rather then Health Potions and have a 20-seconds cooldown
- Attackers must complete 3 consecutive objectives to win the Battleground.
- Defenders win if they prevent any of the objectives from being completed within the time limit or kill 65 Attackers.
Objective 1 – Sacred Guardians
- Time limit: 7 minutes
- 3 Sacred Guardians are located in different lanes near the Attacks’s Base, Attackers need to kill all three to complete this objective.
Objective 2 – Zealous Idols
- Time limit: 7 minutes
- There are two Zealous Idol, one on each side of the middle section of the map.
- Attacker’s need to escort the Idols to the other side of the map. The more Attackers that move with them the faster they go.
- If Defenders are nearby the Idols stop.
- If noone is by the Idols, they will slowly move back to their starting positions.
- Only one of the Idols needs to reach the end.
Objective 3 – Ancient Heart
- Time limit: 6 minutes
- Attackers need to destroy the Ancient Heart to win.
Vault
The Vault is open daily at 12:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. server time and lasts one hour.
Shadows raid the vault and if alerted the Immortals will show up and its PvP time. (Forth floor is instant alert)
- Shadow Side
Shadows can earn Gold, Hilts, and sometimes Legendaries!
Once inside, there are 4 floors you must clear. On each floor kill everything and loot all the chests. If you see a Wardens spawn, kill it as fast as possible because they can alert the Immortals.
Note: If you go to the 4th floor wait till you defeate the Immortals before opening the chests. If you dont, any rewards you may get will be lost and opened chests will count to your weekly cap. - Immortal Side
Its your job to defend the Vault from raids by the Shadows. Successfully defending gives you contribuiton points and Hilts.
As an Immortal you get access to win Legendaries from the Vault each week based on Contribution Points. At the end of the week, the Immortals with the top Contribution Points will receive thier three requested Vault loot. (as long as its not stolen by the shadows)
Alley of Blood
Alley of Blood is a new team-based, single-lane PvP activity changing how Shadow Clans prove themselves in the Shadow War, and how they clash against Immortals for bonuses in the new Vigil of Blades component of Cycle of Strife. A variant of Alley of Blood is also available to play during a new limited-time event.
In Alley of Blood, teams will battle fiercely over hallowed ground, aiming to overpower the opposing team by demolishing their Sentry Towers and ultimately destroying the base of their operations, their Crystal Heart. In cases where both teams are evenly matched and neither Crystal Heart is destroyed, the winner is decided by the team with more remaining structures and overall team performance. Your team won’t be in this fight alone—massive Sacred Guardians seek to triumph over their adversary as well and will spawn to attack the enemy’s Sacred Guardians, Sentry Tower, and Crystal Heart. These stone behemoths deal massive damage, so you’ll want to clear a path for them.
Deciding Your Role: Specialist Skills
Because there is only one lane to victory, teams will need to coordinate their efforts to outsmart their foes and specialize their fighting style. Before a match begins, players will pick one of the below Specialist skills to add to an additional Skill slot. Teams can’t have more than two players per Skills category, but those players can select the same sub-Skill. These Skills are unique to Alley of Blood and can only be used in this activity.
Focus
- Anguish Brand: Mark one enemy player for 6 seconds. The marked enemy will drop one of their Champion’s Marks for every 5% Life they lose. When the mark expires, that enemy takes damage equal to 30% of the Life lost while marked.
- Stone Hex: Bestows a curse upon a target enemy player, turning them to stone and making them vulnerable to attacks from friends or foes. The curse lifts after 6 seconds or if the target dies.
Siege
- Guardian’s Call: Summon a single guardian that will move forward, attacking enemy Sacred Guardians and structures. The player must stay within proximity of the guardian, or it will stand still.
- Siege Weapon: Summons a turret at the player’s location that prioritizes targeting enemy structures, dealing area of effect damage where it strikes. The turret self-destructs after 8 seconds.
Skirmish
- Dwindlemurk: Releases a fan-shaped blast of fog. Enemy players affected by the fog have their Max Life decreased by 20%, and their size and damage are decreased by 50%. This effect lasts for 6 seconds.
- Executioner’s Glare: Fires a torrent of energy in a line that pierce across the map. Deals damage to all enemies hit, and players with less than 10% Life are killed instantly.
Support
- Blessing of Momentum: Grant teammates immunity to loss of control and increase their Attack Speed for 4 seconds.
- Justice Shield: Generate a wall at the target location that absorbs projectiles that hit its front. Lasts for 6 seconds.
The Key to Greatness: Champion’s Marks
Cutting down the enemy team’s forces doesn’t just bring you satisfaction in Alley of Blood; it can also bring power to your character in the form of Champion’s Marks. These shiny symbols of strength can be picked up after they drop from destroyed Sacred Guardians and felled players. You can have a maximum of 99 Champion’s Marks, with each one increasing your power and character’s size. But beware–upon your own death, you’ll drop a portion of your Marks for the enemy team to scoop up.
Alley of Blood Tips
- Sentry Towers defend themselves and deal damage to Guardians in their proximity first, then the player. Towers prioritize dealing damage to players who attack a player allied to the tower while within the tower’s proximity.
- Should you die in Alley of Blood, you’ll be automatically resurrected after a period. Resurrection time increases as the match progresses.
- Health Potions are replaced with a bandage to self-heal. The bandage has a 60-second cooldown.
- Everyone starts the match with a 5-second boost to Movement Speed.
As we mentioned previously, Alley of Blood can be played in two styles: an 8v8 fashion in Shadow War, and a 4v4 fashion in the Alley of Blood limited-time event.
Come Out on Top in 8v8 Shadow War
Alley of Blood will become the new way in which Shadow War is waged—the same goes for the new Vigil of Blades component of Cycle of Strife. The schedule for Shadow War and how Clan members decide which match to engage in are undergoing changes as well. Here’s the new weekly schedule:
- Tuesday, 9 p.m. server time: A list of the week’s matches is announced.
- Thursday, 7:30 p.m. server time: Preliminary round matches commence, and winners and losers are determined.
- Saturday, 7:30 p.m. server time: Final round matches commence.
Previously, it was the Clan Leader who would decide which Shadow War matches their players would compete in. Now, Clan members can join any Shadow War match that their Clan is eligible to participate in.
Developer’s Note: We observed that the queue times for Shadow War were quite lengthy because Clan Leaders had to assign their members to matches one-by-one. We believe this change will decrease queue times for Shadow War and take some strain off Clan Leaders.
Additionally, the structure of Shadow War is also changing. Clans are now divided across multiple groupings based upon their Clan’s classification and the matches themselves are broken into 4 categories: Eminent, Exalted, Famed, and Proud. Clans can battle in anywhere between 3–12 matches and receive points for their win based on the category of the match. In the event nobody from the opposing team shows up by the start of the match, you’ll win by default.
Vigil of Blades
Cast your blade into the fray to bring glory to your faction! After Shadow War concludes, and before Rite of Exile, the most prominent Shadow Clans will face off in an 8v8 battle against the Immortals in the Alley of Blood. Bring everything you’ve got and do not relent; the faction which wins 2 out of 3 matches will walk away with a bonus to their damage and health for fighting in the Rite of Exile. Vigil of Blades will only occur during the first three weeks of a new Immortal faction reign.
We’re also introducing two ways that anyone can be involved in Vigil of Blades, Challenge of the Immortal, and Rite of Exile—the Prediction system and Spectator mode.
In a new Cycle of Strife tab within the Faction menu, players can see the status of the conflict between Shadows and Immortals and cast their prediction for who will come out on top. Any player who casts a prediction will receive rewards, and those who predict correctly will get a sweet bonus reward.
Rite of Exile
When the shadows level up and unlock the Rite, each of the top 10 Dark Clans send 8 players of face against the Immortals, in a Battlegrouds style PvP match on Sundays.
If the Dark Clans with at least 6/10 battles they will get the chance to take part in “Challenge of the Immortal” where 3 from each clan will fight the current Immortal (like in shadow wars).
As shadows unlock more stages the ammount of battles they need to win will decrease.
If the Immortal wins the 1 vs 30, the immortals stay for another week.
If the Immortal looses, there will be a 3 vs 10 free for all with the winning clan becoming the next Immortals.
Accursed Towers
- Starting the second week of a Season, Clans can have a second tower under their control.
- From Saturday, 9 p.m.–Sunday 12 a.m. server time, Clans will be able to attempt to challenge other Clans for tower ownership.
- Clan members can sign up to protect or attack towers.
- The first team to earn 1,500 points by holding strongholds wins.
Update added: Reign Supreme in the Age of Falling Towers
Fire of Life
Zone Event: Every day at 8:30pm server time, in Ancients’ Cradle around the Caverns of Penance Waypoint area.
- Event lasts 30 minutes.
Update added: Steel Yourself in the Face of Destruction’s Wake
Ancient Arena
Zone Event: Every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 9:30pm server time, in the far right area on Bilefen
- You fight other players in the arena when the event begins. You can be solor or in a group.
- The Ancient Guardian appears at the beginning of the battle and needs to be defeated to drop the Nephalem Cache. The group that successfully opens the Nephalem Cache wins and the event is over.
- Nobody outside the Proving Grounds can enter once the event starts.
Limited Time Events
Alley of Blood Event (4×4 Version)
A 4v4 version of Alley of Blood for new or players who don’t participate in Cycle of Strife or want some extra experience playing Alley of Blood. Players must be level 40 or higher.
Here are the rules of engagement:
- All characters will be set to Level 60.
- The Rank of all Legendary Gear and Set Gear will be set to 1.
- The Rank for all Legendary Gems on your character will be set to 10.
Bonuses from the following are disabled as well:
- Resonance
- Clans and Warbands
- Normal Gems and Charms
- Helliquary bonuses
- Stances
- Paragon Specialization
Update added: Witness the Dark Rebirth in Tristram Cathedral
Wild Brawl
Arena style game mode where players are grouped together (or you can make your own party) and must work together to become the last surviving team.
Your team will face off against up to 4 enemy teams in a winner-takes-all-match. As the battle rages on, lethal darkness encroaches on the Dark Wood, forcing all players head to one location. If every member of your party dies, game over.
Talk to Roater, the Wild Brawl Emissry to initiate the brawl. He is located north-east of Westmarch at the Immortal Overlook waypoint.
Once a match starts, players will decide on which area they want to start at.
Set Gear and Normal Gems equipped prior to battle will not be available in battle, but each player starts the match with Legendary Gear and Legendary Gems equipped at reduced power, but only the top 6 slots. Stance weapons and off-weapons are not included.
Earn access to higher level gear by ranking up your equipped gear through slaying monsters and other players, or by finding treasure and looting defeated rivals.
If you happen to die, your party members have 60 seconds to revive you or you will be mo more.
Update added: Fight to the End in the Wild Brawl
Trial of the Hordes
Each player has an enclosed lane in which demons will come in waves. The more you kill, the more will spawn on your opponent’s side and vice versa.
Whoever can overwhelm their opponent, causing them to die, or has the most life by the match’s end, will win.
Update added: Emerge Victorious in the Trial of the Hordes
Conqueror
Each match contains multiple strongholds that must be captured by your team—the first team to earn 1,500 points by holding strongholds wins.
Only fair contest is allowed in the fighting pits—here are the rules of engagement:
- All characters will be set to Level 60.
- The Rank of all Legendary Gear and Set Gear will be set to 1.
- The Rank for all Legendary Gems on your character will be set to 10.
The following bonuses are disabled:
- Resonance and Combat Rating
- Clans and Warbands
- Normal Gems, Charms, and Horadric Legacy
- Stances
Update added: Steel Yourself in the Face of Destruction’s Wake
Was a way for users to test out the Accursed Towers PvP system.
Echo of the Immortal
- 15 players will face-off against one randomly chosen player who is imbued with the power of the Immortal.
- If the group of players are victorious in besting the Immortal, the match becomes a free-for-all.
Update added: Dare to Conquer the Fractured Plane
Was a way for users to test playing in Rite of Exile
