Diablo 4 Season 5: Infernal Hordes Mode Saves a Dying Season

Season 5 launched August 6, 2024, as the victory lap before Vessel of Hatred. After Season 4 fixed the loot, Infernal Hordes adds the wave-based mode nobody asked for but everyone loves. Plus, the Armory finally exists. Only took five seasons.

Infernal Hordes: Diablo Does Horde Mode

The new endgame activity throws waves of demons at you with escalating difficulty. Between waves, choose modifiers that make enemies tougher but increase rewards. Risk versus reward done right.

Unlike Nightmare Dungeons' predictable slog, Infernal Hordes keeps you engaged. Each wave feels different, modifiers stack into chaos, and the loot explosion at the end hits that dopamine button perfectly. Players immediately demanded it become permanent content. That's how you know it's good.

The Armory: A Year Late but Welcome

Remember begging for loadout saves since beta? The Armory finally delivers. Save complete builds - gear, skills, paragon boards, everything. Switch between builds without spending 20 minutes respeccing. Revolutionary technology from 2010 finally arrives in Sanctuary.

Five save slots feel stingy, but it beats manually swapping every piece of gear when switching from speed farming to boss killing builds.

Eyes of the Enemy: Questline Nobody Remembers

The seasonal quest takes you to Hawezar investigating possessed townspeople. Standard Diablo fare - demons bad, kill demons, discover bigger demon behind smaller demons. The story exists purely to unlock Infernal Hordes, which is fine. Nobody's here for the narrative.

At least it stays in the Eternal Realm after the season ends. Future players can experience mediocre storytelling forever.

Quality of Life Victory Lap

More stash tabs finally dropped. Not infinite, but enough to stop playing inventory Tetris every session. Tempering Manuals work account-wide, reducing alt character pain. Small fixes that should've been day one features, but progress is progress.

The Pre-Expansion Holding Pattern

Season 5 feels like maintenance mode before Vessel of Hatred October 8. No major systems overhaul, no controversial changes, just solid content that works. Infernal Hordes provides the endgame variety Diablo 4 desperately needed while the Armory removes the biggest remaining friction point.

Sometimes a season doesn't need to reinvent the wheel. It just needs to not break what finally works. Mission accomplished.