Equip: Season The Season Of Blood

Learn how to equip and unlock powerful Vampiric Powers in Diablo IV's Season of the Blood. Discover pacts, Potent Blood, and strategies for maximizing your build.

Alright, so you've gotten your hands on some vampiric powers in Diablo IV's Season of the Blood! It can seem a bit confusing at first, but don't worry, I'll walk you through it. Think of it like adding special new abilities to your character that can really change up your playstyle.

First things first, open up your inventory. You'll see a new option there, usually tied to a specific button prompt (the source text just says 'the button' – keep an eye out for it!). This takes you to the Vampiric Powers screen. It looks busy, but the important stuff is along the bottom: rows of icons showing all the powers available. Right now, most of them are probably locked, except for 'Undying,' which is just a little taste of what's to come.

Equipping a power is pretty straightforward. Find the one you want, select it, and hit the button again. It'll then slot into one of the five available spots above. You can have any five powers equipped at once, but there are a couple of catches. You obviously need to have the power unlocked first, and you also need enough 'pacts' of the right type. These pacts are found on almost every piece of armor – helms, chests, gloves, pants, and boots. The number and type of pacts vary a lot, which adds a bit of randomness to the whole system. Different powers need different pacts; for instance, 'Undying' needs one 'Pact of Eternity,' which looks like a skull icon.

Don't stress too much about the pacts on your armor right now. You can mix and match, and multiple pacts of the same type will stack up. There's a whole separate guide for Pacts if you want to dive deeper into that.

Now, about unlocking those new powers. The main way is by using a new resource called Potent Blood. You'll get this from a bunch of places: killing enemies (especially those elite 'Blood Seekers' – they almost always drop it), opening 'Seekers Caches,' and as rewards from Season of Blood quests. If you're really trying to farm Potent Blood, definitely look out for Blood Harvest events; they're a great source.

While most powers are unlocked with Potent Blood, some are tied to completing specific quests within the Season of Blood storyline. The exact unlock method for these will be listed in smaller, italicized text under the power's description on that screen.

Here's the deal with unlocking powers using Potent Blood: when you spend 25 Potent Blood, you'll get to choose from three randomly offered vampiric powers. If you already have one of the offered powers unlocked, you can instead spend the Potent Blood to upgrade it. It's a bit of a gamble, but it's how you expand your arsenal of spooky abilities!