Diablo 4’s first Gold and XP boost event isn’t even double

Diablo 4 seems to have been out for long enough now that Blizzard is comfortable kicking off the game’s first not-quite-double XP and Gold weekend. This sort of event is common in live service games, including Blizzard’s other games, like World of Warcraft, and Activision’s Call of Duty series.

Strangely, however, you don’t get double the amount of XP, and double the amount of Gold – as you might expect. Instead, there’s a base 25% increase to earning both from all sources, denoted by an icon that sits alongside the potion count, signifying that the buff is active.

This accelerated earn rate is available across both the Seasonal Realm, as well as the Eternal Realm. Characters in all World Tiers can take advantage, too, which is especially useful for players in the post-level 65 zone.

Blizzard shared the news in a surprsingly longwinded blog post, which only included the details of when this event kicks off, and how long it will be available. The Diablo 4 buff kicks off Friday, September 1 at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST and remains active until the same times on Tuesday, September 5.

The timing of this event is quite decent, too, because Diablo 4’s latest patch arrives today. Update 1.1.3 brings significant tweaks to monster crowd control effects, so the grind will no doubt be smoother – and it’s a good reason as any to jump back into the game to grind a few more battle pass levels.

If you do end up booting up the game, you may want to also take advantage of four free battle pass tier skips, available for Prime Gaming members.

Diablo 4’s first season is currently active, but Blizzard just revealed Season 2’s release date and theme at Gamescom Opening Night Live. Season of Blood kicks off October 17, featuring a vampire theme. It introduces a new character, Erys, voiced by the talented Gemma Chan.

Much of the season’s mechanics remain under wraps, but Blizzard already confirmed several highly-requested quality of life updates coming to the game with Season of Blood. The list includes the ability to search and filter Stash, making it so Gems no longer take Stash space and more.