When Diablo 3 first launched, I really enjoyed it and moved past a lot of criticism that came from some of the die hard Diablo fans. When Reaper of Souls came out, I again had a great time and started to dabble in the adventure mode. But it is only now, with the launch of Season 4, that I am checking out this way of playing the game that seemingly everyone else has already worked through during the previous three seasons.

It all comes as part of Patch 2.30 which amongst other things, introduced Kanai’s Cube, an extraordinarily powerful object which allows you to rip perks from one legendary weapon or piece of armour, and infuse it into something else.

I haven’t even made it to Level 70, which is where the Paragon Levels and truly high level legendary armour sets start to appear, so the advantages Kanai’s Cube will offer are largely irrelevant to me at the moment. For a full low-down on what the changes that have been introduced with Patch 2.30 mean, you are probably best reading this excellent piece by Ben Barrett on PCGamesN.

With all of the excitement that has surrounded the release of the latest update, and the presence of the Cube, I thought it was the right time to return to a game that I tend to only briefly dip into once a month or so without devoting any real time to it.

I started by picking up my Demon Hunter in Adventure mode, my highest ranked character across both PC and PlayStation 4 versions of the game. Starting back up with him at something around level 64, I realised that in order to make any serious progress towards the mysterious (to me at least) Level 70 I would need to raise the difficulty level.

Perhaps this is where I’ve been missing a trick when it comes to Diablo, as I’ve only been playing on the Hard difficulty mode for quite a while. I had long suspected I was seriously overpowered for this level, and with Patch 2.30 bringing another four ranks of Torment difficulty, I took the small step forwards and raised the difficulty to Expert.

I think by now you start to appreciate how behind the curve I am with my Diablo characters (or ‘builds’ as the experts call them). Regardless, I set forth to the new area, the Ruins of Sescheron which lie within Act III. This is a fairly sizable area to land with a free update, and added some nice mythology to the game through the various lore books that you collect along the way. I battled the hordes, raised up a few levels, gained some new loot and collected Kanai’s Cube. Now though, I’m entirely lacking in any of the tools required to make use of it.

Before diving into any Nephalem Rifts to find new loot, I thought it would be worth my time checking out season play. I’ve never tried this out before, but with Season 4 having just started, I decided to take the plunge and create a brand spanking new character.

I made (or is it called rolled in official circles?) a wizard, worked my way through the first couple of quests in story mode, before turning my attention to adventure mode, and immediately turning the difficulty up to Hard. As part of the season there are several targets to achieve across four quest parts. It is my understanding, that by completing all of the targets, you receive a nice set of bonuses to take back to your non-season based characters.

I set off on my way and completed a few bounties across the different Acts within adventure mode, and soon enough had risen up and beyond level 10, in double-quick time compared to how long it took when I started the game all those years ago. I took a trip to the blacksmith, and was able to acquire some fairly powerful equipment, and after completing my last bounty for the evening, earned myself a piece of Legendary equipment.

Never before had I found some Legendary equipment so fast, and I was soon wondering why I hadn’t taken a look at season play when it first landed. I’ve learned my lesson, and will return to Diablo eager to make further seasonal progress, and maybe even get one of my characters up to that long rumoured Level 70.