Ladder February 28, 2026

Season 13 marks a watershed moment for Diablo II: Resurrected. For the first time in the game's twenty-five year history, a brand-new class enters the ladder race. The Warlock is available from day one, and the competition to reach level 99 first on the new class is expected to be the most intense ladder race the community has ever seen. Whether you are a seasoned ladder veteran or a returning player drawn back by the Reign of the Warlock expansion, this guide covers everything you need to know before the gates open.

Global Start Times

Season 13 launches simultaneously worldwide on March 6, 2026. Unlike previous resets that staggered by region, this is a single global countdown. No region gets a head start, which keeps the ladder race fair for everyone competing for first-to-99 honors. Here are the exact launch times for every major time zone:

Warlock-Era Changes

Season 13 runs entirely within the Reign of the Warlock era. That means every new feature introduced in Patch 3.0 is active on ladder from the moment the reset goes live. The Warlock class and all three of its skill trees are fully unlocked. Native loot filters are enabled. The expanded stash system with dedicated Rune, Gem, Material, and Consumable tabs is available. And the Colossal Ancients endgame encounter can be accessed once you assemble the corrupted relics across all five acts.

The Era Partition system introduced with the expansion also applies to ladder. When creating a Season 13 character, you will choose the Reign of the Warlock era by default, but you can also opt into the Classic or Resurrected eras if you prefer a purer experience. Each era has its own separate ladder rankings and leaderboards, though the Warlock era is expected to draw the vast majority of competitive players.

Balance Adjustments for Season 13

Blizzard deployed a targeted round of balance tweaks alongside the ladder reset to prevent any single build from dominating the leaderboards unchallenged. The Hammerdin received a modest 8% damage reduction to Blessed Hammer, a change aimed at keeping the Paladin competitive without allowing it to outpace every other class on clear speed alone. Wind Druid received meaningful buffs — Tornado tracking has been improved and Hurricane radius has been expanded — making it a much more viable ladder starter than in previous seasons.

Skeleton Warriors received a 12% base damage increase for the Necromancer, making Summon Necro a legitimate early ladder option for the first time in years. The Amazon's Lightning Fury gained an additional chain bolt at key skill breakpoints, which significantly improves her cow-level farming efficiency. Full details on every class change can be found in our complete Patch 3.0 notes breakdown.

Top Builds to Watch

The introduction of the Warlock has shaken up the tier list in a way no single patch has done before. Based on community testing during the beta period and early theorycrafting, here are the builds expected to define the Season 13 meta:

For detailed skill allocations, gear progression, and leveling paths, visit our Season 13 build tier list where we break down every competitive build from S-tier to C-tier.

Ladder Ranking System

Season 13 introduces a revamped ladder ranking system. In addition to the traditional experience-based ladder that tracks the race to level 99, there is now a Colossal Ancients leaderboard that ranks players by their fastest clear time of the new endgame encounter. The leaderboard is segmented by class, so the fastest Warlock clear is tracked separately from the fastest Sorceress clear, giving every class a competitive reason to push the encounter.

A new seasonal points system also aggregates performance across multiple categories — leveling speed, Colossal Ancients clear time, and total unique items found — into an overall seasonal rank. Players who place in the top 1000 overall receive exclusive banner sigils that display their achievement permanently on their profile. The first player in each region to reach level 99 on the Warlock receives a one-time hall-of-fame title that appears on their character sheet permanently.

Season 13 Rewards

Every season offers exclusive rewards that cannot be earned after the season ends. Season 13 is no exception, and the reward pool is the most generous yet thanks to the expansion launch:

• ▸
  Three Ladder-Only Runewords New runewords with Warlock synergies. These become available in non-ladder after one full season cycle.
• ▸
  Level 99 Portrait Frame An exclusive animated portrait frame awarded to any character that reaches level 99 during Season 13.
• ▸
  Colossal Ancients Pet A miniature Korlic companion pet earned by completing the Colossal Ancients encounter on ladder.
• ▸
  Top 1000 Banner Sigils Class-specific banner sigils for players who finish in the top 1000 of any class ladder category.
• ▸
  Hall of Fame Title Permanent character title for the first Warlock to reach level 99 in each region — a one-time award per season.

Tips for Ladder Start

A strong ladder start can define your entire season. The first few hours set the pace for your economy, your gear progression, and your competitive position. Here are the strategies that top ladder players are planning for Season 13:

Set up your loot filter before the reset. Season 13 is the first ladder season with native loot filter support. Having a well-configured filter ready before the gates open means you spend zero time sorting through white items during the critical early hours. Use our D2R Loot Filter Configurator to create a leveling filter and an endgame filter in advance, then swap between them as you progress.

Choose your starter class wisely. If your goal is to farm efficiently as fast as possible, Blizzard Sorceress remains the fastest class from level 1 to Hell Mephisto. If you want to compete on the Warlock leaderboard, consider that the Echoing Strike build requires specific gear to truly come online — many players plan to level a Sorceress first, farm key items, then reroll Warlock with a gear advantage.

Understand the new stash system. The expanded stash with dedicated tabs for runes, gems, materials, and consumables means you no longer need mule characters to manage your inventory. This saves enormous time over a ladder season and lets you keep every valuable drop without juggling characters.

Plan your Colossal Ancients approach. The leaderboard for fastest clears starts tracking from the moment the season goes live. Players who can assemble the corrupted relics quickly and execute a clean first clear will have a significant advantage in the early rankings. Study the relic locations and encounter mechanics before launch day so you are not going in blind.