Season Archive Paladin Pre-Access Dec 11, 2025 → Mar 11, 2026

Season 11 shadow-dropped at The Game Awards on December 11, 2025 — the same night Lord of Hatred was announced. It launched Paladin as pre-purchase early access, added the Tower + Leaderboards mid-season, and introduced the Sanctification crafting experiment. Spear of the Heavens Paladin became the dominant pushing build across all classes, with Pit T123+ clears.

Seasonal Mechanic — Sanctification

Experimental endgame crafting. Permanently locks items after adding legendary powers to Mythics, adding skill ranks/affixes, or promoting affixes to Greater. The lock-in was controversial — powerful but final. Replaced by Horadric Cube in Lord of Hatred.

Divine Gifts

Customizable difficulty modifiers with 8 slots, unlocked via Corrupted Essence from Lesser Evil kills. Each Gift tree tied to a specific Lesser Evil. Players fought uprising Lesser Evils controlling seasonal activities — Hadriel exchanged Corrupted Essence for Divine Gift unlocks.

Patch 2.5.0 — Tempering + Masterworking Changes

Major system reworks mid-season: Tempering moved from random-roll to player-select affix (RNG removed). Masterworking shifted from affix-value scaling to upgrading item quality. Community reception was positive — both changes removed RNG frustration.

Tower + Leaderboards (Jan 12, 2026)

A mid-season patch launched the Tower — a competitive mechanical-execution leaderboard mode. Replaced the legacy Gauntlet as the premier ladder content and established the competitive pushing community.

Paladin Early Access

LoH pre-purchase customers got immediate Paladin access. The Spear of the Heavens Judgement Paladin build, using the Judicator Oath, became the defining build of the season. Some pre-order rollout issues — Paladin unlock bugs — tempered initial enthusiasm.

Top Meta Builds

• ◆ Spear of the Heavens / Arbiter Paladin (#1 pushing build, Pit T123+)
• ◆ Zealot Paladin
• ◆ Ice Hydra Sorcerer
• ◆ Payback Spiritborn