Season of the Construct Had a Confirmed Launch Date
Diablo 4 Season 3 began on January 23, 2024 at 10 a.m. PST, or 18:00 UTC. Blizzard’s January 18 Developer Update previewed the Seneschal Companion, Vaults, the seasonal questline and the Gauntlet.
This article records that announcement. The Gauntlet was a later arrival, so the stream’s complete topic list should not be read as the January 23 launch feature list.
The Three Dates to Keep Separate
| 2024 date | What happened |
|---|---|
| January 18 | Developer Update preview and community Q&A. |
| January 23 | Season of the Construct began. |
| March 5 | The Gauntlet and its leaderboards arrived. |
Blizzard’s later Trials announcement established the March 5 date. The initial preview had described the competitive dungeon as coming later in the season.
The Seasonal Features Blizzard Introduced
The official Season of the Construct announcement connected the new systems through the Loom beneath Kehjistan:
- Story and hub: Ayuzhan guided the fight against Malphas, with the underground Gatehall as the seasonal base.
- Seneschal Companion: a robotic follower used two Governing Stones, each supported by three Tuning Stones. The discovery pool contained 12 Governing and 27 Tuning Stones.
- Vaults: hazard-filled dungeons used Pearls of Warding and Zoltun’s Warding. Keeping stacks intact enabled extra Wardwoven Chest rewards; hazard hits consumed stacks.
- Arcane Tremors: overworld Constructs supplied Shattered Stone and Pearls, feeding the companion and Vault progression.
The equipped Stone slots and the total collection were different counts. Blizzard also specified that the Seneschal followed the character until that season ended.
The Gauntlet Preview Was About Score Competition
The later release used a fixed weekly layout and eight-minute runs. Killing monsters and opening chests produced Proofs of Might, which determined the score. Class and party ladders gave the route-planning challenge its competitive structure.
This was a different activity from collecting companion Stones or preserving Warding in a Vault. The Gauntlet’s March release should be kept distinct when reconstructing Season 3’s rollout.
Everyday Changes Accompanied the Season
Announced improvements included Helltides with only a five-minute break each hour, optional WASD movement on PC and another purchasable stash tab. Exact class tuning belongs to the archived Patch 1.3.0 notes, where changes can be checked skill by skill.
For the original presentation, Blizzard links the full Developer Update recording. For more detail on how the features worked together, read our Season 3 systems and release-history recap. This announcement archive preserves the 2024 chronology rather than recommending a current build.
