Diablo II: Resurrected

Season 14 · Patch 3.2

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 collect five Ancient Statues from Terrorized Act Bosses and transmute them in the Horadric Cube.

The three-era system introduced with the expansion (which we refer to as Era Partitions) 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. Character transfer between eras is forward-only — Classic to Resurrected to Reign of the Warlock, never back — and the Warlock era is expected to draw the vast majority of competitive players.

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

As always, the D2R ladder ranks players by experience earned, so the headline competition is the race to level 99 — and this season, the race to be first to 99 on the brand-new Warlock. There are no separate clear-time or points-based leaderboards; the traditional experience ladder remains the single measure of standing.

Season 13 Rewards

The Reign of the Warlock expansion introduces five new runewords, which debut on the Season 13 ladder before cycling into non-ladder play after a full season. These are the runewords to plan your early farming around:

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  Authority A leveling rollover runeword with +2 Warlock skills, faster hit recovery, and reduced requirements — strong while progressing through Normal, Nightmare, and Hell.
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  Coven A helm runeword offering +1 skills and 20% Faster Cast Rate — a useful early caster piece for the new Warlock class.
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  Void A high-end caster runeword with +2 All Skills, 40% Faster Cast Rate, and added magic skill damage — sought after across multiple caster classes.
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  Vigilence A defensive runeword with strong all-resist, life, and mana — a solid stopgap for caster and hybrid builds.
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  Ritual A melee/hybrid runeword that pairs well with Warlock Demon and weapon builds, and offers life leech and attack rating utility.

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. Access to the encounter requires collecting five Ancient Statues from Terrorized Act Bosses and transmuting all five in the Horadric Cube to open the portal. Players who can gather the statues quickly and execute a clean first clear will be among the first to claim the unique Colossal Jewels. Learn which Terrorized Act Bosses drop the statues and study the encounter mechanics before launch day so you are not going in blind.