‘Diablo 4’ Server Slam Beta Start-Time, End-Date, Rewards And How To Play

Diablo IV players eager for one last dungeon delve into the game before its June 6th release have one more chance to play this upcoming weekend. It’s a busy weekend for gamers, with the highly-anticipated launch of The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom happening at the same time. So many options! We’re spoiled for choice.

In any case, here’s everything you need to know about the Diablo IV “Server Slam” beta.

Beta Start and End-Times

The Diablo IV Server Slam beta kicks off this Friday, May 12th at the following times depending on your region:

• 12pm PDT (West Coast NA)
• 3pm EDT (East Coast NA)
• 8pm BST (UK)
• 9pm CEST (Western Europe)
• 4am JST on Saturday, May 13 (Japan)

This is a short beta, ending at those same times on Sunday, May 14th. That means it’s going to run for just 48 hours. Plan accordingly.

Who Can Play?

This is an open beta, so you don’t need to pre-order the game. You will, however, need to sign in with a Battle.net account, so be sure to have your login info ready, or sign up for an account if you haven’t already.

What’s A ‘Server Slam’ Anyways?

This is a stress test, basically. Blizzard wants to see how resilient their server setup is just weeks before launch. In other words, be prepared for long login queues, crashes, the whole shebang. This isn’t a demo, it’s Blizzard running the game through the gauntlet so that launch isn’t a total cluster-you-know-what.

What Content Can We Experience During The Beta?

The Server Slam beta is roughly the same as the Open Beta—though there are some updates we’ll get to below. The long and short of it is you’ll be able to:

• Play the Prologue and Act I of the game and explore the Fractured Peaks zone.
• Play all five classes: The Rogue, Barbarian, Sorcerer, Necromancer and Druid.
• Battle the World Boss, Ashava.
• Play 2-player couch co-op or up to 4-player online co-op.
• Wait in endless server queues!

What’s New Since The Last Beta?

There are quite a few updates, tweaks and fixes that Blizzard has implemented since the last beta. There will be more between this Server Slam beta and launch, but this version will be a lot closer to the “final” product (is a live-service game ever truly a final product, though?)

Some of the big changes include:

• Reworked dungeons that have been optimized so that players don’t have to backtrack so much. Less repetitive gameplay.
• Changes to boss difficulty levels and dungeon event rates.
• Many changes to classes. These include buffs to the Barbarian’s Whirlwind skill, buffs to Druid powers, some nerfs to the overpowered Necromancer class, buffs to the Rogue and many tweaks to the Sorcerer. See below:

Server Slam Beta Rewards

• Initial Casualty Title: Reach Kyovashad with one character.
• Early Voyager Title: Reach level 20 on one character.
• Beta Wolf Pack Cosmetic Item: Reach level 20 on one character.
• Cry of Ashava Mount Trophy: Defeat Ashava with a level 20 character.

While you’ll keep these rewards in the main game, no progress from the beta will carry over to launch. You’ll start fresh with all-new characters at the beginning.