Diablo Immortal's StarCraft crossover is almost live, and Blizzard has now paired the limited-time event with a wider update that changes how several core progression systems work. The Battle for Beyond event runs from May 13 to June 10, bringing Zerg, Protoss and Terran-themed activities into Sanctuary, while the same update makes permanent adjustments to combat rating progression, ring sockets and Battleground rewards.
Blizzard's latest update notes confirm maintenance begins May 12 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. PDT for Oceania, East Asia, Southeast Asia and Europe servers. Americas servers follow on May 13 from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. PDT. Once maintenance ends, the listed features are due to go live unless Blizzard gives a later date for a specific activity.
StarCraft content takes over Sanctuary
The crossover side of the update expands on the StarCraft event Blizzard previously detailed. Players who log in during Aeon of Stars can claim a StarCraft-themed avatar frame, the Baneboil 2-Star Legendary Gem and a Kerrigan-inspired weapon transmog. Daily activities, monster kills and limited-time dungeons feed into the Koprulu Arsenal event track, which adds more cosmetics, Legendary and Set Items, stickers, portals, Bound Empowered Immortal Keys and Immortal Keys.
Dark Ascension adds a limited-time dungeon encounter against the Tal'darim Templar and Ascended Archon, with up to four players able to take on the Protoss fight. Infested Rifts corrupt Elder Rifts with Zerg enemies, a Feral Hydralisk boss and a temporary Psionic Storm ability that drops damaging fields during the run.
Conqueror is also getting a StarCraft variant called Battle for the Beyond. Players choose a faction before each match, then fight around shrines that grant Terran, Zerg or Protoss-themed combat orbs. Stim Pack boosts attack speed and movement speed by 30% for eight seconds, Poison adds damage-over-time projectiles and Shields grants temporary protection. Weekly leaderboards will track players by faction.
Progression and PvP rewards are changing too
The biggest long-term changes sit outside the crossover rewards. Blizzard says all players will have access to all eight gear slots after the update, with default gear automatically placed into the final two slots for anyone who has not unlocked them yet.
Versatile Rings are also becoming a permanent ring drop improvement. Newly acquired 3+2 and 3+3 quality rings from any source will feature a versatile socket, allowing gems of any color to be placed in them. Existing rings are not described as being retroactively changed.
Battleground rewards are getting a broad increase as well. Blizzard says rewards are going up by roughly 50% to 100% in some areas, including Gold and Gear Portions. Normal Gems are being added to Battleground participation, one per run, and the mode is getting a small increase to the drop rate for more valuable gear. The first three runs will remain the most rewarding, but both the early-run and later-run prize pools are being improved.
The update also removes several sources of combat rating complexity. The Ancestral Tableau and Helliquary upgrade systems are being removed, Set Item upgrades and Demonic Remains will no longer grant Combat Rating and paragon level progression will directly grant Combat Rating, Seeker Rating and primary attributes. Blizzard says players' actual Combat Rating will not drop after the update, because the game will compare old and new values and apply the higher one.
Other additions include Monster Family Commanders, updated Legendary gear reward selection screens, a more readable Cosmetics Backpack, Hell and Inferno difficulty support for the Realm of Damnation and selected older main quest content, plus the return of the Bout of Realms tournament. Registration for Bout of Realms is scheduled for May 27 to May 31, with points matches from June 1 to June 6 and finals from June 8 to June 14.