Diablo 4 has taken a dark and thrilling turn with Season 2: Season of Blood, introducing a new breed of enemies led by the ancient Lord Zir.
To combat these formidable foes, players must harness the powers of the vampire hordes within the enigmatic Sanguine Circle.
In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore how to unlock and optimize these Vampiric Powers, providing you with the tools to dominate the dark world of Sanctuary.
Understanding the Sanguine Circle
The Sanguine Circle, located within your inventory, unlocks as you progress through the seasonal storyline. As your journey unfolds, you'll find yourself afflicted by the vampire curse.
Fortunately, you won't transform into a gruesome vampire, thanks to the lingering blood of Lilith within you. Instead, you can wield the powers of the vampire hordes through the Sanguine Circle.
You have a total of 22 Vampire powers at your disposal, but you can equip only five at a time. These powers will remain inactive until you have enough Pacts on your armor. We'll delve into Pacts in more detail shortly. For now, let's focus on how to unlock these remarkable abilities.
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Unlocking Vampiric Powers
To access all 22 Vampiric Powers, you need to participate in specific seasonal activities to collect Potent Blood. This precious substance serves the dual purpose of unlocking and upgrading your Vampiric Powers. You can obtain Potent Blood by:
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Eliminating Blood Seekers within the Blood Harvest area or encountering them in dungeons.
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Opening chests in the Blood Harvest (known as Seeker's Cache) with Seeker Keys you acquire by defeating vampires.
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Completing the Blood Harvest event.
The Blood Harvest summoning event offers the quickest means to amass substantial quantities of Potent Blood, but it necessitates 150 blood lures in total to activate. If you're not in a party, simply hanging around the area can lead other players to join in.
Once you've accumulated 25 Potent Blood, you can select a power to unlock or upgrade. By the time you reach the midpoint of your seasonal journey, you'll likely have unlocked all of them.
Additionally, two powers are attainable by completing the Hunters Acclaim board in town, and five are offered as quest rewards for finishing the new Season story. Completing this quest is recommended, as it's relatively short and grants access to potent vampiric enhancements.
Choosing the Best Vampire Powers
These powers are accessible across all classes, but their effectiveness varies, making some more coveted than others. To assist your selection, here's a tier list to consider when filling your Sanguine Circle with five powers and deciding which ones to prioritize for enhancement with Potent Blood:
S Tier
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Metamorphosis: When you Evade, you turn into a cloud of bats, becoming Unstoppable for 4.0 seconds, inflicting Vampiric Curse on enemies.
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Prey on the Weak: You deal increased damage to Vulnerable enemies.
A Tier
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Accursed Touch: Lucky Hit: Up to a 44% chance to inflict Vampiric Curse on enemies. Enemies with the Vampiric Curse have a 15% chance to spread it to other surrounding enemies.
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Hemomancy: Your attacks deal 80% of your Maximum Life as Physical damage to nearby enemies. You heal for 1% of your Maximum Life for each enemy damaged this way.
B Tier
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Bathe in Blood: While Channeling a Skill, you form a pool of blood beneath you, which boosts your Channeled Skills' damage and provides Damage Reduction.
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Domination: You deal increased damage to enemies who are Stunned, Immobilized, Frozen, or Feared. If they're also Injured and not an Elite, they're instantly killed.
C Tier
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Coven's Fangs: Your Conjuration, Companion, Minion, and Bat Familiar attacks deal increased damage to Crowd-Controlled enemies.
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Jagged Spikes: Thorns have a chance to deal increased damage and Chill enemies.
This tier list offers a general ranking of power effectiveness across all classes and builds. The S-tier powers will benefit most builds and playstyles, but feel free to make adjustments based on your chosen abilities.
Keep in mind that the activation status of your powers in the Sanguine Circle is determined by the Pacts on your armor.
Initially, managing Pacts might seem complex, but it becomes less of a concern as you progress through the game. Endgame gear usually has sufficient Pacts to activate your vampire powers. Managing Pacts is more crucial during the leveling process.
In Diablo 4, mastering the art of Vampiric Powers can make all the difference in your journey through the dark world of Sanctuary. Choosing a good vampiric power can tremendously shift your experience throughout the game.
For those who are waiting for Diablo 4's "Vessel of Hatred" expansion, it's coming in late 2024.
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