Diablo 3’s annual nostalgic celebration of all things bloody and pixellated is back this year, as The Darkening of Tristram kicks off today at 4 PM PST and runs through January 31st at 4 PM PST.
The Darkening of Tristram is a yearly event that brings a portal through time from Diablo 3 back into a pseudo-recreation of the original Diablo’s 16-level dungeon beneath Tristram Cathedral. The other side of the portal brings a pixel-filtered vision of the past that mimics the sprite-based style of the old Diablo games. The dungeon has classic monsters like the demonic Butcher, as well as unique rewards for scouring the new areas. We’ve got a Diablo 3 Darkening of Tristram secrets guide for that, if you’d like.
It’s a pretty neat mode, and if you didn’t bother with it in earlier years or if you’ve gotten into Diablo 3 since last January you should check it out. It’s a particularly good way to level up new characters because of the giant kill chains you can rack up. We’re decently big fans of it, and it’s something that left us wondering at the future of the series when it debuted years ago. Go check out that article for more thoughts on the mini-dungeon.