PSA: You can play Diablo 4's massive season 4 update early

Diablo 4 is about to dramatically change as an action RPG, and you'll be able to play this massive update early via Blizzard's «PTR», or public test realm, starting tomorrow.

From April 2 to April 9, PC players using the Battle.net launcher (not Steam players, sadly) can get their hands dirty testing out Blizzard's redesigned loot progression, including two new crafting systems that let you customize your items to your liking.

The PTR won't have every change coming in season 4—like the unique seasonal mechanics—but there are new items, class balance changes, and a new endgame dungeon to test out and provide feedback on before the finished update goes live on May 14.

Blizzard gave us the dates for when you'll be able to play Diablo 4's season 4 PTR, but it hasn't specified the exact time it'll go live. My best guess is that you'll be able to download and play it around 10 am PDT / 1 pm EDT / 7 pm CEST, which is usually when patches go live.

Currently, there's no way to preload the PTR before then.

Anyone who owns Diablo 4 on PC through Battle.net or Game Pass can download and play on the season 4 PTR. All you have to do is change the game version in the app and download it.

Here's how to download and play the Diablo 4 PTR:

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The focus of the season 4 PTR is to test how you obtain and improve your loot at max level. To save everyone time, Blizzard will let you instantly boost any character to level 100 via an NPC in Kyovashad simply named «PTR boost». Talk to them and select the dialogue option to boost your character to max level.

Every boosted character will receive a bunch of bonuses to help you test stuff, including:

Blizzard also points out that you can keep making new characters to stack these rewards to your PTR account.

Any extra skill points, paragon points, or potions unlocked from completing the regional renown objectives will carry over from the regular game, as