Blizzard asks Diablo 4 fans to 'come slam our servers' in May 😏

Diablo 4's Lilith
(Image credit: Activision Blizzard)

Diablo 4 will be playable to anyone for another weekend to test server stability in May, Blizzard announced in a stream today.

The Diablo 4 "Server Slam" playtest will go from May 12 through May 14 and will let you earn the previous beta rewards as well as a new one for defeating the world boss, Ashava.

The beta will take place in the same location, the Fractured Peaks, as the last ones. Characters from the previous two beta weekends will not carry over to the Server Slam test and any progress you make during it won't carry over to launch. You'll have to choose from one of the game's five classes and play a new character up until the Server Slam's level 20 cap.

Here's exactly when you can pre-load the Diablo 4 Server Slam beta and when it will start:

  • Early download: May 10 at 12 pm PT
  • Beta start time: May 12 at 12 pm PT
  • Beta end time: May 14 at 12 pm PT

If you hit level 20 and defeat Ashava, who will spawn every 3 hours over the course of the weekend, you'll earn the Cry of Ashava mount trophy. And as in the last beta, reaching the city of Kyovashad will earn you the Initial Casualty title and hitting level 20 will earn you the Early Voyager title and the beta wolf pack cosmetic item.

The Server Slam test will have reworked dungeons with less backtracking and the much needed Barbarian buffs as well as several other changes from the last betas, and Blizzard says legendary items will drop less frequently like they will at launch. Blizzard said there are also new control options, performance fixes, as well as graphics settings for PC players, including DLSS 3.

When Blizzard opened the gates to the Diablo 4 open beta last month, the servers held up surprisingly well. Queue times were rare and the worst thing you could encounter was lag, especially when trying to cross between zones. That doesn't guarantee that the Server Slam will go well, but there's a significant chance it could.

Diablo 4 went gold earlier this week and is set to launch on June 6.

Diablo 4 Cry of Ashava mount trophy

(Image credit: Activision Blizzard)
Associate Editor

Tyler has covered games, games culture, and hardware for over a decade before joining PC Gamer as Associate Editor. He's done in-depth reporting on communities and games as well as criticism for sites like Polygon, Wired, and Waypoint. He's interested in the weird and the fascinating when it comes to games, spending time probing for stories and talking to the people involved. Tyler loves sinking into games like Final Fantasy 14, Overwatch, and Dark Souls to see what makes them tick and pluck out the parts worth talking about. His goal is to talk about games the way they are: broken, beautiful, and bizarre.