Season 1 — Soul Hunt

What the season is

Season 1 is named Soul Hunt, and its organising idea is the Fate Chart — a narrative device the developers describe as driving the entire seasonal main storyline. The in-game Season screen, visible in the developers’ own screenshots, renders the S1 heading as “Soul Hunting” and places the Fate Chart as the first tab, alongside Path of Glory, Leaderboard and Season Reset.

The story it tells: the Valgr have restarted forbidden soul experiments, turning countless creatures into Cocoon Puppets in an attempt to wield soul power, create a False God and tear apart the Web of Fate. Dew calls on Gyldhunters to track down wandering exiled souls and contain the spread of soul corruption. The developers say every player’s actions feed back into the Fate Chart and reshape the direction shown on it.

Soul Harvest, and why it was not there at launch

Soul Harvest is the seasonal gameplay feature that connects the narrative to what you actually do in a match. It did not ship on day one — the developers were explicit that it would “roll out progressively after the official launch,” having earlier said it would arrive a few weeks after open beta.

What they have confirmed about it is narrow but specific. In matches where the Soul Harvest ritual is active, a new elite monster appears: the Soulgnawer. She actively disrupts the ritual while it runs, and you have to defeat her to complete it. While that is happening you also have to watch for rival Gyldhunters — the developers point out that a ritual is exactly the kind of fixed, noisy objective a third party will ambush.

The exact mechanics and gameplay loops are being deliberately withheld. The developers said so twice, in two separate updates.

The battle pass is genuinely free

The Season 1 Battle Pass is called Slumbering Contract, and it unlocks for free after seven days of cumulative logins — cumulative, not consecutive.

The more consequential part is the renewal rule. The developers stated that as long as you maintain a certain level of activity during a season, you will be able to renew and unlock the next season’s battle pass for free as well. In other words the pass is not free once as a launch promotion; it is designed to stay free for players who keep playing.

The Slumbering Servant outfit, which drew attention during Steam Next Fest, was added to the battle pass rewards and is redeemable with tokens earned through ordinary play.

What shipped with the season

The launch version’s content list, as published by the developers:

• The Withered Knight’s Polearm & Shield weapon — see the Withered Knight guide
• Holy weapons and their exclusive gameplay affixes — see gear
• Brandrgarde on Cataclysm difficulty
• Season 1 “Soul Hunt” plus seasonal tasks and events
• The Soul Harvest seasonal gameplay
• Collection Pedestal, for displaying loot in camp
• The Ladder & Tier Reward system — see Path of Glory
• More cosmetics, and the free battle pass

One item was cut from that list for development-timeline reasons: the Blackarrow’s second weapon, which is now expected in a future season.

Mid-season: the Ancestor Tree

Announced for the Season 1 mid-season update and exclusive to Hallowgrove, the Ancestor Tree spawns on the map over time and works as a contest point beyond the traditional high-tier resource nodes. The developers framed the decision it creates in the same terms as the rest of the game: go for the treasure, or play it safe and cash out.

How long it lasts

A season is currently expected to run three to four months. Seasonal resets do happen — the developers confirmed that directly — though they said certain long-term progression elements carry over rather than everything being wiped.

For what comes after, they have committed to publishing a new roadmap toward the end of each season, and to synchronising all patch notes and their specific details to Discord alongside the in-game notifications.