Diablo 4: How To Join The Mother's Day Beta Test

Blizzard is opening up the "Diablo 4" servers one last time before final release in the upcoming Server Slam, a Mother's Day weekend open beta test designed to (as the name implies) slam the servers with player traffic and make sure they're ready for launch. As with the previous open beta, players will be able to traverse the entirety of the Fractured Peaks as they progress through the game's prologue and first act, with access to five classes: Barbarian, Druid, Necromancer, Rogue, and Sorcerer.

Furthermore, all the rewards that were available in the open beta will be offered again for the same milestones, giving players another chance at earning the beta-exclusive titles, cosmetics, and trophy. Getting as far as killing Ashava in the Server Slam will also award a brand new exclusive bonus, the Cry of Ashava Mount Trophy.

There is a slight catch to all of this, however: In the Server Slam, all players will be capped at level 20, and only have the 48 hours between May 12 and May 14 (starting and ending at 12 P.M. PDT) to beat Ashava and unlock every reward. Here's a rundown on how to join in, as well as what you can expect from the Mother's Day Server Slam open beta for "Diablo 4."

The actual process of joining the Server Slam is simple enough: You can download the game files as early as May 10, 12pm PDT, just to make sure you're ready to go as soon as the beta opens. If you already have the open beta version of the game downloaded, all you have to do is wait for the update that'll roll out as soon as the early download period begins. If you don't already have the open beta files, you'll have to grab them for your console or PC:

• Console users can simply search "Diablo 4 Server Slam" on the Xbox or PlayStation stores and download the files.
• PC users will have to go to the "Diablo 4" game page on the Battle.net client and find "Diablo IV Server Slam" under the Game Version dropdown menu. 

The Server Slam edition of the game will have the same Legendary Drop rates that the game will have on launch. Coupled with the bug fixes and updates mentioned in Blizzard's Open Beta Retrospective, this beta test is shaping up to be the closest sneak peak to the final productthat  fans will get before the official release. 

The elephant in the room is that, although getting another chance to play the game before release is quite exciting, grinding to level 20 in 48 hours is a big ask that is just plain unfeasible for many fans. None of the progress made in the open beta will carry over to the Server Slam, and none of the Server Slam progress will carry over to the actual game launch at all. Basically, the only real lasting payoffs for racing to the finish line are the cosmetic or otherwise non-essential rewards mentioned above.

The window of opportunity to kill Ashava and earn the new trophy is also quite tight. The feathered monstrosity of a boss will only spawn in 3-hour intervals starting at 9 A.M. PDT on May 13 to 9 A.M. May 14 for a total of only nine spawns throughout the entire weekend. 

Understandably, the "Diablo 4" fan forums have been filled with fans unhappy about the conditions. The main complaint is that people who work weekends or have any big family plans for Mother's Day are basically locked out of being able to grind for the new reward. The silver lining is that the reward is only a cosmetic. For fans who aren't too pressed about finishing out all the available content, the Server Slam will still be a great free opportunity to try out "Diablo 4" in its near-final form before launch.