A screenshot of a statue from Diablo 2 showing an older man with a helmet with curved horns and a beard.

Screenshot by Dot Esports

How to equip a Vampiric Power in Diablo 4 season 2

Here's a complete guide to Vampiric Powers.

Gavin Mackenzie

Published: Oct 18, 2023 01:56 pm

Vampiric Powers are a key feature of Diablo 4 season two, The Season of Blood. They’re yet another new way to buff your character, this time using vampire-eque powers like life-stealing, curses, and fear.

How to acquire and unlock Vampiric Powers in Diablo 4 season 2

A druid and vampire hunter in the magistrate's office — You’ll first be prompted to equip a Vampiric Power here in the Ken Bardu magistrate’s office. Screenshot by Dot Esports

Before you equip a Vampiric Power, you need to acquire or unlock it. There are three ways to acquire Vampiric Powers:

Five are unlocked during quests
15 can be unlocked by spending Potent Blood
Two can be unlocked during the Blood Harvest.

You’ll acquire your first Vampiric Power, the Undying Vampiric Power, during the Blood Money Season Quest, which includes a brief tutorial on Vampiric Powers. After completing Blood Money, you can see which Vampiric Powers you have acquired by opening your inventory and selecting the Vampiric Powers tab to the left of the Equipment tab.

Unlocking a new Vampiric Power menu in Diablo 2 — Unfortunately, when you spend Potent Blood on a Vampiric Power, you can’t see its activation cost in advance. Screenshot by Dot Esports

At that point you’ll also have earned some Potent Blood, and you can spend this to acquire more Vampiric Powers. To do this, hit the Spend button at the bottom of the Vampiric Powers tab, and you’ll be presented with a randomly generated choice of Vampiric Powers to either unlock or upgrade. So either upgrade a Vampiric Power you’ve already unlocked or unlock a new one.

The Sanguine Brace Vampiric Power on the Hunter's Acclaim Board — Two Vampiric Powers can be acquired from the Hunter’s Acclaim Board. Screenshot by Dot Esports

Finally, there are two Vampiric Powers, Accursed Touch and Sanguine Brace, that can be acquired from the Hunter’s Acclaim boards in various towns. Hunter’s Acclaim is essentially a new, seasonal form of XP that you earn by killing monsters and completing tasks in whichever region is affected by the Blood Harvest. The Sanguine Brace Vampiric Power is unlocked at Hunter’s Claim level tier four (IV) and the Accursed Touch Vampiric Power at Hunter’s Claim level tier nine (IX).

Any Vampiric Powers you unlocked must still be equipped and activated.

How to equip Vampiric Powers in Diablo 4 season two

Equipping a Vampiric Power — It’s easy to equip them, but maybe not so easy to find this tab in your inventory. Screenshot by Dot Esports

To equip a Vampiric Power in Diablo 4 season 2, open your inventory, select the Vampiric Powers tab, then highlight one of the unlocked Vampiric Powers and click Equip or press X/A. You should then see it added to the Sanguine Circle, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s activated.

How to use Pacts to activate Vampiric Powers in Diablo 4 season 2

The Vampiric Powers inventory tab — My armor grants me 3 Ferocious, 1 Divinity, and 5 Eternity Pacts, which covers the 3, 1, and 2 that I need. Screenshot by Dot Esports

To activate a Vampiric Power in Diablo 4 season two, you first have to equip it and make sure its activation cost is covered. I, for example, spent 50 Potent Blood on two Vampiric Powers but couldn’t initially cover the activation cost of either of them.

Each Vampiric Power has an activation cost indicated in three types of Pact: Ferocious, Divinity, and Eternity. You’ll also find that most armor items you find in season two grant you one or more of these Pacts. For all of your equipped Vampiric Powers to be activated, the activation cost of all of them put together must be covered by the total Pacts of each type granted by your armor. If your armor doesn’t grant enough Pacts to cover the activation cost, one or more of your Vampiric Powers won’t be activated, and your character won’t receive its benefits.

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Author

Gavin Mackenzie

Gavin Mackenzie has been playing video games since the early 80s, and writing about them professionally since the late 90s. Having been a writer and editor on various British magazines including PLAY, GamesTM, and X360, he's now a freelance guides specialist at Dot Esports.