Season of the Malignant, the first season in Diablo 4, will launch July 20 at 10 a.m. PDT, and will bring players the new Season Journey, Questline, Boss, Dungeons, and Battle Pass, as well as new mechanics and more. Dive into our Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant guide to learn all the details.
5.0On July 18 there will be a more detailed announcement, where the developers will tell what awaits us in this Journey. As well as present 6 new Unique Items and 7 Legendary Aspects, which are sure to excite us.
Season of the Malignant storyline
The theme of the Season of the Malignant will be the decaying monsters born of the machinations of Lilith. The former priest of the Cathedral of Light, Cormond, is trying to fight the Malignant Monsters alone, but he needs your help. To save the Sanctuary, he will teach you how to capture the Malignant Hearts that created those bloodthirsty monsters. You will be able to transform the hearts into build-altering powers to stop the malignancy that has possessed the armies of the Burning Hell.
How Malignant Hearts work
The new mechanics of the Season 1 looks like this:
- To defeat Malignant Monsters, turn their Hearts against them.
- Slay Partly Corrupted enemies to obtain Malignant Hearts.
- Use the Cage of Binding, obtained through the Season’s Questline, to capture them.Note, that partly Corrupted enemies are tough to defeat.
- Trying to capture the Heart will transform them into Fully Corrupted enemies.
- Defeat them to obtain a version of the Malignant Heart.
- Place these hearts in special Infested sockets in your Jewelry instead of a Normal Gem.
It is not yet known whether this mechanic will remain in future seasons (rather not), but in the first season we are promised that the Season 1 will introduce 32 Malignant Hearts across four categories, which offer new unique bonuses.
Malignant Powers, colored sockets and target farm
The Malignant Powers that may appear on cleansed hearts are represented in four different colors, which can only be inserted in the appropriate sockets. Jewelry items may appear with different colored sockets: blue, red, and yellow, which determines whether certain Malignant Powers can be added. Colorless hearts can be placed in any socket, but they are rare. However, if a ring or amulet has no socket, the jeweler can create a socket of any color he chooses. If a socket of a specific color appears on an item, it cannot be changed. Even if a socket of a certain color appears on a unique piece of jewelry, sadly, it can no longer be changed.
Progressing through the seasonal activities to higher World Tiers, the strength of the Malignant Hearts will increase. This will give a huge increase in power of the character and allow a significant variety of player builds. And Caged Hearts with low stats you can use as a material for crafting Ivokers – a kind of activator pass for Malignant Tunnels.
Malignant Tunnels – New Dungeons In D4
The new Malignant Tunnels are a great place to acquire Malignant Hearts. These dungeons are highly replayable and filled with fearsome foes to defeat. Exploring the tunnels we’ll be able to find the catalyst of Malignant Monsters. And then challenge Varshan the Consumed, the newest Boss battle.
These Malignant Tunnels have a much higher chance to spawn Malignant-type enemies. And at the end of each tunnel, Malignant Outgrowths, you’ll have to choose whether you will activate it or not with a crafted Invoker. Malignant Outgrowths are present in the same four colors.
When an Invoker is used on one of these colored Outgrowths, an Elite boss of the chosen color will appear. This will increase the chance of obtaining a Caged Heart of that color upon defeating the boss. Players have the option to target farm Malignant Tunnels of a specific color to obtain certain Heart colors they require.
In other areas of a Malignant Tunnel, there is an increased chance that other Elites will also have the Malignant modifier. This makes these areas ideal for farming new items in the Diablo 4 first Season after completing the campaign.
Seasonal Characters and Renown
5.0Discovered regions zones and Altars of Lilith are generic per account and will apply to Seasonal Characters among others. The account spread revealed areas of the map will provide 5 renown each. Similarly, the Altars of Lilith will also remain collected, giving 10 renown each. Players who successfully complete the map and Altars of Lilith on one character will begin with each zone at 2/5 Renown completion on new Season characters. Additionally, they will be awarded five extra Potion Charges and Skill Points. To skip the grind, you can buy our Renown boost and get any number of points in desired region.
As soon as the July 18th update launches, be sure to log in all characters with the map discovered and Altars unlocked. So the game will record all the progress you’ve made on your account both in the Eternal Realm and across all seasons. Even if you love playing as a single class, Season 1 is a great way to re-create you favorite class character. This is thanks to the Malignant Powers, which are designed to greatly diversify character builds.
How to access the Seasonal Content in Diablo 4
To access the Seasonal content, it is necessary to complete the campaign on either the Eternal or Seasonal Realm with at least one character. To get the main campaign done, buy our Story mode boost. No additional purchases, such as a Battle Pass, are required. After completing the Campaign, any Seasonal character will have the options to:
- Skip the Campaign;
- Get your Mount right away;
- Remain all discovered areas of the map and Altars of Lilith and the corresponding Renown for them.
With the end of the Season, your character and all its progress will be moved to the Eternal Realm. You can do it whenever you like, and also you will save all the items you gathered, including those in your Seasonal stash. Just note that you will no longer have access to the specific Season features like Malignant Hearts.
Diablo 4 Season Journey and Battle Pass
Teaming up with Cormond to investigate the cause of the corruption and trying to save the Sanctuary, you will receive rewards from the Season Journey and Battle Pass.
What is the Season Journey in Diablo 4?
The Season Journey is a quest line full of challenges you have to pass within the Season. The Journey is divided into Chapters, and as you advance through the Journey, requiring completion of tasks, you will receive rewards, such as a Mastery Title or new Legendary Aspects for the Codex of Power. Also you can get a Scroll of Amnesia, which allows for a free reset of Skill Trees and Paragon Boards. Moreover, it grants Favor, the resource used to progress through the Battle Pass’ Tiers. You can earn it through various in-game activities such as defeating demons and completing quests.
Season of the Malignant Battle Pass
To redeem your Battle Pass for this Season in Diablo IV, navigate to the Seasons section of the Shop. The Season of the Malignant Battle Pass starts with the launch of Season 1 and includes 90 Tiers, 27 Free Tiers, and 63 Premium Tiers. Progressing through the tiers you will earn Smoldering Ashes to purchase Season Blessings. These Blessings provide a bonus to experience, Gold, or Murmuring Obols, depending on the chosen Blessing. Note that the bonuses from Season Blessings are only valid until the end of current Season.
Also you can skip any tier you don’t like for 200 Platinum and still fully unlock the Battle Pass and complete the Season Journey. However, only seasonal characters can progress through the Season Journey and Battle Pass. The World of Eternity characters will not be able to do so.
The Premium Battle Pass rewards, as Blizzard promised, are cosmetic-only. For Premium Battle pass you will get Awoken Armor Sets, Mount and Mount Armor, Platinum, and other additional items, but remember that armor it’s only a transmog.
