Diablo 4’s first season, Season of the Malignant, kicks off on July 20, and you’ll have your hands full as today Blizzard detailed what to expect when the season begins.
“A deviant form of Lilith’s sinister machinations has given birth to a new threat, Malignant Monsters. These decaying abominations roam Sanctuary in a frenzy, mindlessly attacking anyone in range without hesitation. Wanderers will investigate this mysterious malady in a new Questline with the help of Cormond, a former priest of the Cathedral of Light, who also trains you to capture the Malignant Hearts fueling these foul beasts and convert them into build-altering powers. The malignancy that’s taken hold of the Burning Hells’ armies cannot remain unchecked—you must snuff it out at the source before all of Sanctuary becomes its thrall,” a blog post from Blizzard reveals.
To face the Malignant Monsters, players must turn their hearts against them by slaying Partly Corrupted enemies, a type of Malignant Monster who drop Malignant Heart. These can be acquired by performing a ritual with the Cage of Binding, an item found in the Season’s questline. However, these enemies will be tough to remove, so I don’t think it’ll be easy. Attempting to capture the Heart will cause the Partly Corrupted to be reborn Fully Corrupted. If you can defeat them, the rot will drop a version of Malignant Heart that can then be placed into special infested sockets in your jewelry instead of a Normal gem.
The first season will introduce 32 Malignant Hearts across four categories, providing new, unique bonuses.
The Malignant Hearts are in the Malignant Tunnels, replayable Dungeons filled with enemies. Here you’ll face Varshan the Consumed, a new boss for the Season.
If you want to join the new Season, a new character must be made in the Seasonal Realm. No Battle Pass is needed to play Seasonal Content, but you must finish the Eternal or Season Realm campaign with one character.
Once you have completed the Campaign, any Seasonal character will start the game with:
- The option to skip the Campaign.
- Your Mount available immediately.
- All previously discovered Altars of Lilith unlocked, and the corresponding Renown for them.
- All previously discovered areas of the map revealed, and the corresponding renown for them.
Seasonal progress is broken down into Chapters with tasks to finish. As you progress through the Journey, you’ll earn rewards befitting Sanctuary’s defender, such as new Legendary Aspects, a Mastery Title, and a Scroll of Amnesia, which provides a free Skill Tree and Paragon Board reset. You can also earn Favour, a currency used to progress Battle Pass Tiers.
