Diablo 4 Season 1 Guide

Contents

• Season 1 Start Date
• Diablo 4 Seasons Explained
• Diablo 4 Season Mechanics
• Caged Malignant Hearts
• Malignant Tunnels
• Season Battle Pass

Mark your calendars for the highly anticipated launch of Diablo 4 Season 1 on July 20th. But before that, on July 18th, get ready for the preseason patch. Sharpen your battle axes and prepare your incantations because the action is about to begin!

We strongly recommend completing the main campaign and fully exploring the map, including finding all the Altars of Lilith, before the season begins. The completion and renown from these activities will carry over into the season. On that note, after the patch on the 18th, log in with the characters that have made the most progress to ensure their progress carries over into the season and beyond.

If you have completed the campaign and choose to skip it at the start of the season (which we highly recommend), you will begin in Kyovashad at level 1 and can immediately embark on the season story.

• If you’ve completed the Campaign, you can skip it when starting a new seasonal character.
• Your mount will be available from the beginning if it has been unlocked on any character.
• All Altars of Lilith and discovered areas will be unlocked, and you will receive the Renown for them if you have previously unlocked them.
• At the end of the season, your seasonal characters and stash will be transferred to the Eternal Realm, where all your non-seasonal characters are located.

As we eagerly await the thrilling gameplay and unfolding drama, this page will serve as your guiding light, providing you with the latest information. Stay tuned here and brace yourself for an exhilarating first season of Diablo 4.

If you’re new to the Diablo universe, you might be wondering, “What is a Season in Diablo 4?” Drawing inspiration from Diablo 3, a Season in Diablo 4 offers all players a chance to start fresh, diving into new content or captivating themes that last for approximately three months.

Seasons inject new life into the Diablo experience. You create a brand-new seasonal character who, at the end of the season, becomes a non-seasonal character. The best part is, if you’ve already completed the campaign at least once with any character, whether seasonal or non-seasonal, you can skip it and dive right into the exciting grind.

Seasons provide a fantastic opportunity to explore new characters and unique builds that have caught your attention. Additionally, the anticipation of balance changes and new items keeps the gameplay thrilling. These adjustments disrupt the established meta, injecting a refreshing twist after the initial launch period.

Speaking of intriguing builds and the established meta, you may want to explore our class build tier list. If you’re interested, you can check it out here:

Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a curious newcomer, Seasons allow you to craft a new chapter in your Diablo journey. Don’t miss the chance to etch your story in the annals of Diablo 4’s inaugural Season!

The Season of the Malignant introduces a special mechanic: Malignant monsters. After progressing through the beginning of the Season Story questline and obtaining the Cage of Binding, you will encounter Partly Corrupted enemies, which are a type of Malignant Monster. Defeating them will drop a Malignant Heart, which can be used with the Cage of Binding to summon a Fully Corrupted enemy. Upon defeating the Fully Corrupted enemy, it will drop a Malignant Heart corresponding to its type. These Malignant Hearts can then be socketed into specially colored sockets in Jewelry.

This season will introduce 6 new Uniques and 7 new Legendary Aspects. As we gather more information about them, we will update this page and our build writers will create new and exciting builds with them!

You may end up with extra Malignant Hearts that you don’t want to use. The good news is you can salvage them into crafting materials, which will allow you to create Invokers for targeting specific colors of Malignant Hearts in Malignant Tunnels.

Diablo 4 Season 1 brings a range of new mechanics, systems, and items that stem from the spreading plague across Sanctuary. Whether you explore the open world with your original character or a Seasonal character, you’ll always have a chance to encounter a Malignant enemy. Defeating them exposes a Malignant Heart, which can be used with a cage of binding to initiate a ritual. This ritual summons Malignant enemies in the area and a powerful elite, which, when defeated, may drop a new item called a caged heart.

The Diablo 4 caged heart serves as a replacement for gems. You can socket them into gear, granting significant power. The Diablo 4 team has even jokingly referred to them as potentially creating “broken builds” when used strategically. There are 32 new Malignant powers that can be unlocked. Each Malignant Heart you collect has a specific color, corresponding to socket colors found on gear in the Seasonal Realm. There are three socket colors but four different colored hearts, with the rare fourth heart being omni-color, allowing it to be socketed into any item and providing unique power sets that can alter your character’s playstyle.

Malignant Tunnels are special dungeons in the world that offer high replayability and a significantly higher chance of Malignant Monsters spawning. They are also the only places where you can find the new boss being added in this season, Varshan the Consumed.

Each season will feature three tiers of the battle pass: a free tier, a premium tier (priced around $9.99 USD), and an accelerated premium battle pass (priced around $24.99 USD) with an exclusive cosmetic.

For those who choose not to purchase the battle pass, rest assured that only the free track offers gameplay-related benefits. The premium and accelerated premium battle pass will provide cosmetic rewards only.

One of the major rewards from the free battle pass is Smoldering Ashes, a unique currency that can be used to unlock and upgrade season blessings. These blessings will be active for all your characters in that particular season. We have been fortunate enough to receive a sneak peek image of the blessing interface, along with a few revealed blessings themselves.

The Diablo 4 battle pass will go live on July 20 alongside the Season of the Malignant. It’s important to note that the battle pass will have 27 free tiers, allowing you to earn cosmetics and Smoldering Ashes. The entire Season 1 story and mechanics can be enjoyed without purchasing the battle pass. However, if you choose to buy it, you’ll have access to 90 tiers of cosmetics, resources, and other items for your new character on the Seasonal Realm.

You’ll be able to track your progress (regardless of battle pass purchase) in the Season Journey tab in the UI. The progression is divided into seven chapters, each containing a set of objectives. Completing a subset of these objectives will advance you to the next chapter, rewarding you with items and Legendary Aspects along the way. Expect to unlock new emotes, horse armor, and class-agnostic cosmetics through the battle pass, with class-specific transmog weapons being the exception.