Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant – Bosses, Legendaries, World Tier, & more!

Everything coming in Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant

First and foremost, as the title of this section suggests, Diablo 4 Season One has officially been called the Season of the Malignant. The majority of its content relates heavily to a vile new contagion plaguing Sanctuary after the fall of Lilith, Daughter of Hatred. According to the developers, Season of the Malignant is not a continuation of the core campaign. Instead, it was described as a side story that took place after the events of the main campaign.

The Story

A malignant plague has begun corrupting the hearts of all things, living or dead, all throughout Sanctuary. Already horrific creatures have begun morphing into utter monstrosities, hellish monsters of pure rage. The mysterious infestation is spreading rapidly, with no natural ending in sight. No one knows how or why it started, but one man, a former priest of the Cathedral of Light, has made it his mission to put a stop to the emergent evil... and he needs your help to do it. Thus begins the story of the Season of the Malignant, following Lilith's demise.

The Gameplay

Season of the Malignant will see you begin Diablo 4 anew, requiring a brand new character to be created on the Seasonal Realm. If you've already completed Diablo 4's main campaign, then you'll be able to skip the campaign on your new character and begin the new Season as soon as you're in-game.

The core mechanic of the season focuses on the malignancy infecting monsters within Sanctuary. Every time you encounter an elite, it has a chance to be suffering from the Malignant status, which appears as an additional affix on them. Malignant enemies are much more powerful versions of their normal selves and will require a bit more effort to bring down. In doing so, these infected monsters will drop their Malignant Hearts. These hearts will appear like items on the ground and, when clicked on, will begin a short event that will spawn a wave of monsters, including more Malignant elites. Killing these will then reward you with a Caged Heart.

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Caged Hearts come in four different types and are color-coded based on gear sockets. According to the developers, all gear sockets will now be color-coded, including sockets created via Jewelers. Adding a Caged Heart to your gear will reward you with new powers that will further enhance your build. There are 32 Malignant Powers that can be obtained from Caged Hearts. Additionally, Caged Hearts can be disassembled and reassembled into Invokers, which you can use to target farm-specific Malignant powers. This target farming is done within Malignant Tunnels, which are special dungeons that guarantee the specific drop you're searching for.

Beyond the core gameplay, Season One also includes a slew of new content, including:

• New Unique Items
• Legendary Items
• New Bosses

One really important thing to note about these new items is that they will all be coming to the Eternal Realm on July 18, a few days prior to Season One's release on July 20.

The Battlepass

Season One of Diablo 4 also marks the beginning of the game's first Battlepass. The Battlepass works similarly to other games you've likely already played. However, in Diablo 4 there are some nuances you should be aware of.

First, everyone will have access to the free track of the Battlepass. The free track includes limited cosmetics and, more importantly, access to the Season Journey. The Season Journey acts as a sort of objective log, providing activities you should seek out and complete. Doing so will reward you with seasonal Favor, which functions like experience points for leveling up your Battlepass. You'll absolutely want to focus on these as there will be new Legendary Aspects only obtainable through the Battlepass. Note that they are on the free track since these new aspects affect gameplay.

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Additionally, as you level up your Battlepass, you'll be rewarded with a new currency called Smoldering Ashes. Smoldering Ashes relate to a second new system called the Blessing System. Essentially, you can spend the Smoldering Ashes you obtain to receive stacking, account-wide, season-only buffs that will help you in your grind. Things like increased experience and whatnot. Note that both Smoldering Ashes and the Blessing System are on the free track of the Battlepass.

The Seasonal and the Eternal Realm

The final topic of note for Season One is how exactly the progression to and from the Seasonal and Eternal Realms will work in Diablo 4. The livestream detailed that only certain, specific content will transfer from the Eternal Realm to the new Seasonal Realm once Season One begins. The following content carries over from the Eternal Realm:

• Fog of War - Any part of the map you've uncovered will carry over onto all future seasons
• Renown based on completion - Some Renown will be banked upon the release of the new season
• Alters of Lilith - All Alters of Lilith will be retained for all future seasons

While these are great things to carry over, note that all side quests will need to be re-completed to earn their Renown reward. Personally, I find this to be annoying, but it remains to be seen how much of a thorn this will be.

The Diablo 4 team also talked about Seasonal content coming to the Eternal Realm after the conclusion of a season. It was stated that not all Seasonal content would come to the Eternal Realm. The Malignant mechanic, for example, is not currently planned to reach the Eternal Realm at any point. The stated reason is that the Eternal Realm will become a mess if every seasonal mechanic is eventually added to it. Franky, despite my preference for permanence toward progression, I am inclined to agree with Blizzard on this.

For more on all things relating to the ever-expansive Diablo 4, check out our guide on the Best Gem Combos for Each Build in Diablo 4 right here at Pro Game Guides.