The first season of Diablo 4 was announced today: Season of the Malignant. There’s a lot to cover, so I’m going to get right into my notes from the Developer Stream. Here are all Season 1 details revealed for Diablo 4.
Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant Mechanics and More
The season’s narrative revolves around a new character named Cormond and his quest to fight against a new force known as “Malignants.” These seem to be gnarly, infected-looking creatures which are what the new seasonal mechanic is centered around.
Any Elite enemy has a chance to be Malignant, and when defeated it drops a Malignant Heart. You’ll use a new item called the Cage of Binding to pull the corruption from the Heart, which spawns a more powerful enemy. Upon defeat, the enemy drops a Caged Heart.
Caged Hearts are the core of the new season: these are essentially Legendary gems, but with even more powerful effects. There are five types of Caged Hearts, which can be socketed into colored sockets found on rings. They can also be scrapped for materials that are used to create an Invoker. Invokers are used at the end of a new type of Dungeon: Malignant Tunnels, in order to “target farm” certain colored Caged Hearts.
That’s.. a lot of proper nouns. But long story short is we’re getting new, socketed Legendary powers, essentially. There are 32 new Malignant Powers to play with, as well as new Legendary and Unique items which are also coming to the Eternal Realm.
Related: How to Prepare for Season 1 in Diablo 4
The Seasonal Journey is also back, which challenges players to complete unique objectives to unlock new Legendary Codex Aspects (these also carry over to the Eternal Realm), materials, and more.
Season of the Malignant Battle Pass
The Season 1 Battle Pass contains cosmetic rewards as well as free-track rewards that boost things like experience gain, gold earned, and more. It can be advanced by earning Favor, which is earned anywhere in the world, from any activity, and by killing enemies.
If you’re a little confused about how Seasons work, check out our Diablo 4 Season explainer right here.
