Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant: New Uniques, Legendary Aspects and More Revealed

Abhimannu Das
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<div class="paragraphs"><p>Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant</p></div>
Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant

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Highlights
Diablo 4 Season One is titled ‘Season of the Malignant’ and it will drop on 20th July at 10 AM PT (10.30 PM IST).
Players can experience a brand-new storyline within Season of the Malignant and earn limited-time rewards.

The wait for the Season One livestream is over and Blizzard Entertainment revealed a host of new content for the game. Diablo 4 Season One is titled ‘Season of the Malignant’ and it will drop on 20th July at 10 AM PT (10.30 PM IST). with a new season Journey, Questline, Boss, Dungeons, Battle Pass, and more. We will get a closer look at what’s coming next season on 18th July and players can expect six unique items and seven legendary aspects.

Season of the Malignant Overview

A deviant form of Lilith’s sinister machinations has given birth to a new threat, Malignant Monsters. These decaying abominations roam Sanctuary and we must put a stop to them. The season will feature a new questline where we air Cormond, a former priest of the Cathedral of Light.

To keep up with the relentless animosity of Malignant Monsters, you’ll need to turn their Hearts against them. Slaying Partly Corrupted enemies, a type of Malignant Monster, will drop a Malignant Heart. These can be captured by performing a ritual with the Cage of Binding, an item acquired during the Season’s Questline. Partly Corrupted enemies are an unruly sort and won’t go down easily. Trying to capture the Heart will cause the Partly Corrupted enemy to be reborn as a Fully Corrupted enemy. If defeated, these amalgamations of rot will drop a version of the Malignant Heart that can be placed into special Infested sockets in your Jewelry in place of a Normal Gem.

One of the best places to acquire Malignant Hearts are in the new Malignant Tunnels, highly replayable Dungeons teeming with fearsome foes to eradicate. Scour this dank system of tunnels for the catalyst of Malignant Monsters and go toe-to-toe against Varshan the Consumed, the newest Boss battle coming to the game.

Seasonal Progression

To participate in Seasons, a new character must be made on the Seasonal Realm. You do not need to purchase a Battle Pass or any add-ons to play the Seasonal content, but you must have completed the campaign on either the Eternal or Seasonal Realm with at least 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.

Once the Season has ended, the character you made and its progress will be transferred to the Eternal Realm. All items you collected, including in your Seasonal stash, will be transferred too. You can take this character into Sanctuary whenever you please, but Season-specific features such as Malignant Hearts will no longer be accessible.

As you hunt down Malignant Monsters for their build-enhancing Hearts and partner with Cormond to discover the source of the corruption, you’ll earn rewards from the Season Journey and Battle Pass.

The Season Journey is broken into Chapters with tasks to complete. 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. 

Diablo 4 Season Pass Details

The Season of the Malignant Battle Pass begins on 20th July and hosts 90 Tiers, 27 Free Tiers and 63 Premium Tiers. Smoldering Ashes are earned from the Free Tiers, which can be spent on Season Blessings that provide you with a bonus to earning experience, Gold, or Obols depending on the Blessing you choose. The bonuses gained from Season Blessings only last until Season of the Malignant ends.

If you get the Premium Battle Pass, not only will the rewards of the Free Tiers will be yours to wield as you choose, but Awoken Armor Sets, Mount and Mount Armor, Platinum, and more await you!

If you purchased the digital Deluxe or Ultimate Edition of Diablo IV and want to redeem your Battle Pass for this Season, navigate to the Seasons section of the Shop and select the option to activate your Battle Pass. Players also have the option to skip Tiers by spending Platinum at a cost of 200 Platinum per Tier skip. Keep in mind that your Tier Skip might unlock a Tier that rewards Smoldering Ashes, but you must meet certain Character Level requirements to claim them.

Players can also expect new cosmetics in the shop in case you are looking for things to buy with Platinum.`


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Abhimannu is a PC esports writer at AFK Gaming. With over seven years of experience in esports journalism, he has worked on a myriad of games and their ecosystems including Valorant, Overwatch and Apex Legends.