(Image credit: Activision Blizzard)
Diablo 4 is here, but while its critically acclaimed story campaign and grindable endgame activities are available to play now, the game’s first live service season actually hasn’t begun yet. Once it does, though, fans can expect new gameplay offerings, quests, and a reward-filled Battle Pass, with everything tied together by Season of the Malignant’s unique theme.
While the nitty gritty specifics of the seasonal gameplay loop aren’t fully known yet, we do know quite a bit about Season of the Malignant’s release date, story, its new content, and the Battle Pass. Here’s a full overview of everything we know so far.
Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant: Start date and time
Blizzard has confirmed that that Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant is scheduled to go live on July 20 at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET, so you won’t be able to engage with most of its content until then. Once it’s active, the season is expected to last until October. This is because the developers previously said that Diablo 4 seasons will be “quarterly,” so Season of the Malignant (and all future seasons) is expected to last about three months. Blizzard hasn’t given the season a concrete end date, though, so those plans could change.
Notably, you’ll need to finish the Diablo 4 campaign before you can access Season of the Malignant’s quests and content, so we recommend playing through it now. That way, you’ll be able to jump into everything the season has to offer right when it launches, giving you the maximum amount of time to reap the rewards.
Something to keep in mind is that the patch for Season of the Malignant will become available to download on July 18 — two days ahead of the start of the season. While you won’t be able to load into the Seasonal Realm and make a seasonal character until it begins, characters on the Eternal Realm will be able to get Season of the Malignant’s new Legendary Aspects and Uniques to drop.
Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant: Theme and story
Similar to other live service games like Destiny 2, Diablo 4 seasons will have a theme and a title that reflects it. Season 1’s is Season of the Malignant, and will be centered around a new corruption called “Malignance” that’s invading the world of Sanctuary and infecting everything and everyone it touches, including humans, Lilith’s demons, and other creatures.
Only a new character named Cormond (pictured above) knows how to halt the spread of the corruption, but to do so, he’ll need your help to ward off Sanctuary’s many dangers. Thus, the majority of the season’s story will revolve around your collaboration with Cormond as he works to combat the growing Malignance.
Note that Season of the Malignant’s narrative takes place after the events of the base Diablo 4 campaign, and is thought of by the developers as a relatively standalone story. Presumably, this is how future seasonal narratives will be structured as well.
Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant: Gameplay details
During Season of the Malignant, Elite mobs throughout the game will have a chance to spawn as Malignant versions with some special new buffs and attacks. Defeating them will drop a Malignant Heart, which you can then interact with by using the season’s unique Cage of Binding item. Doing this will spawn an even stronger version of the enemy supported by hordes of minions, but once you kill them, you’ll be rewarded with a Caged Heart that you can slot into armor pieces for valuable Malignant Power bonuses. These are similar to Legendary Aspects and Unique effects in that they can overhaul your build with new effects and abilities.
Malignant Power bonuses get progressively stronger as you push into endgame World Tiers and engage with content like Nightmare Dungeons, and in total, there will be 32 Malignant Powers split across four categories. Notably, you’ll be able to break down old Caged Hearts to obtain a material used to craft Invokers, which are special items you can take into infested dungeons called Malignant Tunnels. At the end of these, you can use Invokers to target farm specific Malignant Power types by spawning bosses.
Throughout the season, players will also have a Season Journey to progress through by completing various gameplay objectives. When finished, these will give rewards such as a Mastery title, a new Scroll of Amnesia item that allows you to instantly reset your skills and Paragon Board for free, Favor XP for the Battle Pass, and new Legendary Aspects.
Speaking of Legendary Aspects, Blizzard has confirmed that there will be seven new ones available to use in Season of the Malignant, along with six new Unique items that can drop. These will be available in the Eternal Realm as well, so you don’t have to engage with Diablo 4’s seasonal reset to enjoy them. You also won’t have to hunt down Altars of Lilith and map locations for Renown again if you have already, though you will still need to do side quests and complete dungeons.
Something important to note is that all of the seasonal gameplay content will be available to all players, regardless of whether or not they buy the Premium Battle Pass. That means you don’t need to buy it in order to complete the story with Cormond, engage with the new Malignant Powers, and finish the Season Journey.
Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant: Battle Pass rewards
In addition to new gameplay content, Season of the Malignant (and future seasons) will also feature a 90-tier Battle Pass with a wide variety of rewards. To progress through its tiers and unlock their items, players will need to accrue Favor XP by slaying monsters, completing quests and World Events, and finishing Season Journey challenges.
It’s important to stress that while seasonal Battle Passes are a core part of Diablo 4’s monetization, Blizzard has promised that gameplay items like Season Boosts (XP boosters) and Smoldering Ashes (a currency that allows you to unlock and upgrade Season Blessing buffs) will be available on the Battle Pass’ Free reward track. Additionally, since they have level requirements, folks won’t be able to get these unlocks early by buying Battle Pass tiers.
The developers haven’t shown fans a full finalized version of the Season of the Malignant Battle Pass yet, but based on sneak peeks of it, fans can expect the following items to be available from its 27 Free tiers:
- Season Boosts
- Smoldering Ashes
- Cosmetics
- Emotes
- Emblems
- Gold
- Titles
Note that in addition to all of the above, players who purchase the Premium upgrade for the Battle Pass will also be able to earn additional cosmetic items as well as bundles of Platinum currency that can be spent in Diablo 4’s microtransaction Shop. Here’s a list of everything we know will be in the 63 tiers of the Premium Battle Pass:
- Awoken Warded Mustang Mount
- Awoken Coldiron Barding
- Awoken Coldiron Armor Set (All Classes)
- Weapon Transmogs (Class Specific)
- Emotes
- Headstones
- 666 Platinum
How much does the Diablo 4 Battle Pass cost?
Diablo 4 Battle Passes have three distinct tiers, with each giving access to different types and amounts of rewards and two requiring real-world money in order to purchase. We’ve listed each tier and their costs below.
- Free: Free for all players, gives access to Free reward track
- Premium: Costs 1,000 Platinum (£8.39 / $9.88), gives access to Premium reward track
- Accelerated: Costs 2,800 Platinum (£20.99 / $24.99), gives access to Premium reward track, 20 tier skips, and an exclusive cosmetic
If all you care about is gameplay, you’ll probably be best off sticking with the Battle Pass’ Free tier. If you want lots of extra cosmetics to use for fashion, though, you’ll probably want the Premium Battle Pass. The Accelerated tier — essentially just a separately-sold version of the Battle Pass bonus you get from buying the Diablo 4 Ultimate Edition — is quite expensive, but does give you a significant head start on progression and includes a unique cosmetic item.