The Diablo 4 seasonal content in a way that the franchise has not yet done before. Coming in D4 is the implementation of the seasonal content, and while that’s pretty bog standard for the Diablo and ARPG genre, the way they tackle it is different. Players will be introduced to rotating cash shops, battle passes, seasonal story content, seasonal gameplay affixes and mechanics, and now apparently season-long buffs you can buy using a new currency called Smoldering Ashes. Here’s everything you need to know about Diablo 4’s Smoldering Ashes.
Here’s how Smoldering Ashes work and Seasonal Blessings in Diablo 4. Image via Blizzard Entertainment.
What are Smoldering Ashes in Diablo 4?¶
Diablo 4’s Smoldering Ashes is a currency that players can use to create season-long buffs. When Diablo 4 Season 1 launches, and from every season on from that until Blizz decides to change things up, you can purchase account-wide buffs. These buffs are called Season Blessings, which are passive upgrades for all characters you make for that seasonal content.
Each Seasonal Blessing does something different. In Season 1, the Season Blessings are as follows:
| Smoldering Ash Buff | Effect | % per level |
|---|---|---|
| Urn of Aggression | Boost to XP earned from Monster kills. | 3% |
| Urn of Bargaining | Boost to the amount of Gold earned from Vendor Sales. | 5% |
| Urn of Reclamation | Boost to the chance of rare materials from salvage. | 10% |
| Urn of Prolonging | Boost to the duration of all Elixirs. | 15% |
| Urn of Malignance | Boost to the chance of powerful Malignant Heart Drops. Hearts drop after completing the campaign. | 5% |
It’s also important to note that you can only spend your Smoldering Ashes when you reach certain level requirements or journey unlocks. This means you can’t pay to win by buying tier skips and getting to spend seasonal buffs and getting advantages immediately.
How to Get Smoldering Ashes in Diablo 4¶
To get Smoldering Ashes in Diablo 4, you will need to progress the free version of the Diablo 4 Battle Pass. All players will acquire Smoldering Ashes, whether they choose to buy tier skips or not. But, to progress your Battle Pass, free or paid, you must complete parts of your season journey. This is a special part of the UI that will open when you play during seasonal content. The Journey will be filled with tasks, which you complete in stages. Completing tasks grants Favor, and Favor is basically the XP bar that ticks your Battle Pass up from one tier to the next. You can also get very tiny amount of favor just by playing the game and doing anything.
Here is a table showcasing the tiers you get the Smoldering Ashes in Diablo 4, along the level requirement you character needs to be before you can claim those reward for your character.
| Battle Pass Tier | Player Level | Ashes amount |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | 40 | 1 |
| 18 | 53 | 1 |
| 28 | 62 | 1 |
| 38 | 71 | 1 |
| 48 | 78 | 1 |
| 52 | 80 | 1 |
| 58 | 82 | 1 |
| 62 | 86 | 1 |
| 68 | 89 | 1 |
| 72 | 90 | 1 |
| 77 | 93 | 1 |
| 82 | 97 | 2 |
| 88 | 100 | 3 |
As you can see, the amount of Smoldering Ashes you get early on in is very limited, but, as you start getting further and further into end game, the Smoldering Ashes stack up.
Best Seasonal Blessing Buffs for Smoldering Ashes in Diablo 4¶
So, based on the season 1 data, the best seasonal blessings are as follows:
- Urn of Aggression
- Urn of Prolonging
- Urn of Malice (seasonal)
Urn of Aggression is a no brainer. The vast majority of your XP while leveling, especially when you reach the end game is via monster kills. Blizzard made it apparent that they have buffed the amount of XP you get from monster kills in Nightmare Dungeon to make the Nightmare Dungeon farms the lucrative method of leveling up, thanks to the season 0 XP farm nerfs. So we highly recommend putting your Smoldering Ashes into the Urn of Aggression from level 53 onwards to assist with climbing the end game levels, so you can reach the other Smoldering Ashes targets later on. It’s also helpful in case you reroll part way through the season too.
- Read More: Nightmare Dungeon Tier List
The other ones are the Seasonal buffs, and the elixir buff. Elixirs, especially the more general elixirs lasting longer is better for both your herb farming, and getting more XP per hour. Not to mention your build’s buff last longer, so you get more crit for longer, or whatever else your build likes doing.
Meanwhile, the Season 1 buff makes it easier to get rarer Malignant Hearts. If thats going to be a big part of your build, then, the Urn of Malignant is a major purchase. We recommend doing this with your first Urn, so you can start getting luckier as you enter World Tier 3 with some of the stronger Wrathful Malignant Hearts.
We also don’t really feel the Bargaining or Reclamation are almost never worth it, unless there’s a seasonal mechanic based on them. The reason why is just dismantling in general will net enough resources to passively upgrade items, or craft new legendary pieces. Moreso, Gold is borderline a dead stat, even with the 40% gold nerf for respecing. The only time money is ever an issue is when you need to respec constantly, which is a problem for Druids that rely on 
Tempest Roar builds to to transition an entire build, and paragon nodes. But, even then, the 40% nerfs to gold costs mean you save actual millions of gold.
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