Diablo 4’s Season 1 is a hyped patch of content, with players wanting all the new changes and new seasonal content to sink their teeth into thanks to the limits of the base game’s end game content. Thankfully, Blizzard Entertainment did a live stream, aka a campfire talk, showcasing the not so distant future of the game, its QoL changes and other things you can expect from the first big seasonal patch. Here’s everything we know about Season 1 of Diablo 4.

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Here is everything we know about Diablo 4 Season 1. Image via Blizzard Entertainment.

Diablo 4 Season 1 - The Season of the Malignant: What We Know¶

The Season of the Malignant is an season that effects the overworld, with a new type of enemy arriving. The Malignant Monsters will attack anyone on site, and thanks to a new questline from a man named Cormond, you will be able to defeat these monsters and grab their hearts.

The hearts are the seasonal affix, which brings a new feature called transmute into play. Players will need to get these Malignant Hearts, using an item called the Cage of Binding, which is a new season item coming on launch. When you use the item, these corrupted creatures will turn fully corrupted and fight you, and defeating them, you get their Malignant Hearts, which are used like gems to socket into special gear socket gems. There are also 32 different types of Malignant Hearts, so, it means there’s going to be a variety of buffs to collect.

As for where you can farm these items? There’s going to be areas called Malignant Tunnels, which are a type of dungeon with these Malignant threats, including an end boss, named Varshan the Consumed.

QOL Changes¶

The following information was revealed in the June campfire chat post launch. A number of the problems mentioned are either now becoming live in the game already, or still to come in pre-season or at the start of season 1. Below is a taste of what you can expect.

1. Veiled Crystals - The Veiled Crystals resource is an important resource for upgrading all items beyond Rare, including Ancestral, Sacred, Unique, Legendary, and more. To make it easier to store these for when you need them, the item cap is going to 9999, which is more than enough resource space to max produce full quality upgrades using this resource across several seasonal characters.

2. Renown Farming: Blizzard is aware of the chore that it is to grind renown on every character, and so, in Season 1, players will be able to see all discovered map areas on alts, including uncovering all Altars of Lilith Map Markers, and unlocking them for all future seasonal characters. It means all future characters will get the renown for these locations and objectives too, so they can claim those renown rewards.

3. Seasonal character campaign skips: Blizzard revealed that Seasonal Characters have the option to skip the campaign, and get straight into the action, as long as a seasonal or eternal character has already completed the campaign.

4. New Unique and Legendary Items: Blizzard is adding in 7 new Legendary Aspects to the game, along with 6 new Unique Items. We are not sure what they are just yet, whether some are generic, for specific classes, or anything in between, so, we will likely find out when the patch goes live what they are.

Season of the Malignant Battle Pass¶

The Season of the Malignant Battle Pass begins on July 20, at 10 AM PT, which means 1 PM ET, 6PM BST, 7 PM CEST, and another time zones alike. When it begins, players can begin progressing through the 90 Tiers, featuring 27 Free Tiers, and 63 Premium Tiers. The premium tiers come with the usual cosmetic options, featuring mounts, class sets, weapons and more. There will also be more cosmetics in the store too if you so wish to whale.

As you play through the battle pass, free tiers will grant a item called Smoldering Ashes, which unlock Seasonal Blessings, which are account wide seasonal buffs, which help you getter better XP, elixir duration, and other such things.

Diablo 4 Season 1 Release Date Arrives July 20¶

As it stands, there is no evidence for a specific time regarding Diablo 4 Season 1 Release Date. However, it appears with the battle pass launching at July 20, 10 a.m. PDT, it likely means the season will go live at that time too.