Diablo 4 Patch Notes: Reintroducing Season 1's Top Malignant Powers in a Fresh Avatar

In Diablo IV patch 1.2.2, players can now find five new unique Malignant Rings which have been reintroduced from Season 1. Each class has its own ring, all of which are based on popular Malignant Powers from the game's first season, Season of the Malignant. Unlike Season 1, where players had to equip Malignant Hearts into corresponding rings like gems, in Season 2, players only need to find and equip Malignant Rings to use them, without any additional steps. These rings are available on both the game's Eternal and Seasonal realms.

Blizzard states in the patch notes that the creation of the Malignant Rings is a means for us to repurpose popular seasonal content that had a strong impact on players and reintroduce it in a manner that can transcend the season and exist in the Eternal realm.

The remainder of the patch primarily focuses on addressing bugs, along with some minor tweaks to the game's seasonal Sanguine Battery event. The full patch notes for Diablo IV update 1.2.2 can be found below.

Blizzard recently unveiled the first expansion for Diablo IV, known as Vessel of Hatred, at BlizzCon 2023. Set to release late next year, the expansion will introduce an entirely new class that has never been seen before. Additionally, Blizzard provided details about Season 3, which will bring a fresh endgame experience called The Gauntlet, a weekly challenge dungeon complete with leaderboards and rewards.

In a previous update, Diablo IV made improvements by offering an easier method to respec Paragon Boards and introducing training dummies for players to test their builds on. Coming up on December 5, Blizzard will introduce a time-limited endgame event called the Abbatoir of Zir, specifically designed for players at level 100. Following shortly after, on December 12, the game will kick off its first-ever holiday event, where the Fractured Peaks zone will be transformed into a chilling "winter terrorland."

Diablo IV Update 1.2.2 Patch Notes

GAMEPLAY UPDATES

Malignant Rings

Five additional Unique Rings have been introduced into the game, with each class receiving one. These rings are inspired by the popular Malignant Powers found in the Season of the Malignant and can be obtained in both the Seasonal and Eternal realms.

Ring of Red Furor (Barbarian Unique Ring) - After expending 100 Fury within a span of 3 seconds, your next usage of Hammer of the Ancients, Upheaval, or Death Blow will result in a guaranteed Critical Strike. Additionally, it inflicts an additional 10-30% (multiplicative damage) [x] Critical Strike Damage.

Tal Rasha's Radiant Circle (Unique Sorcerer Ring): Gain 10-15% increased damage for 4 seconds for each type of Elemental damage dealt. Dealing Elemental damage refreshes all bonuses.

Airidah's Unyielding Resolve (Unique Druid Ring): Pull in Distant enemies and deal 0.5-1.0 Physical damage to them when casting an Ultimate Skill, and again 5 seconds later. This damage is increased by 1% per 1 point of Willpower you have.

The Rogue Unique Ring, Writhing Band of Trickery, creates a Decoy Trap that taunts and entices enemies when a Subterfuge Skill is used. After 3 seconds, the Decoy Trap detonates, causing 2.0-3.0 points of Shadow damage. This ability can be used once every 12 seconds.

The Necromancer Unique Ring, Ring of the Sacrilegious Soul, automatically triggers the equipped Skills on nearby Corpses. It summons a Skeleton every 1-2 seconds.

Corpse Explosion every 1-2 seconds.

Corpse Tendrils every 8-16 seconds.

Season of Blood

The Sanguine Battery Event has undergone the following modifications.

Pillar health has been increased from 75% to 85%.

Pillar repair time has been decreased from 3 seconds to 1 second.

BUG FIXES

Season of Blood

Resolved a problem involving the lack of stun effect on the supplementary adversaries during the encounter with Lord Zir, when Lord Zir incurs staggered.

Addressed a bug where the temporary enhancements to movement speed would not activate upon triggering Metamorphosis.

Improved the display of Cooldown Reduction for Ultimate abilities when in town in relation to the Anticipation Vampiric Power.

Resolved the problem with the Hectic Vampiric Power not effectively reducing the cooldown of skills with charges.

The seasonal quests "Battle of Fear" and "Faith" can now only be completed after completing Chapter 3 of the Season Journey.

The upgrade button for Vampiric Powers is no longer interactive when there are no new powers available, preventing the wastage of 25 Potent Blood.

Fixed an issue where Lord Zir could not respawn if the player re-entered the boss arena too quickly after respawning.

Fixed an issue where Evade and non-damaging Skills could trigger Hemomancy.

Dungeons and Events

Addressed a bug that caused players to be unable to progress due to an enemy appearing behind a locked door in the Luban's Rest dungeon.

Resolved an issue where monsters were able to spawn from a Nightmare Portal location even after the portal had been teleported or destroyed.

Quests

Addressed numerous occurrences where the quest marker would vanish upon departing the vicinity in the midst of various quests.

Resolved a problem where Prava and her knights could cease their advancement throughout the area while undertaking the Scouring of Caldeum if specific Elites were eliminated from a distance during the “Kill Demons Attacking from Above” mission.

Gameplay

Fixed an issue wherein Lilith retained the ability to execute area-of-effect attacks even after her defeat in the first phase of the Echo of Lilith.

Fixed a bug where Angelbreath or Potions would occasionally appear at random intervals when The Beast in the Ice spawned.

Fixed an issue where followers could get stuck when going back and forth over a traversal.

Fixed an issue where Inner Sight didn't trigger properly against Training Dummies.

Fixed a problem where Training Dummies were not being attacked by Necromancer Minions and Druid Companions.

Accessibility

Fixed an issue where life totals above 999 were not being read correctly by the Screen Reader.

Fixed the problem where the Screen Reader on PS4 failed to read all the text in Vendor and Crafting displays.

Miscellaneous

Resolved the issue where achievements associated with the Hatred's Chosen buff were not triggering correctly.

Various visual, performance, and stability improvements.

Editor's P/S

As an avid fan of Diablo 4, I am thrilled about the latest update, which reintroduces the popular Malignant Powers from Season 1 in the form of captivating Malignant Rings. This addition brings back fond memories of the game's inaugural season and allows players to relive the excitement of wielding those potent abilities. The fact that these rings can be found on both the Eternal and Seasonal realms provides even more opportunities for players to engage with this exciting content.

The developers' decision to repurpose popular seasonal content in a way that transcends the season and exists in the Eternal realm is commendable. It showcases their commitment to keeping the game fresh and engaging while respecting the impact that certain seasonal features had on players. By introducing the Malignant Rings, players can continue to enjoy the essence of those powers beyond the confines of Season 1.