Exclusive: Unveiling Diablo 4's Epic Season 1: Start Date, Name, and Exciting News!

Diablo 4's upcoming first season, the Season of the Malignant, is set to introduce exciting new additions to the game. Players can expect to find new Legendary Aspects, Uniques, and a fresh mechanic inspired by Reaper of Souls. Blizzard recently shared details about Diablo 4 in a livestream, including the release date, theme, and content for the first season.

The Season of the Malignant will kick off on July 20, offering Diablo 4 players an engaging seasonal questline and exciting gameplay features. While sockets haven't been received well by the community, the new season will introduce Malignant Hearts. These Hearts resemble the Legendary Gems from Reaper of Souls and serve as the central element of Season 1. Players will have the opportunity to socket Malignant Hearts into their gear to unlock powerful bonuses.

When Does Diablo 4 Season 1 Start?

Unlike Legendary Gems, Malignant Hearts are irremovable but can be replaced. In Diablo 4's endgame, players will have the opportunity to collect 32 Malignant Hearts. These can be obtained by farming specific Malignant Tunnels found throughout the open world of Diablo 4. Additionally, Elite enemies with the Malignant affix might drop Malignant Hearts, providing another avenue for acquisition. It is important to note that only Infested jewelry can accommodate a Malignant Heart, requiring players to obtain such jewelry in order to fully utilize this new mechanic.

Diablo 4 Season 1 will begin on July 20. While players will retain their Legendary Aspects from the Codex of Power in the new season, they will need to unlock them again by completing their Season Journey. Certain objectives can be accomplished by playing through the story, but Malignant Hearts and Infested items will only drop for players who have finished the campaign with at least one character. The Diablo 4 Battle Pass will include 27 free levels, offering crafting materials and cosmetics that can be used by all classes. Premium levels will provide extra cosmetics.

Unlike the Codex of Power, Renown in Diablo 4 will carry over completely into the Season of the Malignant. Players simply need to log in on patch day to claim all eligible Renown rewards for their seasonal heroes, including bosses, exploration, and Altars of Lilith. In order to make things easier, a Scroll of Amnesia will be introduced at a later date to reset a character's Paragon Board, Skills, and Passives.

In addition, Helltides in Diablo 4 will be significantly enhanced. Uniques will now have a chance to drop from Helltide Chests. However, some players have expressed dissatisfaction with Malignant Hearts being limited to Infested items instead of any jewelry. The developers have mentioned that if the community enjoys a seasonal mechanic, it could potentially be implemented in the Eternal Realm of Diablo 4.

Diablo 4 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.