The new Season - Season of the Malignant - comes to Diablo 4 on July 20, and it will introduce a heap of new content into the game! It will include a new gameplay mechanic called Malignant Hearts, new Legendary Aspects and Uniques, exclusive time-limited Battle Pass, and much more.
The new Season of Diablo 4 is a great chance to hop back into the game, create a new character, and experience the game fresh with all its exciting additions. Everyone starts from scratch, and that's the fun of it - but there are still things you can do to prepare yourself for the upcoming update.
First of all, you might want to learn all about the Malignant Hearts mechanic - we have an article dedicated to that. Second, if you want to catch up on the news, please check out our Season of the Malignant overview blogpost.
And if you've already crossed off both of those items from your checklist - great! But keep reading - below we have more tips that you might find useful as we're all saying goodbye to Diablo 4 Preseason and transitioning into Season of the Malignant!
Complete the Campaign
The Season of the Malignant update will add a new storyline to the game that will put you up against a new threat. Malignant Monsters roam the land after the downfall of Lilith and have overtaken with the world of Sanctuary, minds lost and killing at random.
With the help of Cormond - the new character in the story and a former priest of the Cathedral of Light - you will fight to stop the spread of the Malignant. You will harness the power of this twisted corruption to uncover the source of the Malignance and put it to an end.
However, to gain access to this Seasonal quest, you need to finish the main Campaign storyline first. Important thing is - you don't have to play through the main story again after the Season starts if you have completed it at least once on any character on the account. You can just choose to skip it and get straight into all the new stuff!
If you skip the Diablo 4 campaign during Season of the Malignant, you will start at Level 1 in Kyovashad, and you will immediately receive a Seasonal quest called Burning from Within. It will introduce you to the new Malignant mechanic that you will be able to enjoy right away, without the need to level all the way into endgame.
If you are yet to complete the Campaign during Preseason, consider making a push to finish it, since it will save you plenty of time!
Finish Renown Grind
You've been working hard on your Renown, discovering the world, finding Altars of Lilith, clearing Dungeons and completing Side Quests all over the world of Sanctuary. The bonuses provided through Renown system are significant, so it was all well-worth your time.
Unfortunely, you won't be able to keep all of your earned Renown after the Season resets, but some of the points will carry over - in particular, Areas Discovered and Altars of Lilith.
In Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant, you will start with the fog of war state you had in the previous Season, and Altars of Lilith you have unlocked will be marked on the map with their bonuses credited to your account.
It is worth to invest some time into completing the Altars of Lilith and Areas Discovered. All of their Renown points combined together will provide you with additional 5 Skill points and 5 Potions - a huge boost you will get right at the start of Season of the Malignant!
If you're struggling with finding all the Altars, you can use this Interactive Map, it will help you complete the grind in no time.
Log In July 18th
This was a very important piece of advice shared by Diablo 4 developers during the Season of the Malignant reveal stream.
Even though the Season starts on July 20 and most of its new content becomes available then, the game patch itself will go live on July 18. It will include all the general Diablo 4 updates such as balance changes, new unique and legendary items, and quality of life enhancements.
You will be able to log in right after the update on July 18 and enjoy all of these additions on the Eternal (non-Seasonal) Realm with all of your current characters from the Preseason.
However, there's one more crucial reason to log in on July 18 which is more technical in nature. To make sure that your Renown rewards properly carry over into the new Season, you need to log into the game with that one from your characters which has amassed the most of Renown.
Once you've done that, the game will propagate that character's world state to your entire account, unlocking the map and the corresponding Renown rewards for all of your future Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant characters.
Above are the three crucial steps you can take now to come fully prepared for the upcoming season. Also, be sure to watch this official Diablo 4 video below to catch up on everything related to the game's Seasonal structure:
