The Diablo 4 base game provides a lot of content for players to enjoy, including a lengthy main quest and a robust endgame grind. While most players won’t run out of things to do for the foreseeable future, some are curious about what updates are in the pipeline when the game starts rolling out seasonal content..
Well, the curious can wait no longer. On a July 6 livestream, the Diablo 4 development team officially revealed the title and release date for the first season, Season of the Malignant.
Here is everything we know about Diablo 4’s season one.
Diablo 4 season one release date
Season one of Diablo 4, Season of the Malignant, will officially launch on July 20, 2023, at 12pm CT. The patch for the first season will go live on July 18, two days before the season actually starts.
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Players will need to complete the campaign before they can participate in the “next chapter” introduced in season one. The main quest line takes roughly 30 to 40 hours to complete, so finishing it as soon as possible is pertinent.
Diablo 4 season one gameplay and features
Players will have to deal with an unknown, Malignant corruption that is corrupting the hearts of all creatures; any elite enemy you run into has a chance to be a Malignant Monster. After defeating said enemy, you can capture its Malignant Heart, which activates a ritual that resurrects the defeated enemy into an even more powerful creature with allies.
Defeat that elite enemy again, and you can pick up a Caged Heart, which is like a powerful alternate gem that can be socketed into your gear, resulting in some potentially “stupid powerful, broken builds,” according to the devs. Hearts can also be broken down and salvaged to craft new items. There are 32 new Malignant Powers that can be wielded with these Malignant Hearts.
Players can acquire more Malignant Hearts and take on the newest boss, Varshan the Consumed, in the new replayable dungeons, the Malignant Tunnels.
The new season will also introduce new gameplay features, questlines, legendary items, class balance changes, quality-of-life improvements, a battle pass, and other updates.
Diablo 4 season one battle pass rewards
Diablo 4 players can expect a battle pass in each new season, including season one. The first Diablo 4 battle pass will contain 27 free tiers and 63 premium tiers featuring cosmetic and Smoldering Ashes. Smoldering Ashes, a new resource, can be spent on Season Blessings, providing bonuses for earning XP, Gold, or Obols.
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Players can have more than one Season Blessing active at once, making it easier than ever to progress. But these bonuses only last until the end of the season, and players must achieve certain gameplay requirements to prevent players from gaining an unfair advantage by purchasing tier skips.
Players who want to earn premium rewards from the battle pass will need to purchase the premium battle pass for 1,000 Platinum ($9.99). The premium pass doesn’t provide any other benefit besides unlocking tiers with cosmetic items unique to each season. The premium awards also include the Platinum currency, which can be spent in the shop to acquire other cosmetic items or can be used to purchase future battle passes.
Dedicated players can also purchase the “Accelerated Battle Pass,” which includes the premium battle pass alongside 20 tier skips, a special cosmetic, and costs 2,800 Platinum ($24.99). I personally don’t have enough time to grind through the entire battle pass, making the tier skips a valid option for me.
Each season will also include a Season Journey menu, which provides details about the new content. The battle pass is leveled up by completing chapters in the Season Journey, which feature multiple objectives. Players must finish all objectives in the chapter to complete it, unlocking seasonal awards like crafting materials and legendary aspects.
Completing objectives also rewards players with an amount of Favor, which is the resource needed to progress through the battle pass tiers. Favor can also be obtained by finishing quests, participating in events, and killing monsters.
Diablo 4 seasonal characters
As has been the case with previous games, Diablo 4 will require new characters each season. These seasonal characters will be the only way to progress each season’s battle pass, as was confirmed by Blizzard’s Rod Fergusson.
“To take part in the seasonal questline, mechanics, season journey and battle pass, you will need to create a new seasonal character,” Fergusson said in a tweet to Forbes writer Paul Tassi on June 10. “Playing a campaign with seasonal character (if you so desire or need to finish) will also progress the season journey and battle pass.”
In the July 6 livestream, though, the developers clarified you will not have to run through the entire campaign on a seasonal character if you’ve already completed it. Players that have completed the campaign will also have their mount available, and all previously discovered areas and Altars of Lilith unlocked and revealed.
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So, if you’re currently leveling your Druid to 100 and itching to start up a Necromancer, it may be smart to wait until season one begins to level that seasonal Wanderer for the battle pass experience.
