Diablo 4: How Season One Mechanisms Work and What Should We Do

We will rise to the occasion of Diablo 4 Season One - Season of the Malignant on July 20 at 10 a.m. PDT. It will be a new adventure for us too. So, this article will cover the beliefs and mechanisms behind the Seasons and things we should do to participate in season one.

Season One Mechanisms

Seasons have time limits, which introduce innovative gameplay mechanics into Sanctuary. And due to its reset, the dev team can produce crazy, delightful Season themes in a vacuum without worrying about balancing the current Season with the mechanics introduced in once or unborn Seasons.

More Challenges and Chances

With Seasons, players can encounter more challenges and chances. Blizzard encourages gamers to try a new class or different shapes for a class they’ve grown fond of because seasons are a chance to get creative while demolishing demons.

Equal Playing Field

Also, Seasons present an equal playing field. Even new Diablo 4 characters can conquer the terrible challenges a Season’s theme brings and progress through the Seasonal Journey together.

New Seasonal Storyline

There is a new seasonal storyline in Season of the Malignant. Malignant Monsters are new threats from Lilith’s sinister machinations. To defeat them, you need to investigate this mysterious sickness in a new Questline with the help of Cormond, a former priest of the Cathedral of Light. After he trained, you can capture the Malignant Hearts, which are what Malignant Monsters dropped. These monsters can be captured by performing a ritual with the Cage of Binding, an Diablo 4 item acquired during the Season’s Questline. You can fuel these foul beasts and convert their hearts into build-altering powers. If you can defeat Fully Corrupted enemies, you can get a version of Malignant Heart and place it into special Infested sockets in your Jewelry instead of a Normal Gem.

The Season will also introduce a new seasonal mechanic called Malignant Essence, a powerful but dangerous resource you can collect from enemies, chests, and events. You can use Malignant Essence to activate Malignant Shrines, which are special shrines that grant you temporary buffs but also spawn more enemies and hazards. You can also use Malignant Essence to craft Malignant Items, which are unique items of Diablo 4 with powerful effects and drawbacks.

Once the Season has ended, the seasonal character will go into the Eternal Realm. You can take this character into Sanctuary, along with Diablo 4 gold in the character’s stash, but Season-specific features similar to Nasty Hearts will no longer be accessible.

What Should We Do

Create a new character on the Seasonal Realm to participate in seasons.

Complete the campaign on at least one character you already have, so you can access the new seasonal content and skip the campaign on your seasonal characters.

Unlock your horse on at least one character you already have so that you can use it at level 1 on your new seasonal characters.

Uncover the entire map on your main character so that you can transfer the map progress to your seasonal characters.

Find Lilith statues on your main character to transfer the stat boosts to your seasonal characters.

Look for Aspects of your main character to unlock new skills and abilities for your seasonal characters.

Pick up side quests on your main character to earn extra Renown and rewards for your seasonal characters.

Don’t sell your salvage items on your main character, so you can use the materials for crafting and upgrading your seasonal characters.