Diablo 4 Season 1 Brings Malignant Hearts to Sanctuary
The first season after the Release of Diablo 4 dropped on July 20, 2023, and Blizzard decided to go big. Season of the Malignant doesn't just add a battle pass and call it a day - it fundamentally changes how you build characters with 32 new Malignant Hearts that are basically legendary powers on steroids.
Table of Contents
Hearts That Actually Matter
Forget regular gems. Malignant Hearts socket into special slots on your jewelry and provide game-changing effects. We're talking about The Barber, which stores all your critical strike damage for up to 4 seconds before exploding it onto surrounding enemies with a 10% damage bonus per second stored. That's the kind of power spike that makes you completely rethink your build.
The hearts come in four flavors:
- Vicious (Orange) - Offensive powerhouses
- Brutal (Blue) - Defensive buffs that actually keep you alive
- Devious (Pink) - Utility effects for the galaxy brain plays
- Wrathful (White) - The rare ones that fit any socket and break the game
Getting Your Hands Dirty
You'll need to hunt Malignant Monsters and use the Cage of Binding to capture their corrupted hearts. Here's where it gets spicy - using the cage makes the elite respawn stronger with adds, turning every heart capture into a mini-boss fight.
Don't like the heart you got? Salvage it at Cormond's Wagon for Ichor, then craft the type you actually want. It takes 35 Brutal and 35 Devious Ichor to craft a random Vicious heart, so get ready to grind.
The Meta Shift
Malignant Pact cycles through three bonuses every 20 kills - 20% attack speed, resource restoration, or a defensive barrier. Stack that with Creeping Death's 30-40% damage boost per crowd control effect, and suddenly your frozen, stunned, slowed enemies are taking astronomical damage.
The best part? These aren't just number tweaks. Hearts like The Barber completely change your rotation and playstyle. You're not just doing more damage - you're playing differently.
Campaign First, Hearts Later
One catch - you need to finish the campaign before accessing seasonal content. But once you do, every new seasonal character can skip straight to the Malignant hunt. Fair trade for power this significant.
Season of the Malignant proves Blizzard isn't playing it safe with seasonal content. These hearts aren't just incremental upgrades - they're build-defining powers that make you excited to roll a new character just to try different combinations.
