When is Diablo 4 Season 1: Season of the Malignant? Dates, theme & rewards

Diablo 4 may have a complete and lengthy campaign but there’s more coming. Here’s everything we know about Diablo 4 Season 1: Season of the Malignant.

Diablo is no stranger to seasonal updates, with Diablo 3’s final season and Diablo 2: Resurrected’s Ladder mode. Even Diablo Immortal has its seasonal content through its Battle Pass, a system that Diablo 4 will likely emulate with its own seasons. Not only does Diablo 3 feature an epic campaign, but it also has meaty and engaging endgame content.

However, like the previous Diablo games, Diablo 4’s getting a seasonal cycle with the first season is coming soon, but what will be the theme and rewards be? Let’s take a look at everything we currently know about Diablo 4 Season 1: Season of the Malignant.

Contents

• Does Diablo 4 Season 1 have a start date?
• Diablo 4 Season 1: Season of the Malignant theme
• Rewards

Does Diablo 4 Season dates

Diablo 4 Season 1: Season of the Malignant will be arriving on July 20, 2023, with new legendary items coming to the Eternal Realm as soon as July 18.

The new season will start players in a completely different area with some key differences to the core progression, creating a fresh experience even for those who have seen everything Diablo 4’s current version has to offer.

A recent seasonal guide video posted on the Diablo YouTube channel confirms the end date for Season of the Malignant on October 9.

This means the season will run for a total of 11 weeks and four days so players will have plenty of time to grab all the rewards and complete the Battle Pass.

Diablo 4 Season 1: Season of the Malignant theme

Diablo 4’s first season, the Season of the Malignant, sees a corruption spreading through the land. This corruption affects every part of the world. Players will be tasked with stopping this corruption.

You’ll start Season 1 right in Kyovishad, a hub city that normally takes players a while to reach. The story will be starting right form there on players’ fresh seasonal character. With the new story, players will encounter Malignant enemies that drop Malignant Hearts.

These Malignant Hearts promise a great challenge, but also a Caged Heart that can be socketed into gear to grant players incredible power. The developer described these hearts as creating “stupid new broken builds that are hopefully balanced.”

Players will also be able to farm specific hearts via Invoker events in order to go for the perfect build, new boss fights, new legendaries, and new unique items. While Malignant items won’t be in the Eternal Realm, new legendaries will be available for existing non-seasonal characters.

For a more detailed look into the season’s new mechanics and how they work together, check out our handy guide.

What’s more, cross-character map progression is finally being added. Things like areas of the map previously explored on other characters and aspects gained from dungeons will now be present across characters. All you have to do is log into the game on your character with the most progress when the patch drops on July 18, 2023.

Having so many bonuses right off the bat in Season 1 will give players who have thoroughly played through Diablo 4 a massive advantage.

What will the Diablo 4 Season 1 rewards be?

Blizzard Entertainment

While we don’t have a list of every cosmetic in the battle pass, we do know that it will contain 27 Free Tiers and 63 Premium Tiers all filled with rewards from Cosmetics, Smoldering Ashes, and so much more. Players are also encouraged to finish the main Diablo 4 campaign before starting the season due to some seasonal events only being available after you’re finished the main story.

Smoldering Ashes were also explained as something that gives players a boost to all their seasonal characters. Additionally, players can’t pay their way into getting Smoldering Ashes if their character isn’t a high enough level to collect them, and these ashes are on the free track of the pass.

Developers at Blizzard have assured players that the paid part of the pass is exclusively cosmetic and that anything on the track that grants additional power in-game will be free and available for all.

To find out more about the Battle Pass, check out our handy guide detailing its cost, and everything you need to know.

That’s everything you need to know about Diablo 4’s first season. When more information is revealed we will be updating this article so be sure to check back soon. In the meantime, take a look at some of our other handy Diablo 4 guides and content:

Best Diablo 4 Druid builds | Best Diablo 4 Necromancer builds | Best Diablo 4 Sorcerer builds | Will Diablo 4 be on Steam Deck? | How to get Diablo 4 beta wolf pet cosmetic | Diablo 4 system requirements | Will Diablo 4 have microtransactions & is it pay to win? | Is Diablo 4 coming to Nintendo Switch? | Diablo 4: Who is Tyrael? | Will Diablo 4 have controller support on PC?