Diablo IV‘s first season arrives on July 20, and with it a new era for Blizzard’s latest ARPG. Each new season demands a brand new character with new challenges and enemies. Seasons aren’t new to the franchise, but the way they’re implemented in part is Diablo IVThe live-service elements make them very different here.
The latest in the ongoing series of popular action-RPG games, Diablo IV An always-online game with many of the features we’ve come to expect from modern live-service games, such as battle passes and a cosmetic shop. Those monetized features are not without controversy, and time will tell whether they are truly enriching or not. Diablo Experience. For now, we know about this Diablo IVSeason One: Season of the Malignant.
Seasonal characters
In a quick video, Blizzard explained how a seasonal system works Diablo IV The new characters you make each season will work.
As mentioned in the video, you’ll need to create new characters to tackle each new season (your existing ones will remain untouched and fully playable in the main game). Non-seasonal characters exist in the “Eternal Realm”, while seasonal characters’ escapes take place in the aptly named “Seasonal Realm”. As Blizzard suggests, at the end of the season, your seasonal character will move to the Eternal Realm, where you can continue to play to your heart’s content.
A few game options are also found in the quick rundown. Just like the normal game, you can choose hardcore (permat) and whether you want to skip the campaign or not. As the video suggests, you must complete the campaign once with any character in the Eternal Realm before you can roll a seasonal character. It looks like you can play through the campaign with a seasonal character if you want, but you won’t have access to the actual seasonal content until you’ve sidelined Lilith at least once.
One potential problem: the game only has 10 character slots. In the early days this may not be a big issue anymore Diablo IVBut it makes us wonder what happens when these seasons start adding up.
shed Blizzard has been approached for information on character slots.
Like creating a new Eternal character, potion abilities, bonuses from Lilith statues, and other recurring unlocks carry over to the new character, so you’re not playing catch-up every season.
But what exactly is in store for this particular season and what kind of stuff is Blizzard throwing here for you to play with?
Diablo IV: Season of the Malicious 101
Let’s get to the story. What better way to do that than to check? Diablo IVHere is the season trailer:
Diablo IVThe first season of Introducing all new depraved baddies for you to fight. They’re called Malignant Monsters, and you’ll be taking them on in a new questline.
Malignancy breaks down into two forms: partially ruptured and completely ruptured. You collect Malignant Hearts from the partially corrupted and use them in rituals along with the item you get from the main quest of the season. This ritual will see the slain creature respawn as a completely disfigured enemy, which you’ll drop down to receive a new virulent drop that you can drop into gem-like sockets. It looks like killing it directly, collecting it, and creating a pattern like this. We’ll break down the details when Season of the Malignant premieres later this month.
But new enemies aren’t the only ones. Malignant Tunnels are replayable dungeons filled with munching malignant monsters, and there’s even a new boss battle: Version The Consumed.
What’s in that battle pass?
If you’ve played any live-service game with Battle Pass these days, Diablo IVThe appearance is very similar. There are both free rewards for those who didn’t opt for the Premium Battle Pass, and really cool stuff for those who spent some money.
Well, how much does it cost?
There are 27 free decks for you to play and more than 60 for which you have to spend money to reap the rewards. Naturally, you will need to purchase a Premium Coin to purchase the War Pass. Let’s all take a moment to sigh. It’s never straightforward, is it? Well, here is the cost breakdown. You have two options: Premium, which costs 1,000 Platinum ($10 USD) and Accelerated for 2,800 USD ($24.99). As you might expect, Accelerated allows you to skip up to 20 layers in Battle Pass and you get a unique feel. Individual tier skips cost 200 platinum.
Platinum is offered in the following bundles:
- 200 Platinum: $2
- 500 Platinum: $5
- 1,000 Platinum: $10
- 2,800 Platinum: $25
- 5,700 Platinum: $50
- 11,500 Platinum: $100
Note: If you purchased the Digital Deluxe or Ultimate Edition, you already have the pass, but must redeem it in the store under “Seasons”.
How are you progressing through the battle pass?
As you play throughout the season, you earn “paver” by playing quality Diablo Subject: Crap and wanted murder. A season also has objectives listed in the “Season Journey”.
As you progress through the Battle Pass, you’ll earn “Smoldering Ashes”, which grant bonuses to seasonal characters (and seasonal characters only).
Everything you need to do before Diablo IV: Malignant season
Well, you are ready to face these new threats from July 20. What should you do?
First, as I mentioned before: finish that campaign! This will allow you to skip the entire story of Lilith’s defeat and cut straight to new content with your new character.
Second, work on unlocking your extra potion slots and extra skill points. This will lead to your new seasonal writing.
read more: Diablo IV: Three go-to Druid builds crush everything
Third, think about who your first seasonal character will be. You might want to check it out Our level 1-50 druid guide is three unique builds. Or if you want to try something a little different, check out this video that describes our “Pierbender” build:
The clock is ticking when the season starts, so the better your leveling plan and the better you understand it Diablo IVThe more complex systems, the better. For that, Check out our guide to 16 things Diablo IV Didn’t tell you, Our 29 tips to become the best Diablo playr, and what Settings you should consider tweaking.
Diablo IV: Season of the Malignant Starts on July 20. Finish that campaign already! (That’s yelling at myself, by the way).
“Total coffee junkie. Tv ninja. Unapologetic problem solver. Beer expert.”