Diablo 4’sSeason of the Malignant is fast approaching, and so are the32 new Malignant Hearts. Set to release on July 20, players will get to fight Malignant monsters to get their hands on powerful new items, Battle Pass rewards, and more. As with many live service games, seasons are the beating heart of Diablo 4 and a great time to jump in.
Related:Diablo 4: Complete Beginner Guide
If you’re excited for the upcoming season and can’t wait to play, there are a few things you can do to prepare. This list will showcase six tips to help you prepare for Diablo 4’s Season of the Malignant, covering everything from account-bound progress to strategies you can practice that should AME your day one leveling experience far smoother.
6Collect Every Altar Of Lilith
Altars of Lilith are a hidden collectible that grant your character bonus power in small increments. Altar bonuses carry over between seasons, so it’s a great idea to grab all of these bonuses before a new season starts. You’ll also gain equivalent Renown XP when a new season begins, granting just over one Renown rank with each region. This will give all future characters five additional skill points right off the bat, making your leveling experience a whole lot easier.
If you haven’t found every Altars of Lilith yet, check out our Altar of Lilith collectible guides below:
5Reveal All Of Sanctuary
Similar to Altars of Lilith, discovered regions of Sanctuary will carry over between seasons in Diablo 4. Revealing the entire map of Sanctuary is not only convenient for finding Whisper events and Helltides, but it’s also an excellent source of Renown for a new character.
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Assuming you claim every Altar of Lilith and uncover the entire map, you’ll start Season of the Malignant with the second tier of Renown rewards right off the bat. This means you’ll start the season with five skill points and nine potions. Paired with the stat bonuses from every Altar of Lilith, your character will have an easy time leveling through the first two World Tiers. Uncovering the map is also useful for quickly finding Strongholds, dungeons, and other activities that act as a great source of Renown.
4Finish The Campaign
Beating the Diablo 4 campaign grants access to the game’s many endgame systems and later World Tiers, but it also unlocks a new leveling experience for future characters. Players that have completed the campaign can skip it on subsequent playthroughs, allowing you to level solely from open world content andTree of Whisper objectives.
THe best part is that this campaign skip works with seasonal characters. So long as you’ve completed the campaign at least once, you’ll be able to skip it entirely once Season of the Malignant begins. Your leveling experience can then be focused on unlocking Aspects, finding better gear, and completing world activities to gear up your character. All characters that skip the campaign also get access to their mount right away. If you want to jump straight into the endgame when the new season drops, skipping the campaign is a great idea.
3Log Into The Eternal Realm Before Playing The Season
In a recent developer livestream, Blizzard confirmed that Altars of Lilith and map progress will carry over between seasons. While this makes leveling much easier, there’s a small catch: you’ll need to log into your character with this progress before Season of the Malignant begins (source). Logging in after theJuly 18patch or later will store this progress to your account, even after the season starts.
Related:Diablo 4: Guide To Renown
For example, if you have a Necromancer character that unlocked every Altar of Lilith, you’ll need to log on your Necromancer on July 18 or later to store your Altar progress to your account. If you had an alternate character with full map progress, you’d also log onto that character to store your map progress. The good news is you only have to do this once, and that progress will apply to all future characters you make—including both seasonal and Eternal Realm characters.
2Experiment With Builds
A great time to experiment with builds is right before a new season begins. If you’re interested in finding a new build or playstyle to kickstart Season of the Malignant with, now is the time to start tinkering with your current builds or new builds entirely. Look through your stashand Codex of Powerto see if there are any interesting Legendary Aspects worth making a build out of.
While you won’t be able to play this character in the new season, you’ll have the knowledge required to create that build on the fly once Season of the Malignant begins. If you’re interested in what type of builds to try, give some of our build guides a look:
1Level A New Character
Getting through the first 50 levels in Diablo 4 can be quite time-consuming, even if you skip the campaign. This is why now is a great time to make a new character. Making a new character will let you experience the leveling experience with a campaign skip, letting you familiarize yourself with Grim Favor objectives and good XP dungeon farms.
Even if you aren’t interested in pushing to the endgame right as the new season drops, leveling a new character can be invaluable for learning what regions you enjoy playing in, which dungeons you like, and what sorts of objectives mesh with your playstyle. This also gives you a great chance to try out classes or builds you’re interested in before the season begins, letting you jump into Season of the Malignant with a build you’re confident in and enjoy playing.
