As with any action RPG with online play, Diablo 4 will roll out seasonal play to help keep the game fresh and relevant for months to come.

These are basically limited-time events (usually a minimum of 3 months) where you have to start a new character from scratch for that season, level up, and get exclusive rewards and power-ups from that Season. A good example is Diablo 3, where new Seasons mean new gameplay mechanics that help power up your characters to crazy heights and offer new ways to play, as well as exclusive gear up for grabs. There’s even a Battle Pass for this season, meaning you can reap more rewards for the next few months.

Here’s what you need to know about Diablo 4’s debut Season.

When is Diablo 4 Season 1 coming out?

The first season will be out on 21st July.

The launch times of Diablo 4 Season 1 are as follows :

20th July: 10 AM (PDT)

20th July: 10.30 PM (IST)

20th July: 7 PM (CEST)

20th July: 5PM (GMT)

20th July: 1PM (EDT)

21st July: 2AM (AEST)

The release for Malaysia is at 1am on the 21st of July.

What is Diablo 4 Season 1 about?

The season is called Season of the Malignant. Basically, there will be special Malignant Monsters roaming around Sanctuary. You can kill these powerful monsters for Malignant Hearts.

Players can then use a new item called the Cage of Unbinding on a Malignant Heart to summon a more powerful version of a Malignant Monster. Killing these will drop Caged Hearts, which you can use to socket into your weapons and armour.

“A deviant form of Lilith’s sinister machinations has given birth to a new threat, Malignant Monsters. These decaying abominations roam Sanctuary in a frenzy, mindlessly attacking anyone in range without hesitation. Wanderers will investigate this mysterious malady in a new Questline with the help of Cormond, a former priest of the Cathedral of Light, who also trains you to capture the Malignant Hearts fueling these foul beasts and convert them into build-altering powers. The malignancy that’s taken hold of the Burning Hells’ armies cannot remain unchecked—you must snuff it out at the source before all of Sanctuary becomes its thrall

To keep up with the relentless animosity of Malignant Monsters, you’ll need to turn their Hearts against them. Slaying Partly Corrupted enemies, a type of Malignant Monster, will drop a Malignant Heart. These can be captured by performing a ritual with the Cage of Binding, an item acquired during the Season’s Questline. Partly Corrupted enemies are an unruly sort and won’t go down easily. Trying to capture the Heart will cause the Partly Corrupted enemy to be reborn as a Fully Corrupted enemy. If defeated, these amalgamations of rot will drop a version of the Malignant Heart that can be placed into special Infested sockets in your Jewelry in place of a Normal Gem.

Our first season will introduce 32 Malignant Hearts across four categories that provide new, unique bonuses. As you encounter more menacing Malignant Creatures so too will the strength of their Malignant Hearts grow. There’s much more to share on the Season’s theme and we cannot wait to do so in the future.”

Here are the first five Malignant Heart types.

Here’s an example of a Caged Heart with a pretty cool electric ability.

If your Caged Heart is obsolete, you can scrap them for Malignant Ichor, which you can use to craft new Caged Hearts. If you wish to farm for specific categories of Caged Hearts, you can use Invokers in special Season areas called Malignant Tunnels.

Battle Pass Info

The rewards for Season 1’s Battle Pass are Smoldering Ashes. This seasonal currency can be used to fill up various Urns in exchange for powerful upgrades that will speed up character progression. Here are the list of Urns you can use:

• The Urn of Aggression – Boosts experience earned from Monster kills
• The Urn of Bargaining – Increases Gold earned from sales at vendors
• The Urn of Reclamation – Increases amount of crafting materials gained from salvaged gear
• The Urn of Prolonging – Boosts duration of all Elixers
• The Urn of Malignance – Boosts the rate of Malignant Heart drops

How much is the Diablo 4 Season 1 battle pass?

The Premium battle pass will cost players US$10 and will include all the rewards of the Free battle pass and some extra Premium rewards on top of that.

The Accelerated battle pass ramps up in price to US$25. It includes all the rewards of the Premium battle pass, 20 tier skips, and an exclusive emote only available to those who purchase the Accelerated battle pass.

Here are the confirmed rewards from the Battle Pass.

• Smouldering Ashes (Free, Premium, Accelerated)
• Basic Armor Transmogs (Free, Premium, Accelerated)
• Basic Titles (Free, Premium, Accelerated)
• Weapon Transmogs (Premium, Accelerated)
• Emotes (Premium, Accelerated)
• Coldiron Armour Set Transmogs for each class (Premium, Accelerated)
• Warded Mustang Mount (Premium, Accelerated)
• Coldiron Barding Mount Armour (Premium, Accelerated)
• “On the Warpath” Emote (Accelerated)
• Platinum (TBA)
• Headstones (TBA)