Time to cage some hearts and power up to crazy heights!

Diablo 4 has started its first-ever Season, a limited-time game mode where you start over with a new character and get perks and bonuses exclusive for the 3-month-or-so event. Similar to Diablo 3’s Seasons, you’ll be given new mechanics and gimmicks to play around with that’s exclusive to the Season.

Season 1’s theme is called Season of the Malignant, where you get new power-ups called Malignant Hearts and you slot them to your amulets and rings for exclusive powerups. The Season also comes with a Battle Pass with its own rewards as you level up and progress with a new character (or two), as well as special ways to quickly level up than in the game’s regular mode (Eternal Realm).

Here’s a guide on how Malignant Hearts work and each class build that works in this Season. Disclaimer: since the event literally just started today, this guide will be updated periodically.

Diablo 4 Season Of The Malignant General Guide

The main mechanic of this Season is to seek out Malignant Monsters -new types of Elites. Kill them and steal their hearts to socket them into your Jewelry (Rings, Amulets). Here’s a step-by-step:

1. Find a Malignant Monster. They’re found everywhere on the map, but more common in Malignant Tunnels.
2. Kill it to drop a Malignant Heart.
3. Use Cage of Binding (this is automatic once you’ve done the Story Quest for the Season). This spawns a more difficult version of the Malignant Monster.
4. Collect the Caged Heart that drops after you kill it.

There are 32 different Caged Hearts you can collect. These powers dramatically change your builds for your class. They come in four categories: Devious Hearts, Vicious Hearts, Brutal Hearts, and Wrathful Hearts.

Colored Caged Hearts have one effect and can only go in the respective coloured sockets on Jewelry:

• Brutal: Blue
• Vicious: Orange
• Devious: Pink

Wrathful Hearts can fit in any socket and have special powerful effects. They are rare, but more powerful.

Keep in mind: Caged Hearts CANNOT be unsocketed. You can replace them with better ones as you find stronger Hearts though.

Malignant Heart Crafting Guide

You can craft your own Heart through the Season-specific crafting table that’s found in Kyovashad (the Fractured Peaks’ town hub).

Creating a random Heart of a specific type costs 35 Ichor of the other two primary-colored Hearts. Example: To create a Vicious Heart, you need 35 Brutal Ichor and 35 Devious Ichor. The specific Heart you craft will always be for your specific Class or Class-agnostic.

Diablo 4 Malignant Hearts List

All Classes

Vicious

Caged Heart of the Picana (Offensive): Critical Strikes electrically charge the enemy for [1.25-3] seconds, causing lightning to arc between them and any other charged enemies dealing [8-2,419] Lightning damage.

Caged Heart of the Dark Dance (Offensive, World Tier 3): Every 5 seconds while above 60% Life, Core Skills cost [6 – 1,210] Life instead of your Primary Resource. Skills that consume Life deal [12 – 22]% increased damage.

Caged Heart of Tempting Fate (Offensive, World Tier 3): You gain [45 – 65]%[+] Critical Strike Damage but your Non-Critical Strikes deal [20 – 25]%[x] less damage.

Brutal

Caged Heart of the Lionheart (Brutal, Defensive): You gain 11%[+] Barrier Generation. You heal [0-121] Life per second while you have an active barrier.

Caged Heart of Revenge (Brutal, Defensive,World Tier 3): [10.0 – 20.0]% of incoming damage is instead suppressed. When you use a Defensive, Subterfuge or a Macabre skill, all suppressed damage is amplified by 250%[x] and explodes, dealing up to [200 – 42,340] Fire damage to Nearby enemies.

Caged Heart of the Prudent Heart (Brutal, Defensive, World Tier 3): You become Immune for [2.0 – 4.0] seconds after you lose more than 20% Life in a single hit. This effect can only occur once every 100 seconds.

Devious

Caged Heart of Determination (Utility): Resource-draining effects are [50 – 60]%[+] less effective. In addition, gain [3.0 – 8.0]%[x] increased Resource Generation.

Caged Heart of Retaliation (Utility, World Tier 3): Deal [64 – 12,702] Fire damage to surrounding enemies whenever a Crowd Control effect is removed from you.

Caged Heart of the Calculated (Utility, World Tier 3): After spending [150 – 200] of your Primary Resource, your next attack Stuns enemies hit for 1 seconds.

Wrathful

Caged Heart of the Malignant Pact (Super):  Cycle through a Malignant bonus every 20 kills.
Vicious: Gain 21%[+] Attack Speed.
Devious: Core and Basic Skills have a 16% chance to fully restore your Primary Resource.
Brutal: Every 20 seconds, gain a Barrier absorbing [10 – 1,815] damage.

Caged Heart of Creeping Death (Super): Your damage over time effects are increased by [32.0 – 42.0]%[x] for each different Crowd Control effect on the target. Unstoppable monsters and Staggered bosses instead take [114 – 134]%[x] increased damage from your damage over time effects.

Caged Heart of The Barber (Super, World Tier 3): Critical Strikes and all subsequent damage within [2.0 – 4.0] seconds is absorbed by your target. Then, the absorbed damage erupts onto surrounding enemies. Stored damage is increased by 11%[x] per second.

Specific Classes

Barbarian

Caged Heart of Focused Rage (Vicious, Offensive): After spending [60 – 100] Fury within 2 seconds, your next Non-Basic Skill’s Critical Strike Chance is increased by [22 – 32]%[x]. (Barbarian Only)

Caged Heart of Resurgent Life (Brutal, Defensive): While below [40 – 60]% Life you receive [52 – 62]%[+] more Healing from all sources. (Barbarian Only)

Caged Heart of Punishing Speed (Devious, Utility): Your Skills have a [22-32]% chance to Knock Down all enemies for 1.25 seconds when that Skill’s Attack Speed is higher than [20 – 35]%. (Barbarian Only)

Caged Heart of Ignoring Pain (Wrathful, Super, World Tier 4): Incoming damage has a [5 – 15]% chance of being ignored and instead Healing you for [2 – 1,270]. (Barbarian Only)

Druid

Caged Heart of the Moonrage (Vicious, Offensive): Kills have a 6% chance to summon a Wolf Companion to your side for [20 – 30] second. In addition, gain +3 to Wolves. (Druid Only)

Caged Heart of the Agitated Winds (Brutal, Defensive): When [7 – 12] Close enemies, automatically cast Cyclone Armor. This cannot occur more than once every [10 – 20] seconds. (Druid Only)

Caged Heart of Inexorable Force (Devious, Utility): Up to [30 – 50] Distant enemies are pulled toward you while you have an Ultimate Skill active. (Druid Only)

Caged Heart of the Unconstrained Beast (Wrathful, Super, World Tier 4): When you are hit with a Stun, Freeze or Knock Down effect, there is a [40 – 60]% chance to automatically activate Grizzly Rage for 2 seconds. (Druid Only)

Necromancer

Caged Heart of the Sacrilegious (Vicious, Offensive): Walking near a Corpse automatically activates an equipped Corpse Skill every second, dealing [28 – 38]%[x] reduced damage. (Necromancer Only)

Caged Heart of the Decrepit Aura (Brutal, Defensive): When at least 4 enemies are near you, gain an aura that automatically curses surrounding enemies with Decrepify for [6 – 17] seconds. (Necromancer Only)

Caged Heart of Frozen Terror (Devious, Utility): Lucky Hit: Up to a [10 – 20]% chance of inflicting Fear for 2 seconds. Feared enemies are Chilled for 20% every second. (Necromancer Only)

Caged Heart of the Great Feast (Wrathful, Super, World Tier 4): Each Minion drains [1.0 – 2.0] Essence per second but deals [55 – 80]%[x] increased damage. With no Minions, this bonus applies to you and drains 5 Essence per second. (Necromancer Only)

Rogue

Caged Heart of Cluster Munitions (Vicious, Offensive): Lucky Hit: You have up to a 20% chance to launch 2 Stun Grenades that deal [1 – 1] Physical damage and Stun enemies for 0.50 seconds. (Rogue Only)

Caged Heart of Trickery (Brutal, Defensive): When you use a Subterfuge Skill, leave behind an unstable Shadow Decoy Trap that Taunts enemies. The Shadow Decoy Trap will explode after 5.5 seconds dealing [80 – 18,146] Shadow damage. Cannot occur more than once every 5 seconds. (Rogue Only)

Caged Heart of the Clipshot (Devious, Utility): Lucky Hit: Up to a [20 – 40]$ chance for your Cutthroat Skills to Slow by 40% for 4 seconds and your Marksman Skills to Knock Back enemies. (Rogue Only)

Caged Heart of the Vile Apothecary (Wrathful, Super, World Tier 4): Your attacks have a [5 – 15]% chance to apply all Imbuement effects at [50 – 60]%[x] of normal potency. (Rogue Only)

Sorcerer

Caged Heart of Tal’Rasha (Vicious, Offensive): For each unique element you deal damage with, you deal [7.0 – 12.0]%[x] increased damage for [2 – 8] seconds. (Sorcerer Only)

Caged Heart of Spellbreaking (Brutal, Defensive): After taking Elemental damage, gain [25 – 45]%[x] Resistance to that element for 6 seconds. (Sorcerer Only).

Caged Heart of Spite (Devious, Utility): When you are afflicted with a Crowd Control effect, there is a [20 – 40]% chance that the same enemy and enemies around you are also afflicted with the same effect for 2 seconds. (Sorcerer Only)

Caged Heart of Omnipower (Wrathful, Super, World Tier 4): Core Skills that launch a projectile consume all of your Mana. For every [35 – 45] extra Mana consumed, you launch an additional projectile and the damage is increased by [5.0 – 7.0]%[x]. (Sorcerer Only)