[GameSpot] - Diablo 4 - 7 Things To Do To Prepare For Season Of The Malignant

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The first season of Diablo 4, Season of the Malignant, is set to go live on July 20. As such, that means creating a new character and progressing once more just to see the new content. However, given that a few facets will be retained from the base game you may have already played for dozens or hundreds of hours, it's also a good idea to be ready for a fresh playthrough. Here are the things you should do to prepare for Diablo 4's Season of the Malignant.

Top 7 tips to prepare for Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant

Diablo 4's Season of the Malignant promises additional content, including new legendaries and uniques, as well as a battle pass with several cosmetics. You'll also experience the season's activities involving a new quest line, and battle Malignant Monsters to claim their Malignant Hearts. Still, you do need to make a new character, although a few facets carry over.

Complete the campaign on your main character so you can skip it on alts

The information was previously confirmed by Diablo 4's associate game director Joseph Piepiora. Basically, completing the campaign allows you to skip it on your new characters (or "alts"). This includes those that you create in Season of the Malignant.

This helps out immensely, since the seasonal quest line takes place after you've beaten the story. Also, while you're no longer able to do main quests, your leveling grind will mostly focus on dungeons and events.

No, you complete it one time on your account and then you can choose to skip the campaign on every new character you make. You can just start at level 1 in Kyovashad if you like and immediately begin engaging with season features.

— Joseph Piepiora (@JPiepiora) May 10, 2023

Log on with your main character from July 18 onwards

On July 18, two days before the season starts, Diablo 4 will have a patch. From that point onwards, you'll want to log on at least once with your main character (the one that has the most progress). That's because parts of that progress will be account-based and, as such, will be carried over once Season of the Malignant begins. We discuss these in detail below.

Reveal the full map

As noted in a dev chat with general manager Rob Fergusson, the sections of the world map that you've revealed will carry over upon making a seasonal character. That means it's a good idea to explore Sanctuary early on if you want to prepare for Diablo 4 Season 1.

This task includes discovering all zones and sub-zones, as well as various waypoints/fast travel points. Likewise, a couple of things are worth remembering:

• Some waypoints will only appear once you've conquered Strongholds.
• Upon starting the new season and seeing the world map, you still need to reactivate most of the waypoints by visiting those areas.

Make sure you clear Strongholds so you can reveal all waypoints.

Increase your renown further

Another portion that's worth doing before Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant is the renown grind since some rewards do carry over once you make a new character. The most important are the 10 additional skill points and extra potion charges. Take note of various ways to increase renown, such as Strongholds, dungeons, and side quests.

Discover all Altars of Lilith

Altars of Lilith provide you with permanent boosts that also apply to alts, even those that you make whenever a new season begins. With this in mind, you can start off the season with boosts to your stats. You can learn more in our Altars of Lilith guides for the Fractured Peaks, Scosglen, Dry Steppes, Kehjistan, and Hawezar.

Altars of Lilith grant account-wide boosts, which means your seasonal characters also gain the benefits.

Take note of dungeons with side quests

One of the things cited by general manager Rob Fergusson is that players will still need to redo dungeons in the coming season. Given this info, you might want to prioritize dungeons that also have side quests. This is mostly to save time since clearing a dungeon and a related side quest nets you XP, renown, and aspect rewards.

Decide on your class

Thinking about the first character you'll play with is perhaps the most important factor if you want to prepare for Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant. Again, you'll start from level 1, which leads to yet another grind. This entails farming XP, gathering gear, acquiring aspects, and fine-tuning your build, all while experiencing new mechanics (i.e. Malignant Monsters and Malignant Hearts).

You could pick the class that you're most comfortable in using, or something that might complement a friend in case you prefer co-op runs. Whatever the case may be, we've got you covered with our class hub for the Sorcerer, Necromancer, Barbarian, Rogue, and Druid.

Diablo 4 has numerous classes, mechanics, and activities. For more about the game, you can visit our D4 guides hub.

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