Diablo IV is getting new gear, enemies and perks when season 1 starts in two weeks

Blizzard focused a lot on endgame content leading up to the launch of Diablo IV, so we also knew the developers had already prepared a ton of post-launch content. That doesn't stop the first season of the game from sounding very impressive.

Tonight's livestream revealed pretty much everything coming to Diablo IV when Season of the Malignant starts with a massive update at 6 PM BST / 7 PM CEST on the 20th of July. Everything starts when a new threat suddenly appear in Sanctuary. The Malignant Monsters must be stopped, and we're obviously the ones best suited for it. Cormond, a former priest of the Cathedral of Light, knows how, and even delivers the good news that we can take advantage of these new enemies by using these monsters' hearts to become stronger...as long as we're up for a challenge.

Because interacting with these hearts will start a ritual that resurrects an even stronger version of the enemy. It's only after defeating these will get a useful version of the Malignant Heart called Caged Heart that can be inserted into jewelry. This won't give us the regular benefits, but unique special ones. In fact, there are only 32 Malignant Hearts across four categories, and one of the examples shown made critical strikes electrically charge enemies.

One of the best ways to get these hearts is to enter so-called Malignant Tunnels. These new dungeons are filled with new monsters, including the new boss: Varshan the Consumed. Defeating him, completing tasks and such will also reward us with larger amount of Favor, the stuff that makes us progress through the previously detailed Battle Pass. There's also a chance they'll drop one of the 6 new unique items or 7 legendary aspects. Combine these with the 32 new Malignant Hearts bonuses, and it sounds like our new seasonal character can become very different from the one(s) we're using in the campaign.