Getting Ready for Season One: Season of the Malignant

During the Developer Live Stream on July 6th, the start of Season One was announced to begin on July 20th. In this article, we will tell you everything that you need to know to prepare yourself to conquer the Season of the Malignant.

For more information, check out our overview of the Livestream here.

What is a Season in Diablo IV?

In Diablo IV, every few months we will have a new content drop that we call ‘seasons.’ These seasons come with a new side storyline and new mechanics to change the way you play the game. Each season will also include massive balance changes, new aspects, and new uniques for us to play around with.

At the start of every season, everyone must make a new character and start from level 1. But, not all is lost. Before starting the season, there are a few things that you want to get done on your account that will transfer over, making your season start much easier.

Finish the Campaign

The first thing that anyone planning on playing the first season should do is finish the campaign. In the Livestream, it had been announced that you will not get access to the Season of the Malignant storyline and content until the main campaign is finished. Upon completion of the campaign, you will also be given the choice to skip the campaign, giving you a much quicker and cleaner leveling experience for any new characters you may create in the future.

Renown Transfer

For the new season, some of our renown is going to transfer from the Eternal Realm. Upon the patch dropping on July 18th, you must log into your characters to save their progress to your account before the season starts in order to transfer your renown to the next season. Not all of the renown will transfer, but the Altars of Lilith and Areas Discovered will.

Areas Discovered

Before the start of Season 1, you want to make sure that you uncover the fog of war from the map. There are a total of 307 areas that you must discover to reveal the entire map. Doing this will not only reveal the map for the new season but also grant you a large sum of renown for each zone.

Altars of Lilith

The other task you want to complete to give you an advantage in the new season is finding every Altar of Lilith. This will start you off with an incredible boost in power. This will give you a bonus 68 points in each main stat (Strength, Dexterity, Willpower, and Intelligence), a 100 increase to your Obol capacity, as well as 4 additional paragon points.

How Much Renown Will Transfer to Season One?

Making sure that each of these renown tasks are completed in each zone will grant you massive benefits to start the season. On top of the bonus stats from the Altars, you will also be granted 5 Skill Points and 5 Potion Charges for having the two renown checkpoints in each zone already completed. Listed below are how many renown points you can expect for each zone upon completion of these two tasks:

Conclusion

Unfortunately, not all of our renown will transfer into the new season, but it is important to make sure the renown that does is completed before the season begins. In order to claim the additional skill points, it is important to do Strongholds as you level and start doing dungeons across the map. If you are in a group, dividing and conquering these dungeons is the fastest way to complete your renown, since you will gain the renown progress for the dungeon completion as long as you are in the party.