Diablo 4is introducing Malignant Hearts to the game in its first season, and some keen-eyed players have already unearthed two additional examples in the recent developer livestream. Those in the community who have playedReaper of Soulswill see the similarity between Legendary Gems and Malignant Hearts, and if they were a fan of the mechanic inDiablo 3, chances are they’ll enjoy theSeason of the Malignant inDiablo 4once it launches on July 20.
The gist of how the new gimmick inDiablo 4works is simple: players will have a chance to obtain a Malignant Heart from Elite mobs that happen to spawn with the new Malignant affix. They will be able to target specific Hearts by going into Malignant Tunnels found in the open world. However, Malignant Hearts inDiablo 4can only be slotted into jewelry that manages to spawn with the new Infested affix, which gives them a unique socket of a random color, and players will have to match the color of the socket to the corresponding color of their Malignant Heart. Unlike regular gems, players will not be able to remove Malignant Hearts from an item, which developers hope further adds to the decision-making.
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While theDiablo 4team showcased a few Malignant Hearts in the Season of the Malignant livestream, a played by the name Tipep- managed to catch a glimpse of two additional Hearts that briefly appeared in the video. The developers confirmed that 32 Malignant Hearts will feature inDiablo 4’s first season, and while some will apply universal bonuses, a fair few will be restricted to a class. The first example discovered by Tipep- is a Wrathful Heart that offers the Malignant Pact power, while the other one is a Vicious Heart that gives Focused Rage.
Both of these powers seem strangely situational, which has caused some criticism from the community who already believesDiablo 4’s itemization is over-reliant on situational bonuses. Malignant Pact cycles through powerful bonuses every 20 seconds – starting from an Attack Speed increase, to a Chance to Restore Primary Resource, and finally to gain a Barrier that absorbs damage. On the other hand, Focused Rage gives a bonus solely toBarbarians inDiablo 4, where it increases the Critical Strike Chance of the next non-Basic Skill by 34% if the character spends at least 68 Fury within two seconds.
Barbarians who use Hammer of the Ancients will likely want the bonuses provided by Focused Rage, though farming up the ideal Infested item with a Vicious socket may take a while. Given that Blizzard was quick todisable Chase Uniques inDiablo 4due to their unexpectedly large drop rate in Helltide Chests, it remains to be seen how unforgiving the Malignant Heart grind will turn out to be.
Diablo 4is available for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X/S.
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