What you need to prepare before the first season

Diablo IVBlizzard’s first season will arrive on July 20, and with it a new era for Blizzard’s latest ARPG. Each new season will require a completely new character, with plenty of new challenges and enemies. Seasons aren’t new to the franchise, but the way they’re implemented as part of Diablo IVThe live service elements make it very different here.

The latest in the ongoing series of legendary action RPGs, Diablo IV It is an always-on online game that has many of the features we have come to expect from modern live service games, such as a battle pass and a cosmetic store. These monetized features have not been without controversy, and time will tell if they really enrich your profile Diablo expertise. For now, this is what we know about him Diablo IVSeason One: Season of the Malignant.

seasonal characters

In a quick video, Blizzard explained how the seasonal structure of Diablo IV And the new characters you create will work for each season.

As mentioned in the video, you’ll need to create new characters to tackle each new season (your existing characters will remain intact and perfectly playable in the main game). Non-seasonal characters exist in the “Eternal World”, while seasonal characters’ adventures take place in the appropriately named “Seasonal World”. As Blizzard notes, when the season ends, your seasonal character will move to the Eternal Realm, where you can continue to play them to your heart’s content.

Also shown in the quick rundown are some gameplay options. As in normal gameplay, you’ll be given a choice of hardcore (permadeath) and whether or not to skip the campaign. As the video advises, you must complete the campaign with any character in the eternal world once before the seasonal stamp is rolled up. It looks like you can play through the campaign with a seasonal character if you want to, but you won’t start accessing the actual seasonal content until you put Lilith away at least once.

One potential complication: There are only 10 character slots in the game. This may not be a big problem at the moment during the early days of Diablo IVbut it does make us wonder what will happen when those seasons start to add up.

Kotaku Contact Blizzard for information on character slots.

Just as with creating a new Eternal, potion capacity progression and bonuses from Lilith statues and other ongoing unlocks carry over to the new character, so you won’t be playing catch-up every season.

But what exactly is in this particular season and what kinds of things is Blizzard throwing in here for you to play with?

Diablo IV: malignant season 101

Let’s get the narrative. And what better way to do that than with verification Diablo IVThe season trailer is here:

Diablo IVThe first season He will introduce you to new corrupt villains for you to fight with. They are called insidious monsters and you will face them in a new mission.

Malignant is divided into two forms: partially corrupt and fully corrupt. You will collect Malicious Hearts from partially damaged and use them in rituals with an item you will get from the main quest of the season. The ritual will see the slain creature reappear as a fully corrupted enemy, which you’ll take down to earn a new insidious drop that you can unlock into similar slots for gems. Looks like he killed this straight up, put that together, get this mod ready, and you can be sure we’ll be breaking down the details when Season of the Malignant launches later this month.

But there are not just new enemies. Insidious Tunnels are replayable dungeons full of vicious monsters to chew through and there’s also a new boss battle: Varshan the Expendable.

What’s in that battle pass?

If you play any live service game with a battle pass these days, Diablo IVIt will look very similar. There are free bonuses for those who don’t opt ​​into the premium battle pass, and plenty of cool stuff for those who shell out some cash.

Well, how much does this thing cost?

While there are 27 free levels for you to play with, there are over 60 levels for which you will need to spend money to reap the rewards. Naturally, you will need to purchase a premium currency to purchase the battle pass. Let’s take a moment to sigh. It is never obvious, is it? Well, here is the cost breakdown. You have two options: Premium, which costs 1,000 Platinum ($10), and Accelerated, for $2,800 ($24.99). As you might expect, Accelerated lets you skip up to 20 levels in the Battle Pass and you get an exclusive emote. A single skip costs 200 platinum.

Platinum is available in the following packages:

• 200 platinum: $2
• 500 Platinum: $5
• 1000 Platinum: $10
• 2800 Platinum: $25
• 5700 Platinum: $50
• 11500 Platinum: $100

Note: If you purchased a Digital Deluxe or Ultimate Edition, you already have the pass, but you will need to redeem it in the store under Seasons.

How do you progress through the Battle Pass?

As you play through the season, you’ll earn a “Service” from standard performance Diablo Stuff: kill the crap and quest. The season also contains goals that are included in the “Season Journey”.

As you progress through the Battle Pass, you’ll earn “Smoldering Ashes,” which will grant bonuses to seasonal (and seasonal-only) characters.

All you need to do before Diablo IV: malignant season

Well, you’re ready to tackle these new threats live on July 20th. What should you do?

First, as I mentioned earlier: complete that campaign! This will allow you to skip the entire story of defeating Lilith and go straight to the new content with your new character.

Second, get to work unlocking additional potion slots and extra skill points. This will carry over to your new seasonal character.

Read more: Diablo IV: Three Go-To Druid hulks that will crush everything

Third, think about who your first seasonal character will be. You may want to check out Our Level 1-50 Priest Guide with three distinct builds. Or you can watch this video detailing our Bearbender build if you want to try something a little different:

The clock is ticking when the season starts, so the better your settlement plan and the more you understand Diablo IVTheir complex systems, the better. For this, Check out our guide on the sixteen things Diablo IV not tell youAnd 29 tips to get better Diablo Playr and what Settings you should consider tweaking.

Diablo IV: Season of the Insidious It launches July 20. Already finish this campaign! (This is me shouting to myself, by the way.)