Summary
Diablo 4’sfirst season introduces a plethora of new features, but at least in implementation, Maligant Hearts leave much to be desired. The Season of the Malignant is focused around a new form of corruption sweeping across Sanctuary. It has created new challenges, enemies, and a new type of item known as the Malignant Hearts. These Malignant Hearts seem to be a major part ofDiablo 4’snew endgame grind, but collecting them will quickly get cumbersome.
Malignant Hearts will be replacingDiablo 4’s gemsfor the entirety of season one. They operate much like gems do but introduce some new unique powers that should give players some fun boosts to kill demons with. While this season was Blizzard’s chance to rectify one of its biggest mistakes withDiablo 4’s gems, it seems like it has just repeated the same thing with a new coat of paint. Instead of finally delivering on the requested gem pouch, the studio has kept things exactly the same.
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Diablo 4’s Malignant Hearts Are Gems With a New Name
Players spent a lot of time inDiablo 4’s campaign gathering gems that they could socket onto various pieces of equipment. These gemsoperated much like previousDiablogemsand would give players various bonuses to their stats. As players adventure across Sanctuary, they will likely pick up dozens of gems from chests and enemies. While this helps give players a lot of flexibility in their stat bonuses, it can also become cumbersome very quickly.
Since release,Diablo 4players have been clamoring for a better way to store these gems. They currently take up inventory slots that could be used for armor and weapons. Since they drop from pretty much everywhere, players will constantly have to reorganize their inventory to fit them all. This can get rather annoying as the game progresses, and players have been asking for a separate gem tab in their inventory to rectify that. While equipment, consumables, quest items, and aspects get to have separate tabs, players have yet toget a separate gem pouch.
Diablo 4’s Season of the Malignant replaces gems withthe brand-new Malignant Heart feature. These items operate much like how gems do albeit with a few tweaks and changes. There are different types of hearts that only slot into matching sockets, they have specific special powers, and they can help create far more powerful builds. It is also a bit harder to obtain them, but most players will likely earn a lot of them during their travels over the next couple of months.
This would have been a good time for a dedicated pouch for these items, but nothing of the sort is currently in the game.The Malignant Hearts still take up inventory spacethat could be used for other items, and players will have to constantly reorganize their inventory to ensure they can carry everything they want. While this system could have been a massive improvement over the base game’s gems, it feels exactly the same with a fresh new look attached.
The start of a new season should meanmassive changes toDiablo 4, but many would argue Blizzard did not deliver on that potential. The Malignant Hearts are an interesting addition and the corruption affects the game a little bit, but a lot of the changes are underwhelming and missing important QoL features. Players are just interacting with a new socketable item the exact same way they interacted with the last one, and while not necessarily a bad thing, a simple QoL change would have gone a long way here.
Diablo 4is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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