Diablo IV’s Season of the Malignant does not technically begin until July 20th – but you can download and play patch 1.1.0 as of this afternoon.
Much ado has already been made about the massive patch notes, which will likely take you until Thursday to read, but let’s be real – you weren’t gonna read them anyway. The highlights include multiple quality-of-life adjustments, like account-wide Altar of Lilith unlocks and map discovery, less scattered movement for mobs, passes on loot and level scaling and affixes, buffs for damage and experience, and increased danger in Helltide zones.
“We’ve chosen to focus Season of the Malignant’s balance updates on clear itemization disparities over redesigns of Class features,” the studio says. “The Class changes are largely focused on numeric increases to Skill Upgrades and Legendary Aspects that players haven’t yet found compelling. Additionally, we’re changing Critical Strike Damage Paragon Glyphs to empower all damage—instead of only Core Skills—to enable more build strategies.”
There are also new legendary aspects, uniques, and a huge range of fixes for co-op play, accessibility, quests, and dungeons. Every class also saw a spate of fixes to skills and effects too. The word “fixed” is used 135 times, which ought to give you an idea of what to expect.
How to prepare for Season of the Malignant:
🔥 Download Patch 1.1.0 NOW
🗺️ Maximize your renown, explore the map, and visit Altar's of Lilith
⚔️ Log in with the character you’ve progressed the furthest
Details ☠️ https://t.co/zn51tBJJ6Y pic.twitter.com/JqU6D3VePP
— Diablo (@Diablo) July 18, 2023
