Diablo 4’s first season kicks off tomorrow, introducing new characters, stories, and powerful gems to the action-RPG.
Season 1, Season of Malignant, introduces the Seasonal Realm to the game. Not to be confused with Eternal Realm. It’s best to think of these as separate modes. Eternal Realm is normal mode and Seasonal Realm is recurring seasonal mode.
The first season lasts about three months. That’s plenty of time to level up new characters, put together powerful builds with the new Vicious Heart Gem, and complete Seasonal Journeys and Battle His Paths. When the season ends, characters from the Season Realms return to the Eternal Realms (minus the evil mind).
Diablo 4 season 1 release time
- July 20th at 10am PDT
- July 20, 1:00 p.m. EDT
- July 20th at 6pm BST
- July 20th at 7pm CEST
- July 21st at 3am AEST
Technically, you can preload Season 1 by downloading the roughly 8GB preseason patch released yesterday. Lots of bug fixes, balance changes, and lots of new items available in the realms of eternity. However, for new stories and evil hearts, you’ll need to create new characters in the Seasonal Realms and complete (or skip) the campaign.
What carries over from the realm of eternity to the realm of seasons, and what does not
- ✅ Campaign skip option (will be available once completed)
- ✅ Lilith’s Altar Status Bonus
- ✅ Discovered map areas
- ✅ Fame Rewards (XP, potion capacity, skill points, paragon points)
- ✅ Armor and weapon transmog
- ❌ Eternal realm characters and items
- ❌ Partial progress of the campaign
- ❌ Aspects of the Codex of Power
- ❌ Currency and goods
- ❌ Hidden items
- ❌ Non-capital waypoints
You still have time to complete your pre-season checklist so you can start Season 1 with some skill points. Otherwise, take a look at the patch notes and start thinking about what classes and builds you want to play. Don’t worry if you change your mind along the way. Blizzard has made ortho preparation much easier.
