Diablo 4’s first ever Season is nearly upon us! This Season’s theme is the theme of corruption – Malignance. Alongside every Season is a Battle Pass for players to progress through. In our Season 1 Pass Breakdown, we go over how you can take part in daily progress, how reward tiers work, Season Blessings, the versions of the Battle Pass & also more!

Available Battle Pass Types

The Season 1 Battle Pass, along with every future Season is developed to be accessible. This means that both free pass players and also paid pass players can enjoy the Season. The Season Pass provides mostly cosmetic items. However, on the free track there is an important item named Smoldering Ashes to collect. There is currently three available versions of the Battle Pass:

• Free – No pay required. 27 Reward Tiers available. Smoldering Ashes are exclusive to Free Reward Tiers.
• Premium (1,000 Platinum, $9.99 USD) – Paid pass. 63 Paid Reward Tiers on top of the initial 27 Free Reward Tiers.
• Accelerated (2,800 Platinum, $24.99 USD) – Paid pass. All 90 Tiers (both Free and Paid), including a 20 Tier Skip bonus and Emote (On the Warpath).

How does the Battle Pass Work?

There is currently four defining features in the battle pass for players to use for progress:

• Earn Favor – Earn Favor by killing monsters, completing quests and completing objectives in the Season Journey.
• Unlock Rewards – Use Favor to unlock reward tiers. Premium tiers will also only grant rewards to Premium Battle Pass Owners.
• Season Journey – Complete objectives across multiple chapters to earn additional Favor, also more rewards.
• Blessings – Smoldering Ashes are rewards in the Battle Pass. Use these to unlock Season Blessings boosts for XP, gold and more.

How does Diablo 4’s Season Blessings Work?

For players to access Season Blessings, Smoldering Ashes is a required resource. Smoldering Ashes are also only obtainable through the Free Reward Tiers track. The Diablo 4 Development Team also made sure that paying for the Pass does not provide a competitive P2W advantage. This then means that purchasing the Premium Pass only provides the Premium section – even with the paid skips. Thankfully this means that Free Pass players can also play at an even playing field.

Through the use of Smoldering Ashes, players can unlock and provide multiple boosts to their Seasonal experience. For example, players can unlock an XP boost while also boosting their chances of a Malignant Heart dropping. Each Urn can be leveled up to enhance the boosts provided.

How to unlock Battle Pass Reward Tiers

To progress through the Season 1 Battle Pass, players Seasonal Journeys are equally as important as general gameplay. With each Season, players can unlock not only the cosmetics, but new Legendary Aspects, Favor and items too!

By completing objectives in your Season Journey, you can also earn Smaller Favor rewards as part of each objective complete. Once players have completed a certain amount of objectives in the chapter, a bulk of chapter rewards are awarded! The rewards in each chapter include:

• Greater Favor
• Various Item Caches
• Legendary Aspects

The Favor you gain from the Season Journey unlocks your Reward Tiers by spending the Favor you have. As a result, make sure to always be progressing in the Season. Completing the pass is also the only way to obtain all of your Smoldering Ashes too!

Unlockable cosmetic rewards in the Battle Pass can also be used by any class in Diablo 4. This is different to the Cash Shop that sells class-specific cosmetics.

Conclusion

That concludes our Season 1 Pass Breakdown for Diablo 4! Season 1 (Malignant) is releasing July 20th 2023. For more information on Diablo 4, including Season 1 Class Builds and Guides, be sure to check out our Diablo 4 home page!