Malignant Hearts are powerful items that can be socketed into gear items to grant powerful effects. They are only found in Season 1 of Diablo 4 named Seaon of the Malignant.
As the name suggests, Malignant Hearts are ripped straight out of Malignant Monsters’ chests. They are then inserted into the gem sockets of ‘Infested’ jewelry.
Each Malignant Heart comes with its own special effect and upon insertion, it imbues the Ring, Amulet, or Necklace with that effect. So let us look into how to get your hands on these special items and make the best out of their powers.
How to get Malignant Hearts in Diablo 4
Malignant Hearts can either be looted from Malignant Monsters or crafted using Ichor in Diablo 4. But before getting to any of that, make sure that you have completed the Seasonal Realm questline up to the part where you meet an NPC, Cormond.
Defeat Malignant Monsters
Cormond will introduce you to a new type of monster called The Malignants which upon defeat drop their hearts as your loot. However, it is not that simple.
First, Partly Corrupted Malignant Monsters will appear who will drop their hearts upon defeat. However, you won’t be able to pick them up as it can only be done after performing the Cage of Binding ritual. This ritual is accessible close to the end of the quest line.
After getting your hands on a Partly Corrupted Malignant’s Heart, you have to perform the Cage of Binding ritual. This will turn the heart into a Fully Corrupted Malignant and you’ll need to defeat them to claim their heart.
These Malignant Monsters can be found all over the world in Season 1. But if you want to find them where they are most concentrated, you need to go to the specific dungeon called the Malignant Tunnels. This is indicated by a tiny leaf on a dungeon icon. You encounter a special enemy type called the Malignant Outgrowth in this dungeon.
You can use an item called the Malignant Invoker on these enemies to summon a specific colored Fully Corrupted Malignant monster and then acquire its heart as your loot.
Craft Malignant Hearts
You can also simply craft your required Malignant Hearts at Cormond’s Wagon using Ichor. This is a form of currency that is obtained also from Malignant Hearts. Once you have a Malignant Heart you can go to Cormond’s Wagon and get it turned into Ichor.
A Wrathful Malignant Heart gives you around 2 to 5 Ichor and the rest of the types give around 5 to 15 Ichor. To farm your required Malignant Heart, you need 35 Ichor salvaged from two primary Malignant Hearts.
How to use Malignant Hearts in Diablo 4
You can insert Malignant Hearts into the gem socket of jewelry items that are marked ‘Infested’. You can then impart the Heart’s special effect to your jewelry.
However, make sure that you choose the Malignant Heart and its recipient item carefully. Hearts cannot be taken out after you insert them into your gear items.
A Malignant Heart of a certain color can only be inserted into a gem socket of the same color.
All Malignant Hearts and their effects in Diablo 4
There are a total of 32 Malignant Hearts in Diablo 4 that are classified under 4 categories depending upon the powers they impart. These 4 categories are:
| Malignant Heart Type | Socket Color | Power | Dropped By |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vicious Malignant Heart | Red | Offensive Power | Vicious Malignant Monsters |
| Brutal Malignant Heart | Blue | Defensive Power | Brutal Malignant Monsters |
| Devious Malignant Heart | Purple | Utility Power | Devious Malignant Monsters |
| Wrathful Malignant Heart | Any | Super Power | Wrathful Malignant Monsters |
Out of these 32 Malignant Hearts, 12 are General and the rest belong to specific Classes only. All the Malignant Hearts in Diablo 4 Season of the Malignant are tabulated below:
| Malignant Heart | Type | Class | World Tier | Effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Picana | Vicious | General | N/A | Deals additional 68 to 136 Lightning Damage upon critical strikes |
| The Dark Dance | Vicious | General | World Tier III | Causes Core Skills to cost from 68 to 51 when you have more than 60% Life Increases the damage dealt by Life-consuming skills up to 20% |
| Tempting Fate | Vicious | General | World Tier III | Critical Strike Damage increases from 40 to 60% while Non-Critical Strike Damage goes down by 15 to 20% |
| The Lionheart | Brutal | General | N/A | Provides additional 10% Barrier Generation 3 to 7 Life also healed per unit of time |
| Revenge | Brutal | General | World Tier III | Subdues 10 to 20% to received damage In the case of Defensive, Macabre, and Subterfuge Skills, subdued damage is increased by 250% and then returned in the form of Fire Damage ranging from 1360 to 2040 |
| Pruden Heart | Brutal | General | World Tier III | Provides a 2 to 4 second Immunity but only after an attack that takes 20% or more Life |
| Determination | Devious | General | N/A | Increases Resource Generation by 3 to 8% and reduces Resource Drainage by 40 to 50% |
| Retaliation | Devious | General | World Tier III | In the absence of a Crowd Control effect, additional Fire Damage is dealt which can be around 510 to 680 |
| The Calculated | Devious | General | World Tier III | Stuns enemies for a couple of seconds after 150 to 200 of Primary Resource is exhausted |
| The Malignant Pact | Wrathful | General | N/A | For Vicious, it increases Attack Speed by 20% For Devious, Core and Basic skills can fully restore Primary Resource by a 15% chance For Brutal, it provides a damage-absorbing barrier after every 21 seconds |
| Creeping Death | Wrathful | General | N/A | 110 to 130% increased damage over time is dealt to Staggered and Unstoppable monsters Damage over Time for Crowd Control effects is increased by 30 to 40% |
| The Barber | Wrathful | General | World Tier III | Absorbs damage for 2 to 4 seconds, increases it by 10% for each second stored, and then unleashes it on the target |
| Focused Rage | Vicious | Barbarian | N/A | Increases Non-Basic Skill’s Critical Strike Chance by 20 to 30% if 60 to 100 Fury is spent within a couple of seconds |
| Resurgent Life | Brutal | Barbarian | N/A | Healing is increased by 50 to 60% if Life is under 40 to 60% |
| Punishing Speed | Devious | Barbarian | N/A | If the Attack Speed of a Skill is greater than 20 to 35% then it has a 20 to 30% increased chance to take down enemies |
| Ignoring Pain | Wrathful | Barbarian | World Tier IV | Ignores the received damage by a 5 to 15% chance and also provides 17 to 68 healing |
| The Moonrage | Vicious | Druid | N/A | Summons a companion Wolf upon each kill by a 5% chance and gain +3 to them |
| The Agitated Winds | Brutal | Druid | N/A | Prevents 8 to 13 close enemies to cast Cyclone Armor greater than once for every 10 to 20 seconds |
| The Inexorable Force | Devious | Druid | N/A | If an Ultimate Skill is activated, 30 to 50 distant enemies are brought closer |
| The Unconstrained Beast | Wrathful | Druid | World Tier IV | Activates a 3 second long Grizzly Rage upon hit by Knock Down, Stun, or Frozen effect by a 40 to 60% chance |
| The Sacrilegious | Vicious | Necromancer | N/A | Activates a Corpse Skill that deals 30 to 40% reduced damage while walking near a corpse |
| The Decrepit Aura | Brutal | Necromancer | N/A | Decrepifies 5 or more surrounding enemies for 5 to 15 seconds |
| Frozen Terror | Devious | Necromancer | N/A | Inflicts Fear and Chills enemies for 2.5 seconds by a 10 to 20% chance |
| The Great Feast | Wrathful | Necromancer | World Tier IV | You can drain 5 Essence per second If minions are present then each of them drains 1 to 2 Essence per second and deals 5o to 75% additional damage |
| Cluster Munitions | Vicious | Rogue | N/A | Launches 3 Stun Grenades that stun enemies for 0.5 seconds and cause 26 to 32 Physical damage by a 20% chance |
| Trickery | Brutal | Rogue | N/A | Leaves an exploding Shadow Decoy trap that deals 680 to 1020 Shadow damage if a Subterfuge Skill is used |
| The Clipshot | Devious | Rogue | N/A | Cutthroat Skills slow down for 3 seconds by 40% and Marksman Skills can knock back enemies by a 20 to 40% chance |
| The Vile Apothecary | Wrathful | Rogue | World Tier IV | All Imbuement effects can be applied to attacks by 40 to 50% of normal by a chance of 5 to 15% |
| Tal’Rasha | Vicious | Sorcerer | N/A | Additional 7 to 12% damage is dealt by Unique elements for a duration of 3 to 10 seconds |
| Spellbreaking | Brutal | Sorcerer | N/A | For 5 seconds, Resistance against an element is increased by 20 to 40% after taking elemental damage |
| Spite | Devious | Sorcerer | N/A | Provides a 20 to 40% chance of afflicting nearby enemies by a Crowd Control effect when you are afflicted by one |
| Omnipower | Wrathful | Sorcerer | World Tier IV | Increased the damage dealt by 3 to 5% by launching an additional projectile for every 35 to 45 extra Mana consumed by projectile launching core skills |
