Diablo 4 Malignant Hearts guide: How they work
These grisly "gems" are inserted into jewellery sockets.
Diablo 4 Malignant Hearts are a new item arriving in Season 1 that can be added to jewellery to provide powerful bonuses. The Season of the Malignant, the first season of many coming to Diablo 4, centres around Sanctuary's monsters and the corruption that seems to be infecting the hearts of some of them. Obviously, we're more than happy to take it off their hands—or out of their chests, in this case—and insert it into our new gear to claim the powerful bonuses they offer.
Malignant Hearts are similar to gems in that they require a socket to be inserted into, but the boons they offer work more like the powers from Aspects, rather than just the flat stat bonuses that gems offer. If you're ready to learn more, here's how Malignant Hearts work in Diablo 4.
Diablo 4 Malignant Hearts: How they work
Malignant Hearts are best thought of as a grisly type of gem that offers a unique bonus to your character. There are 32 Malignant Hearts in total and they come in four different varieties, each one associated with a bonus type and colour. They can only be slotted into jewellery with a socket of the same colour, though there is one exception, which can bypass the colour requirement.
Here are the different Malignant Heart types and their corresponding types:
- Vicious (Red): Offensive bonus
- Brutal (Blue): Defensive bonus
- Devious (Purple): Utility bonus
- Wrathful (Any colour): Super Power
Where to get Malignant Hearts
Once you've completed the new seasonal questline, which introduces you to Cormond, they'll train you in the ways of capturing these hearts from Malignant monsters so you can insert them into jewellery and become more powerful yourself.
While it seems that Malignant monsters can be found out and about in Sanctuary, your best bet will be to find them in the Malignant Tunnels dungeons, another new addition to the season.