Diablo 4: How To Complete 'Holding Back The Flood' | Season Journey Guide

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‘Holding Back The Flood’ Quest Guide
Season Journey Explained | Chapter 1 & 2

To unlock more story quests in the Season of the Malignant, you’ll need to complete ‘Holding Back the Flood‘ in Diablo 4. The third quest of Season 1 requires you to complete Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 of the Season Journey. You’re never really introduced to this major new feature of Season 1 — you’re left to discover it yourself. The Season Journey is found in the Season tab on the map menu. Scroll left to discover this new additional tab — and explore deeper to find all the objectives you’ll need to accomplish to progress the story and finally complete the third quest.

The ‘Holding Back the Flood‘ quest is meant to be a major roadblock for your progress. Below we’ll explain this quest, and how to complete each individual objective for seasonal progression. Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 can be a breeze if you focus on the right objectives and ignore everything else.

For more on Season 1, learn how to get started. Make a choice and decide if you want to skip the campaign or not. And get the rundown on how the Seasonal Realm works here.

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‘Holding Back The Flood’ Quest Guide

To progress in the Season of the Malignant, you’ll need to do more than just complete quests. After completing the main campaign (or skipping) on the Seasonal Realm, you’ll begin taking priority quests from Cormond — an apothecary that will show you how to capture Malignant Hearts. These quests will only get you so far.

After completing the first two seasonal quests, you’ll reach the ‘Holding Back The Flood‘ quest. For this quest, you’ll need to progress and complete Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 of the Seasonal Journey.

Holding Back The Flood Quest:
Complete Chapter 1 of the Season Journey
Complete Chapter 2 of the Season Journey

The Season Journey is a series of emergent tasks you must complete to progress. By completing chapters, you’ll unlock new story quest. These ‘chapters‘ can be progressed by completing multiple different objectives, and you can (slightly) customize which objectives you want to take on.

Season Journey Explained | Chapter 1 & 2

The Season Journey can be checked out on the main menu. Open the map and scroll left to the new Season tab. This is the Season of the Malignant Battle Pass screen. You can unlock Free Battle Pass rewards or activate the Premium Battle Pass — but we want to check out the Season Journey.

Check Season Journey and select to open — it is right above the Season Blessings menu. On the Season Journey page, we’ll see all the objectives that need to be completed to finish each chapter.

Chapter 1 | Season Journey

7 of 9 objectives must be completed to finish the chapter. These are extremely basic activities found in Sanctuary’s open-world.

The Hangman’s Garden: Collect x15 Gallowvine, found nearly everywhere.

As the challenge states, Gallowvine is a common material. Find it by interacting with plants on the open-world. They’re especially common in the Fractured Peaks.

Heart of Corruption: Collect x1 Malignant Heart, available after completing or skipping the Campaign.

A Malignant Heart will become available while completing the first Priority Quest of the season. You will also find them in Malignant Tunnels when defeating enemies. To collect one, ‘capture‘ the heart that appears and defeat the elite enemy that respawns. These items will only be available if you’re completing (or skipped) the campaign on the Seasonal Realm.

Den of Evil: Complete any x1 standard Dungeon found on your map.

Very basic. Complete any dungeon — cellars and Malignant Tunnels don’t count. They must be dungeons with the standard gate symbol. You can progress two objectives by completing a dungeon in the Fractured Peaks.

Trouble in the Wilds: Complete x1 World Event found on your Map.

While exploring the open-world, World Events will appear, denoted by a yellow / orange circle on the map. Enter the circle and complete the objective that appears. These are varied but can be completed solo relatively easily.

Into the Frozen Dark: Complete x3 standard Dungeons in Fractured Peaks.

Just like Den of Evil, you must complete standard dungeons. These will appear on your map as you explore — make sure to only clear dungeons in Fractured Peaks. That’s the starting region of the game around Kyovashad.

What Lurks Below: Complete x1 Cellar.

Any cellar will do. Cellars are small mini-dungeons that only take a few minutes to complete. They’ll appear marked on your map while exploring the open-world.

Kind Stranger: Complete x5 priority or side quests.

Look for blue “!” exclamation points while exploring the map. Complete five of these short stories to finish this challenge — which is probably the objective that will take the longest in Chapter 1.

Keeper of the Keys: Collect x1 Whispering Key, sold at the Purveyor of Curiosities.

The Purveyor of Curiosities is a random chance vendor that trades in Obol — currency rewarded for completing World Events. The Purveyor will also sell Whispering Keys. Purchase one. We’ll only need one! You’ll find these vendors only in large hub cities. There’s one in the southwest of Kyovashad.

Waste Not: Salvage x10 Normal item

A must-complete objective. Travel to the nearest Blacksmith and salvage 10 pieces of gear. You’ll definitely need to do this early in the game. Simply complete objectives until your inventory is full at the start of the game, then teleport back to town. Salvage everything you don’t want, which should be almost everything in your inventory at this point.

Chapter 2 | Season Journey

9 of 11 objectives must be completed to finish the chapter. This is where the grinding begins. You’ll need to dig deeper into the systems of Diablo 4, but experienced players should have no problem navigating the objectives.

Undertaker: Complete x10 Cellars.

As stated above, Cellars are incredibly short and quick mini-dungeons. Run around the Fractured Peaks and you can complete 10 in 30 minutes or less. The more map you transfer over from the Eternal Realm, the easier this will be.

Stopping the Spread: Collect x3 Malignant Hearts.

You’ll finish this objective by completing the first two seasonal Priority Quests. As long as you capture hearts that drop from elite enemies and kill them a second time, you’ll collect more hearts. They are most common in Malignant Tunnels. If you don’t have enough, you can get the hearts while completing Malignant Tunnels for a later challenge.

Ruins Reclaimed: Conquer x1 Stronghold.

Very simple. Marked on the map, you’ll find small areas called Strongholds. These are challenging open-world ‘dungeons’ where you must complete objectives and fight waves of enemies. Strongholds can be challenging early on, so you might want to join a team or wait until you’re leveled up before taking one on. You can also set World Tier to 1.

Gemcutter: Craft x1 any Chipped gem at the Jeweler.

Jewelers aren’t available until you level up. You’ll need to be Level 25 to complete all the Chapter 2 objectives — the Jeweler will be available at Level 20. Chipped Gems are the weakest version of gems, so you should find plenty you can salvage to craft a cheap one.

A Torch in the Depths: Complete x5 Malignant Tunnels.

Just complete five more Malignant Tunnels. These are marked on your map and are exclusive to the post-campaign world state in the Seasonal Realm. If you’ve completed Chapter 1, then the Malignant Tunnels will be available to you.

Baptized in Blood: Reach level 25.

This is the objective that will take the longest time in Chapter 2. Very simple. You’ll get this no matter what, just by playing the game. Your goal is to reach Level 50.

Vivisector: Collect x15 Demon Hearts, found from killing Demons or in Cellars.

Target demon-type enemies only. The easier way is to complete Cellars. Complete x10 Cellars, collecting Demon Hearts and making note of any cellars that spawn demon type enemies. If you find one, just repeat it a few times to get all the hearts you need.

A Warrior of Taste: Change x5 gear appearances at the Wardrobe.

The Wardrobe is located near the Blacksmith in Kyovashad. By salvaging gear, you’ll unlock new transmogs to use. Swap the appearance of five pieces of gear to unlock this extremely easy objective.

Lighting the Way: Interact with x10 waypoints for faster travel to new places.

You’ll naturally collect more waypoints as you explore the map. If you already have the map unlocked from exploration on the Eternal Realm, you can easily travel to each town or waypoint location and unlock it. Especially simple if you have the mount already unlocked.

Spit and Polish: Upgrade x2 items to 1 Star at the Blacksmith or Jeweler.

To upgrade an item to 1 Star, you’ll need to go to a Blacksmith and select the upgrade tab. Each upgrade you apply to a piece of gear adds an extra yellow diamond — the first upgrade is relatively cheap. Upgrade two different pieces of gears once each.

Finer Clarity: Upgrade x1 Healing Potion to Minor at the Alchemist.

One of the most important NPCs, the Alchemist enhances your Healing Potion power. The first upgrades are very cheap and you’ll gather enough ingredients naturally just by exploring the map. Collect every plant node while completing other objectives, and you’ll be stocked up.

And that’s everything you need to know to complete the third quest of the Seasonal storyline.