No matter what type of Malignant Hearts you’re hunting for in Season 1 of Diablo 4, you’ll earn them based on level. Under the title, a string of text shows what level of Heart you’ve earned. Hearts go from Level 0 to Level 5, and this counts towards all types of Malignant Hearts. Whether the hearts are Brutal, Wrathful, or anything else, they can drop between Level 0 and Level 5. Level 5 Malignant Hearts are so rare, some players don’t believe they even exist — well they do. There’s proof.
Level 5 Malignant Hearts are incredibly powerful, providing extra armor (300+) and adding killer affixes like curse modifiers that are always-on, or adding Vulnerability auras when in the radius of one enemy. Some of the Malignant Heart bonuses are completely insane. Getting the perfect Level 5 Heart is the ultimate goal of the Season of the Malignant, and there are only a few ways to do this efficiently. Getting Level 5 Hearts is basically totally random — like hunting down Ultra-Rare Uniques, but there are still techniques you’ll want to focus on.
More Diablo 4 guides:
All Guides & Walkthroughs | Class Overview | Necromancer Shadowblight Minions Build | Barbarian Unconstrained Berserk Build | Golem Summoning | Accessibility Options To Change First | Potion Upgrades & Increase Max Capacity | Unlocking Horses | Silent Chests & Whispering Keys | Secret of the Spring Quest Solution | Early Game Loot Farm
Level 5 Malignant Hearts
NOTE: Using the Wrathful Heart farming trick probably won’t help you get Level 5 Hearts. It’s great for Wrathful Hearts, not so great for getting the highest tier hearts possible.
There are multiple levels of Malignant Hearts in Season 1. These accessories are harvested from elite Malignant Enemies when collecting the heart, by crafting from Cormond’s workbench, or by using Invokers at the end of Malignant Tunnels. Using Invokers is another way of harvesting — this method only guarantees that an elite Malignant enemy will spawn and will be (more likely) to spawn a higher level Malignant Heart.
So, the question is, how do you get higher level Malignant Hearts? So far, we know that Malignant Hearts of any level can drop at any level, so there is an (extremely small) chance a Level 5 Malignant Heart can drop even when you’re Level 40-50. Through experimentation and talking with other players, we can guess that Malignant Hearts are more likely to spawn under these conditions.
- Level 5 Malignant Heart Drops:
- Are more likely on higher World Tiers. World Tier 4 is your best chance.
- Playing at Higher Level increases chances. I recommend reaching at least Level 40 before attempting to hunt for Level 5 Malignant Hearts.
- Using Malignant Invokers in Malignant Tunnels give the best possible chances of earning Level 5 Malignant Heart drops.
You can also craft hearts and caches from the Workbench — while these have a high chance to spawn Wrathful Hearts (about 10%~) they aren’t nearly as useful for hunting Level 5 hearts.
- Best Methods For Level 5 Hearts:
- Because Level 5 hearts are so rare, hunting for a specific Level 5 heart is going to be extremely difficult.
- Play on World Tier 4 and complete Malignant Tunnels. Use Invokers on the mass of flesh at the end of the tunnel.
- The higher the item level of the heart, the more likely it will be Level 5. At this stage, you’ll encounter many hearts that drop at Level 4. Level 5 are extremely rare and incredibly powerful.
All of the Level 5 Malignant Hearts we’ve found so far 700 item power or higher. To get these hearts, you’ll need to use the boring traditional methods. No powerful tricks here, but these hearts are so incredibly powerful, you’ll absolutely want one for your build before the season is over.
