Besides having plenty of new mechanics, Diablo 4’s Season 1—Season of the Malignant—is filled with content. Most notably, its Battle Pass will have tons of rewards for you to earn, but only those who can level up multiple tiers fast can reap everything. We’ve never seen a system like this in a Diablo game, so this is new territory for fans who have always been used to a solo gaming experience. But hey, times are changing; Battle Passes are commonplace these days, especially when you play an online game focusing on multiplayer aspects.
It’s been confirmed that we’ll have 27 free and 63 premium tiers to Diablo 4’s Battle Pass, and the rewards can range from fresh Transmog options for your character to exclusive cosmetics. If you want to optimize how you grind for the incoming Season, it’s best to know how you can get to all the tiers as fast as possible.
Get Tier Skips
The first option is the laziest method of the bunch, but you’ll have to pay for it with your wallet. If you find the grind too tedious, there’s always the option for you to purchase a Battle Pass tier skip. Each tier skip costs 200 Platinum, and as you know, this currency is advertised as a premium currency wherein it can be used to buy exclusive class titles and outfits that are otherwise unavailable in the base game.
Platinum-based tier skips are level-gated, so you can only buy your way through the Battle Pass if your character is at the “right” level. Blizzard did this to restrict players that would simply spend their way through the Battle Pass without doing any of the Season Journeys. It’s not the most rewarding way to earn all the gear, Legendary Aspects, and other seasonal content, but it’s the easiest.
Earn Favor
Favor is marketed as a “currency” of sorts that’s given for progressing through the Season Journeys. You can earn Favor by doing mundane tasks in Diablo 4, such as finishing side quests, Cellars, or dungeons in the new Seasonal Realm. In the case of Season 1, you must create a new character to access the additional content that highlights the aftermath of the main story’s events.
The quests are divided into Chapters. These are filled with objectives that would reward you with Favor. For example, you’ll be tasked to collect a certain amount of Gallowvine. The goals will gradually become more challenging, but it should be easy for you to clear these “chores” if you want to level up your Battle Pass fast.
Finished With the Story? Challenge Malignant Tunnels
If you’re done with Season 1’s story, might I suggest doing Malignant Tunnels? They’re one of the highlights for Season of the Malignant, and rightfully so, as they’re unique dungeons that only open up after you’ve completed the main storyline. The tunnels host Malignant Hearts which can be contained through a binding ritual before being socketed into gear using Infested Sockets.
Malignant Hearts offers some of the best buffs in the game and rivals the strongest Gems, but besides that, the enemies that can be found in the tunnels are what will contribute to the tiers of your Battle Pass. You can find Party Corrupted Malignant foes who drop Malignant Hearts, which other players defeat for extra loot. Once you’ve reached this part of the game, the Favor you’ll earn for the Battle Pass will most likely be tied through these enemies. After all, in the later Chapters, your goals will mainly consist of defeating and obtaining stuff throughout the Sanctuary.
Work Out the Best Routes for Grinding
There’s no messing around regarding the grind and figuring out the best spots to level up your character and Battle Pass is a must-do for anyone serious about Diablo 4. Luckily for you, you don’t have to do any of that stuff—someone has already figured it out for everyone.
A user shared a map on the Diablo 4 subreddit of the location of every side quest that leads to a dungeon. They also included arrows that indicate quest chains you can do to unlock other quests. It’s a handy map for those wanting to get as much Renown as quickly as possible, which you’ll sadly need to do for the beginning of each season since the game forces you to start a new character.
Since you can skip the campaign if you’ve completed it with another character, you can use the map to jump straight into the grind and start making your way through the Battle Pass. If you want to blast through the tiers, make sure you have the map on standby when Season of the Malignant starts
