Diablo 4 malignant rings will "live forever inside of the ecosystem"

gamesradar.com:

The Diablo 4 malignant rings are one of the more interesting announcements to emerge out of BlizzCon 2023. Five class-specific Rings are set to enter the loot pool in patch 1.2.2 as part of the Season of Blood on November 7, Uniques which will let you tap into powers last seen in Season of the Malignant. It was widely accepted that Malignant powers would never be seen again, a reality of the live service model that Blizzard Entertainment has adopted – where new mechanics are introduced at the outset of a new season and are then phased out of the game when it transitions to the next. 

Kayleigh Calder tells me that it wasn't necessarily the plan to bring Malignant powers back into Diablo 4, although the lead game producer says that the team is always on the lookout for ways to double-down on elements that resonate with the community. "When we're building a new season, we're looking at the things coming in that are going to remain eternal – different Aspects and Uniques, for example – and the things that are going to go away," says Calder. "But the Malignant Rings are a good example of something where players really resonated with a number of the Malignant powers, and we're always looking for opportunities to bring the things that players really enjoy back."

There's one Malignant Ring for each class, and they are going to become a permanent fixture of the meta. Calder confirms that "they're not just there for the Season Two update", with Associate game director Brent Gibson adding that the Uniques will "live forever inside of the ecosystem" – making them something you equip to characters in the Eternal and Seasonal realms moving forward, and even carry with you into the new Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred expansion next year. 

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