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Diablo 4's seasons has multiple progression systems unique to the Seasonal Realm. From the Battle Pass to Season Journey, there's no shortage of reward systems to interact with. One of these systems is Season Blessings, quality-of-life buffs that range from XP bonuses to seasonal drop buffs.
Acquiring these blessings will require you to get your hands on Smoldering Ashes, a currency tied to Diablo 4's Battle Pass tiers. This guide will cover everything you need to know about Season Blessings, how they work, and which ones are worth unlocking. We'll also cover how Smoldering Ashes work and how to obtain them.
What Are Season Blessings?
Season Blessings are account-bound buffs exclusive to Seasonal Realm characters. These buffs focus on quality-of-life improvements such as extended Elixir uptime, increased drop rates for seasonal rewards, and XP bonuses for performing certain actions. Only seasonal characters can activate and benefit from these buffs; Eternal Realm characters cannot interact with this system.
You can access the Season Blessings UI from the "Season" tab of your menu. Selecting the Season Blessings option will showcase all blessings available that season, their buff magnitudes, and the cost required to upgrade each blessing. Season Blessings are activated by spending Smoldering Ashes, a currency type earned from the Battle Pass. Each Season Blessing costs one Smoldering Ash to activate or upgrade. You can upgrade a blessing up to four times, with each upgrade experiencing slight diminishing returns.
How To Get Smoldering Ashes
You can acquire Smoldering Ashes from the free track of the seasonal Battle Pass. There are no Smoldering Ash rewards in the paid track, so Battle Pass ownership is not required if you wish to earn all 20. Smoldering Ashes tend to be back-loaded in the Battle Pass, with large quantities of the currency being awarded toward the last 30 tiers.
Unlike most Battle Pass rewards, Smoldering Ash also has a level requirement before it can be claimed. For example, the first Smoldering Ash reward has a level requirement of 40. This means that you must have a level 40 character active in the current season to claim this reward tier, even after you reach T8 in the Battle Pass. Claiming all Smoldering Ashes from the Battle Pass will require a level 100 seasonal character. Check out our XP farming guide for tips on how to reach the level cap quickly.
Smoldering Ash Battle Pass Tiers
Smoldering Ash payouts for Season of the Malignant can be found below:
Battle Pass Tier | Payout | Level Requirement |
|---|---|---|
Tier 8 | 1 Ash | Level 40 |
Tier 18 | 1 Ash | Level 53 |
Tier 22 | 1 Ash | Level 56 |
Tier 28 | 1 Ash | Level 62 |
Tier 32 | 1 Ash | Level 66 |
Tier 38 | 1 Ash | Level 71 |
Tier 48 | 2 Ashes | Level 78 |
Tier 52 | 1 Ash | Level 80 |
Tier 58 | 1 Ash | Level 82 |
Tier 62 | 1 Ash | Level 86 |
Tier 68 | 1 Ash | Level 89 |
Tier 72 | 1 Ash | Level 90 |
Tier 77 | 1 Ashes | Level 93 |
Tier 82 | 2 Ashes | Level 97 |
Tier 88 | 3 Ashes | Level 100 |
Season Blessing Bonuses
Once you've gotten your hands on Smoldering Ashes, you can invest that currency into one of five Season Blessings. Select the Season Blessings option in the "Season" menu to view your current buffs. There are five blessings you can invest your ashes into:
- Urn of Aggression: Increases XP earned from monster kills.
- Urn of Bargaining: Increases Gold earned from vendor sales.
- Urn of Reclamation: Increases the chance of salvaging rare materials.
- Urn of Prolonging: Increases the duration of Elixirs.
- Urn of Malignance: Increases the drop chance of powerful Malignant Hearts.
Investing your Smoldering Ashes into any buff will unlock it for all Seasonal Realm characters for the duration of that season. Each blessing can be upgraded four times, with subsequent upgrades experiencing slight diminishing returns. Unlocking and fully upgrading every Season Blessing will require 20 Smoldering Ashes.
What Are The Best Blessings?
For Season of the Malignant, we recommend investing your Smoldering Ashes into Urn of Aggression and Malignance. Aggression increases how much XP you earn from slaying monsters, allowing you to level up slightly faster to claim those later Smoldering Ash tiers. Malignance helps with getting some of this season's rarer Malignant Hearts, most of which are quite powerful or build-enabling.