Diablo 4's Season of the Malignant has meant a series of new items and aspects being added to the game, although only for a limited time. With so much new content, players are scrambling to figure out what is worth farming, and what is going to get Scrapped.
The twenty-three new Legendary Aspects are of particular interest to many players, as they have the potential to shake up the build meta. Here is every Aspect added to Diablo 4 in Season 1, and whether they should make your high-priority list.
22 Craven Aspect
The Craven Aspect is the only Mobility Aspect introduced in Season of the Malignant. Players who use it will gain movement speed (a base increase of 20 - 40%) when moving away from Chilled or Frozen enemies, allowing them to kite more effectively.
While there are some builds that Chill enemies often enough for this to be effective (Ice Sorcerers & the occasional Rogue) most are simply not going to benefit from this Aspect enough to be worth the slot on your boots. Instead, consider the Ghostwalker's Aspect for added mobility or the Exploiter's Aspect to increase the duration of Crowd Control Effects.
21 Dire Wolf's Aspect
This Aspect can be argued to be a downgrade to an ability instead of an upgrade. It changes the effect of Grizzly Rage to remove your gained Defensive Stats in return for Movement Speed, 30% Spirit Cost Reduction, and 10% Max Health healed on a kill.
These changes, while interesting for Speed Runners, are a risky proposition. Many players already have trouble surviving packs and bosses since the defensive nerf, and cannot afford to give up more defensive stats to run faster. Even the heal is unlikely to perform well enough to justify the sacrifice - burst damage is simply too common to rely on drain tanking in Diablo 4.
20 Aspect Of Frozen Orbit
When the Sorcerer spell Frozen Orb is cast while this Aspect is active, it travels to its destination and explodes two more times at greatly reduced damage. While a good roll can mean up to 30% of normal damage, the Codex of Power version only offers 20%.
This Offensive Sorcerer Aspect may appear strong at first due to the Ice Sorcerer being the dominant meta build. However, this Aspect only affects Frozen Orb, a lesser-known Destruction Skill. Because Frozen Orb is typically overshadowed by other abilities in meta builds, and the damage offered by the Aspect is pitiful, this Aspect isn't likely to become a high priority.
19 Gravitational Aspect
Similar to the Frozen Orbit Aspect, Gravitational Aspect causes a ball of elemental energy to form. In this case, Ball Lightning slowly orbits the player, damaging all enemies hit. Unlike Frozen Orbit, however, the damage isn't massively reduced. Ball Lightning's damage is only reduced by 20 - 10% depending on the Aspect roll.
While the lesser damage reduction is a point in the Gravitational Aspects' favor, it just doesn't break into the higher tiers. The Lightning Build for the Sorcerer is alright, but not amazing, and there are many Aspects that this build benefits from already.
18 Earthquake Aspect
Despite its nature magic-sounding name, the Earthquake Aspect is a Utility Barbarian Aspect. When the player casts Ground Stomp, it creates an Earthquake for 4 seconds. This does some additional damage to enemies in the area, as well as increasing the damage you deal by 5 - 15% when standing in it.
This Aspect could be useful if you are already using the Ground Stomp Skill, but most builds don't massively benefit from this Aspect. Barbarians rarely struggle for damage and tend to instead need staying power and resource generation. If you do need a damage-focused Aspect, there are usually better alternatives.
17 Ancestral Charge Aspect
The Ancestral Charge Aspect causes your Barbarian to summon four Ancients each time they Charge, who deal 50 - 100% damage to enemies they hit. It is one of the many Offensive Aspects available to Barbarians in Diablo 4, but one of the few ones for the Charge Skill.
This aspect, while thematically cool and solid in its own right, is going to have a hard time finding a place in the meta. The Barbarian's Charge ability is frequently left by the wayside in favor of Leap or more Shout Skills. This effectively removes this aspect from play, as it doesn't synergize with any other skill.
16 Aspect Of Exposed Flesh
This Resource Necromancer Aspect assists players using bone skills with Essence Generation. Whenever a Bone Skill Lucky Hits, there is a 10% chance to generate 30 - 50 Essence. This means more damage, as you'll be able to cast Core Skills more often.
However, it relies on Lucky Hit to function, making it unreliable. While some Bone Skills have a high Lucky Hit chance, such as Bone Spear (50%) this means the Aspect will only activate on average 5% of the time. Overall, it's a lackluster Aspect even though it synergizes with a high-tier Skill simply because it doesn't happen often enough.
15 Coldbringer's Aspect
The Coldbringer's Aspect may seem lackluster at first glance but has some great synergies to move it up in priority. It causes your Skeletal Mages to cast a Blizzard every 8 seconds, which deals some damage but also Chills them for the next six seconds.
Not only is this Aspect a no-brainer for a minion build, but it also synergizes excellently with one of the best Paragon Glyphs for the Necromancer, Control. This is because Control makes you do extra damage to Crowd Controlled enemies as well as buffing you and your minion's damage against Chilled targets.
14 Aspect Of The Unbroken Tether
The Aspect of the Unbroken Tether is an Offensive Sorcerer Aspect that synergizes with Chain Lightning. While equipped, it causes Chain Lightning to occasionally chain two additional times. This means that your Core Lightning ability can bounce a total of seven times.
The builds that this will work on are somewhat limited, but it is a no-brainer pick if Chain Lightning is your Core Skill of choice. Not only does it provide some additional damage at very little cost, but it is one of the few Aspects that synergizes with Chain Lightning. To get the best rolls for this Aspect, you'll need to go farm Legendary Items.
13 Aspect Of Surprise
Have you ever wanted to smoke bomb your enemies, disappearing while they are slack jaw confused? The Aspect of Surprise lets you do just that. Whenever you Evade or Shadow Step as a Rogue, you leave behind a cluster of Stun Grenades. These then explode, stunning enemies for two seconds and dealing a minimal amount of damage.
While cool, this Aspect doesn't impact the gameplay of most builds meaningfully. It could be used to run past enemies or to help fill the Stagger Bar on a Boss, but won't help you clear dungeons. Essentially, this Aspect is all about silly fun, not power gaming - and that is just fine.
12 Umbrous Aspect
The Umbrous Aspect helps the Rogue generate Dark Shrouds, a sort of protective shield. As a Lucky Hit, each Critical Strike with a Marksman Skill has a 40% chance to spawn a free Dark Shroud. Each Shroud active at any given time grants damage reduction, but one Shroud is consumed each time the Rogue takes Direct Damage.
While defensive stats were nerfed virtually game-wide, making any free way of getting them more powerful, this Aspect can be tricky to activate. As a result, it's unreliable but has a sizable payoff when it works. If you are set with all mandatory Aspects for your build and have the space, this could be a good one to throw on.
11 Aspect Of Searing Wards
This Defensive Aspect gives the Sorcerer the ability to summon a free Firewall for every 200 mana spent, and as a bonus Firewalls destroy incoming projectiles. This makes it an interesting option for Fire-focused builds, which make an appearance in this Season's mid-tier meta builds.
While the Aspect of Searing Wards does not define a build, you will probably use it on your late-game gear. This is due to the overall lack of Defensive Aspects for Sorcerer, especially those who have decided to forgo Ice spells such as Deep Freeze & Ice Armor. This, combined with the overall nerf to defensive stats in recent patches will make the Aspect of Searing Wards a situational but viable choice.
10 Aspect Of Gore Quills
The Aspect of Gore Quills allows the Necromancer to consume Blood Orbs for additional Blood Lances. This can be a fantastic upgrade if Blood Lance is your primary damage dealer, alongside the Aspect of Hungry Blood and the Blood Seeker's Aspect.
However, most builds in the current meta don't utilize Blood Lance. This is due to the existence of Blood Surge, another Core Blood-based ability that does almost equal damage and hits more enemies for late-game dungeon clearing. However, Blood Lance isn't a bad ability - it works great against bosses. We'll likely see Gore Quills being run as part of World Boss Farming Builds.
9 Aspect Of Pestilent Points
This is a Rogue-specific Offensive Aspect that adds poison imbuement damage to every third use of Puncture. Poison Imbuement is pretty commonly used by Rogues Diablo 4, meaning that this aspect can benefit many builds. If you're leveling, feel free to equip it onto your gear and benefit.
However, Aspect space is limited in the late game, and this one doesn't make or break any of the high-tier builds. For a better Imbuement-focused aspect, look to the Aspect of Bursting Venoms or the Aspect of Unstable Imbuements. These also both benefit a poison-focused build.
8 Lightning Dancer's Aspect
The Lightning Dancer's Aspect is an Offensive Druid Aspect. Whenever Lightning Storm Critical Strikes, this Aspect causes three dancing bolts to spawn, which seek enemies and do reasonable amounts of damage. There are meta builds that can take advantage of this, although most builds rely on a different Core Skill than Lightning Storm due to its channeling nature.
While the Aspect will only benefit a small subset of Druid Players, it will be very desirable for those that can use it due to its potential for speeding up dungeon clears. If you get a max roll of this aspect, throw it on and see if you like the Lightning Strike playstyle.
7 Aspect Of Imitated Imbuement
The Aspect of Imitated Imbuement is one which users of the Rogue's Shadow Clone will be very interested in. It allows your Shadow Clone to also mimic the Imbuements you add to your skills, such as the ever-popular Poison Imbuement. In addition, casting an imbuement skill boosts your clone's damage by up to 16% for the next 9 seconds.
The result is that you can almost double your damage since the Shadow Clone deals 80% of your damage when improved. This pumps the Rogue's already high damage numbers to insane levels - if you can survive longer than your enemies that is.
6 Aspect Of Encroaching Wrath
This Aspect increases the damage to the Barbarian's Weapon Mastery Skills (not to be confused with the Rogue ability of the same name). After spending 100 Fury, your next Weapon Mastery Skill deals 80 - 100% more damage (determined by the Aspect's Roll).
There are three Weapon Mastery Skills for the Barbarian - Steel Grasp, Deathblow, and Rupture. The damage from Steel Grasp is too low to be worth the Aspect slot, but Death Blow and Rupture have decent synergy here. If either skill figures prominently in your build, this is a good choice for an Offensive Aspect.
5 Aspect Of Audacity
The Aspect of Audacity rewards players who get up close and personal with large groups of enemies. Every twenty seconds when you are surrounded by at least five Close Enemies, stun them for 2 - 4 seconds. In large packs, this can mean stunning ten to twelve targets - or it can simply help you reposition after being rushed by a group of Fallen Lunatics.
This Aspect is class-agnostic, which is great because just about any class can make use of it. Melee builds appreciate when enemies don't run away, and often have ways to deal increased damage to Crowd Controlled Targets. Ranged builds are likely to enjoy the opportunity to reposition when surrounded.
4 Subterranean Aspect
The Subterranean Aspect is an Offensive Aspect for Druids that rewards those who use the Poison Creepers skill. Whenever Poison Creepers is cast, Landslide will also cast in a circle around you, and poisoned enemies will take increased damage from Earth Skills.
Druids haven't received as much love as some of Diablo 4's other classes, but they have one of the most versatile build paths in the game. The Subterranean Aspect looks like it will continue that trend by increasing the damage output of caster builds. This very well may make the Landslide Druid competitive with the Pulverize Build.
3 Shockwave Aspect
The Shockwave Aspect is an Offensive Aspect for Druid. When equipped, Pulverize generates a Shockwave that travels forward for 60 - 100% of the Skill's damage. This does not appear to have a cooldown, meaning that the Shockwaves are only limited by your attack speed.
Not only is Pulverize a key part of high-tier Leveling and End-game builds for the Druid, but the Aspects that synergize with it are limited. As a result, you likely won't be struggling to find space for this Aspect on your gear. Although this Aspect isn't meta-defining, it's a great choice for any player running a Werebear Druid.