Diablo 4’s Malignant Powers return as rings in this week’s 1.2.2 patch

The next major Diablo 4 patch in Season of Blood is upon us, and what we’re getting is something very interesting, and it bodes well for the future of the game. Patch 1.2.2, which arrives tomorrow, November 7, introduces five new Unique rings.

While that would usually be interesting on its own, it’s the powers these rings offer that’s worth highlighting.

The five new rings, one for each class, join the loot table to deliver Malignant Powers to the five classes. If you may recall, Malignant Powers were first introduced in Season of the Malignant, but they disappeared when the season ended.

This is likely also what’s going to happen with Season 2’s Vampiric Powers once the season ends. Blizzard previously said that those sort of seasonal powers could always come back, but was cautious to over-promise as they may disturb the meta too much.

Well, we’re here now, and the first set of rings looks promising. They are Ring of Red Furor (Barbarian), Tal Rasha’s Iridescent Loop (Sorcerer), Airidah’s Inexorable Will (Druid), Writhing Band of Trickery (Rogue), and Ring of the Sacrilegious Soul (Necromancer).

The rings will be arrive in the current seasonal realm, as well as the eternal realm. Meaning they will always be available to grind for going forward.

Here’s what each of those new Malignant rings bring to the game:

Ring of Red Furor (Barbarian)

• After spending 100 Fury within 3 seconds, your next cast of Hammer of the Ancients, Upheaval, or Death Blow is a guaranteed Critical Strike and deals 10—30% (multiplicative damage) [x] bonus Critical Strike Damage.

Tal Rasha’s Iridescent Loop (Sorcerer)

• For each type of Elemental damage you deal, gain 10—15%[x] increased damage for 4 seconds. Dealing Elemental damage refreshes all bonuses.

Airidah’s Inexorable Will (Druid)

• When casting an Ultimate Skill and again 5 seconds after, Pull in Distant enemies and deal 0.5-1.0 Physical damage to them. This damage is increased by 1%[x] per 1 point of Willpower you have.

Writhing Band of Trickery (Rogue)

• Casting a Subterfuge Skill leaves behind a Decoy Trap that continuously Taunts and lures enemies. The Decoy Trap explodes after 3 seconds dealing 2.0-3.0 Shadow damage. Can occur every 12 seconds.

Ring of the Sacrilegious Soul (Necromancer)

• Automatically activate the following equipped Skills on Corpses around you: Raise Skeleton every 1-2 seconds, Corpse Explosion every 1-2 seconds, and Corpse Tendrils every 8-16 seconds.

Elsewhere in the patch notes, Blizzard increased the health of pillars in the Sanguine Battery Event by 10%, but cut the repair time from three seconds to just one.

Read on below for the rest of the patch notes:

Bug fixes

Season of Blood

• Fixed an issue where the additional enemies in the Lord Zir boss fight would not get stunned when Lord Zir gets staggered.
• Fixed an issue where Metamorphosis would not trigger temporary movement speed bonuses.
• Fixed an issue where the Anticipation Vampiric Power didn’t display Cooldown Reduction for Ultimate abilities when in town.
• Fixed an issue where the Hectic Vampiric Power did not reduce the cooldown of skills with charges.
• Fixed an issue where the seasonal quest “Battle of Fear” and “Faith” could be completed without completing Chapter 3 of the Season Journey.
• Fixed an issue where the upgrade button for Vampiric Powers could be interacted with when there are no new powers available, wasting 25 Potent Blood.
• Fixed an issue where Lord Zir could not respawn if the player re-entered the boss arena too quickly after respawning.
• Fixed an issue where Evade and non-damaging Skills could trigger Hemomancy.

Dungeons and events

• Fixed an issue where progression would be blocked when an enemy spawned behind the locked door in the Luban’s Rest dungeon.
• Fixed an issue where monsters could spawn from a Nightmare Portal location after the portal had teleported or been destroyed.

Quests

• Fixed multiple instances where the quest marker could disappear when leaving the area during multiple quests.
• Fixed an issue where Prava and her knights could stop progressing through the area during the Scouring of Caldeum if certain Elites were killed from a distance during the “Kill Demons Attacking from Above” quest.

Gameplay

• Fixed an issue where Lilith could still launch area-of-effect attacks after she is defeated following the first phase in the Echo of Lilith.
• Fixed an issue where Angelbreath or Potions could randomly spawn when The Beast in the Ice spawned.
• Fixed an issue where followers could get stuck when going back and forth over a traversal.
• Fixed an issue where Inner Sight didn’t trigger properly against Training Dummies.
• Fixed an issue where Necromancer Minions and Druid Companions wouldn’t attack Training Dummies.

Accessibility

• Fixed an issue where the Screen Reader wouldn’t properly read life totals above 999.
• Fixed an issue where the Screen Reader on PS4 didn’t read all the text in Vendor and Crafting displays.

Miscellaneous

• Fixed an issue where achievements related to the Hatred’s Chosen buff could not trigger appropriately.
• Various visual, performance, and stability improvements.