Best Necromancer Malignant Hearts

Discover the best Malignant Hearts for Necromancers in Diablo IV Season 1, focusing on the Heart of the Decrepit Aura. Learn stats, effects, and farming tips.

Malignant Hearts in Diablo IV function similarly to jewels in Diablo 2, offering various benefits when socketed into rings and amulets. There are four types: Vicious, Brutal, Devious, and Wrathful Hearts, each requiring a matching Malignant Socket. The socket type is determined when jewelry drops and cannot be changed. Malignant Hearts also drop from specific sources, often indicated by their type keyword (e.g., defeating a Brutal Elite yields a Brutal Heart). However, the exact Heart type is subject to RNG.

The Heart of the Decrepit Aura is a Brutal Heart (blue) that, when socketed into a Brutal Socket, curses nearby enemies with Decrepify for 6-17 seconds. This effect triggers when a specific number of enemies are surrounding the Necromancer. Lower Item Power versions may require up to four enemies. This heart is particularly useful for Necromancer builds that sacrifice minions, as it provides a significant defensive boon by slowing enemies by 40% and reducing their damage output by 20%. While less effective against World Bosses, it's a potent and straightforward defensive option for most content, including Nightmare Dungeons and Malignant Tunnels.

How to Find a Heart of the Decrepit Aura:

This Brutal Heart can be found on any difficulty, even World Tier 1, provided the campaign is completed or skipped. It's recommended to advance the season questline until at least Answers in the Ashes to unlock core Malignant Heart mechanics. To farm Brutal Malignant Hearts:

• Hunt down Brutal Elites anywhere in the game. Defeating them drops Brutal Hearts. Interact with these to respawn the Elite and defeat it again to obtain a Caged Heart, which reveals its specific name and stats upon inspection.
• Farm Malignant Tunnels, which are new dungeons that spawn across Sanctuary. These are the best locations to find Malignant Elites and gather Ichor.
• Use Ichor at Cormond's Workbenches to craft specific types of Malignant Hearts or Malignant Invokers. Unwanted Malignant Hearts can be broken down for Ichor.
• At the end of each Malignant Tunnel, you may find Overgrowths. Using the corresponding Invoker (e.g., Brutal Invoker on a Brutal Overgrowth) spawns a Malignant Elite of that type. The type of Overgrowth is random per run.
• Malignant Invokers can be crafted or may randomly drop from enemies.

Focus on Brutal Elites, Brutal Invokers, and Brutal Overgrowths to acquire the Heart of the Decrepit Aura.