Should you pick Malignant Hearts over Gems in Diablo 4?

Diablo 4’s first season added a gem replacement - Malignant Hearts. These can be slotted into your jewelry pieces (rings/amulet) while playing Season of the Malignant. While the new hearts are harder to attain than Gems, the real question is if they’re worth replacing the function Gems served overall in your builds. Both enhance your gear a great deal, but which is the better deal?

It seems like a no-brainer when it comes to the topic of Malignant Hearts versus Gems. Both are fantastic, but one has far more flexibility, and more uses than the other while playing Diablo 4.

Note: The article is subjective and reflects the opinion of the writer.

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Are Malignant Hearts better than Gems in Diablo 4?

Malignant Hearts are much better than Gems in Diablo 4. If Gems did more than simply add resistances to your character, it would be a more tough argument to make. However, that’s all Gems can do. Admittedly, having resistances is useful, you can get that elsewhere.

Instead of a small section of Gems in Diablo 4, there are 32 Malignant Hearts, and each one has a separate, useful ability. No matter what class you’re running, there are a few of these that are going to interest you.

There's no question - hearts are better than Gems. (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Each class has unique Malignant Hearts, as well as more common, universal ones that everyone can use. Until Diablo 4 adds something like legendary Gems, like Diablo 3 had, I don’t think regular Gems can compare. Besides, you still have Gems for your ordinary slots in the game.

Some Hearts are absolutely bonkers. For example, Druids have The Moonrage, which gives a 5% chance to summon a Wolf for 20-30s, and also grants +3 to Wolves as a skill.

Gems are handy, but Hearts are powerful. (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

There isn’t a gem in Diablo 4 that can compete with that kind of output. At best, you lose some resistance and defenses, but that’s it. The only time I can see Gems doing more work is if you’re at the highest levels of difficulty and are being bombarded by elements you aren’t prepared for.

These enhancements will only be around for a few months until Season 1 ends in October 2023. Though you won’t lose your seasonal character, seasonal affixes (Malignant Hearts) will go away.

Try them out and see if you'd rather use hearts instead of gems (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

When the season ends, you’ll be able to slot whatever Gems you want into those jewelry slots. Seasonal characters are a time to experiment and do wild, fun things in the game.

With that in mind, while you’re going to lose some resistances you’re going to gain some ridiculous, fun powers as you experiment with the new abilities that await in Diablo 4’s current season.

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Players have a few months to explore this new content and see what new powers they can uncover. What makes Malignant Hearts so fun is how flexible they are, and how they grant a variety of builds far more power.