Cigar Funhouse

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Caging and crafting Malignant Hearts in Diablo 4 is a central part of the seasonal experience, allowing players to tailor their gear with powerful effects and unlock unique playstyles. The process is both rewarding and strategic, requiring resource management, precise farming, and an understanding of the crafting system centered around Cormond’s Wagon.

To begin using Malignant Hearts, players must have jewelry with sockets that match the color of the heart they wish to insert orange for Vicious, blue for Brutal, pink for Devious, and universal for Wrathful. These infested sockets can be found or crafted by interacting with Cormond’s Wagon near the seasonal hub. Completing the first chapter of the Season Journey grants a Cage of Binding, essential for socketing hearts into jewelry through a short ritual. The ritual consumes your Cage of Binding and the jewelry piece, producing a new jewelry item with the chosen heart embedded.

Crafting Caged Hearts is supported by Ichor, a special currency acquired by salvaging unwanted Malignant Hearts at Cormond’s Wagon. Each Vicious, Brutal, or Devious Heart salvaged gives between 5 and 15 Ichor; Wrathful Hearts yield smaller amounts of Ichor from all three primary colors, making them especially valuable for crafting rare hearts. If you want to craft a new heart of a specific type, you will need 35 Ichor from the other two primary heart types. For example, crafting a new Brutal Heart requires 35 Vicious Ichor and 35 Devious Ichor, and the heart you get will be random but always level-appropriate to your character.

You can obtain empty Caged Hearts either by salvaging imbued equipment or by purchasing them from Cormond using gold. Once you have an empty Caged Heart, you can choose one of the four heart types to craft though Wrathful Hearts are generally restricted and must be targeted through farming or rare events. Selecting your desired heart type and combining the required Ichor allows you to roll for a random effect heart of that category, giving a chance to win class-specific powers or universal boosts.

For those seeking Wrathful Hearts, the process often involves running Malignant Tunnels or crafting Wrathful Malignant Invokers, which can be used at special outgrowths within the tunnels. This is the only reliable method to farm these hardest-to-find hearts, and players chasing the strongest combos will frequently make targeted tunnel runs.

Effective caging and crafting involves salvaging surplus hearts, keeping track of Ichor balances, and managing inventory space. Strategic use of salvaging and crafting lets players chase the precise effects needed for their builds or even experiment with new combinations as the season meta evolves. As you progress through the season, maximizing the number and variety of hearts you collect and craft will help unlock legendary-tier build power, solve critical survival challenges, and provide abundant customization options for every class.