Using Malignant Hearts to summon Echoes of Varshan is one of the core seasonal mechanics in Diablo 4’s Season of the Malignant, turning your corrupted loot into an opportunity for high-value boss fights and rare rewards. Varshan the Consumed is the central boss tied to the season, and his echoes represent progressively harder versions of the fight that drop powerful loot including Wrathful Malignant Hearts, crafting materials, and unique gear. Understanding exactly how to use your Malignant Hearts to summon him is key to maximizing both efficiency and rewards.
To begin, you’ll need to gather Caged Hearts and Malignant Body Parts, the primary components used to summon Echoes of Varshan. These items drop from Malignant Monsters, which spawn across the world or within Malignant Tunnels. When you defeat these enemies using a Malignant Invoker, they can drop one of several body parts: Demonic Fangs, Brutal Fangs, Vicious Hearts, and Wrathful Hearts. These are not socketable items like regular Malignant Hearts they’re crafting reagents used specifically for summoning Varshan’s echoes.
Once you’ve collected the required parts, your next step is to visit Occultist locations or the Tree of Whispers, depending on your progression. After completing the Season of the Malignant questline for the first time, you’ll unlock the ability to summon Echoes of Varshan inside certain dungeons. Each summoning requires a combination of body parts, typically one of each type though higher-tier Varshan encounters may require more advanced materials or Wrathful Hearts.
The standard Varshan fight can be accessed through Malignant Tunnels at the end of specific runs. After clearing the tunnel, you’ll find an altar or corrupted summoning circle that prompts you to use your collected parts. Interacting with this altar consumes the materials and spawns the Echo of Varshan. The boss scales to your World Tier and character level, so make sure you’re properly prepared before starting the encounter his attacks combine heavy physical damage with poison and corruption effects that can easily overwhelm unprepared builds.
For higher-tier Echoes of Varshan, particularly in World Tier 3 and 4, the fight becomes significantly more rewarding. These advanced versions of Varshan have new attack patterns and drop a wider range of rare items, including Wrathful Malignant Hearts, which are some of the most powerful and valuable items in the season. To access these versions, you’ll need upgraded materials like Invokers of Varshan, crafted at the Occultist using Malignant Ichor collected from dismantled Hearts. Crafting Invokers also allows you to target specific Heart types, which is essential if you’re optimizing for your build’s color alignment Vicious, Brutal, Devious, or Wrathful.
It’s best to time your Echo of Varshan summons after stockpiling several sets of materials. Running the encounter multiple times in one session allows you to maximize efficiency and quickly collect high-quality Hearts or seasonal uniques. Some players integrate Varshan runs into their broader farming loop cycling between Helltides, Whispers, and Malignant Tunnels to gather materials before diving into boss summons.
Defeating Varshan isn’t just about loot it’s about progression. Each successful summon brings a chance at top-tier Hearts, rare crafting reagents, and even unique seasonal items that can define your endgame build. The more you refine your farming routes and material management, the more Echoes of Varshan you can summon in less time, accelerating your overall power curve.
To summon Echoes of Varshan efficiently: farm Malignant Monsters for body parts, craft Invokers at the Occultist, locate summoning points in Malignant Tunnels, and face Varshan’s echoes in escalating difficulty tiers. With preparation and repetition, this process becomes one of the most profitable and engaging loops in Diablo 4’s seasonal content.