Balazan's Maxtlatl is a Spiritborn Unique in Diablo 4 that was introduced in Season 9, and it's an amazing item to have for players who want to push the endgame with a Poison or Thorns-based build. It gives the Centipede build path for the Spiritborn some much needed help, and while it won't quite compare to Eagle and Jaguar builds, it opens up a lot of opportunities for players to make some silly and strong setups.
If you're trying to make a Centipede Spiritborn build in Diablo 4, then Balazan's Maxtlatl should definitely be one of the items you should aim to have. Here are some tips on how you can get this Unique item as quickly as possible.
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Diablo 4 Balazan's Maxtlatl Drop Location
You can get Balazan's Maxtlatl through any item source that can drop Unique items, but if you want to target farm it, you'll need to fight Varshan in his hole next to the Tree of Whispers. Players can challenge Varshan at any time by touching his altar within his boss room, but if you want to have any hope of getting loot that's actually worth your while, you need to spend 12 Malignant Hearts to open his Treasure Hoard.
In previous seasons, players had to spend boss materials just to challenge their boss of choice. This is no longer the case, and if they want to get boss loot, they need to use those materials to open Hoard chests that appear after the boss has been defeated.
Where to Farm Malignant Hearts
Whisper Caches from the Tree of Whispers in Diablo 4 have a pretty solid chance of rewarding players with Malignant Hearts, assuming they're playing on Torment 1 difficulty or higher. While not necessarily the fastest, farming Whisper bounties set in Dungeons is the most convenient, as completing two of these is enough to earn you a Whisper Cache.
Alternatively, Kurast Undercity is excellent for boss material farming, but only if you have a Tribute of Titans in your inventory. These Tributes will guarantee a shower of boss materials at the end of your Undercity run.
Lastly, you can always check in with Fayira, Raheir's daughter at The Den in Kurast. She'll occasionally sell boss material caches for Pale Marks. You can refresh her store after you buy a cache for a chance to buy another cache.
Is Balazan's Maxtlatl Any Good?
Definitely, though it's specifically meant for Poison Thorns builds (like the ones using Scourge). When equipped, attacks against Close enemies deal your Thorns damage, and those enemies are Poisoned by that same amount. When you retaliate with Thorns, the Poisoning damage increases by up to 300%.
This opens up a lot of build paths for Centipede builds, and if you're already using one, it should give you a noticeable performance improvement even without making much changes to your existing setup.
Diablo 4
- Released
- June 5, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Blizzard
- Publisher(s)
- Blizzard
- Engine
- Proprietary Engine
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- All platforms
- Cross Save
- All platforms
- Franchise
- Diablo
- Number of Players
- 1-2 players
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Verified
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Hack and Slash
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
- Local Co-Op Support
- 1-2 players (console only)
- How Long To Beat
- 26 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
- File Size Xbox Series
- 158.25 GB
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
