Diablo 4 Season 1 story missions almost culminate with The Cold Hard Truth quest. Despite this quest being the second to last, it gives a solid conclusion to the story in Season of the Malignant.

The Cold Hard Truth brings you once again together with Cormond after realizing that the Superior Cage you found could be the key to stopping the Malignant infesting Sanctuary.

However, even with this cage, Varshan’s fate is doomed, with no way to save him. As this is revealed, Cormond decides to put his mentor’s soul to rest and culminate this madness in Velkhova, the epicenter of it all.

Now, with the whole picture, let’s head forward and discuss everything that goes down to complete The Cold Hard Truth, how to defeat its final boss, and finally bring Diablo Season 1 to an end!

How to Complete The Cold Hard Truth Quest

To complete The Cold Hard Truth quest in Diablo 4 Season 1, players need to meet with Cormond outside of Velkhova and eventually defeat Varshan at the Velkhova Church Undercroft.

1. Meet with Cormond outside of Velkhova. He will be in front of his workbench in the Olyam Tundra.
   • You can either use the Kyovashad or the Bear Tribe Refuge Waypoints in Fracture Peaks to get to this location.

2. After a brief conversation, Cormond tasks you with clearing the Malignant from Velkhova.
   • To achieve this task, simply eliminate all the enemies that will spawn on the three circles showing up on the map.

3. Speak with Cormond once again and head towards the Velkhova Church Undercroft. This location is just a few steps to the east, right below the Velkhova Inn Cellar.

4. You will be in The Buried Sanctum as soon as you enter this dungeon. Here, you’ll be tasked with finding The Ritual Site.
   • Progress through this area, past the Caves of Velkhova (which is crowded with enemies), to reach The Ritual Site.
5. Once at The Ritual Site, speak with Cormond again. He will ask you to prepare the ritual by clearing the corruption from the site and then interacting with three Ritual Incense braziers to light them up.

6. Speak with Cormond once again. He will begin the ritual, and you will have to protect him from all the Malignant that will spawn.
   • Varshan The Consumed spawns once you defeat all the Malignants. This is a complicated boss fight, so take your time to learn its attack pattern and dodge accordingly.
7. Defeat Varshan The Consumed.
8. After defeating Varshan, capture its heart by interacting with it in the middle of the room.

6. Finally, speak with Cormond once last time to finish the Cold Hard Truth quest in Diablo 4 Season 1.
   • Finishing this mission will automatically start the “A Merciful Fate” quest, which is just a closure dialogue you can have with Cormond at his workbench in Velkhova.

How to Defeat Varshan The Consumed

The easiest way to defeat Varshan The Consumed during the Cold Hard Truth in Diablo 4, is by using a high DPS AoE attacks and Damage Over Time strategy.

In addition, memorizing the fast attack patterns of this boss is essential to avoid getting direct hits, which result in considerable damage even for the tankier classes.

Here are six tips you can consider while approaching Varshan The Consumed at the very end of the Cold Hard Truth in Diablo Season 1:

1. If possible, stock on Poison Resistance Elixirs at the Alchemist or add Emerald Gems to your Jewelry to increase Poison Resistance.
   • Varshan can inflict Poison, so the higher your resistance, the better your odds of surviving.
2. Create some distance between you and Varshan.
   • Varshan’s tentacle attacks have a considerable range and power. Create enough distance between you and its tentacles to avoid getting hit.
3. Memorize Varshan’s attack pattern, which usually consists of three consecutive tentacle attacks.
   • If you dodge or move away, this boss can quickly move next to you to still land a hit. To avoid this, make sure you choreograph your dodge right before it gets close to you.
4. Avoid Varshan’s area attacks by being attentive to changes in the floor’s color and texture.
   • These area attacks won’t be too problematic since the floor will change color and texture with enough time to let you dodge.
   • Sometimes Varshan will attack repeatedly in different patterns, so don’t lower your guard after your first dodge!

4. Unless your class or build is extremely tanky or has a massive amount of health regeneration, your best bet to get damage in is by using AoE or Ranged attacks.
   • Using any high DPS area attack or ranged damage is a good approach. Taking this route will certainly take longer to defeat Varshan. But, due to how fast it can damage your character, this is the safest and easiest method.
5. When Varshan summons additional Elite enemies, immediately focus on eliminating them.
   • These Elites are randomly equipped with modifiers such as electric or fire damage that can make this fight considerably harder. As soon as they appear, focus entirely on eliminating them.
   • In addition, Varshan can also absorb these enemies and use them as a barrier. If this happens for too long, it will further increase the difficulty level of this boss fight.