Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred early leveling guide

As a seasoned adventurer who’s spent countless hours delving into the darkest corners of Sanctuary, I can confidently say that Diablo 4’s Kurast Undercity is a treasure trove for the brave and the cunning. The orange timers marking the monstrous foes to be vanquished are like neon arrows pointing towards loot and experience, while the blue flames of Beacons and Grand Beacons serve as beacons of Attunement, a reward system that’s sure to sweeten any victory.

As a seasoned Diablo 4 player or someone returning for the Vessel of Hatred expansion, you might find yourself needing to familiarize with the numerous updates that have been made to the game. Typically, I pen a ‘level up quickly’ guide at the start of each season, but the Vessel of Hatred is set to disrupt the normality, making Season 4 seem like a simple hotfix adjustment.

Changes in Diablo 4 Season 6 that every player must know

Here’s a more conversational way to present the information:

The level cap of 100 no longer exists, your max level is now 60. At level 60 the paragon system unlocks.
If you are logging in as an existing level 100 character, that character will be reduced to level 50, with 200 paragon points to apply once you hit 60.
You can now earn up to 300 paragon points, and these are shared Realm wide. So if you start an alternate character, once that character levels to 60 they will automatically have the Paragon points you earned on the original character.
World Tiers 1-4 no longer exist. We now have 8 difficulty levels. Normal, Hard, Expert and Penitent for leveling. Torment difficulties and the ability to unlock 1-4 becomes available when you hit level 60. Full guide to new difficulties here.
Glyph leveling is now done in ‘The Pit’; Glyphs can be leveled to 100, previously 21. There are now only 5 paragon boards for your character.’The Pit’ is also where you unlock new Torment difficulties, there are no longer Capstone Dungeons.
Nightmare Dungeons are now where you farm for Masterworking materials.
Sacred items no longer exist. Standard item level max is now 750.
Ancestral items drop at guaranteed item level 800 which is the new max, and will guarantee at least one Greater Affix (a 1.5x rolled stat).
If you continue to play Eternal Characters, their gear will be re-rolled to 540 item power, and their affixes will be re-rolled for the new stat range as well.
Tempering affixes are now limited to 4 affixes per manual only, and have various improvements to make more useful.
Ultimate Skills now have skill ranks and can be levelled up, making them more viable.
You can now set your Town Portal to your favorite town.
There is now a Party Finder to link up with other players.
There are now Mercenaries, which follow you and aid in battle as well as offering rewards as you build Rapport.

Diablo 4 Season 6 levelling approach

Pick a difficulty you can move through with ease

Instead of selecting a World Tier, you now opt for either Normal or Hard modes initially in Diablo 4. Upon completing the prologue, you’ll gain access to Expert and Penitent difficulties. Newcomers are advised to start with Normal difficulty, as it is generally suitable for most players. If you find yourself having trouble defeating enemies quickly, be aware that your character’s leveling progress will also be slow. Initially, stick with the Normal setting, then raise the challenge by switching to Hard once you have better gear and are ready for a more demanding experience. Here’s a guide on Diablo 4 difficulties and how to unlock them.

Don’t forget to claim your Renown and gold

If you’ve played before, you don’t have to accumulate Renown again since you’ve already earned it during past seasons or in the Eternal Realm. The Renown system tracks your progress as you explore and accomplish tasks within each region, like finding waypoints, Altars of Lilith, Strongholds, side quests, and dungeons. If you’ve uncovered the map and waypoints on an Eternal Realm or Seasonal character before, you can immediately collect Renown points with your new Seasonal character. This gives you a fast start in terms of Gold, Skill Points, Potion Charges, Murmuring Obol capacity, and Paragon Points.

What build should I play for Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred?

Here are some expert-crafted build guides, which include a few of these skills from Maxroll and Icy Veins. Keep in mind that these could potentially alter at the game’s release.

Complete the Mercenary quests

Discovering the initial Mercenary, Raheir, is essential during your campaign adventure, but subsequent quests for the other Mercenaries become optional. It’s advisable to focus on Subo first, as he possesses a handy skill for collecting flowers and vital crafting materials that are hard to come by in the early stages of the game when resources are limited. I’ve prepared a comprehensive guide on Mercenaries and their functions which you can find here.

Don’t ignore your class quest

To maximize the potential of your character’s build, it’s crucial to have class-specific missions. Once your character reaches level 15 (excluding Necro which requires level 25), you’ll receive a mission in your log that you can undertake. These are referred to as class quests.

Barbarian – Level 15 – Master of Battle – unlocks Technique slot in Arsenal
Druid – Level 15 – Spirits of the Lost Grove – unlocks all Spirit Boons
Necromancer – Level 25 – Call of The Underworld – unlocks your Golem
Rogue – Level 15 – True Potential – unlocks 3 specializations
Sorcerer – Level 15 – Legacy of the Magi – unlocks Enchantments
Spiritborn – Level 15 – The Sacred Hunt – unlocks the Spirit Hall and guardians

Always have an Elixir active

After you’re able to use them, it’s important to ensure you’re utilizing the XP boost of 5%-8% from your Elixirs. You’ll find these in your inventory under the consumable section and each one lasts for 30 minutes. While you can start using them before level 50, running out could become a challenge when gathering crafting materials. However, post-level 50, they become more abundant, so there’s no reason not to keep one equipped at all times. You can craft Elixirs by visiting the Alchemist in any major town hub.

Use your Season Blessings in the Urn of Aggression

With the Free Seasonal Battle Pass (and if you’d like, you can enhance it with Microsoft Rewards for free), you receive Smoldering Ashes. These can be used on one of five Urns to boost a particular aspect of your gameplay. During the campaign, you won’t collect many ashes since the Battle Pass levels quickly when engaging in seasonal activities, but you should gather enough to increase the Urn of Aggression by 5%. This Urn of Aggression increases XP earned and should be your focus for spending all your ashes until you reach the maximum level.

Completed the campaign? Go and do Strongholds

Fortifications have been enhanced for Season 6, granting you an extra 1.5 levels when completed, making them definitely worth your time and effort!

Jump into the Season of Hatred Rising (Season 6)

You can dive right into Season 6: The Rising Hatred at any moment, but if you’ve been away for a while, it would be best to catch up after completing the campaign first. The season-specific quests are highlighted in Blue, and to get started, you should fast travel to Zarbzinet. There, speak with Crusader Damond and embark on the Creeping Hatred quest. This interaction will display a reputation board for Season 6, and you’ll be reminded to return to Crusader Damon frequently to claim your rewards.

After this, you will be guided to locate and vanquish a character known as a Realmwalker. These adversaries can be identified by marks on your map.

After locating a Realmwalker, follow it as it moves across the map and battle ‘hollow’ foes to reduce its vitality. Once it becomes weak, it will generate 3 Hatred Spires for you to demolish.

In this fresh dungeon, you’ll encounter fissures. These fissures will sometimes open up to hidden bonus chambers within the dungeon, and ultimately, they’ll reveal a Gateway to Realms, offering a selection of prizes as a choice.

At the conclusion of the event, based on your preferred reward, you’ll get a treasure chest filled with items you selected. Moreover, you’ll obtain a Seething Opal as well. This item serves as a consumable that grants a 15% bonus experience, can be combined with Elixirs, and increases Reputation with the Zakarum Remnants. Furthermore, the Seething Opal offers additional rewards based on your selection:

Seething Opal of Equipment – for the next 30 minutes enemies drop additional Equipment.
Seething Opal of Gold – for the next 30 minutes more gold drops from enemies.
Seething Opal of Materials – for the next 30 minutes enemies drop crafting items like herbs and metal.
Seething Opal of Torment – for the next 30 minutes get more Artificer’s Stones and special items.
Seething Opal of Socketables – for the next 30 minutes find extra gems and runes.

By incorporating the Seething Opals, along with an Elixir located in your Inventory, you’ll experience a notable boost in the Experience Points you earn.

The Kurast Undercity

The Kurast Undercity is a new multi-floor time-attack dungeon. You’ll be able to start this in, you guessed it, Kurast, at the above map marker. Starting the Priority Quest will take you on a couple of side quests to unlock the dungeon, but once unlocked it will also show you a brief tutorial. Here’s what you need to know:

You travel throughout the Kurast Undercity fighting enemies to reach it’s District Boss before the timer runs out.
You can kill ‘Afflicted Monsters’ and destroy ‘Afflicted Structures’ to earn time extension bonuses (marked on map with orange timer).
Earn ‘Attunement’ by killing monster packs and igniting Beacons and Grand Beacons (marked on map with a blue flame).
By reaching Attunement Rank 1 you will earn reward upgrades. The higher your Attunement Rank, the higher your completion rewards.

Basically, your goal is to boost your Attunement level inside the dungeon, and one method to achieve this is by prolonging the timer. To do so, eliminate all the monsters that have a time limit on them! It might seem straightforward, but there’s a slight twist: some monsters are ‘Tributes’.

What is a Tribute in Diablo 4 Kurast Undercity?

In the beginning of a Kurast City expedition, you can submit “offerings” that determine the enhancements to your rewards, but these offerings make the run more difficult. For instance, an offering of Harmony could yield more Runes during your run, but it will also impose a timer and potion penalty for this choice.

How do I get Tributes in Diablo 4 Kurast Undercity?

In-game rewards known as Tributes appear in different locations, including Whisper Caches, Nightmare Dungeons, and Helltides. These Tributes can have varying degrees of rarity, ranging from Magic to Unique. Rarer items are more likely to be discovered within Whisper Caches, while common ones tend to show up around Sanctuary. The level of difficulty you’re playing on can also impact the type of Tribute you get during activities like Nightmare Dungeons or Helltides.

You can also offer a ‘Bargain’ with your Tribute to change the amount of rewards you receive.

In addition to other features, the depths of Kurast City have a fresh addition – the mischievous goblin known as the Portal Trickster. This character offers a Mystery Chest filled with treasures, runes, and tributes. Whether it’s worth pursuing him is up to your own judgment!

Ready to bump up the difficulty? Head to The Pit

When you’re prepared to take on challenging endgame content like The Dark Citadel or boost your Paragon levels significantly, it’s time to crank up the difficulty to Torment.

Best mouse for Diablo 4

If you prefer to play Diablo 4 with a mouse and keyboard, a specialized gaming mouse like the Razer Naga V2 Hyperspeed is perfect because you can program all of those repetitive button presses straight onto your mouse buttons. The mouse uses Razer’s Focus Pro 30K sensor, ensuring precise and responsive tracking, which is crucial for fast-paced gameplay. Additionally, its dual wireless connectivity options (2.4 GHz and Bluetooth) provide flexibility and up to 400 hours of battery life. Plus, the mechanical switches provide a satisfying click, making every demon-slaying session feel epic and durable enough to withstand the hordes of Hell.

2024-10-07 18:10