Diablo 4 Leveling Guide for Season 13

Diablo 4 Leveling Guide Quick Overview:

1. Select the Lord of Hatred expansion as a starting point
2. Equip the pet from the Wardrobe for auto-looting
3. Finish the Lord of Hatred story campaign on Normal difficulty
4. Farm Whispers, Helltides, and Strongholds.
5. Farm the Pit on lower tiers until you hit level 70, then switch to Torment 1.

Don't want to waste time on farming activities? Buy Diablo 4 Powerleveling and get any level to unlock this class's full potential.

 

 

 

Diablo 4 Leveling System: Know Where to Start

Diablo 4 has been out for a while, and Lord of Hatred only adds to the complexity of this game’s progression system. You have the main campaign, two story expansions, and an expansive endgame content with a season. If you want to get to level 70 without problems, you have to know what to do even before the game starts. Here’s a quick checklist of things to do, before and during the character creation, to make sure you’re going through the current content as intended:

1. Select Lord of Hatred as the campaign state - this will ensure you actually get to play everything the most recent expansion has to offer.
2. Tick the “Seasonal” gameplay option - you’ll benefit from seasonal rank journey rewards such as 12 Skill Points, 42 Paragon points, and 14 Resplendent Sparks for crafting Mythic items.
3. Equip your pet in the Wardrobe as soon as you can to enable auto-looting. Press “I”, then click on Wrdrobe.
4. Travel to the Den in Nahantu to pick the Mercenary (if available)
   1. Varyana - main merc for extra movement speed
   2. Aldkin - reinforcement merc for extra resource aspects and augmentation caches.
5. Go to Havazar and begin the Lord of Hatred campaign

These 5 simple steps will ensure that you’re not hindering your progression and doing the latest content with the best bonuses and speed. If you want to go through the story starting from the original campaign, you can do so, but know that it will take you much more time, and you will not be leveling as fast as those who rush to the endgame.

Best Difficulty for Leveling

Pick Normal difficulty for the campaign. You might be tempted to do this on Hard or Expert difficulties instead because you’d be getting 75% more XP for killing enemies, but it's going to slow your progress down overall. Don’t waste your time on this, unless you’re really bored and your build clears enemies as fast on higher difficulty.

The Fastest Way to Level 70 in Diablo 4

So, you started the Lord of Hatred campaign. It will take you around 5-10 hours to complete, and by the end of it, you’ll be about level 45. Here’s what you need to do next for the fastest way to level in Diablo 4.

After the campaign is done, you’re going to get a couple of follow-up quests that introduce you to a bunch of the endgame activities: Helltides, Tree of Whisper, Nightmare, and Capstone Dungeons, etc.

Do those one by one and make sure to grab all of the rewards - you’ll be showered with experience, materials, and loot.At around level 33-35, you’re going to want to do the Vault of the Crucible in Khejistan for extra skill points and loot so you can finish the campaign faster.

What to Do After the Lord of Hatred Campaign

Once you’re done with the campaign, start looking for Whispers from the Tree of Whispers. These are objectives, and if you see one in the PvP zone, it rewards one level.

If you see a Helltide, do that too. You can do 3 helltides one after another and loot 3 chests, because each expansion has its own helltide. It doesn’t matter if you do them while doing the campaign or after.

Clearing Strongholds yields massive amounts of XP. Do them if there are no Whispers or Helltides active on the map. But know that that amount is fixed, so it doesn’t matter which difficulty you do it on, which is why I keep preaching to stay on Normal. Focus on the strongholds from the vanilla zones: Hawezar, Fractured Peaks, Scosglen, and Dry Steppes. Strongholds in the Vessels of Hatred expansion take too long to complete.

At around level 50-60, do the second Capstone dungeon called Hellish Descent in Scosglen.

As soon as the Pit becomes available, you can use its lower-tier difficulty as the final level push before you’re ready to switch to difficulty Torment 1 at level 70. To do that, you have to run Pit Tier 10, so make sure you’ve optimized all of your gear through Tempering, rerolling, imprinting, runes, etc.

Too long, didn’t read? Here’s a quick activity priority list:

1. Tree of Whispers + Helltides
2. Capstone Dungeon 1: Vault of the Crucible
3. Strongholds
4. Capstone Dungeon 2: Hellish Descent
5. The Pit (low tiers) until level 70
6. The Pit tier 10 for Torment 1

Once you’re at level 70 - congratulations. You’re officially done with leveling, but now, you’ll be doing all of those activities even more often through War Plans, which is a new system in Lord of Hatred. If you want to know more about how that works, check out my new guide.

Best Leveling Builds for Each Class in Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred

When you’ve picked your class, you might want to start with a leveling build that you will then upgrade into an endgame build. The purpose of a leveling build is to give you the best tools to level up as fast as possible, and that is a different task compared to clearing endgame activities, which is why these are different builds. In order not to blow the leveling guide out of proportion, below, I listed the best leveling builds for Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred for each class and a short summary for them. If you want a full build, you can easily search for it by name.

Legion Bombardment Warlock

Legion Bombardment Warlock is an absolutely cracked theorycrafted build for leveling. It uses Command Fallen to spawn exploding demons, generate Wrath, and fuel LMG-style Bombardment casts. Bombardment then yeets multiple demons at enemies, with Brutality increasing the number of demons when you spam it. Tortured Wretch adds a defensive taunt and extra DPS through Death Saws, while Rampage gives mobility and more Wrath generation for Lesser Demon skills. Fiend of Abaddon adds a powerful Greater Demon and boosts Lesser Demon damage, creating a loop where your demons attack, explode, die, and feed even more casts.

Active skills:

• Command Fallen (Wrath, Dominance, Meat Shields, Mega Lunatic)
• Bombardment (Additional Demon, Focused Target, Brutality)
• Tortured Wretch (Unstoppable, Duration, Death Saws)
• Rampage (Lesser Demon Wrath, Elite Hit Chance, Demonic Smash)
• Fiend of Abaddon (Lesser Demon Bonus, Dominance, Spiteful Enrage)
• Sigil of Summons at level 70+ (Damage Sigil, Cooldown Sigil, Summon Hellwyrm)

As for Soul Shards, go for Legion Shard with Evisceration Fragment. Legion Shard boosts Lesser Demon cast speed and cooldown rate after casting a Greater Demon skill, and it makes your next Greater Demon free after enough Lesser Demons die. Evisceration Fragment makes your summoned demons focus Eviscerated enemies and move faster toward them, which fits perfectly because Bombardment, Tortured Wretch, Rampage, and Fiend of Abaddon create constant demon hits and repeated Eviscerate chances.

Check out this and other Warlock builds in my guide here.

Blessed Hammer Paladin

Blessed Hammer Paladin is Hammerdin comfort food. You throw hammers, stay tanky, and cruise through mobs while listening to low-fi beats. It uses Disciple skills to keep damaging enemies while being tanky and fast. Advance helps you start fights and move between packs, while Blessed Hammer is the main clearing skill. Falling Star adds burst damage, Defiance Aura keeps you safer, Rally improves recovery and resource pool, and Condemn helps control enemies by stunning them for more DPS. Since several skills have cooldowns, the build can keep its Oath bonuses active often when entering the Arbiter form.

Active skills:

• Advance (Critical Strike Chance, Fortify, Vanguard’s Rush, Flash on the Blade)
• Blessed Hammer (Damage Bonus, Cast Speed, Disciple’s Halo)
• Defiance Aura (Unstoppable, Bonus Healing, Rite of Prayer)
• Rally (Duration Bonus, Cost Reduction, Words of Rejuvenation, Words of Sacrifice)
• Falling Star (Additional Charge, Cooldown Reduction, Starfall)
• Condemn (Cooldown Reduction, Movement Speed, Gather the Guilty)
• Arbiter of Justice (Wing Strike Recast, Movement Speed, Seraph’s Wings)

For Paladin Oaths, you gotta take the Disciple Oath. Casting a Disciple skill with a cooldown puts you into Arbiter form for 4.5 seconds, causing Disciple skills to deal increased DPS. Since this build uses several Disciple cooldown skills, it can keep Arbiter form active during most fights, giving Blessed Hammer Paladin strong uptime while leveling. 

Quill Volley Spiritborn

Quill Volley Evade Spiritborn works in two stages. Before level 38, Thunderspike builds Vigor while Quill Volley spends it for serious ranged damage. After level 38, the build switches into Rushing Claw with Evasive Swipe, using Evade and Eagle Spirit Hall Storm Feathers as the main damage sources. Ravager helps with Vigor and Ferocity, Scourge adds utility and healing, Armored Hide improves defense, and The Hunter gives burst and sustain. This makes Spiritborn fast, mobile, and very easy to level up with.

Active skills:

• Thunderspike (Vigor Generation, Movement Speed, Lightning Dancer)
• Quill Volley before level 38 (Vulnerable Damage Bonus, Returning Feathers, Quill Command)
• Rushing Claw after level 38 (Evasive Swipe, Incarnate Duration, Charge Recovery)
• Ravager (Vigor Generation, Minimum Ferocity, Flurry of Claws)
• Scourge (Vigor Generation, Healing, Hive Mind)
• Armored Hide (Barrier, Blocked Damage Reduction, Force of Nature)
• The Hunter (Healing, Size Bonus, Relentless Pursuit)

When it comes to Spirit Hall, you might as well grab the Eagle as both the Primary and Secondary Spirit Guardian. The Primary Eagle bonus makes Eagle Skills and Evades fire Storm Feathers that deal Lightning damage and apply Vulnerable, while the Secondary Eagle bonus makes every other cast a guaranteed Critical Strike and adds Vulnerable damage. This is why the build shifts toward Evasive Swipe and Evade after level 38, since Storm Feathers become the main source of DPS.

 

 

Whirlwind Barbarian

Whirlwind Barbarian is the classic spin-to-win build. It uses Lunging Strike to generate Fury and move into position, then spends that Fury on Whirlwind to cut through enemy packs while on the move. Rallying Cry, War Cry, and Challenging Shout keep the resource generation, damage, defense, and utility going. Wrath of the Berserker is great for dealing with elites, bosses, and big packs, making this build simple and reliable from early leveling to level 70.

Active skills:

• Lunging Strike (Fury Generation, Berserking, Skewer)
• Whirlwind (Cost Damage Bonus, Channel Damage Bonus, Bursting)
• Rallying Cry (Duration Bonus, Fury Gain, Booming)
• War Cry (Ferocity, Vulnerable, Mighty Roar)
• Challenging Shout (Weaken, Damage Bonus, Fury Generation, Bawl)
• Wrath of the Berserker (Fury Generation, Duration Bonus, Maximum Carnage)

For the Arsenal System, take the nasty Polearm Technique to gain bonus damage while at max health. Whirlwind should be assigned to your strongest two-handed weapon, while Lunging Strike can stay on automatic weapon selection since it mainly helps with Fury generation and movement.

Pulverize Druid 

Pulverize Druid equals big bear goes bonk. It’s a tanky Werebear build that clears packs with heavy AoE slams. Earth Spike helps with Spirit generation, while Pulverize becomes the main damage skill once its cost reduction and damage upgrades are unlocked. Earthen Bulwark keeps you protected, Wolves add extra damage, Cyclone Armor improves defenses, and Trample gives mobility plus Spirit support. The build is slower than some speed-focused options, but it is safe, simple, and great for leveling through campaign content, Strongholds, and early endgame activities.

Active skills:

• Earth Spike (Overpower, Werebear Form, Megalith Stone)
• Pulverize (Cost Reduction, Initial Damage Bonus, Werebear Form, Greater Pulverize / Shockwave / Mega Bear Punch)
• Earthen Bulwark (Fortify and Healing, Overpower, Versatile Form, Reconstruction, Travertine Bulwark)
• Wolves (Attack Speed, Versatile Form, Thrill of the Hunt)
• Cyclone Armor (Resistance, Versatile Form, Greater Cyclone Armor)
• Trample (Spirit, Cooldown Reduction, Werebear Form, Brunt Force)

When it comes to Spirit Boons, stick with Gift of the Stag first to improve maximum Spirit and passive Spirit generation. The complete leveling build uses Gift of the Stag, Scythe Talons, Swooping Attacks, Energize, and Masochistic, with Spirit Bonding on Eagle so you can take both Eagle bonuses. This gives the build more Spirit comfort, Critical Strike Chance, Lucky Hit Chance, Attack Speed, and extra health for Shapeshifting skills.

Summoner Necromancer

Summoner Necromancer is perfect if you want your undead army doing most of the work while you hang way, way back. It’s about making your Skeleton Warriors, Skeleton Mages, and Golem deal most of the damage while you provide them with curses, corpse generation, and crowd control. Decompose helps apply control and effects, Sever adds direct damage and corpse generation, while Decrepify improves the whole army through Resolve and Unholy Frenzy. The build is very safe for leveling because your minions inherit your stats, keep aggro on enemies, and give you room to stay back instead of fighting every pack head-on.

Active skills:

• Decompose (Crowd Control, Barrier, Dry Rot)
• Sever (Cost Reduction, Crowd Control, and Corpse Generation, Inexorable Reaper)
• Skeleton Warrior (Vulnerable, Damage Bonus, Master of Puppets)
• Skeleton Mage (Duration Damage Bonus, Crowd Control Damage Bonus, Coven)
• Golem (Unstoppable, Weaken, Gargantua)
• Decrepify (Resolve, Unholy Frenzy)

Note:

• Iron Maiden (Execute and Fortify, Vulnerable, Blood Maiden) is activated through the Teb rune, so it does not need a place on the skill bar.

For Book of the Dead, go with the spooky Reaper Skeleton Warriors with Upgrade 2 for increased damage and a stun chance. Shadow Skeleton Mages use Upgrade 1 to generate Barriers for themselves and you. The build uses Bone Golem Sacrifice for extra Attack Speed, while reducing the Golem’s own damage. This keeps the build focused on minion spawn, faster attacks, and safer leveling.

Dance of Knives Rogue

Dance of Knives Rogue is a build for zoomers with short attention spans. In other words, it’s a fast “spin-to-win” leveling build. Blade Shift generates Combo Points and helps set up the main damage rotation, while Dance of Knives turns into Fan of Knives to fire multiple projectiles while moving. Dark Shroud adds speed and protection, Shadow Imbuement improves pack clearing, Concealment gives utility, and Shadow Clone adds burst for tougher enemies. The build is excellent for leveling because with it, you move quickly, auto-aim through packs, and keep DPS going while zipping between objectives.

Active skills:

• Blade Shift (Energy, Overpower, Range of Motion)
• Dance of Knives (Energy Cost Reduction, Pierce and Size, Fan of Knives)
• Dark Shroud (Movement Speed, Consume Chance, Overflow)
• Shadow Imbuement (Vulnerable, Overpower, Endemic)
• Shadow Clone (Weaken and Vulnerable, Cooldown, Relentless)
• Concealment (Calculation, Ferocity, Resolve)

Just get 3 Combo Points with Blade Shift before channeling Dance of Knives, then keep the channel going to snapshot the DPS and movement speed bonuses. This gives the build its fast leveling rhythm and makes Dance of Knives much better during combat.

Hydra Sorcerer

Hydra Sorcerer is chill caster leveling. It works by placing Hydras for constant damage, then using Familiar to boost your overall damage while you kite enemies around the battlefield. Firewall adds extra area damage and control, while Flame Shield, Ice Armor, and Teleport keep you safe. The build is amazing for leveling because it does not need a specific Legendary Aspect to work, and its damage keeps ticking while you move, dodge, and reposition. Early on, use Fire Bolt and Fireball until Hydra and Familiar are unlocked.

Active skills:

• Hydra (Overpower, Frigid Hydra, Cooldown Reduction)
• Familiar (Healing Flames)
• Firewall (Cost Reduction, Damage Bonus, Wildfire)
• Flame Shield
• Ice Armor
• Teleport
• Fire Bolt and Fireball as early leveling skills before Hydra and Familiar are available

When choosing between Sorcerer Enchantments, get that Fireball at level 15 for faster clearing, then add Familiar at level 30 for extra damage. Hydra can replace Fireball against bosses if you need more single-target damage. This is gonna keep the build flexible, letting you clear packs quickly while still having a stronger option for tougher fights.

 

 

Diablo 4 General Leveling Tips & Tricks

Here are a few more things you can do to speed up the leveling process. There are actually quite a lot of things that can help you along the way. For example, discovering all Lilith’s Shrines will help you out with its temporary bonuses.

Tip #1: Add Lucky Hit Affix to the Main Weapon

First off, go to the Blacksmith, select Tempering, and put the Lucky Hit affix (chance to deal bonus damage to enemies) on your main weapon. It’s always worth it, even if it only triggers every 10-15 seconds. The material cost is low enough that you’ll be able to afford it every time you switch a main weapon.

Tip #2: Do the Class Quests at Level 15

Secondly, don’t forget to do your class quests to unlock class mechanics. You don’t have to do this for any other class you’ve already done this on; this only applies to any new class you haven’t played before.

Tip #3: Don’t Gamble Items at Purveyor of Curiosities Until Torment 1

Do not gamble at Purveyor of Curiosities, wasting Murmuring Obols. This current season of Reckoning will give you Urn of Curiosities, which boosts the chance of receiving a second item when purchasing from the Purveyor of Curiosities. Once you’ve switched to Torment 1 difficulty, go to that vendor and gamble for that one key slot that your build needs.

Tip #4: Use Horadric Cube to Craft Gems and Runes

During the campaign, you’re going to get access to the Horadric Cube, which is why you should have picked the right starting point. Do use it as much as you need because it gives you an opportunity to upscale a white rarity item all the way to legendary.

Another useful mechanic from the Horadric Cube is the ability to upgrade your gems by merging 3 into 1 of a higher grade, which is going to be essential for switching to higher Torment difficulties.

On top of that, you can target-craft runes with the Horadric Cube. The recipes for specific runes all require one low-tier rune, any 5 rare runes, and any 5 legendary runes.

Tip #5: Elixir of Resourcefulness is No More

The Elixir of Resourcefulness is no longer required to increase experience gain. In fact, using it will just drop herbs for crafting a new elixir. Instead, killing monsters now provides more XP than when the Elixir had its effect.

Playing in a group gives a 10% XP bonus for playing in a party, but it is proximity-based. You need to stay reasonably close to another party member for the bonus to apply. There is also a smaller 5% Nearby Player Bonus for being near another player who is not in your party.

F.A.Q.