Diablo 4: General Leveling and Gameplay Tips & Tricks

Did you just start Diablo 4 and are a bit lost? I am no expert by any means but after 30 hours since launch and participation in all the betas/network tests/etc., here are some tips and tricks I have picked up both for leveling and for general gameplay.

What build do I use?

The talent trees can be a bit overwhelming. Luckily, resetting/refunding points spent can be done whenever and wherever. At a certain point, they will cost gold but the game makes it clear when that happens.

Now, if you want to see builds already planned out, there are a number of resources on the web.

Icy Veins has an excellent collection of leveling builds for all classes and can be found here (Note: if you get lost and cannot figure out why they have more points than you, check your renown on the map screen. Renown 1 and 3 for each zone reward an additional skill point).

These builds are not set in stone. Gear may contain additional points in specific skills or entire sections of the tree. These are freebies and do not require you to already have the point in that skill. Feel free to assign those skills while using that gear. Keep in mind that when you replace that gear slot, the skill will automatically un-assign itself.

If you happen upon a legendary item, remember that legendary refers to the quality of the item and does not necessarily translate to better. Some legendary aspects boost skills that you may not have making that part of it useless.

Feel free to check out other videos of builds but keep in mind that “end game” builds are specifically designed for the end game and may require the entire talent tree and/or specific legendary aspects. You can use these builds if you like but you may be surprised that you are not doing 10 million damage like the video was showing.

Alchemy is your friend

When you start the game, you have access to four health potions. Renown ranks will increase that capacity. Potions only heal for what they say they heal for and do not scale as you level. Visit any alchemist at levels 10, 20, 30, 45, and 60, to upgrade your potion. 

Additionally, you can craft elixirs here. Elixirs can boost resistance to various elements, increase your dodge, increase your attack speed, or even boost damage to specific enemy times. All elixirs give a flat 5% experience boost so make sure to use one every 30 minutes. Plus, they take up no room in your main inventory. They have their very own tab (which also means it is easier to forget you have).

Gathering materials

Ore and herbs can be found scattered throughout the world and found in caches. They take seconds to pick up and do not bog down your inventory. Ore is used for item upgrades and herbs for alchemy.

Upgrades

Outside of the health potions, upgrades are optional as you level. At the very least, you can upgrade gear at the blacksmith but do not go crazy. You replace gear often enough that those upgrades become meaningless. If you play like me and explore every nook and cranny, you will have an abundance of upgrade materials. I was able to upgrade most of my gear on every return to town.

Avoid the final upgrade on legendary gear as you are leveling as it requires a rarer material that you only get from dismantling other legendaries. 

Speaking of dismantling, dismantle all non-legendary gear. Gold is constantly dropping everywhere. Unless you find yourself dying repeatedly, your repair costs should be relatively low. Legendaries should only be dismantled if you already know its aspect. Extracting aspects costs a small fortune though so it is best to just store legendaries you are not using in your stash. 

Take note of gear with gems and use whatever you have in your inventory. If you follow a leveling guide, they usually list ideal gems but this is gear you are replacing every few levels. Dismantling gear will remove the gem. I would skip adding sockets to gear. Place all gems in your stash. The game does not make this clear but when at the jeweler, gems in the stash can be accessed. 

Inventory

Inventory in all Diablo games seems to be the topic of constant debate. Ignoring all that, make sure you use the sort feature. Sorting rearranges your bags but more importantly places items of the same slot next to each other. There is nothing more annoying than comparing a new weapon you found located on the first row of the inventory only to realize you have another one in the bottom row. Items will be sorted by slot, item level, and quality. 

Look how organized everything is once sorted

Speaking of comparing items, make sure to turn on advanced item comparison in the menu.

This is not just for those players who want to min/max every piece of gear. This also breaks down stats you lose when equipping a new item.

You can see what will be lost including any sockets.

It is also helpful when looking at legendary aspects as it can show the range of a skill. For example, on the first pair of pants, Barrier will absorb 972 damage. A perfect roll of the aspect would have had an absorption of 1080 damage meaning this is pretty close to as good as you can get. On the other hand, the helm has a 32% (out of a possible 50%) chance to grant a free Dark Shroud. Of course, something is better than nothing but ideally, the aspect on the pants would be something you would want to extract and imprint on a better piece of gear while the helm would just be dismantled.

Town portals are unlimited unlike in previous entries (cough Diablo 2 cough). If you find your inventory full in the middle of a dungeon, head home, dismantle items/unload into the stash, and get back to spelunking. Just remember that leaving a town will close the portal so make sure to use that same portal to get right back to where you were otherwise you may have to reclear the entire dungeon.

Exploring

Everyone plays at their own pace. You do not have to hit every corner in the game. There are a few benefits to not just running through the campaign quests. Altars of Lilith are hidden throughout every zone and they provide permanent stat boosts and increased Obol capacity. There are 160 in total but hitting up a few may not hurt. Plus, the stat boosts apply to any character you create. The Obol increased capacity will come in handy especially if you are participating in the various world events that spawn periodically. World bosses and events like the one pictured below are for level 50 characters but there are plenty of mini-events that you will stumble upon at your level. Also, there may be other players already taking part which makes them significantly easier and/or quicker in some cases.

As you complete sidequests, unlock waypoints, find altars, you will increase your renown. Renown 1 and 3 in each zone grant an extra skill point while Renown 2 increases your potion capacity. Also, not bothering to explore will mean quite the long run between quests. Waypoints are plentiful but can easily be completely missed. Make use of the in-game map pinning system. You can set your destination and then go about your merry way. It is easy to get lost or distracted by chests, dungeons, and events but the pin will maintain the original destination and even adjust the path based on where you were running.

As you explore, you may also come across a special type of chest.

These can be opened only with Whispering Keys which cost 20 Murmuring Obols. You can check out our very own guide to Murmuring Obols here.

Last but not least tip. KILL THE SHAMAN.

Seriously though, these enemies should be your focus throughout the entire game. While not particularly difficult, they have the annoying ability of resurrecting their fallen comrades. You can get stuck in a pack of 20 enemies and wander to yourself, “why is nothing dying?” Well, they are dying. Then you are alive, then they die, then they are alive again and again and again.