If you’re in Diablo 4 Season 9 and want to level up as fast as possible, this guide will show you how to do it. The process is easy to follow: pick a fun build, set up your character, and follow some smart strategies that will help you level quickly and enjoy the game along the way.
Pick a Good Levelling Build
The first thing you’ll want to do is pick a build that’s both powerful and fun for you. There are plenty of strong options for every class, including Flurry or Quill Volley for Rogue, Blizzard or Flame Wall for Sorcerer, Trample Slide or Pulverise for Druid, Double Swing for Barbarian, and Blood Surge for Necromancer. There’s also Dance of Knives for Rogue and Hydra, or Chain Lightning for Sorcerer if you want to try something different. All of these builds are great for levelling, none of them will slow you down, so just go with what feels good to play and stick with it until around level 60.
Start Fresh and Set Up Your Character
Once you’ve picked your build, it’s time to create your new character. Go through all the usual setup steps, and if you haven’t played the expansion yet, consider doing the Vessel of Hatred campaign. It’s one of the best levelling methods for solo players right now. If you’d rather skip the campaign, that’s fine too, just follow the rest of this strategy. If you do choose the campaign, stick to Normal difficulty.
Begin Your Seasonal Setup
As soon as you load into the game, pick up the seasonal quest. Completing the first part of this quest will let you start collecting your seasonal powers, which will help you level faster. Then, head over to the Den and choose your Spirit Boons. If your build focuses on critical hits, pick the crit path. If you’re using damage over time, go with that instead. For reinforcement, you can choose between extra damage or extra defence depending on what your build needs.
Gather Key Resources
At this point, if your build relies on a specific aspect to function well, take a little time to go farm it. If you haven’t received a Nightmare Sigil yet, go run some Helltides or complete Whispers until you either get one or have the resources to craft one at the Enchantress. Before diving into Nightmare Dungeons, make sure you temper your gear. If you’re playing a melee build, add close damage wherever you can. For ranged builds, go for distant enemy damage. If your build is a hybrid, mix and match. For defence, stack as much max life as possible.
As you level up, imprint any useful aspects onto your jewellery, you won’t need to swap them out often and keep crafting elixirs to give you that extra edge. Try to keep an elixir active at all times, all the way to Paragon 300, and once you can afford it, start using incense too. By level 15, you should have your class bonus. If it hasn’t unlocked, log in and out to refresh it; you shouldn’t need to do class quests anymore.
Nightmare Dungeons
These dungeons are the fastest way to level up, especially if you’re playing in a group. That’s because this season, mobs in these dungeons can drop huge golden XP orbs thanks to the Forgotten Wisdom bonus. The catch is that it’s random when these drop, but when you’re in a group, your chances of finding them go up significantly.
So, keep crafting and salvaging sigils, and prioritise running Nightmare Dungeons with Forgotten Wisdom whenever you can. Inside the dungeons, clear everything, grab all the shrines, finish all the events, and complete the dungeon. You’ll want to keep doing this until you reach level 60 if you’re in a group, or around level 50 if you’re playing solo.
Strongholds
Once you hit level 50, it’s time to shift gears and start clearing Strongholds. These are great for XP because they always give a big amount of experience, no matter what level you are. This makes them especially valuable above level 50. Since Stronghold XP doesn’t change with difficulty, switch to Normal difficulty to make them easier to clear. You’ll need to do these Strongholds anyway to unlock all Nightmare Dungeons, so this works out perfectly as a way to push yourself the rest of the way to 60.
Torment tiers
When you finally hit level 60, you’re ready to push through the Torment tiers. Switch to Torment difficulty, pick an endgame or midgame build, and start filling in your Paragon board. Sort out your gear, temper your weapons, and make sure you have all your important aspects imprinted. Run a few more dungeons if you’re missing anything essential. Once your build is ready, it’s time to blast through Pit tiers as far as you can go, whether that’s Pit 10, 20, 30, or higher. Push as high as you can while it still feels manageable. When it starts to get tough, go back to Nightmare Dungeons for more XP and loot.
