A new season in Diablo 4 results in the start of a new character journey, so leveling quickly is important if you want to return to all the end-game content.
Diablo 4 requires the creation of a new character for every new season and can only be played on the Seasonal Realm, meaning characters you initially played with or progressed with in Season 1 cannot be used, as they are now locked to the Eternal Realm.
That may lead to frustration for players who have to start from scratch again but, thankfully, leveling in Diablo 4 is a much kinder grind than it was previously and significant buffs were applied for Season 2—with Blizzard saying it should now be 40 percent quicker to reach Level 100.
Starting from scratch does, of course, mean you cannot immediately jump into Nightmare dungeons or the highest World Tiers, so a different approach to gaining XP is provided.
Fortunately, we’re here to help with our guide on how to maximize your progression in Diablo 4 season 2 to help you blitz through the early game.
Claim all Renown rewards
Renown rewards roll over from previous seasons and the Eternal Realm, which can immediately provide a huge bonus of XP and Gold, as well as additional Skill points to use that can provide a significant boost when you start playing a new character.
Goals and Rewards are separated by each region, which has its own pool of points, and points can be earned by entering new areas, activating Altars of Lilith, unlocking waypoints, completing Side Quests, completing Dungeons, and completing Strongholds.
However, to unlock the rewards for levels 4 and 5, you will have to wait until you can access World Tier 3.
Begin the Seasonal Quest
The Seasonal Quest in Diablo 4 can be started immediately if you skip the campaign when creating a new character, and the initial quests can be done quickly. More importantly, they open the door to more seasonal activities and drops.
This way, you can soon start to earn and equip Vampiric powers, making you even stronger and helping you to complete tasks quickly. As soon as I started to equip these, I noticed a considerable improvement in my damage output and survivability.
Even if the quest and story do not interest you, they’re still worth touching. The initial tasks are extremely simple to complete and do not require much dedication at all, so you’ll swiftly fly through them.
Prioritize Whispers and World Events
With a significant boost to XP and rewards for completing Overworld activities, like Legion events and Helltides, there are more ways to farm XP in Diablo 4—but Whispers should be your first point of call.
I recommend always having a look on your map for Dungeons that also provide Whisper rewards, as you’ll earn XP from working your way through them and defeating enemies. Then, you’ll be rewarded with Legendary Aspects as well as Grim Favors, which can be used to unlock rewards at the Tree of Whispers.
It’s also worth knocking off any quick side quests you can when you stumble across them and joining Legion events when they appear. By adopting this strategy, you can provide some variation to your gameplay to ease any burnout from the grind.
Use Season Blessings
While you will have to wait until you hit level 28 in order to use Season Blessings, they’re definitely worth taking a look at once you can. Doing so allows you to utilize the Smoldering Ashes you will earn as free rewards in the Battle Pass.
There are five different Season Blessings that can be unlocked, including the Urn of Aggression—which provides a boost to experience earned from monster skills.
You can use these Season Blessings to maximize the rewards you get during season 2 of Diablo 4 and you can select which reward you want to focus on. In total, there are 20 Smoldering Ashes to earn, so you can maximize all four boosts if you complete the free tiers in the Battle Pass.
Use Elixirs
Elixirs in Diablo 4 are often forgotten about, or at least I know I forget about them, but I strongly encourage you to remember they exist and equip them whenever possible.
There are a wide variety of Elixirs in Diablo 4 that provide buffs to damage output, protections, and more, but they also provide a 5 percent experience boost for 30 minutes—which can make a difference.
You’ll likely passively find yourself earning Elixirs as quest rewards and from loot boxes, so all you need to do is remember to keep an eye on your inventory and ensure you always have an Elixir active to receive additional XP.
Group up whenever possible
Playing as a group is not only a good way to remain sociable, but it also provides additional XP per hour and, as such, is recommended whenever possible to help you in your quest to grind through levels.
The easiest way to find a group is to play with friends who are active in Diablo 4 but, if not, you can use third-party platforms like Reddit and Discord to find other players who are also looking for a group.
If you start a Legion event or a World Boss and are not in a group, I recommend you fire out some invites to players in the same instance. It may only give you a group for a short period while you complete the tasks, but it’s worth it.
Increase World Tier
Playing Diablo 4 on higher World Tiers provides an increase in difficulty, but proves to be worthwhile with additional XP, Gold, and better loot available.
When starting a new character, you’ll only be able to access World Tier 1 and World Tier 2, so we recommend starting at the higher level. It doesn’t make things too difficult and increases the speed you can farm XP.
Once you hit level 48, you can tackle the Cathedral of Light capstone dungeon to unlock World Tier 3, which provides even more XP and the ability to play Nightmare Dungeons. Helltide rewards have also been significantly improved for season 2, however, with the experience reward increasing by 375 percent at World Tier 3.
Once you hit Level 70, the next step is to tackle another Capstone Dungeon, the Fallen Temple, which unlocks World Tier 4—again providing better rewards and more experience.
Published: Oct 18, 2023 10:15 am