Coming back to Diablo 4 for Vessel of Hatred and don’t know where to start? Here’s everything you need to know for day 1

Playing the first Diablo 4 expansion and starting from scratch? Here’s everything you need to know

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Whether you’re a seasoned Diablo 4 player who tackles every season or returning for the newVessel of Hatred expansion, there are several key changes to be aware of. Typically, I kick off each season with a’how to level up fast’guide, but Vessel of Hatred will flip the script entirely with a patch thatmakes Season 4 look like a hotfix.

Where should you head first when you log in? Where have World Tier difficulties gone? Before diving into my guide on how to conquer the expansion and the Season of Hatred Rising, let’s break down the major updates from Patch 2.0.2.

Changes in Diablo 4 Season 6 that every player must know

I’m not going to break down the entirePatch 2.0.2notes here, merely give bullet points of themajorchanges that will impact your gameplay as a returning player.

Diablo 4 Season 6 leveling approach

Start the Season 6 Season of Hatred quest FIRST.Season 6 quests are marked in BLUE. This kicks off in Zarbzinet and will direct you to fight a Realmwalker. More info later on this but the reward gives you a consumable ‘Seething Opals’ that have an XP buff and stack with Elixirs and Incense. You can then use these during the campaign.

With both Season 6 and the new campaign launching simultaneously, it can be overwhelming to navigate all the quest markers when you first log in. Should you start the campaign or dive into the Season of Hatred Rising questline?For returning players who haven’t played since Season 1, I highly recommend completing the campaign firstto avoid getting lost in the flood of new mechanics. Keep it simple.

The Vessel of Hatred campaign is generous in how much experience it grants, making it a great starting point. So, my first tip is to jump into the campaign right away. If you’re confused by the menu options when you open the game, check out myhow-to-start Vessel of Hatred guide. I also suggest starting a Seasonal character so you can participate in seasonal activities later on.

Once you’re in, all campaign quests will be marked in yellow. Focus on these and enjoy the story! By the time you finish the campaign, you should be around level 45.RELATED:Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred review

Pick a difficulty you can move through with ease

You no longer select a World Tier but instead choose betweenNormalandHarddifficulties at the start. After completing the prologue, you’ll unlockExpertandPenitentdifficulties. For most players,Normalis the recommended starting point. Keep in mind that if you’re having trouble taking down enemies quickly, your leveling will suffer too. Start on Normal, and once you’ve acquired better gear and feel ready for a greater challenge, switch to Hard.

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For more details, check out myguide on Diablo 4’s difficulty levelsand how to unlock them.

Don’t forget to claim your Renown and gold

If you’re a returning player, you no longer need to farm Renown that you’ve already earned in previous seasons or the Eternal Realm. The Renown system tracks your progress in each region through exploration and completion of tasks like discovering waypoints, Altars of Lilith, Strongholds, side quests, and dungeons. If you’ve unlocked the map and waypoints on an Eternal Realm or previous Seasonal character, you can claim Renown rewards right from the start on your new Seasonal character. This gives you a quick boost in Gold, Skill Points, Potion Charges, Murmuring Obol capacity, and Paragon Points.

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

One of the biggest perks of playing a season is the Season Rewards. These rewards include equipment and aspects tailored to a different build for each class every season. Choosing a build that aligns with these rewards can give you a major advantage. This season, we’ve been informed that the rewards for each class will focus on the following build styles:

I’ve embedded links to leveling builds from the pros over at Maxroll and Icy Veins that incorporatesomeof these skills. These may change at launch.

Complete the Mercenary quests

Unlocking the first Mercenary, Raheir, is an unmissable part of the campaign journey, but following this you’ll be given optional quests to unlock the other Mercenaries. I’d recommend prioritizingSubo, as he has a great skill for helping you gather flowers and crafting materials you’ll find invaluable in the early game where resources are scarce. I have a full guide toMercenaries and how they work here.

Don’t ignore your class quest

Class-specific quests are essential to unlocking the full power of your build, and once you hit level 15 on your character (apart from Necro which is 25) you’ll get a quest populate in your log to go and do your quest. These are:

Always have an Elixir active

Once you can access them, you’ll want to make sure you are getting the 5%-8% buff to XP from your Elixirs. These are in your bag in the consumable tab and last 30 minutes a pop. You can use them prior to level 50 but you may run out and find it difficult to gather crafting materials, whereas they drop plentifully post-level 50 so there’s no excuse to not always have one equipped. Elixirs can be crafted by visiting the Alchemist in any main town hub.

Use your Season Blessings in the Urn of Aggression

As part of the Free Seasonal Battle Pass (and if you’re looking for the Premium or Accelerated versions, you canunlock them for free using Microsoft Rewards), you’ll earn Smouldering Ashes. These can be applied to one of five Urns, each enhancing a different aspect of your gameplay. While you won’t earn many ashes during the campaign—since the Battle Pass levels up faster through seasonal activities—you should accumulate enough to boost the Urn of Aggression by at least 5%. This Urn increases the XP you gain and should be your top priority for all ashes until you reach max level.

Completed the campaign? Go and do Strongholds

Strongholds have been juiced for Season 6, and now reward 1.5 levels upon completion so they are worth completing for the boost.

Jump into the Season of Hatred Rising (Season 6)

You can jump into Season 6: Season of Hatred Rising at any point, but if you’re returning from a long break I recommend this once you’re done with the campaign. Season quests are marked in Blue and you need to fast travel toZarbzinetto kick this off. Talk toCrusader Damondand start theCreeping Hatredquest.This will open a menu showing you the reputation board for Season 6, and you’ll be prompted to come back to Crusader Damon regularly to claim them.

Following this you’ll be directed to find and defeat a Realmwalker. These enemies are marked on the map.

Once you find a Realmwalker, you’ll need to follow it across the map and defeat ‘hollow’ enemies to chip away at its health. Once weakened, the Realmwalker will spawn 3 Hatred Spires for you to destroy.Defeating the Realmwalker will open a Portal to the Seething Realm.

This new dungeon will contain ruptures. These ruptures will lead to random bonus rooms within the dungeon and eventually a Realm Gate which presents a choice of rewards.

Depending on your chosen reward, you’ll receive a chest at the end of the event full of your chosen goodies. In addition to this you’ll receive a Seething Opal. These are consumables which reward 15% experience bonus, stack with Elixirs and also provide Reputation with the Zakarum Remnants. Additionally the Seething Opal will reward the following depending on which you choose:

Using these Seething Opals in addition to an Elixir which you will find in your Consumable tab, will be a significant buff to your XP.

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:

Essentially you want to maximize your Attunement rank while within the dungeon, and to do this you need to extend the timer. So kill all of the monsters that have timers on them! Simply right? Well, you can complicate things slightly with ‘Tributes’

What is a Tribute in Diablo 4 Kurast Undercity?

‘Tributes’ are something you can offer at the start of the Kurast City run which define your reward upgrades, at the cost of increasing the challenge of the run. For example you can offer a Tribute of Harmony to reward more Runes in your run, but you will incur a timer and potion penality for this.

How do I get Tributes in Diablo 4 Kurast Undercity?

Tributes drop in game activities such as Whisper Caches, Nightmare Dungeons and Helltides. Tributes come in varying rarities, from Magic to Unique, with higher rarities more commonly found in Whisper Caches and more common ones appearing around Sanctuary. The difficulty you are playing on also influences the type of Tribute you can obtain during activities like Nightmare Dungeons or Helltides.

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

The Kurast Undercity also contains a brand new goblin, the Portal Prankster, who will reward a Bonus Chest containing loot, runes and tributes. Decide yourself if it’s worth chasing him down or not!

Ready to bump up the difficulty? Head to The Pit

Once you want to tackle more endgame content such as The Dark Citadel, or you’re ready to really start pumping the paragon levels. You’ll want to raise the difficulty to Torment.From Torment and above you can start to earn some of the best gear in the game includingMythic Uniques. To unlock Torment difficulty head to The Pit. This is in Cerrigar marked as The Pit of Artificers Obelisk. To unlock Torment 1 you will need to complete a difficulty level of 20 for this activity.At this stage, there is a whole other layer of the game to enjoy, from The Dark Citadel, to levellig Glyphs and running Infernal Hordes. Oh and I have a whole separate guide onRunewords and how to use them, but hopefully this guide has got you some of the way through your early game leveling adventure!

Best mouse for Diablo 4

If you prefer playing Diablo 4 with a mouse and keyboard, a specialized gaming mouse like the Razer Naga V2 Hyperspeed is an excellent choice. It allows you to program repetitive button presses directly onto the mouse, streamlining your gameplay. Equipped with Razer’s Focus Pro 30K sensor, it offers precise, responsive tracking—essential for fast-paced combat. The mouse also features dual wireless connectivity (2.4 GHz and Bluetooth) and boasts up to 400 hours of battery life. With its durable mechanical switches and satisfying clicks, every demon-slaying session feels more immersive and ready to take on the relentless hordes of Hell.

Razer - Naga V2 HyperSpeed MMO Wireless Optical Gaming Mouse|was$99.99now $85 at Best BuyThis mouse has an impressive array of features tailored for MMO gaming. It boasts a comfortable right-handed design with a 12-button side panel, allowing for extensive customization and quick access to in-game commands.✅Perfect for:MMO Gamers who want a comfortable and speedy mouse with a huge battery life of up to 400 hours❌Don’t buy if:You’re left-handed, unfortunately, this isn’t ambidextrous.💰Also on sale at:Amazon for $85

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred |was$39.99now $35.49 at CD Keys (XBOX)Pricing for the new expansion starts from $39.99 MSRP, with the Deluxe and Ultimate coming with some extra cosmetics.If you don’t care about cosmetics, grab the cheapest edition for all the new content and you’ll still get a new Snow Leopard pet.The Deluxe Edition gets you a War-Cat mount, Premium Battle Pass token and Spiritborn Armor Set, as well as another Wolf pet. The Ultimate Edition comes with all of the above plus 3000 Platinum to spend in the Diablo store, Angel and Demon Wings, a THIRD cat pet, armor sets for all classes, and the Nahantu Town Portal.Deluxe Edition|was$59.99now $53.29Ultimate Edition|was$89.99now $79.09

Jen is a News Writer for Windows Central, focused on all things gaming and Microsoft. Anything slaying monsters with magical weapons will get a thumbs up such as Dark Souls, Dragon Age, Diablo, and Monster Hunter. When not playing games, she’ll be watching a horror or trash reality TV show, she hasn’t decided which of those categories the Kardashians fit into. You can follow Jen on Twitter@Jenbox360for more Diablo fangirling and general moaning about British weather.