Mekuna's Hydrakuna Leveling

This is one of the strongest Sorcerer leveling builds if not the best. It uses Hydra combined with Familiar to deal an insane amount of damage!

This build is very powerful and doesn’t require any specific aspect to work. So if you don’t have the legendary aspect, it’s not a big deal but feel free to use it if you find one!

• 🟣Follow live gameplay, meta testing & updates on Twitch
• ▶️Full build videos & explanations on YouTube

You can find a full leveling strategy below, from level 1 all the way to T1. When you reach level 60 and unlock T1, swap to an endgame build here. You’ll have full progression from T1 all the way to endgame.

I explain how and when to transition to the next build in this video.

Leveling Strategy

Doing the Seasonal Journey gives you extra Skill Points and Paragon Points. I recommend doing it whenever you can, the extra power is really nice.

If possible, play in a group to get the XP bonus. You can join my Discord to find teammates.
If you want to go fast, you can also start the Vessel of Hatred campaign (Expansion only) on Normal. Otherwise follow the instruction just below.

1. Start the game on Normal (Hard if you’re experienced) to begin your Journey.
   Create your Seasonal character, launch the game, and equip your Pet (press I, click Wardrobe) so it auto-picks up gold and materials.
   
2. Pick up your Mercenary (Expansion only) by traveling to The Den in Nahantu.
   Level up your Mercenary Rapport to unlock skills, Legendary rewards at Bartering, and your second Merc Reinforcement.
   
3. Start the Seasonal Quest and get your first Journey rewards.
   Begin Season 11’s questline “A Divine Missive” to earn Reputation.
   Pick up one Herb on the way and craft the Precision Elixir (Lv 10) at the Alchemist for bonus XP.
   
4. Go to Helltide. Focus on summoning Duriel, he spawns at the ritual. Duriel’s minions also spawn
   there. Try to unlock the Divine Gift “Essence of Squalor” as soon as possible. Killing Duriel for the first time in Helltide. It let you Sanctify an item and unlock the Maggot XP Divine Gift.
   Place it in the Purified Slot (unlocked via Reputation Board) for a massive XP boost from Maggots.
   
5. Your Class Quest auto-completes at level 15. Don’t forget to activate the bonus once it unlocks.
   
6. During the 5-minute Helltide downtime: Salvage gear and upgrade what you can. Do 1–2 dungeons for key Aspects if needed.
   
7. Do the first Capstone Dungeon — Torrid Menagerie in Hawezar — around level 35 to unlock extra Skill Points.
   
8. Keep doing Helltides on Normal or higher depending on your power.
   
9. Once you hit Level 50, do all Strongholds on Normal (XP is the same as Hard/Expert).
   Or keep farming: Helltides, Duriel & Maggots, Kurast Undercity (Normal or Hard)
   
10. Between 50–60, do the second Capstone Dungeon, Hellish Descent in Scosglen.
    This gives more Skill Points and unlocks The Pit. I recommend doing this after Strongholds, since the final boss can be hard at Level 50.
    
11. You can also do early Pit runs before Level 60 if your build is strong, XP is very good.

How to go to T1

• Reach level 60 → Your first priority is to get Ancestral gear (item level 800). You can recognize these by the stars (called Greater Affixes), which boost a stat to its max value and then multiply it by 1.5x.
  
• Farm Ancestral gear → The best way is gambling at the Purveyor of Curiosities. Ancestral weapons especially give a huge damage boost. (Gamble at the highest tier available (for example Penitent if you haven't unlock T1 yet) to maximize your chances of getting Ancestral items.)
  
• Start Tempering → Go to the Blacksmith and temper your items to increase power. Try to temper only Ancestral gear if possible (You probably won’t have all the optimal Tempers at this point, but just use whatever you have for now).
  
• Farm the Pit → Completing Pit runs rewards Obols, which you can spend at the Purveyor of Curiosities.
  
• Unlock Torment I → Once strong enough, enter the Pit to unlock Torment I difficulty.
  
• Target Uniques → Farm boss summoning mats in Helltides or the Undercity to start targeting Uniques.
  

Pick an endgame build here and follow the T1–T4 build path → Each variant will guide you on which Uniques to farm and how to progress your build step by step.

Planner for build: https://moba.lol/47U4SON
All My Build: https://moba.lol/Mekuna

11th of December 2025

• Updated for Season 11 - Patch 2.5.0