7 Early Game Economy Tips

If you're new to the series you may be overwhelmed by the number of items, mechanics, and overall Diablo 4 economy decisions that can be made.

You may be wondering, "What's the best way to manage my resources?", "Should I salvage or sell?", and so on.

Well don't worry, we've got you covered!

Here are 7 tips to help you effectively manage your resources and economy in the early game.

Unveiling the Spiritborn class in Diablo 4’s upcoming Vessel of Hatred expansion. Explore our Spiritborn Overview for more insights.

This guide was written by Shugo.

The value of gear is based on its level. This means as you progress through the game, the amount of gold you can earn by selling gear will scale as you acquire higher quality items. This is not the case when salvaging. During the early game, it's recommended to salvage unwanted items nearly 100% of the time. Salvage materials can be incredibly useful in the later parts of the game, so it's best to start building up a good stockpile early on. You'll be able to farm gold much faster in the end game.

However, if you do ever find yourself running low, feel free to hit up the vendors when clearing your next few inventories. Otherwise, prioritize the Blacksmith.

It's never fun being short on materials for an important upgrade. While we'll naturally be slaying endless hordes of demons to obtain salvage materials, plants, and ores need to be gathered manually.

So if you ever come across a node, be sure to grab it. It only takes a few seconds, and your future self will thank you!

When it comes to gear, affixes matter far more than stats. White and Blue items should essentially never be used beyond the early levels (when that's all you have), as they lack the quantity of affixes that Rares and Legendaries provide.

What you also need to consider is whether the particular affixes apply to your build. If you have a lower level piece of gear that has multiple relevant properties, it's probably a lot better than a higher piece of gear that lacks the specific bonuses you need.

For example, having lots of Cooldown Reduction and/or Critical Strike Chance could be extremely important to how a build functions. You'd want to stack as much as possible, and only replace that gear slot if the "upgrade" also has that same type of affix.

While it's true that you'll be regularly replacing your gear as you play, the cost of upgrading gear is actually rather affordable. So if you happen to find a decent Rare with good affixes, or a useful Legendary, it may be worth the minor gold investment. It's a good way to gain a decent boost in power which will ultimately help you progress and level faster.

Upgrading Rares is easy enough as Veiled Crystals are plenty easy to come by. As for Legendary gear, I'd avoid spending any Legendary-grade materials as they are far more valuable and not worth using for a short-term upgrade. The initial upgrades are far more cost effective.

If you insist on hoarding gold and don't want to spend on upgrades, I would at the very least recommend upgrading your weapon for the increase in damage.

Gems are a free guaranteed way to make your character stronger, so whenever you have an empty socket, be sure to fill it! You can craft higher quality gems at the Jeweler by combining multiple weaker grade gems together.

If you're worried about "wasting" gems on weaker gear, don't sweat. Salvaging items will give you your gem back. Plus, if you ever need it back sooner and don't want to salvage the gear, the Jeweler can unsocket it for you, so there's never a reason not to use gems! Don't be lazy, take advantage of the free power!

It appears as though in Diablo 4, players are unable to acquire valuable Legendary crafting materials from every Legendary drop. In order to get those precious Baleful Fragments, only salvage gear with an item power rating of at least 400 or higher.

When it comes to managing your Legendary loot, it's mostly up to you. If you enjoy creating multiple builds or characters, you may want to stash away extras for the future. That said, storage space can fill up, and not all Legendaries will be useful. You'll find many pieces that have useless affixes or a horrible aspect role. These can likely be salvaged if 400+, or otherwise sold to a vendor.

If a Legendary has a good roll on its aspect but is otherwise weak (low level or poor affixes), you can extract the aspect for future use. Aspects have their own inventory tab similar to consumables, which can help free up stash space. Do note that it will cost a bit to extract an aspect, so if you aren't pressed for storage space and don't need to apply the aspect yet, it's probably better to just keep it in the stash.

Whenever you see an event nearby, take the detour and jump into the action. Events provide Murmuring Obols which allow you to effectively gamble for valuable gear pieces of whichever slot you choose. They play a big role in acquiring the Legendary aspects you need for your build, which makes events more than worth your time.

There's always a chance you'll run into the event halfway, allowing you to piggyback off other players and still claim the full rewards. But even if you're there alone, it'll only take a few minutes to complete. So go save those helpless villagers before you carry onward to your next task!

Conclusion

I hope this helped give you a better idea of how to manage and bolster your resources during the early game.

Stock up while you can, because even greater challenges await in the end game!