Season 14 has completely revolutionized the leveling process, creating new ways to level that are faster than ever thanks to the additions of War Plans. If you're not yet familiar with how they work, you can find our full guide on War Plans here.
This article will break down all the new best methods for leveling, the mechanics behind it, and all the information you could need to get to end game as fast as possible.
If you're not sure what build to play to power through season 14 leveling, make sure to check out Leveling Builds for your class in order to get to the endgame as soon as possible!
Farming Strategy Guide
Starting Out
When you first step into Sanctuary, there is no need to overcomplicate things. Begin on Normal difficulty if this is your first season, with veterans recommended to start on Hard. Set your default town to Temeris by right clicking (or Y on controller) the waypoint there and selecting Favorite. This will make it so every time you travel back to town you will be sent to Temeris which is the best town location.
Equip Yourself
Equip your pet – this is easily forgotten at the start and is very important for saving time by automatically picking up materials, Aberrant Cinders, and gold which will save you a lot of time in the long run.
Put on cosmetics – You have to like how you look to play efficiently.
Unlock Mercenaries – If you have the Vessel of Hatred, head to the Den to hire your Mercenaries for aid during leveling. Raheir is a powerhouse for leveling thanks to his ability to give you armor or resistances.
First Quests to Tackle
Raising Spirits Quest – Knock this out early for both herbs to craft elixirs and a chunk of XP. This quest can be started in Kyovashad by talking to Guard Boza. Accept the quest and walk to the training soldiers training very close to the quest start. Pull up your emote wheel and cheer. This will complete the quest.
Seasonal Questline – Start this immediately afterwards. Unlocking your seasonal perks and reputation board early sets the tone for the rest of your leveling journey. For the most efficient way to level, only do the first quest to unlock the reputation board.
Levels 1 - 40
Level 1-8:
Starting at level 1 in Hard mode, teleport to Temeris to start your War Plan, with the ideal War Plan having a Helltide as their first or second activity. Use all rerolls available to get a War Plan with at least 1 Helltide activity in it. Once you've started your War Plan, teleport to a PVP zone and level up until level 8. PVP zones have some of the highest mob density which makes it a perfect training spot for your first few levels. After this we're ready to start Helltides.
Introduction To Helltides:
Helltides are activity marked with in red zone on your map which last an hour before moving to a new location.
In Normal through Penitent Difficulty, Helltides will have Tortured Gift of Mystery chests which cost 75 Aberrant Cinders to open. These chests grant a large amount of Experience and potential gear upgrades.
Be aware - Dying in a Helltide will cause you tolose half of your Aberrant Cinders on death.
Always budget at least 10 minutes before Helltide ends to ensure you can open your chests.
Inside Helltides players will find activities that grant Tree of Whisper progression. It is strongly encouraged players complete these tasks (more on that below)
(Example of a Helltide)
Level 8-13
Once you've reached level 8, players will be strong enough to start taking on their selected War Plans. While every War Plan will be different, the main goal of this leveling section will be the same, do whatever activities you selected as fast as possible in order to get into the Helltide activity. Once inside, these are the following steps you want to take:
Decrease the world difficulty down toNormalmode and head out into the nearest Helltide. Once there, players will want to farm out Cinders until they have enough to open 2 chests to complete their War Plan. The fastest way to do this is to find the special Helltide specific events and kill the enemies there and increase your Threat level until maxed and clear out the enemies that spawn.
Once you have collected enough Cinders, Do Not use them yet. Instead you will want to increase your difficulty tier to Penitent to gain the maximum amount of Experience from the chests. Players should expect to be level 13 by this point. If you aren't, then go back down to Normal Mode and farm Helltides until level 13 before moving on. For those who might not be familiar with farming Helltides, a small introduction to Helltides can be found at the end of the article.
Level 13-40:
From here, go back down intoNormal mode and finish whatever War Plan activities you still have left to do to finish the War Plan for a burst of XP and loot. Do any class specific Questlines that need to be fulfilled at this point. From this point on the gameplay loop will be simple:
Start a new War Plan
Use rerolls in order to get a War Plan with at least 1 Helltide activity in it
Do all Non-Helltide activity onNormal Mode to get through them as fast as you can
When you get to the Helltide part of your War Plan, switch the game difficulty up toPenitentfor the best XP rates if you are strong enough to.
Farm Helltides with a focus on Cinder farming. If players are unable to kill the Hellborne that spawns after players have maxed out their Threat, its okay to run from it to avoid losing Cinders due to deaths. Staying alive is the most important part of this method.
Repeat until 2 Helltide Activity Points are unlocked in your War Plan.
The main focus should be unlocking the Maggots upgrade in your War Plan Skill tree. If you are unfamiliar with how War Plans work, check out our guide here.
Once players have unlocked the first 2 Activity Points for Helltides, the farming method will change from farming Cinders and completing War Plans to instead farming the Maggots that spawn for experience. You can find a full guide to the method on our Youtube channel linked below.
Levels 40 to 70:
Once players have reached level 40, it's time to start looking for gear. Go back to town and check the Weapon, Armor, and Jewelry shops for any pieces of gear with Maximum Life on them, with bonus points if you can find armor that gives resistances or armor as well. Repeat this step every 10 levels at level 40, 50 and 70.
Once you have gotten your gear, repeat the gameplay loop listed in the level 13-40 section to maximize the Maggot and Wyrm farm, as this will continue to be the best way to level all the way up until level 70.
Leveling In Endgame & Player Resources
After hitting level 70 and unlocking your paragon, you might find yourself a little lost on what to do or how to level your Paragon. Below are some helpful resources to get ready for the next step of your Diablo 4 journey.
