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What to do in the endgame - Diablo 4

The Diablo 4 endgame seems overwhelmingly open-ended, but there are a few things you should always be doing.

Josh Broadwell

June 16, 2023 1:50 PM

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The Diablo 4 endgame is all about leveling up. You start at level 50 and, ideally, will reach level 90 or higher before taking on the RPG’s seasonal content. While the lack of campaign missions might leveling seem like an open-ended task, there’s a cycle of activities you can and should complete to help make the task easier and more enjoyable.

This guide explains the best way to tackle the Diablo 4 endgame and which activities you should prioritize

Diablo 4 endgame explained 

Your primary goal in the endgame is reaching a new World Tier, and to do that, you need to level up enough so you can challenge Capstone dungeons. The best way to do that is taking on Whispers of the Dead bounties and challenging Nightmare Dungeons, though there are plenty of other distractions to keep you busy in the process.

The bottom three activities are complements to your endgame experience, things you'll accomplish as you level up and continue to acquire better equipment.

Complete the Capstone dungeon

Once you complete the campaign on either of the two initial World Tiers, you unlock both Capstone dungeons. Completing the Cathedral of Light in Kyovashad unlocks World Tier 3, Nightmare, and the Fallen Temple in the Dry Steppes unlocks World Tier 4, Hell. 

The Cathedral of Light has enemies at level 50, so you should be near there before challenging it. Fallen Temple enemies are around level 70, so your main goal in the endgame is raising your level enough to unlock a new World Tier.

Each new World Tier includes tougher enemies, more experience, and higher chances of getting rare items. The idea is reaching World Tier 4 as fast as possible so you’re able to take on challenges in each new season of Diablo 4.

Whispers of the Dead and Nightmare Sigils

While raising your level is the main goal of Diablo 4’s campaign, the main activity you’ll be doing in the Diablo 4 endgame is taking on bounties from the Whispering Tree to get new gear and, more importantly, Nightmare Sigils. 

Whispers of the Dead bounties are comparatively simple tasks that send you into the world and task you with fulfilling basic requirements, such as slaying enemies or completing a dungeon, in return for Favors. You can exchange 10 Favors at the tree and get a loot cache that could contain anything from Legendary-grade gear to a Nightmare Sigil.

The gear is great, but Nightmare Sigils are essential. You need these to change a regular dungeon into its Nightmare version, where you encounter substantially stronger opponents and get much better equipment in return.

Nightmare Sigil drops are completely random, so it might take several bounties before you get even one or you could get a new Sigil every time you trade in Favors.

Nightmare Dungeons

Nightmare Sigils are a type of consumable item, and each corresponds to a specific dungeons. Head to your consumables menu, check the description so you know which dungeon is getting modified and what the changes are.

Nightmare Dungeons are significantly more challenging, but just like with XP farming in the main game, you get a decent amount of high-level gear for your trouble. Use that for more Nightmare Dungeons and other challenging endgame activities.

World Bosses

World Bosses are exceptionally difficult bosses who appear in fixed locations in the open world every six hours or so. Diablo 4 launched with three World Bosses, including Ashava from the betas, and the expectation is that you’ll challenge them with other players, either in multiplayer parties or just by joining up with random strangers to fight the bosses.

World Bosses only stick around for 15 minutes or so, but if you do defeat them, you get Legendary and Unique gear, along with rare, valuable crafting resources to upgrade your armor and weapons with

Helltide events

Helltide events start randomly occurring in an area of Sanctuary once you switch to World Tier 3 or higher. These events last for one hour and reward you with Aberrant Cinders for defeating enemies and clearing challenges. Aberrant Cinders let you unlock Helltide chests, which contain high-level equipment, but there’s a catch. Some chests cost more Cinders than others to open, and unlike regular chests in Diablo 4, these Helltide chests disappear for good if another player opens it.

There’s no shortage of Helltide chests during a Helltide event, but you’ll still want to move as quickly as possible to get the most gear.

Fill out your Paragon Board

You unlock the Paragon Board at level 50 and gain Paragon Points for it every time you make significant progress toward gaining a new level. The Paragon Board has several slots and sockets to unlock, and they range from basic stat boosts to glyph nodes that grant your character some very specific buffs and attributes to complement certain playstyles. It basically takes over from the ability board and gives you even more customization options.

Fill out your Codex of Power

You can extract Legendary Aspects from your high-powered gear and use them in your Codex of Power to augment your playstyle. It's the endgame version of salvaging, really.  The Codex of Power isn’t limited to the endgame, but you can get more and better Aspects from endgame gear.

Take part in PvP battles

PvP battles on the Fields of Hatred don’t necessarily reward you with anything essential, but it’s a fun way to test out your builds for other high-level activities. You also earn currency that you can use to purchase unique mounts and cosmetics.

Josh Broadwell

Contributing Editor

Josh is a freelance writer and reporter who specializes in guides, reviews, and whatever else he can convince someone to commission. You may have seen him on NPR, IGN, Polygon, or VG 24/7 or on Twitter, shouting about Trails. When he isn’t working, you’ll likely find him outside with his Belgian Malinois and Australian Shepherd or curled up with an RPG of some description.