How to unlock the Dark Citadel in Diablo 4

Published October 8, 2024 11:29 AM, by Aidan O'Brien

The Dark Citadel is the latest and greatest endgame activity that has been added to Diablo 4 with the Vessel of Hatred expansion. This is a reasonably complex dungeon with actual mechanics, and you need at least two people to do it. 

How to unlock the Dark Citadel

This takes a while, so don’t go thinking you can just dive into the Dark Citadel right from the start of the expansion. You will need to complete the following steps to get into the Dark Citadel:

• Finish the entire Vessel of Hatred campaign - this means every quest marked by a yellow waypoint needs to be completed.
• Reach Torment 1. Yes, there will be no babies in the Dark Citadel. You need to be at least Torment 1 to be able to hang in the new uber-dungeon. 
• Finish the “Crater of Lost Souls” quest.

Now, that might just be three steps, but it will take a while. The campaign should take you a few hours, and then getting to Torment 1 is not just a case of grabbing your best gear and turning up the difficulty. You need to unlock it by doing an assortment of quest steps for an NPC called Ormus in Kurast. You will get to know this chap quite well as he will give you the all-important Kurast Undercity quest.

You'll need to complete all the Mercenary missions, which you should have done already, to be fair. After that comes a Stronghold you need to free, the Kurast Undercity mission, and then collecting Grim Favors in Nahantu. You'll need to do some Helltides, then do the Pit of Artificers, and finally, you will be free to explore the Torment levels.

Once all the quests for Ormus are finished, the "Crater of Lost Souls" will begin, and when that is done, you will be free to enter the Dark Citadel. Don't forget, this mode cannot be finished without at least two players, so find a friend or take advantage of the in-game LFG.