Diablo 4 has transformed the traditional difficulty settings of past titles into World Tiers, a new system that adapts the entire game to your chosen difficulty level. Increasing your world level will lead to a more difficult but more rewarding experience, as most rewards comprise higher difficulty settings.
By default, players will get access to two world level states. But by completing certain end-game activities and optimizing their builds, players can unlock Diablo 4’s end-world difficulties and earn some of the game’s most powerful items. This guide will introduce how the World Tier system works, explain what each difficulty level does, and we’ll cover the rewards you can expect from each level.
What are world rates?
All of the difficulty variations seen in previous Diablo games have been converted to world levels in Diablo 4. Each world level represents a difficulty setting, customizing the level and intelligence of the monsters you face. Conversely, higher world levels increase the amount of gold and items monsters drop, and higher world levels unlock the ability to obtain unique rarity loot from certain end activities. Items can also drop as holy or ancestral versions at world level 3 and 4.
If you’re a Diablo veteran, World levels are analogous to these classic difficulty settings:
- World Level 1: Normal
- World Level 2: Hard
- World Level 3: Nightmare
- World Level 4: Torment (Diablo 3) | Hell (Diablo 2)
Unlock higher world level difficulties
All players will have World Levels 1 and 2 (WT1 and WT2 for short) unlocked by default, which can be selected from the character creation screen. The final two world levels are unlocked at various endgame milestones:
- World Level 3: Unlocked by beating the Diablo 4 campaign and clearing the “Cathedral of Light” dungeon on WT2 difficulty.
- World Level 4: Complete the “Fallen Temple” dungeon on WT3 difficulty.
Essentially, you will unlock the last two world levels by completing the dungeons at the top which are unlocked in the end game. It’s best to think of the first two world levels as difficulty settings during leveling. When you get to the end game, you’ll want to create a build strong enough to withstand the highest world level available, as higher world levels have a huge impact on the quality of loot you’ll receive from end activities.
Changing your world level
You can change the world level at any time by interacting with the Inarius statue in Kyovashad, located northeast of the waypoint portal. You will be able to review all four world level difficulties and their modifiers. Changing your world level will reset your instance and close all open city portals and Nightmare Dungeons. There is no limit to how many times you can change your world level, so you can adjust the difficulty to your needs.
What world level should I start with?
The answer to this question depends on your experience with ARPGs and how you want to play Diablo 4. If you’re skilled at ARPGs and understand Diablo’s systems, you’ll progress to World Tier 2 a bit faster. If you’re new to Diablo, or someone who wants less pressure to upgrade their gear, World Tier 1 is a great difficulty to play.
This is because WT2 only provides a 20% experience bonus for killing monsters compared to WT1. While this may seem like a lot to ARPG veterans, the increase in difficulty is noticeable and encourages more frequent gear upgrades to counter. In our experience, Diablo 4’s campaign difficulty is not linear. Since everything adjusts to your level, almost all of your power comes from gear drops and legendary add-ons, leading to peaks and valleys in difficulty. Therefore, recommending a specific global level is not feasible.
Essentially, choose the highest difficulty that doesn’t slow down the fight. If you can one-shot mobs on WT1 but not WT2, you’ll progress much faster on WT1 as you clear content faster. However, if you can one-shot the mobs in both environments, WT2 is objectively better as there is a 20% XP bonus in the game.
Remember that you can adjust your world level at any time. If you can’t find an upgrade for your building, you can lower the difficulty for a few quests while you work on improving your character. You don’t need to set a min-max for a smooth leveling experience in Diablo 4, so don’t put too much pressure on your world level. Choose what you think is right and enjoy the action.
World class modifiers
|
World level 1 Adventurer |
World level 2 A veteran |
World level 3 Nightmare |
World level 4 Torture |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Raven |
1-50 |
1-50 |
50-70 |
70+ |
|
XP |
100% |
120% |
200% |
300% |
|
gold |
100% |
115% |
115% |
115% |
|
Resistance Pierce |
0% |
0% |
20% |
40% |
The world level you choose will affect the monster’s level, how much XP and gold you receive, and how well enemies can break through your elemental resistance. The first two world levels include minimal adjustments to earning XP and gold, although the enemies on WT2 are more challenging. The final levels of the world (Nightmare and Torment) greatly increase XP gain, but allow monsters to partially ignore your resistance values. Enemies can pierce 20 or 40% of your resistances at WT3 and WT4 respectively.
World level 3 presents Champions as a potential enemy type. Champions emit auras that mitigate monsters and usually provide resistance to damage.
World Level 3: Nightmare unlocks most of the ultimate activities in Diablo 4. Nightmare players can experience the Helltide and Nightmare Dungeons events, the two main sources of ultimate gear. Enemies and activities now have a small drop chance Unique items, rarity above legendary. These items have fixed additions and are equipped with effects that allow building. In addition, all equipment can fall with Sacred tag that indicates items that have increased attachment sizes. It’s sacred no a new rarity.
World Level 4: Torment grants access to Ancestral Nightmare Dungeons, endgame dungeons ranging from levels 21 to 100. XP gains are drastically increased, but monsters can now penetrate up to 40% of your resistance value. Although no new rarity is added at this world level, Unique items are much more common in this problem. The Ancestor The tag can now also rotate around objects, as discussed in the next section. Again, it is no a new rarity.
Sacred and Ancestral Objects Explained
The hardest world levels in Diablo 4 have the ability to upgrade items with Sacred and Ancestral tags. Essentially, Sacred and Ancestral Items rotate with a larger range of accessories. Sacred and Ancestral are not new types of rarities, nor do they have unique perks. Any item with any label simply means that it has higher suffix values ​​than what you would normally find on an item. All types of rarities can be sacred or ancestralincluding legendaries and uniques.
For example, say you get a piece of armor that can roll with 10-25% fire resistance – the stat range is composite and not indicative of in-game values. If this same item drops as a holy item, its attachment range can become 20-35% fire resistance. Ancestral version of the item would be even more powerful, moving from 30 to 45%. Sacred and Ancestral equipment only improve the stat ranges of the accessory. They do not represent a new rarity or have unique accessories.