Season 4 leveling will be a completely different experience. The main reason for this is that Hell Tide is now available from World Tier 1 and on. Additionally, global gambling is finally incredible, which serves as a small bonus at the end. Keep in mind you have to start on World Tier 2 this season. Why is that? Because they buffed the experience that every World Tier provides. Previously, it was 200%, 100%, and 20%; now it is 50%, 150%, and 250%. Therefore, not only do you want to start on World Tier 2, but you also want to get to World Tier 3 as soon as possible.
Path to World Tier 3
The path to World Tier 3 is quite exciting because you start with Hell Tide, preferably with a friend. Hell Tide now has this threat meter which fills up and then slowly depletes again while you are swarmed by the forces of Hell. As you navigate through the Hell Tide, more random events occur, such as worms popping out of the ground trying to spawn hordes of Demonsr on you.
You can gather the Baneful Hearts to summon the Blood Maiden in the middle of the Hell Tide. The reason you want a friend is if your danger meter is filling up, his is as well, and get this: if you are being attacked by your danger meter, it depletes, but if your friend hasn’t filled his up yet, the bonus Demonsr are going to help fill his danger meter up again or vice versa. Even if you meet random people running around, cling to them because not being alone in the Hell Tide will be an incredible boon for leveling.
Advantages of New Items
Keep in mind that the new Items, despite having only two stats, make leveling much easier. There is a huge amount of max life, random armor rolls, and life per second, all of which are incredibly helpful to aid you in your leveling process. You are not going to find any more damage to injured enemies, 20% less crowd control, shrine buff duration, or any of these things that you do not actually want. Instead, you will just find raw, good Affixes that help you to level faster.
Beating the Capstone Dungeon
I did beat the Capstone dungeon, the Cathedral of Light, at World Tier 3 with level 35. That being said, I could have done it with level 30 already because minions are quite strong right now and the new Items made the process more feasible.
Strategic Advancements in World Tier 3
It becomes significantly easier, so my recommendation is definitely to jump into World Tier 3 as soon as possible. However, keep in mind that if you transition to World Tier 3, every opponent will be level 55. You might think, “Oh, I’m in World Tier 3; let’s start doing nightmare dungeons.” If you are underleveled for World Tier 3, your first step should always be to tackle the strongholds, as these will scale to your level, whether you’re coming in at level 30 or 35. This scaling allows you to still gain copious amounts of bonus experience. The critical point is between levels 42 and 45; that’s when you start being able to equip sacred gear, which significantly boosts your capabilities within World Tier 3.
Utilizing Resources in World Tier 3
As you navigate World Tier 3, Hell Tide becomes particularly interesting. For the first time, you can start collecting materials like living steel and the blood of Lord Zur, which were not available in World Tier 1 and 2. This is why it might be wise to keep your Baneful Hearts from the earlier tiers, as the Blood Maiden, who draws blood from Lord Zur—a challenging adversary—can be summoned with these hearts. Collecting blood and steel becomes a crucial part of the strategy, but you will likely avoid summoning major bosses in World Tier 3 because the goal is to rapidly progress through this tier.
Reaching the Pinnacle of World Tier 3
With level 55, you are capable of tackling the Fallen Temple, and doing so is absolutely feasible. After completing the Fallen Temple, your focus should shift back to strongholds until you reach level 60. Once at level 60, you can equip all the ancestral gear, propelling you into the endgame. This gear is transformative, providing massive boosts that solidify your readiness for even higher challenges.
Preparing for World Tier 4
The most critical aspect of progressing to World Tier 4 is your ability to clear a tier 41 dungeon. Initially, you might assume that reaching level 70 is necessary for tackling a tier 41 nightmare dungeon; however, this is a misconception. The transition into World Tier 4 marks a significant shift, as you start obtaining 925 gear, setting the stage for the highest levels of gameplay.
Advancing with Minion Necromancer Build
I did try it out with a minion necromancer just to see how viable it would be. With level 65 as a minion necromancer, I could clear tier 41 nightmare dungeons. This meant that from level 65, and let’s say up to 70, I could start gathering 925 gear for the endgame. This also implies that from level 65, I could start defeating these bosses from the boss ladder solo—Baran RAR might not be doable solo because I didn’t have the poison resistance, but the Beast of Ice and others were possible to defeat solo from level 65 on, at least as a necromancer this season.
Leveling Strategy and Gear Optimization
For the rest of your leveling experience, I would start focusing on nightmare dungeons but aim to tackle the highest tier that you can efficiently clear. You’ll want to do at least tier 41s to actually obtain the 925 gear. Otherwise, you might as well stick to Hell Tide because engaging in nightmare dungeons beforehand might yield some glyph experience, but it will still only provide you with 800-level gear. If you can handle tier 41 and above, you will gain substantial amounts of glyph experience and be able to level up your glyphs, because this season, you want every glyph on your Paragon board to be at least level 21 to ensure the best performance in the pit.
Preparing for the Pit
Would I venture into the pit much before level 100? Honestly, no. The leveling from 60 to 100 is mostly spent in nightmare dungeons, which, as personally unenjoyable as they might be compared to the vaults, are crucial. You will be rushing through them to collect your 925 gear and multiple sets of it. Remember, the tempering process can break your Items, and you will be tempering these 925 Items and aspecting them with the highest Ro aspects you have. Then, when you actually approach level 100, you can slowly start with the first levels of the pit. However, unless your glyphs are sufficiently leveled up, you will eventually reach a point in the pit where you will find it challenging to progress further.
Integrating Nightmare Dungeons and the Pit
Now, I’ll have to engage in nightmare dungeons anyway, then proceed with the pit, then tackle some more tiers, and return to nightmare dungeons. The impact of glyphs is substantial. For instance, the Desecration Glyph, which pairs well with a shadow desecrated ground build, offers a 60% bonus at level 21, compared to around a 40% bonus previously. That’s plus 60% per five willpower and essentially free stats because, if you’re going to play Desecration, Darkness, or Corporal, you’ll already have it on your Paragon board. Getting it to level 21 means all the stats you gain through leveling are essentially free, and these stats are crucial.
Collecting Gear in Higher Levels
Before you ask, you start gathering 925k gear in the Overworld from level 95 opponents, starting from level 92 on Hell Tide. Before that, at level 92, it technically makes no sense to continue Hell Tiding in World Tier 4, as you would only be collecting inferior gear and boss materials. It might be enjoyable, but alternatively, you could spend an hour or two in nightmare dungeons to quickly reach level 92 and then pick up the superior gear.
Changes in Obal Gambling
A few things about Obal gambling have changed. Firstly, you can now gather up to 2,500 Obal to gamble with—yes, you don’t have to, but it’s just the new limit. Nightmare dungeons and the pit will drop Obal. The real kicker is that if you’re level 100, you’ll only be rolling for 925 gear—no more low-level gear. Whether you’re looking for a new helmet, gloves, or pants, 925 gear can come from Obal gambling, and greater AIX Items too. A three greater AIX item from Obal gambling is possible. I can’t wait to start buying out some amazing Items there.
Engaging This Season
Now, tell me, ladies and gentlemen, what are you planning to do this season? How are you going to get yourself leveled up? If you’re now looking for one necromancer build to get you leveled up and the livestream where I actually did the leveling to get a flavor for how to do it, enjoy both of them and thank you for watching.
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