With Blizzard unveiling the 2026 Diablo 4 schedule, Season 11+ promises exciting changes and opportunities for both new and veteran players. If you’ve already completed the campaign and are looking forward to diving deeper into Diablo 4’s endgame content, this guide will help you prepare for the upcoming season updates and optimize your character progression.
1. Starting After the Campaign: Unlock Tormented Difficulty
After completing the campaign, your main goal should be progressing into Tormented difficulty. This unlocks some of the most powerful gear in the game, including Greater Affixes items, which are essential for endgame builds.
Key Steps:
- Capstones: Complete these to unlock the next difficulty tiers. Start by aiming for Torment 1 to get Ancestral Quality Gear and Greater Affixes.
- Item Power: As you progress, look for gear with a little star, which indicates that it’s of the highest item power. The max item power in the game is 800, while 750 is the next best option.
2. Starting Seasonal Content
If you’re playing Season 11 or beyond, be sure to follow the Seasonal Questline as soon as possible. Look for the green leaf icon on the map to trigger this important progression.
- The Seasonal Journey includes various objectives and Seasonal Bounty Boards, which offer valuable rewards. These rewards can provide mythic crafting materials necessary for creating some of the game’s rarest items.
3. Unlocking Seasonal Rewards
The Seasonal Bounty Board is crucial. Completing tasks on the board rewards you with seasonal materials and mythics, allowing you to craft powerful items.
- Focus on Bounty Rewards: Your main goal should be to reach the end of the bounty chain and earn the mythic crafting materials.
4. Greater Affixes and Aspects for Gear
Once you start farming high-level content, such as dungeons, you’ll want to focus on acquiring the right Aspects for your build. Legendary gear has specific Aspects that can be salvaged and imprinted via the Occultist, granting huge Diablo 4 boosts to your character’s power.
- Use the Codex of Power: This tool helps you identify the dungeons that drop the desired Aspects for your class and build. Ensure you’re farming the right dungeon for your specific needs, such as Twisting Blades for Rogues or Fireball for Sorcerers.
5. Paragon Points and Glyphs
As you progress through Torment difficulties, you’ll unlock Paragon Points. These provide permanent boosts to your character’s stats, allowing for further fine-tuning of your build. Additionally, you’ll need to focus on leveling your Glyphs to maximize your damage output.
- Pit Runs: To level up your Glyphs, you’ll need to participate in the Pit—an area where you can kill monsters and bosses to get the necessary materials.
6. Farming Boss Materials
Bosses are a great source of mythic items and uniques. Make sure to engage in Hell Tides, Whispers, and World Bosses to gather important crafting materials. You’ll need Malignant Hearts, Legion Events, and other resources to craft the highest-tier items.
- Hell Tides: Keep an eye on the Hell Tide locations, which offer valuable loot and resources for crafting.
7. Masterworking Your Gear
Once you’ve farmed enough materials, you’ll want to Masterwork your gear. This involves upgrading your items to maximize their potential. Use materials like Obducite and Diablo 4 gold, which can be farmed from Nightmare Dungeons and Infernal Hordes, to craft high-quality gear.
- Tempering and Upgrading: Don’t hesitate to temper your items and continue upgrading until you’ve achieved the perfect balance for your class. This process is crucial for progressing into higher Torment levels.
8. Focusing on Glyphs and Paragon Nodes
The Paragon Board and Glyphs are essential for scaling your damage output. As you hit max level, you’ll gain more Paragon Points, which can be used to unlock more powerful abilities and passive buffs. You will need to focus on glyph farming to gain substantial multipliers, especially when aiming for Tormented 4.
9. Participating in Towers
Season 11 introduces the Tower mechanic, which revolves around completing challenges as quickly as possible. While this might not be for everyone, it offers valuable rewards and is a great way to test your build and skill in high-pressure scenarios.
10. Sanctifying and Crafting Items
In Season 11+, you’ll also be able to sanctify items, which gives them additional benefits. If you have the opportunity to sanctify items, it’s highly recommended to do so, especially if you’re using them for your endgame build.
- Sanctify Items for Huge Gains: It’s a way to upgrade your gear and add seasonal powers that may not have been available previously.
Conclusion: Progressing Efficiently
In Season 11 and beyond, it’s essential to pace your progression through the Tormented difficulties and focus on upgrading your gear. Here’s a quick recap of the steps to prioritize:
- Unlock Tormented Difficulty by completing Capstones and obtaining Ancestral Gear.
- Start Seasonal Content early to gain additional rewards and materials.
- Focus on Acquiring Aspects for your build from dungeons and the Codex of Power.
- Farm Boss Materials through Hell Tides, World Bosses, and Legions.
- Masterwork and Temper Items for maximum efficiency and power.
- Use Paragon Points and Glyphs to further scale your build.
- Engage with the Tower challenges for high-tier rewards.
With these strategies in place, you’ll be prepared to take on Diablo 4’s most challenging endgame content and enjoy all the new updates in Season 11+. Keep an eye on event timers and constantly improve your build to stay ahead of the competition!
Happy hunting, and may your loot rolls be ever in your favor!
