With the Vessel of Hatred DLC and the sixth Diablo 4 Season, World Tiers have been removed from the game. In their place is a new Diablo 4 Difficulty system, one which is essentially separated into two halves. While leveling, and during most pre-endgame content, you have four basic difficulties to choose from.
Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred – All Runewords (& What They Do)
Every Runeword in Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred requires two Runes to be created: Ritual Runes, or Triggers, and Invocation Runes, or Effects.
The second half of the eight difficulties comprise the Torment system intended for players going through Diablo 4's endgame. Going into Torment 1 grants huge bonuses at the cost of more enemy damage and less resistances. But to unlock Torment 1 Difficulty, Diablo 4 players have to complete a relatively tough challenge, especially if you aren't prepared for the sharp spike in difficulty Torment 1 presents.
What Does Torment 1 Unlock In Diablo 4?
When you move up a Tier in difficulty in Diablo 4, you will gain more XP, Gold, and a higher chance to get rarer items. When you start a new character after the Difficulty updates introduced with Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred, you will begin with only two options available: Normal and Hard. As you progress through the game and complete the base and DLC campaigns, you will unlock the next two difficulties: Elite and Penitent. As the game gets harder, the rewards get significantly better, but until you unlock the Torment system you won't be able to get the highest quality items in Diablo 4.
When you unlock Torment 1, Diablo 4 ups the ante significantly – the jump from Penitent to Torment 1 is not to be underestimated. But for raising the difficulty, Diablo 4 players will not only get significantly more XP and Gold from enemies, but they will also be able to earn Ancestral gear – the highest quality gear in the game.
There is a downside, aside from enemies being stronger and smarter: you have less Armor and Resistance in Torment difficulty. In fact, you take a flat -250 to your Armor Value and a 25% reduction to all of your Resistances. This, paired with the increased enemy difficulty, makes it about an enormous leap up from Penitent difficulty – and higher Torments make it even harder still.
Diablo 4: Runewords, Explained
The Runeword system in Diablo 4 is different than previous iterations, and lets players create custom Trigger and Effect abilities.
Though you are able to get Legendary, Unique, and Mythic Unique items before unlocking Torment 1, the chance for these special item types to drop increases significantly when you step over that threshold, too. So if you plan to farm some of the rarest items in the game, you will need to ensure that you are on at least Torment 1 difficulty.
How To Unlock Torment 1 Difficulty in Diablo 4
To unlock Torment 1 Difficulty, you must first beat the main campaign for Diablo 4 to unlock Elite Difficulty, the third of the "regular" difficulties. Then, complete the Vessel of Hatred main campaign to unlock Penitent Difficulty. Once you reach Level 60 and have some Paragon points assigned, look in your Quest Tab for "The Pit Of The Artificer" priority quest.
Head to Cerrigar in Scosglen, and walk just to the top-left of the Waypoint to find the Artificer's Obelisk. This is your entryway to the Pit of the Artificer, a repeatable, randomized dungeon with a hundred tiers to grind through. When you have reached max level in Diablo 4, Tier 20 of The Pit will be the highest tier you can take on. This is your first taste of Torment Difficulty.
To unlock Torment Difficulty in the rest of the game, you must beat The Pit at Tier 20. You have 15 minutes to defeat enough enemies to create a portal leading to the final boss. Beat the boss within the time limit to complete The Pit at Tier 20 and unlock Torment 1 Difficulty in Diablo 4.
Later Torment Difficulties do not increase the quality of rewards, just the abundance of them. To unlock higher Torment Difficulty tiers, you must continue to push The Pit at higher and higher Tiers. Because you can get everything in Torment 1 that you can at Torment 4, and because of the massive difficulty spike between Torment levels, it's best to stick at Torment 1 until you feel that your build is complete.
Diablo 4
- Released
- June 5, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
