Back in the day, all you needed were three difficulties: Normal, Nightmare and Hell, which you’d follow sequentially, facing progressively higher level enemies as you climbed the RPG ladder. It’s not the 1990s anymore, however, and with Diablo 3 the old difficulty tiers weren’t quite good enough, and more than that, these later Diablo games couldn’t stay devoted to a single difficulty system. With the arrival of Vessel of Hatred, the old difficulty system has been cast into the pits of Hell, replaced by an entirely new set of difficulties. This page will explain the new difficulties introduced in Vessel of Hatred, what changes makes each one progressively more challenging, and what rewards you’ll gain by conquering each difficulty tier in Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred!

Page Breakdown¶

New Difficulty Levels¶

Prior to Vessel of Hatred, Diablo IV featured a “World Tier” difficulty system - from the start of the game you’d play in either World Tier 1 or World Tier 2 (Adventurer or Veteran difficulty) as the challenge fancied you, but once you hit level 50 you’d need to overcome the Cathedral of Light Capstone Dungeon to prove yourself worth of World Tier 3 (Nightmare difficulty), and later, the Fallen Temple Capstone Dungeon to enter Diablo 4’s true endgame - World Tier IV (Torment difficulty). Higher World Tiers would reward the player with more EXP and gold, but it would also unlock new gameplay modes - Nightmare Dungeons and Helltides were both gated behind World Tier 3, as were Uber Bosses. Not only would you be able to run Nightmare Dungeons to power up your Paragon Glyphs to compensate for this increased difficulty, but you could also find Sacred-tier gear and Uniques in World Tier 3. World Tier 4 expanded upon this, offering up Ancestral-tier gear, new uniques and more.

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(1 of 2) Fewer activities are gated by difficulty in Vessel of Hatred - running a Nightmare Dungeon with a fresh character might not be the best idea, but it’s an option!

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Fewer activities are gated by difficulty in Vessel of Hatred - running a Nightmare Dungeon with a fresh character might not be the best idea, but it’s an option! (left), Torment difficulty is still gated, however, and you’ll need to play on Torment difficulty to find Ancestral gear. (right)

In Vessel of Hated, difficulty modes have been changed somewhat. There are now eight difficulties, instead of four, but there’s still one clear dividing line that separates these eight difficulties into two distinct groups: Normal, Hard, Expert and Penitent are all early-game difficulties meant for characters on the rise, while the four Torment difficulties (Torment I - Torment IV) are endgame difficulties. While you’ll gain more EXP and gold as the difficulties rise, the Torment difficulties have to be earned, like World Tier III and World Tier IV in older versions of the game. Once you can survive on Torment difficulty, however, you will start getting drops that refine how your character plays, ultimately preparing you for the greatest challenges Diablo 4 has to offer. Below you’ll find a table listing each difficulty mode and roughly how it alters the gameplay experience:

List of Difficulty Levels and Effects¶

Normal, Hard, Expert and Penitent Difficulty Levels¶

One of the defining changes in Vessel of Hatred’s new difficulty levels is there’s generally less gated content. Helltides, Nightmare Dungeons and other endgame activities are now free for any character to join… provided you’ve completed the campaign. Once you’ve completed the campaign once you can choose to skip it with subsequent characters, and while it may not be the best idea to take a new toon into a Nightmare Dungeon, that’s left to the player’s discretion. Normal and Hard difficulties are available at any time, while Expert can be selected when the player finishes the Prologue and Penitent can be selected once the campaign is over (functionally any time if you skip the campaign).

For the starter difficulties, you will gain increased EXP and gold drops on higher difficulties, at the cost of making enemies significantly more powerful. Still, this increased enemy difficulty does give you a glimpse at what Torment difficulty will be like. It’s worth nothing, however, that you will not gain superior gear from these difficulties, so there’s no real incentive to punish yourself with them, and in some cases the extra EXP and gold will be mitigated by the decline in kill rate. Playing on these harder difficulties is not in any real way conducive towards reaching Torment difficulty, but if you have the skill and the gear to power a second character through, it can speed things up. Otherwise, you’re safe to say on whatever difficulty feels right until you’ve sufficiently geared up for Torment difficulty.

Unlocking Difficulties¶

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(1 of 2) You can change the difficulty at any time by visiting the Difficulty Level statue found in most major cities.

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You can change the difficulty at any time by visiting the Difficulty Level statue found in most major cities. (left), To unlock Torment difficulty and successive Torment difficulty tiers, you must delve into the Pit of the Artificer. (right)

Torment Difficulties¶

The four tiers of Torment difficulty are rather different compared to the early-game difficulties. Access to Torment I difficulty and every subsequent tier has to be earned by completing Pit of the Artificer runs - check out the linked page for more information. This mechanic replaces the Capstone Dungeons found in previous versions of the game. In addition to continuing the trend of granting the player more EXP and gold every time the difficulty increases, Torment difficulty also increases the variety and drop rate of Legendary and Unique gear, and allows any drop to be of “Ancestral” quality, which has higher stats than non-Ancestral gear, which, among other things, is essential for continuing to boost your power and continue to climb to higher difficulty tiers.

The key to surviving in Torment difficulty - at least to start - is having solid defenses. This functionally means having 1,000 Armor and 70% resistances to every element. These are good goals to reach for Penitent difficulty, but essential going forward, and not only must these goals be reached, you’re going to have to keep improving them, as you’ll suffer a -250 Armor penalty and -25% resistance penalty at every tier of Torment difficulty. In addition, boosting your Life total will also help keep you alive, as high damage reduction will only get you so far as enemies deal increasingly more damage. Tempering your gear and finding Ancestral drops can massively boost these stats, in addition to advancing down the Paragon grid.

Uber bosses are one of the few forms of content gated by Torment difficulty, along with the aforementioned Pit of the Artificer, which can be run for loot and EXP even if you don’t necessarily care about reaching the next Torment difficulty. You must be Lv60 to run the Pit of the Artificer and hence to switch to Torment difficulty.