Diablo 4 is one of the most highly anticipated games in years. The dark gothic action RPG is set to launch its first season soon, marking the start of a new era. With so much hype around the new season, many Diablo veterans and newcomers want to know how to start strong right from the beginning.
This comprehensive guide will walk you through everything you need to know about How to start Diablo 4 Season 1 off on the right foot. Follow these tips, and you’ll be well on your way to conquering the season journey challenges and climbing the leaderboards in no time.
Get Acquainted with the Game First
Before diving into a new Diablo season, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the core gameplay loop and systems first. Diablo 4 has five classes to choose from – Barbarian, Rogue, Sorceress, Druid and Necromancer. Spend time test-driving each to get a feel for their playstyles.
Experiment with different skills and runes to see what builds you enjoy most. This will help you pick a main class for Season 1. The gameplay centers around hack ‘n slash combat, random loot drops, character builds, and challenging PvE content. Running through the campaign once will introduce you to these core pillars.
Take time exploring the world, completing side quests, and testing character abilities. Fighting enemies drop the loot you can equip to make your hero more powerful. Defeating major bosses unlocks new skills. The more you play, the more you’ll understand what makes each class unique and how to leverage its strengths.
Tip: Enable Elective Mode under Gameplay settings so you can customize any skill to any slot.
Once you’ve sampled all the classes and experienced the gameplay loop firsthand, you’ll be well prepared to start the new season.
Choose a New Character for Season 1
When a new Diablo season begins, you’ll need to create a fresh seasonal character to participate. Most players choose one class to focus on as their main each season. Consider which class best fits your preferred playstyle and suits the seasonal challenges.
Barbarians are brute force tanks perfect for getting up close to enemies. They can take hits while dishing out high damage.
Rogues are extremely agile, dashing around battles firing arrows and powers from afar. Sorceresses wield devastating magic for AoE damage. Druids shape-shift to adapt to any situation, wielding animal-based spells. Necromancers summon undead minions to fight alongside them while cursing and decaying foes.
Look at the Season Journey chapters, which require mastering certain builds. Identify a class that excels at those mechanics. For example, Season 1 may reward a Firebird’s Finery set for Sorceresses. In that case, starting a Sorceress would let you easily complete that chapter.
Check leaderboards from Diablo 4 beta seasons to see which classes pushed the highest solo Greater Rifts. Start with a tier 1 class to compete on the boards yourself. Just be sure to choose something you’ll have fun playing for hundreds of hours!
Tip: Seasonal play doesn’t lock you into one character. Feel free to make alts of other classes too.
Plan Your Leveling Route
At the start of a season, you’ll begin Level 1 with no gear or resources. Your first goal is to level up quickly to reach the endgame. Planning an efficient route through the campaign can accelerate the early leveling process.
Here are tips for fast leveling:
- Stick to the main story quests – avoid side quests and exploration until later.
- Equip highest level gear – keeps your damage output high.
- Use Ruby gems in weapons – they boost XP from kills.
- Match difficulty to your power – start on Normal or Hard until you hit level 40.
- Group up for extra XP – play co-op for 60% more XP.
As you play through the story, you’ll unlock Waypoints allowing fast travel back to completed areas. Use them to farm high-density enemy zones quickly. Some top spots include:
- Act 1 Caverns of Aranae – spider caves with hordes of foes
- Act 2 Zone 3 – wide open spaces with tons of monsters
- Act 5 Zone 2 – crowded city streets filled with enemies
Use these areas between story chapters to level up faster. Group farming with 4 players splits XP but offers much faster massacre bonuses.
Tip: Unlock Kanai’s Cube early to gain major damage and defense boosts while leveling.
Following an optimal leveling path lets you hit max level quickly so the real fun can begin!
Gear Up Your Seasonal Hero
Starting a season with no items or resources can be daunting. But don’t worry, you can gear up your seasonal hero quickly using these methods:
1. Craft Gear at the Blacksmith
- Craft level 70 rare (yellow) quality gloves, pants, and boots at the blacksmith
- Gamble bloodshards on chest & shoulder armor pieces
- Use the Kanai’s Cube to upgrade rares to legendaries
This will give you a solid starter gear set for pushing into higher difficulties.
2. Farm Bounties for Materials
- Complete all bounties in each act
- Use the bonus mats to extract powers for Kanai’s Cube
- Craft special items like the Ring of Royal Grandeur
Bounties provide crafting mats, gold, and exclusive legendaries. Make them a priority early on.
3. Speed Run Nephalem Rifts
- Farm rifts on the highest Torment difficulty you can quickly clear
- Spend bloodshards at Kadala for targeted legendaries
- Use Death’s Breath to upgrade rares at the Cube
Rifts will shower you with loot, bloodshards, gems, and materials. Do them often!
4. Master Your Build with the Cube
- Extract key powers for your build to wear and cube
- Use the Cube to convert set items until you complete your build’s core set
- Enhance weapons, jewelry and armor with Caldesann’s Despair
The Cube is vital for advancing your build. Learn to use it effectively.
Tip: Join public games to get power leveled and access loot shared by others.
Using these methods, you can gear up rápido and start pushing higher Torments. Maintain momentum in those first few days!
Complete the Season Journey for Rewards
Each Diablo season has an exclusive Season Journey offering unique cosmetic rewards. Completing chapters grants portraits, pets, wings and more. Here are tips for finishing the Season Journey quickly:
- Review chapters in advance to target required objectives
- Build your character around the needed mechanics
- Plan routes to finish chapters efficiently
- Party with others to combine progress
- Save Haedrig’s Gifts to fill gear slots after claiming
- Knock out chapters in order for the final cosmetic sets
The Season Journey guides your goals early on. Make steady progress through the chapters to unlock awesome loot.
Tip: Chapters 2 and 3 award 2 pieces of a full class set. Plan to claim those quickly.
Completing the entire Season Journey should be every player’s top priority in a new season. The cosmetics are well worth the effort.
Compete on Leaderboards
For players craving competition, seasonal leaderboards offer a way to test your hero’s limits. Here’s how to effectively compete:
- Review previous leaderboards to see winning builds
- Copy a top build and learn to play it flawlessly
- Augment ancient gear for huge stat boosts
- Level legendary gems to rank 100+
- Fish for the perfect Greater Rift density
- Group with elite players for an extra edge
Use third-party tools like DiabloProgress to analyze the top teams and what they’re running. Study their strategies closely. Combining optimized group meta builds with thousands of paragon levels and high-level augments is key for leaderboard dominance.
Tip: 4-player groups can level gems much higher and much faster through Greater Rifts.
Forging a skilled team and playing smart can land you on those coveted leaderboards!
Trade and Socialize on Day 1
Starting a new season is the perfect time to make new friends and find trading partners. Here are some tips:
- Check communities to find power-leveling groups
- Look for loot-share communities to gear up faster
- Add players you enjoyed teaming with to your friends list
- Join a clan to always have allies online
- Swap gear and gems to help each other build optimal loadouts
- Offer power leveling services at the start of a season in exchange for loot
Having a reliable group of friends or clan members is invaluable long term. Be social early on to build those connections.
Tip: Jump into public games to meet new people and have fun playing together.
Trading gear and joining communities transform a solo experience into an online social adventure!
Conclusion & Summary
Launching into a new Diablo season offers a fresh start and tons of exciting challenges. By following these tips, you’ll be prepared to hit the ground running:
- Get familiar with classes and gameplay before Season 1
- Choose a main class suited for seasonal objectives
- Level up fast by sticking to the story and farming high density areas
- Gear up quickly via crafting, bounties, rifts and the Cube
- Complete the Season Journey chapters efficiently for cosmetic rewards
- Compete on leaderboards by grouping up and perfecting top tier builds
- Socialize and trade on day one to find friends and trading partners
Taking these steps will help you gain momentum and make rapid progress early in your Season 1 journey. Establish an advantage over the competition and reap the rewards.
With a powerful seasonal character and polished skills, you’ll push higher difficulty tiers and conquer new challenges in no time. Get ready to enjoy Diablo 4’s inaugural season to the fullest!
FAQs
What is the best solo class for Season 1?
The Barbarian is likely to be the best solo class for Season 1 due to its excellent damage output, toughness, and mobility. Popular Whirlwind, Rend, and Frenzy builds allow Barbarians to push very high Greater Rifts.
What is the best group meta composition?
The current top group meta is zBarb, zNecro, zMonk, and zDH. This combines buffs, debuffs, grouping abilities, and consistent AOE damage to multiply the party’s potential.
How important are ancient item augments?
Augmenting ancient items is extremely important for competing at the highest levels. Adding thousands of main stat from augments results in massive damage and toughness multipliers.
How do I gear up quickly at the start of a season?
Complete bounties for materials, gamble bloodshards, upgrade rares at Kanai’s Cube, and spend shards with Kadala. Craft items at the blacksmith and reforge legendaries.
What is the best way to gain Paragon levels quickly?
Group speed runs high Greater Rifts with XP bonuses from Leoric’s Signet and Gem of Ease. Take advantage of community power leveling.
How can I complete the Season Journey efficiently?
Review objectives, build accordingly, plan routes, party up, and knock out chapters sequentially. Save Haedrig’s Gifts.
What is the key to competing on solo leaderboards?
Learn top builds flawlessly, fish for dense rifts, augment all ancient gear, snapshot buffs, and take advantage of pylons.
How important is Kanai’s Cube for character power?
Extremely important. Smart use of the Cube is mandatory to extract and equip key legendries, convert set items, and augment ancient gear.