Best Difficulty Tier to Start With
There are a multitude of difficulty settings you can start out with in Diablo 4 (D4). Learn about all the difficulty settings, namely Normal, Hard, Expert, and Penitent, and which difficulty setting is best to start with in the game.
| Difficulty Guides | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty Tiers Explained | Best Difficulty to Start With |
Best Difficulty Tier to Start With
Hard is the Best Starting Difficulty
We highly recommend starting with the Hard difficulty for the 75% increase in XP and Gold. Hard difficulty offers an extremely high increase in rewards without having too much downside since monsters are still relatively easy to deal with in this difficulty.
If you're starting the season by skipping the campaign, you will also have access to Expert difficulty. While Expert may offer the highest XP and gold multiplier, the enemy durability in this tier is much higher than the damage you can dish out without a proper build.
Switch to Expert Once Your Build Is Prepared
Once your build is able to dish out its combos and can naturally dish out a decent amount of DPS via a good set of gear, a decent selection of aspects, and leveled up skills, then we highly recommend bumping up the difficulty tier from Hard to Expert.
Once you can clear the enemies that may prove difficult to your character at the start, bumping the difficulty by one more tier will allow you to gain more experience and gold from monsters which can accelerate your leveling!
Only Switch to Penitent After Completing your Build
The Difficulty spike to Penitent is noticable and will greatly hinder your character's progression without a fully fleshed out setup. Before switching to penitent, we highly recommend getting all the aspects required for your build as well as a decent amount of gear with the right affixes for your playstyle.
Starting Difficulty Differences
Difficulty Details
| Difficulty | Details |
|---|---|
| Normal | ・Base difficulty and the standard Diablo 4 Experience ・Enemies will have regular stats and will possess no multipliers to strengthen them |
| Hard | ・Enemies are more durable ・Enemies provide 75% more experience and gold |
| Expert | ・Enemies are extremely durable ・Enemies provide 125% more experience and gold |
| Penitent | ・For the toughest challenge ・Enemies provide 175% more experience and gold |
Diablo 4 Related Guides
Beginner Guides and Best Tips for Getting Started
