Want to know how Diablo 4 difficulty levels and world tiers work? The Diablo 4 world tiers have been changed to difficulty settings in the Vessel of Hatred expansion, as a new way for players to control their challenge and rewards.
While world tiers were always essentially difficulty levels that had to be picked during the character creator screen, instead, you’ll have the option to change the difficulty at any time in Diablo 4. This is just one of the significant changes coming to the base game when Vessel of Hatred DLC expansion launches, so you will have to wait until October to see world tiers replaced with the difficulty settings.
This change is in response to the developers noting there was more fun in players being able to control their difficulty and reward pacing by using Profane Mindcages and Tormented versions of bosses. Players also struggled with monster level scaling, with monsters being easy to defeat, so monster levels have been removed entirely, and instead monsters now scale to your difficulty level.
Diablo 4 difficulty settings
The Diablo 4 difficulty settings and unlock requirements are:
- Normal: A slower-paced mode suited for those looking for a lighter challenge. Unlocked by default.
- Hard: An increased challenge, unlocked by default.
- Expert: An increased challenge and a faster pace, unlocked after completing Diablo 4’s prologue.
- Penitent: For those looking to pave a path to the new Torment difficulties, with heightened danger. Unlocked on reaching Level 50.
You’ll also earn more gold and experience with each difficulty level.
Torment difficulties
A new challenge for seasoned players, Torment difficulties are directly linked to your progression in the Pit, with higher Pit tiers linked to the increase in Torment difficulty. You can unlock the Pit at the new maximum Level 60, with each Torment difficulty making it more likely you’ll encounter Legendary and Ancestral item drops.
Here’s how to unlock each Torment difficulty level:
- Torment Tier 1: Beat Pit Tier 20
- Torment Tier 2: Beat Pit Tier 35
- Torment Tier 3: Beat Pit Tier 50
- Torment Tier 4: Beat Pit Tier 65
Each Torment Tier also has the added challenge of Curses, a new hazard that reduces armor and resistances for each tier, which are as follows:
- Torment Tier 1: -250 armor and -25% resistances
- Torment Tier 2: -500 armor and -50% resistances
- Torment Tier 3: -750 armor and -75% resistances
- Torment Tier 4: -1000 armor and -100% resistances
Which Diablo 4 difficulty should I pick?
If this is your first Diablo game, we highly recommend picking normal to start off with. Like world tiers, the jump between difficulty levels might not be worth the extra experience and gold as you’ll have a considerably easier time without having to fight against more enemies. The beauty of the new difficulty system means that you aren’t locked into your first option. Start off on normal and ramp up the difficulty to hard if you’re not being challenged enough.
That’s all you need to know about Diablo 4 difficulty levels. If you want to know more about one of the best PC games, you can read our Diablo 4 review. Check out our guides on the Diablo 4 max level cap and the battle pass to learn about what you can expect as you make your way through Sanctuary.