The Deadset community is a competitive, driven and fun group of players. We strive to create the best possible experience for our members by creating new content on an almost-weekly basis. To that end, we have created this Seasonal Mechanic Guide & All Character Cheat Sheet, just in time for the start of Season 25!
The “diablo 3 season 22 spreadsheet” is a list of all the seasonal events that will be happening in Season 25. The guide also includes information on how to obtain each seasonal item.
Diablo, greetings!
Season 25’s theme centers on seven distinct Soul Shards based on the Lords of Hell, each of which bestows a new power on your hero based on their demonic origins. We have a lot of ground to cover with the Seasonal mechanism, so I won’t spend any time with build suggestions like I did last time. Here’s the gist of it, and all you have to do is play Monk:
Barbarians:
Crusaders:
Hunters of Demons:
Monks:
Necromancers:
Doctors of the Witchcraft:
Wizard:
THEME FOR SEASON 25: EFFECTS AND MECHANICS OF SOUL SHARDS
Soul Shards are a new kind of socketable item introduced in Season 25. Despite their variations, they have a few mechanics in common:
- Only Helms may socket Prime Evil Soul Shards (Fragment of Destruction, Shard of Hatred, Sliver of Terror).
- Only Weapons can socket lesser Evil Soul Shards (Dregs of Lies, Essence of Anguish, Remnant of Pain, Stain of Sin).
- At any one moment, you can only have one Prime Evil Soul Shard and one Lesser Evil Soul Shard equipped.
- The Hellforge Ember, a new seasonal-exclusive consumable, may be used to improve each Soul Shard three times.
- Soul Shards may be salvaged into three Marquise or Imperial gems at random, with a small possibility of getting one Flawless Royal gem instead.
- Caldesann’s Despair may be made using Soul Shards instead of ordinary Legendary Gems. They start off as a level 50 Legendary Gem that is enhanced by 25 levels every Shard tier (i.e., Rank 3 Soul Shard is equal to a Level 125 Legendary Gem for the purposes of Caldesann augmentation).
- Soul Shards are non-transferable.
- Finally, Soul Shards and Hellforge Embers may only be obtained during Season 25 and will not be transferred to non-seasonal characters after Season 25 is over.
In Season 25, how do you get Soul Shards?
Soul Shards may be found in a variety of content and game modes, including Bounties, Nephalem (Standard) Rifts, and Greater Rifts. Bosses, on the other hand, have a larger probability of dropping Soul Shards, according to an unlisted feature detailed below.
As early as level 1, you may obtain guaranteed Soul Shards from select Act monsters in Adventure Mode, making them a targetable benefit from the start of character advancement and a major boost while leveling. The strategy works all the way up to level 70, giving it a viable approach to harvest Soul Shards anytime you’re in need of a fresh roll.
- Essence of Anguish (Weapon shard) — 100% drop probability from any act boss;
- Act II: Dregs of Lies (Weapon shard) — 100% chance of dropping from any act boss except Vidian;
- Act III: Stain of Sin (Weapon shard) and Fragment of Destruction (Helm shard) – each act boss has a 50% chance of dropping both (or none);
- Act IV: Remnant of Pain (Weapon shard) and Sliver of Terror (Helm shard) – each act boss has a 50% chance of dropping both (or none);
- Act V: Shard of Hatred (Helm shard) – drop probability of 100% from any act boss.
Which Soul Shards should I purchase for leveling?
While they are all strong in their own right, outside of comprehensive endgame constructions, not all of these Shards will be at their maximum potential. Some of them will fair considerably better than others throughout the leveling process, and salvaging your initial Soul Shards for a shot at level 70 standard jewels is the greatest thing you can do with them. For leveling, it is advised that you harvest the following Soul Shards:
- Any class — Crucial at Level 1: Kill Zoltun Kulle in Act II to salvage a Soul Shard. This will offer you 3 Marquise or Imperial gems at random, with a small possibility of getting 1 Flawless Royal gem instead. The possibility of getting Rubies of any of these quality tiers will have such an impact on your leveling that doing 5-10 Zoltun Kulle runs towards the beginning of your leveling process to ensure Ruby drops is not unrealistic.
- Any class: In Act IV, kill Rakanoth for @@@[email protected]@@. Rakanoth is easily accessible, and this Shard fits practically any build thanks to its ability to empower you for every skill cooldown you add to your bar. If you have access to a strong crowd control talent early on, the alternate Shard you may obtain from Act IV, Remnant of Pain, can also be useful.
- Classes with cooldowns (Barbarian, Crusader, and Necromancer): Kill Azmodan to receive Fragment of Destruction, which has a Messerschmidt’s Reaver-like proc that may let you gain powerful cooldowns (Wrath of the Berserker, Akarat’s Champion, etc.) much quicker.
- Kill Zoltun Kulle or Maghda in Act II for Dregs of Lies if you’re a pet-based class (Necromancer, Witch Doctor, Monk with an early gamble of The Crudest Boots).
- If you’re leveling via Massacre bonuses, consider killing Malthael (despite the sluggish battle) to gain Shard of Hatred, which increases your damage as your pull increases.
In Season 25, how do you harvest Hellforge Embers?
Starting at level 70, Hellforge Embers may be found in any sort of content and game mode, including Bounties, Nephalem (Standard) Rifts, and Greater Rifts. They seem to have a drop rate equivalent to Ramaladni’s Gift, the game’s other legendary consumable.
SHARDS OF PRIMARY EVIL
Only helmets can be socketed with Prime Evil Shards. Hellforge Embers may be used to improve them. All Prime Evil Shards develop in the same way:
- Prior to being enhanced, they all start with a Base Power.
- They will provide comparable (but maybe better) advantages to having all 5 ordinary Flawless Royal jewels socketed at the same time at Rank 1. Cooldown Reduction from Diamond (12.5-15%), Increased Experience Gain from Ruby (40-50%), Resource Cost Reduction from Topaz (12.5-15%), Gold Find from Emerald (32-35%), and Life Percent from Amethyst are all included in the upgrade (23-25 percent ).
- They will grant a random defense-oriented stat roll between Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, or Vitality (900-1125), All Resistance (500-750), Armor (500-750), Melee Damage Reduction (15-20%), or Ranged Damage Reduction (500-750) at Rank 2. (15-20 percent ).
- They’ll give you another unique effect at Rank 3 that’s either mechanically or thematically related to the Shard and its basic power.
Terrorist Sliver (Helm Soul Shard)
Base Strength: “Your cooldowns have been boosted by 25%. You suffer 12.5 percent less damage and deliver 12.5 percent less damage for each skill on cooldown “damage has risen.” — Both the damage increase and damage reduction values are distinct multipliers that stack up to 6 times (the maximum number of active abilities on your bar) for a maximum damage increase and damage reduction of 75 percent.
At Rank 3, Sliver of Terror will grant one of the following three abilities at random:
- “For each skill on cooldown, your Attack Speed and Critical Hit Chance are boosted by 5%.” — This ability scales up to 30% IAS and ChC, making it a good choice for builds who rely on Attack Speed and/or want to increase their advantage and snowball farming runs.
- “After defeating 100 opponents, you unleash a deadly Ring of Fire.” — This ability creates a 20-yard circular destructive field that lasts 20 seconds, burning anything inside at a 4/sec tick rate and with an intensity that scales with the difficulty level (but not with the number of players), thus it’s useful for solitary GR pushing. Using this ability encourages you to concentrate on lower-health trash adversaries in order to create the rings, while also burning down elites as collateral. The kill number is unique to each player, procs from Ring of Fire kills (i.e., it feeds itself), and resets when the player dies. This is a go-to gem for single-target builds, as well as a very powerful overall choice.
- “Your Lightning and Fire skill damage is raised by 50% if three or more abilities are on cooldown.” — This enhancement stacks additively with your other elemental damage sources, similar to how such bonuses function on gear. When three talents go on cooldown, it activates and does not deplete as long as at least one of them is still on cooldown. This enables you to switch between CDs while keeping the player active. It is inferior to the other Shard rolls due to its conditional nature and comparatively lower impact.
Hatred’s shard (Helm Soul Shard)
Base Strength: “When there are three or fewer foes within 25 yards, you inflict 15% less damage. If more than three opponents are at a certain distance of each other, you do 5% additional damage each enemy (up to a maximum of 5%) “f 50% of the time).” — The damage dealt increase and reduction are different multipliers in the overall damage computation.
At Rank 3, Shard of Hatred will grant one of the following three abilities at random:
- “Instead of dealing 5% damage to each opponent, you now deliver 10% damage to each enemy (up to 100%).” — This is the preferred roll for GR pushing with this Shard since it just increases the basic impact.
- “Your movement speed has been enhanced by 50%. Your Movement Speed is reduced by 10% for every opponent within 25 yards “70 percent.” — This advantage, which applies to all Bounty configurations, may be quite handy when running long distances.
- “Killing an elite adversary brings all adversaries within 40 yards of the elite’s location.” — This benefit is limited to around a dozen creatures and is rather disappointing.
Destruction Fragment (Helm Soul Shard)
Base Strength: “You may travel freely through adversaries. The Mark of Destruction is applied to each opponent you pass through for 7 seconds. Each marked opponent you kill takes 1 second off the cooldown of one of your talents. You take damage equal to 2% of your maximum health if the Mark of Destruction expires before the adversary dies. If your score is less than 35 percent, no marks are given “”Good health.” — As a basic effect, this Shard delivers support and utility-oriented abilities by combining the powers of Messerschmidt’s Reaver and Illusory Boots.
At Rank 3, Fragment of Destruction will grant one of the following three abilities at random:
- “When you use Mark of Destruction on an adversary, your Movement Speed increases by 5% for 7 seconds. There are a total of 10 stacks available.” — This is the go-to boost for any T16 melee speedfarming build that completely destroys the difficulty in terms of damage.
- “You now leave a trail of fire in your wake, killing foes that have the Mark of Destruction and are under 10% health.” — The Executioner cull and Fire Walkers effects are combined in this Shard, making it ideal for Support characters in group play.
- “When an opponent dies while Mark of Destruction is active, you have a 25% chance of regaining 5% health.” — This benefit is disappointing and unwanted due to its conditional nature (Life per Kill) and low numbers.
EVIL SHARDS WITH FEWER POWERS
Only Weapons can be socketed with Lesser Evil Shards. Hellforge Embers may be used to improve them. The evolution of all Lesser Evil Shards is the same:
- Prior to being enhanced, they all start with a Base Power.
- They will provide comparable (but maybe better) advantages to having all 5 ordinary Flawless Royal jewels socketed at the same time at Rank 1. Diamond will offer Elite Damage Increase (20-25%), Ruby will provide Flat Damage Increase (270-300), Topaz will supply Thorns Damage (38,000-40,000), Emerald will provide Crit Damage (130-150%), and Amethyst will provide Life per Hit (28,00-30,000).
- They’ll give you a random offense-oriented stat roll between Weapon Damage Increase (25-50%), Elemental Damage (50-75%), Crit Chance (7-10%), and Attack Speed at Rank 2. (12-15 percent ).
- They’ll give you another unique effect at Rank 3 that’s either mechanically or thematically related to the Shard and its basic power.
Anguish’s Essence (Weapon Soul Shard)
- Base Strength: “For 10 seconds, every time you give Poison damage to an adversary, your Cooldown Reduction and Movement Speed increase by 2.5 percent, but your damage absorbed increases by 5%. There is a limit of 10 stacking.” — At the 10 stack maximum, all of the Shard’s benefits stack additively for a total of 25% CDR, 25% Movement Speed, and a 50% increase in damage received. Poison talents (for Witch Doctors and Necromancers) or weapon damage type rolled into Poison are triggered by stacks gained every opponent hit (similarly to how Elemental Exposure works). By simply rerolling weapon damage to the Poison subtype, it becomes accessible to all builds and classes; also, it may trigger off your Follower’s weapon, making it exceedingly simple to get.
At Rank 3, Essence of Anguish will grant one of the following three abilities at random:
- “When you kill an adversary, the death blow inflicts damage on all foes within 25 yards. This effect is not triggered by pets or followers.” — Builds that rely on single hard impacts or are confined by a tiny area of effect get higher value from this advantage. Even if numerous creatures are killed at the same time, you will only receive one explosion, which will cause Area Damage.
- “Dealing Poison damage to an adversary may raise your Movement Speed and Cooldown Reduction by up to 15 times.” — This is a good benefit for speefarming setups, particularly over long Bounty distances; it offers 37.5 percent CDR and Movement Speed at its maximum.
- “For 10 seconds, when you give Poison damage to an adversary, they take 50 percent more Poison damage from all sources.” — This benefit works in a similar way as Gem of Efficacious Toxin in that it multiplies damage against afflicted foes by 50% for you and any other party members. The benefit does not stack for numerous Shards in the same group, unlike the Toxin gem.
Liars’ Dregs (Weapon Soul Shard)
Base Strength: “You have a 25% reduction in damage. Your creatures’ damage has been raised by 25% “”disruption.” — Both boosts are additive in nature and solely influence their respective categories, thus any damage reduction you get will have no effect on your pet’s scaling.
Dregs of Lies will randomly provide one of the following three abilities at Rank 3:
- “Your damage is enhanced by 1% every time your pet strikes an adversary for 5 seconds. This may be multiplied by a factor of 100. The stacks immediately revert to 0 when you reach 100.” — This damage enhancement is cumulative in nature and depletes at a rate of 20 stacks per second once maxed out. This gem is an essential must-have for DPS pet builds.
- “When you kill an elite adversary, all of your active cooldowns are reduced by 5 seconds.” — If the boost is triggered by pet deaths, this benefit might be effective in T16 speed farming pet builds (was bugged and not working in the PTR.)
- “When you take fatal damage, create a shadow that saves you from dying, restores your health to 35 percent, and gives all party members +225 All Resist while it’s active. The shadow is barely 15 seconds long.” — This ability has a 60-second cooldown, comparable to the Cheat Death passives, which are accessible to all classes. This Shard ability is ineffective to both DPS and Support builds assuming the Shadow spawn’s massive PTR capabilities are nerfed.
Pain’s Remainder (Weapon Soul Shard)
Base Strength: “Your Critical Hit Chance has been decreased by 15%. Critical strikes are automatically dealt to incapacitated foes.” — Incapacitation follows the same principles as other items in the game and applies to harsh crowd control effects such as Stun, Freeze, Blind, Fear, and Charm. This power also includes sources of damage that don’t normally apply Critical Hits (such as Thorns), strengthening them in an unconventional manner.
At Rank 3, Remnant of Pain will offer one of the following three abilities at random:
- “When you severely strike an adversary, all players’ Attack Speed is increased by 5% for 5 seconds. There is a limit of 10 stacking.” — This benefit works in the same way as Increased Attack Speed rolls on gear do, and it’s cumulative. Each party may only have one of these effects active at a time.
- “When you deal Cold damage to an enemy, you have a 50% chance of freezing them. The damage done by the Cold skill on Frozen enemies has been boosted by 20 percent “”Recent.” — This is a different damage multiplier for impacted targets, who will be debilitated for 3 seconds.
- “While your Movement Speed boost is above 50%, get Passability. You knock foes back and stun them for 2 seconds as you go through them.” — This enhancement weakens the Shard’s basic abilities by swiftly increasing the monsters’ crowd control immunity (successive applications of CC make monsters gradually immune to CC). You should not utilize this capability since there are far better methods to displace foes and achieve Passability.
Sin’s Stain (Weapon Soul Shard)
Base Strength: “You have a 25% reduction in damage. When you kill 50 opponents, a pool of blood appears, which enhances Elite enemy damage by 150 percent and lasts 15 minutes “”coins.” — The pool expands out from the Shard-wielding player into a 45-yard radius, boosting damage against Elites inside its radius additively. All party members may stack the kill counter to activate the effect. The wearer’s lessened damage inflicted effect is additive.
At Rank 3, Stain of Sin will grant one of the following three abilities at random:
- “When you kill an elite pack, you get an extra Rift Progress Orb.” — All party members may activate the additional Orb, which spawns directly next to the wearer. All supports want this Shard, and it may also be utilized in fast farming setups.
- “Within its radius, the pool of blood now cancels Elite affixes.” — This benefit will be unnecessary in Season 25 due to the power and survivability creep.
- “Rift Progress Orbs are now collected in the pool of blood.” — This perk should not be utilized since stacking pickup radius is a much easier approach to accomplish a similar effect.
GETTING THE SEASON STARTED, OR HOW TO GET TO THE COOL STUFF
There has been a noticeable increase in the number of new and returning players seeking help and advise on early crafting, gambling, and character building foundations. This is my effort to fit as much information into a single post as possible.
Naturally, your first task at the start of the Season is to design a new seasonal hero. While this initial option isn’t too restrictive, keep in mind that the Seasonal Journey only pays you once every Season — and only for the character who completes the chapters first.
Create a new Seasonal hero or “rebirth” one of your previous ones with this in mind (this way, you get to keep the playtime). Always double-check that the character you’re presently playing is a Seasonal character, since this is necessary for the following stage – you don’t want to squander your Challenge Rift cache.
Completion of the Rift Challenge
You should enter the Challenge Rifts from the main menu with your Seasonal character chosen and begin the current weekly run. To access Challenge Rifts, you must have completed at least one Greater Rift on your account (either in non-seasonal or earlier seasons).
The Challenge Rift is typically simple to accomplish and may be done single or in a group, and it will reward you with a Challenge Rift Reward cache. Claim the following items by opening it in-game using your seasonal character: 35 Death’s Breaths, a few hundred of each of the fundamental crafting materials (128 Veiled Crystals, 354 Arcane Dust, and 364 Reusable Parts), 475 Blood Shards, 5.1 million Gold, and 15 of each Act-specific reward cache material Upgrade both your Blacksmith and Mystic artisans in town to their maximum rank with your newfound wealth.
Early Jewelry and Gear, as well as a Follower Weapon
While in town, approach one of the followers who most closely fits your class, pick the “Inventory & Skills” option, and take their weapon, which is a big increase above the default weapon you start with.
When you reach Level 6, merchants in all towns — those whose names include the moniker “the Fence” — will begin selling Rings under a new “Trinkets” category in their inventory. Each of them has a chance to sell Rings that improve your Average Damage (by 2-4), which is a huge DPS boost early on. You should conduct the same check for vendor jewelry at Level 10, since they start selling Amulets as well.
Regardless of your leveling method, you should not overlook merchant items and build level-appropriate gear for your weakest slots every few of runs or every other level you earn. This is a simple technique to keep relevant gear even if drop RNG isn’t in your favor.
Crafting and Kanai’s Cube
The next crucial step is to get 
Kanai’s Cube is a puzzle that Kanai has created. The Ruins of Sescheron – the waypoint in the upper right corner of the Act III map — contains Kanai’s Cube.
While Kanai’s Cube may be obtained at any level, we highly advise that you do so at Level 1.
Crafting a yellow (rare) Level 70 item at the blacksmith, then trying to upgrade it into a valued legendary at Kanai’s Cube, and lastly extracting its property for one of the Kanai’s Cube legendary power slots is one of the most powerful early game bonuses you can get when leveling. It’s worth noting that this tactic works better for certain classes than others, with Demon Hunters, Necromancers, and, to a lesser extent, Barbarians and Monks benefiting the most.
Barbarian:
- Craft a rare level 70 Two-Handed Mighty Weapon and use the Cube’s Upgrade Rare recipe to attempt to get a Fury of the Vanished Peak, The Gavel of Judgment, Blade of the Tribes, or Bastion’s Revered (4/6 chances are excellent).
Crusader:
- Craft a rare level 70 One-Handed Flail and use the Upgrade Rare recipe in the Cube to see whether you can get a Darklight, Gyrfalcon’s Foote, or Johanna’s Argument (3/7 chances are excellent). The alternative option is to make a Level 70 Two-Handed Flails for an Akkhan’s Leniency, Fate of the Fell, or Golden Flense (3/8 chances are excellent).
Hunter of Demons:
- To earn a Karlei’s Point or a Lord Greenstone’s Fan, craft a rare level 70 Dagger and use the Upgrade Rare recipe in the Cube. Demon Hunters thrive at this tactic since they only have two daggers, both of which are fantastic for leveling.
Monk:
- Craft a rare level 70 Daibo and use the Cube’s Upgrade Rare recipe to attempt to get an Incense Torch of the Grand Temple, Balance, Flying Dragon, or The Flow of Eternity (4/8 chances are excellent).
Necromancer:
- To get a Bloodtide Blade, Maltorius’ Petrified Spike, Nayr’s Black Death, or Reilena’s Shadowhook, craft a rare level 70 Two-Handed Scythe and use the Upgrade Rare recipe in the Cube. Necromancers succeed at this tactic since they only have four legendary Two-Handed Scythes, all of which are good leveling weapons.
Doctor of Witchcraft:
- The first method is to attempt to gain Scrimshaw by crafting a rare Level 70 Spear and using the Upgrade Rare recipe in the Cube (half chances are favorable). The alternative option is to upgrade rare for The Barber, The Dagger of Darts, or The Spider Queen’s Grasp by crafting a Level 70 Ceremonial Knife (3/12 possibilities are excellent).
Wizard:
- To gain a Fragment of Destiny, Serpent’s Sparker, Unstable Scepter, or Wand of Woh, craft a rare level 70 Wand and use the Upgrade Rare recipe in the Cube.
Non-DH and non-Necromancer players should be aware that this aspect of the leveling method takes some chance. Although leveling in a group reduces the chance of RNG screwing everyone, you will sometimes get unlucky; this isn’t a big deal since Diablo leveling is still a rather simple and straightforward procedure.
If you’re fortunate and get one of the above-mentioned goods, you’ll have just enough Death’s Breaths to utilize Kanai’s Cube’s Extract Legendary Power formula. Do so, and then place the item’s legendary power (now maxed) in the Cube to get a significant leveling boost. Adjust your build to the legendary power, for example, if you obtain Guard of Johanna as a Crusader, make Blessed Hammer your primary damage-dealing skill during leveling.
Using the Blood Shards from the Challenge Rift
The next stage is to go to Level 1 and attempt to gamble for precious things from Kadala. Because not every legendary is accessible immediately away, certain classes’ legendary item pools are limited in a manner that allows them to gain another significant damage multiplier right away. If the legendaries mentioned for your class do not appeal to you, you may always take a risk on Helms for a decent chance at Leoric’s Crown (extracting its power and socketing rubies in your helmets during leveling would gain you a lot of additional experience), or Pants for Pox Faulds (the damage proc of this item is fairly good for leveling).
Barbarian:
- Play a Bracers game to see if you can get Bracers of Destruction or Bracers of the First Men. If you have any Shards left over, or just wish to make Toughness irrelevant for the duration of your Barbarian’s voyage, gamble Rings for a nearly certain Band of Might. Because your Haedrig’s Gift set in S25 is Might of the Earth, take a chance on Boots for a near-certain pair of Lut Socks.
Crusader:
- You will either gamble for Bracers or Shields, depending on the success and kind of your craft (see above). You should risk Bracers for a shot at Gabriel’s Vambraces if you lucked into Johanna’s Argument. If you’re fortunate and receive these bracers before you run out of Shards, you may use them to buy Shields for Johanna’s Guard. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to finish your Hammerdin at Level 31, when you’ll be able to wager for Pants for Hammer Jammers (50 percent chance). If you choose Two-Handers and made Golden Flense, you should go straight for Shields in the hopes of Denial. If your crafts yielded nothing helpful, toss the Shards into Shields and hope for the best. If you built Fate of the Fell, you should preserve your Shards until Level 33, when you have a 1/3 chance of winning Bracer of Fury via gambling. At Level 23, you may attempt your 50 percent chance for Akkhan’s Manacles if you like Cpt. America builds.
Hunter of Demons:
- There aren’t many good choices; you may risk for Belts in the hopes of getting the Hellcat Waistguard, albeit Grenade comes later in the leveling phase. Otherwise, choose between Leoric’s Crown and Pox Faulds’ damage proc. Another option is to save shards until Level 30, when you can bet on Quivers for a chance at Sin Seekers, or Level 31, when you may gamble on Holy Point Shot and Spines of Seething Hatred for a chance at Holy Point Shot and Spines of Seething Hatred.
Monk:
- Gamble for Boots (in the hopes of getting Rivera Dancers or The Crudest Boots) or Bracers (in the hopes of getting Pinto’s Pride, Cesar’s Memento, or Gungdo Gear). Adjust your Monk gambling approach based on the item you earned (if any) in the previous stage, Upgrading a Rare Item (for example, if you got an Incense Torch of the Grand Temple, gambling for bracers in the hopes of getting Pinto’s Pride).
Necromancer:
- If you gamble for Gloves, you’ll nearly certainly obtain Grasps of Essence. If you get Reilena’s Shadowhook as a result of your crafting session, you may also gamble Rings for Circle of Nailuj’s Evol. You may use any remaining Shards for Shoulders at Level 19 for Razeth’s Volition with some lucky RNG.
Doctor of Witchcraft:
- There aren’t many good alternatives; you could try for Mojos and attempt to get a Gazing Demise, which is an excellent option if you constructed The Barber. Otherwise, choose between Leoric’s Crown and Pox Faulds’ damage proc. You may try again at Level 34 for Helms for Mask of Jeram or Carnevil if you’re feeling very fortunate and/or created The Dagger of Darts.
Wizard:
- For an almost sure Winter Flurry, gamble for Sources; this will be much better if you have a Serpent’s Sparker. If you sniped both of them, you may as well attempt Helm gambling in the hopes of a Level 34 Magistrate. Your other option is to gamble on Sources at Level 33, when Etched Sigil becomes available.
Reducing Level Requirement and Crafting a High-Level Rare
Select a two-handed weapon category (2h Axes, Maces, Swords, etc.) and create a Level 70 weapon of that kind. You’re searching for a role that includes:
- At the very least, a secondary Crowd Control stat — chance to stun, slow, fear, etc. when hit;
- Also, ideally, a major metric for Life per Hit;
If both of these attributes are present, you’ve ruled out a lot of the weapon’s secondary stat options. As a result, you may simply reroll the other Secondary stat (the one that isn’t crowd control) into Reduced Level Requirement, allowing you to wear the item for up to 30 levels before reaching Level 70. This is a massive damage boost for a significant portion of your leveling.
Of course, if you’re fortunate, the Reduced Level Requirement will automatically apply to your made item.
Finish a Boss Bounty
Check your bounties for any easily fulfilled act boss slaying bounties early in Seasons — the most notable examples being Zoltun Kulle (at the Archives of Zoltun Kulle waypoint) and Maghda (down from the Road to Alcarnus waypoint) in Act II.
The boss bounty reward you with a Diabolic Hoard chest, which is sure to drop a few of rare items, which will immediately improve your total character strength. Bosses are highly profitable in Season 25 due to Soul Shards (see below).
Get yourself a Soul Shard (Season 25 Exclusive)
Particular Soul Shards are guaranteed from specific Act bosses in Adventure Mode as early as Level 1, making them a targetable benefit from the start of character advancement and a major boost while leveling. Some of them will fair considerably better than others throughout the leveling process, and salvaging your initial Soul Shards for a shot at level 70 standard jewels is the greatest thing you can do with them. For leveling, it is advised that you harvest the following Soul Shards:
- Any class — Crucial at Level 1: Kill Zoltun Kulle in Act II to salvage a Soul Shard. This will offer you 3 Marquise or Imperial gems at random, with a small possibility of getting 1 Flawless Royal gem instead. The possibility of getting Rubies of any of these quality tiers will have such an impact on your leveling that doing 5-10 Zoltun Kulle runs towards the beginning of your leveling process to ensure Ruby drops is not unrealistic.
- Any subject: For Sliver of Terror, kill Rakanoth in Act IV. Rakanoth is easily accessible, and this Shard fits practically any build thanks to its ability to empower you for every skill cooldown you add to your bar. If you have access to a strong crowd control talent early on, the alternate Shard you may obtain from Act IV, Remnant of Pain, can also be useful.
- Kill Azmodan for Fragment of Destruction, whose Messerschmidt’s Reaver-like proc can help you get impactful cooldowns (Wrath of the Berserker, Akarat’s Champion…) much faster. Cooldown-dependent classes (Barbarian, Crusader, Wizard): Kill Azmodan for Fragment of Destruction, whose Messerschmidt’s Reaver-like proc can help you get impactful cooldowns
- Kill Zoltun Kulle or Maghda in Act II for Dregs of Lies if you’re a pet-based class (Necromancer, Witch Doctor, Monk with an early gamble of The Crudest Boots).
- If you’re leveling via Massacre bonuses, consider killing Malthael (despite the sluggish battle) to gain Shard of Hatred, which increases your damage as your pull increases.
Getting to the Next Level
These are the five most common leveling tactics, listed in order of speed.
Cursed Chests – Groups (45 minutes)
This is mostly a group tactic, in which one or more Necromancers are expected to lead the party through low-ish Torments (1–6, depending on luck with crafting and gambling) using Corpse Explosion and Grasps of Essence. The group may be made up entirely of Necromancers, or the other characters can play a supporting role in attempting to save the squishy Necromancer.
As the name implies, this strategy entails searching for Cursed Chest bounties, which generate waves upon waves of foes (feeding into Corpse Explosion’s abilities). After completing a chest, party members should split off into their separate games and hunt for additional Cursed Chest activities to complete. You’ll want to look for:
- Act I: The Cursed Cellar — Old Ruins Waypoint (Hardcore-unfriendly)
- The Cursed Court — Act I: Cathedral Level 2 Waypoint
- Level 3 Waypoint — The Cursed Bellows — Act I: Halls of Agony (Hardcore-unfriendly)
- Act II: Zoltun Kulle’s Archives Waypoint — The Cursed Pit
- Waypoint — The Cursed Spire — Act II: Archives of Zoltun Kulle
- The Cursed Moors — Act II: Shrouded Moors Waypoint
- Act II: The Cursed Temple Waypoint — The Temple of the Firstborn
- The Cursed Garrison — Act III: The Battlefields Waypoint
- The Cursed Bailey — Act III: The Ruins of Sescheron Waypoint
- The Cursed Peat — Act V: Paths of the Drowned Waypoint (Hardcore-unfriendly)
Method of Torment VI Traps — Solo and Groups, 1 Hour
Increase the difficulty to Torment VI and enter Level 1 of the Halls of Agony. Run and evade creatures until you reach the falling blades traps, which spawn near the map’s exit and are hard to miss. Once you arrive, your aim is to entice the monsters to these massive cleaver traps, where they will be slain by their own terrible AI, earning you a lot of experience. If possible, use any crowd control talents (when they become available) on the monsters as soon as they get to the trap.
While this approach is very economical in terms of time, it is also (perhaps) unfun and counter-intuitive, not to mention prone to errors. Needless to say, this method is not Hardcore-friendly, and it will result in your character’s (often) death.
Bonus Via Massacre — Solo, 1:30 Hours
You may also level up via Massacre bonuses, which is a highly effective solo tactic. In Patch 2.4.1, the Massacre bonus XP system was changed to a multiplicative experience boost that rewards you for chaining monster kills, with a minimum of 15 opponents killed and a maximum bonus of 500. (for a whopping x4.5 multiplier). The catch is that this perk is only available outside of Rifts.
Choose densely crowded zones such as the Cathedral (Act I), Halls of Agony Level 3 (Act I), Fields of Misery (Act I), The Eternal Woods (Act III), and, most importantly, Temple of the Firstborn to pull off extended chains of monster kills (Act II). The strategy is to constantly be moving, leading monster packs into one other, utilizing Cursed Chests for monster spawning, and employing abilities with DoTs or large AoE in general (Rend for Barbarian, Blessed Hammer for Crusader, Multishot for Demon Hunter, Wave of Light for Monk, Locust Swarm for Witch Doctors, Disintegrate for Wizards).
Leveling via Massacre bonuses is only suggested for 2+ players if they are skilled and have voice communication; this is mostly a solo leveling approach because to its individual nature and the amount of coordination necessary to pull it off in a multiplayer game.
Via Rifting – 2+ Hours, Solo and Groups
The usual advise is to stick to rifts for the 1-70 trek for parties and people who do not mind missing an hour. Rifts provide you a higher chance of finding legendary items, blood shards for gambling, and a large “hand-in” prize at the conclusion. While rifting is more random than bounties (map layout, monster density, and composition are all random), the elimination of the obligation to unlock Rift Keystones enables you to simply recreate if you obtain a terrible (difficult or sluggish) rift. In general, choose a difficulty that allows you to complete rifts in no more than 5 minutes.
Last Thoughts
Season 25 contains, without a doubt, the most bizarre mechanics and otherworldly abilities offered to characters, and I, for one, welcome the craziness!
Thank you for taking the time to read the megathread, and best wishes for Season 25!
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The “best season 24 monk build” is a guide that includes the best builds for all characters in Deadset’s Seasonal Mechanic Guide & All Character Cheat Sheet, Season 25 Edition.
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