Even though Diablo Immortal is over 3 years old, and we are on the eve of an announcement of Lore and content tomorrow
we are still seeing more and more new people joining in the Diablo Immortal Community Discord looking for advise on what to do and where to start.
The world of Sanctuary is large and diverse, it is nearly impossible for casual players to master everything. I found this video by fellow #DiabloPartner LaurethUK
that gave a really good summary of many of the activities that New Players need to know. Digging some more, LauethUK has a growing playlist, linked below. I am going to Summarize it, but I would encourage you to give LauethUK a Like and Sub… he does a very good deep dive, explaining more than I’ll give you here. At the timing of this writing, he’s released 3 episodes, and they are all worth a listen
Bonus tip: I also provided a second Bee-hiiv newletter than appeared on my feed. I’ve been aware of WoWHead for a long time, long before Diablo Immortal launched, and they will consistently be on the lead of news for many Blizzard games. I encourage you to sign-up to their newsletter..
Core Activities
After completing the story, your main sources of XP and gear are:
Elder Rifts - Quick runs, XP, loot, and legendary gems if you use Crests, Rare or Legendary for extra rewards.
Challenge Rifts - Solo or party runs. Push as high as possible for rewards. When running solo you can skip levels and get rewards for those levels skipped. Only source of of Crystal in game to upgrade your green-set items
Helliquary Raids - Required to unlock higher difficulties. Extra rewards when in a Warband with your warband mates. You are given extra rewards for the first 5 raids after resets on Monday and Thursday… don’t forget to upgrade your Helliquary box and Demonic Remains.
Battle Pass - Bonus XP and rewards as you complete activities.
Dungeons - Great for set items and XP, especially in parties.
Verge & Erraban - Unlocked Hell2 and later, top-tier XP farms + Normal Gems (capped 63 bound and 63 unbound)!
Events - Limited-time content for extra rewards.
Unlocking Hell 1
Recommended that you get at least 420 Combat Rating, by finding better gear, upgrading your gear, upgrading your legendary gems, increasing your Helliquarry box and Demonic Shards
Complete the Normal Raid and defeat Lassal the Flame-spun
Unlocks Hell 1 difficulty.
Allows you to party with people in Hell 1-3.
Starts your Paragon grind and Set Items drop here.
Push Challenge Rifts & Elder Rifts
Push Challenge Rifts as high as you can (aim for Level 100). Remember to skip where possible.
Once stuck, switch to Elder Rifts for XP & loot.
Mix in Dungeons if you want a break from rifts. Don’t forget to get your bounties done as well
ALWAYS run Elder Rifts & Dungeons in a PARTY for EXTRA XP!
Battle Pass Points
Since you are under the server paragon level: Battle Pass points give you:
Huge boosts to XP and materials (up to 1600%).
Use points freely for the fastest XP gain.
Upgrade Gear Efficiently
Especially as you start the journey, always equip any item with higher Combat Rating (CR). Higher CR means more Progression. Green arrows are your friend.
Legendary Gear Essence Transfer:
Extract: Salvage duplicate legendary gear at the Essence Transfer NPC. Going to the Essence vendor will allow you get Glowing/Flowing Shards, as well as increase your Essence Mastery.
Inherit: Apply the legendary essences that you already extracted, and grant it on to better gear, allowing you to have higher CR and the Legendary Skills you wanted.
Unlock Higher Difficulties
Each difficulty unlock requires:
1) Farming CR (Hell 1 - 520 CR; Hell2 - 12620 CR; H3 - 21420 cr… ) as of Sept 16 2025
2) Clearing all raid bosses for that tier. Repeat this for Hell 3, Inferno 1, etc. Each boss has their own suggested combat rating, but you can get a friend or random from World Chat help you
Verge & Erraban Once Hell 2 unlocked (found near Cain’s Workshop)
Once Hell 2 is unlocked:
Abyssal Verge (Party): Normal gems, Monster Essence drops. Quick resource of Abyssal Essence
Erraban (Solo or Party): Highest XP/hour in the game, normal gems, Monster Essence.
Keep doing Challenge Rifts, Elder Rifts, Dungeons alongside them.
Best source of Runes! 10 Abyssal Essence has a high chance to drop Runes, running Verge and Erraban will also see a chance to drop runes
Rinse & Repeat all other steps
This is a Diablo game, it’s all about the grind
Farm XP & gear in Verge, Erraban, Rifts, and Dungeons.
Upgrade gear to push CR .
This will allow you to unlock next difficulty
See step 1
Events
Participate in all events for extra XP, loot, and rewards. For the amount of time, you get a lot of rewards
Helps break the grind so it doesn't feel repetitive. Events add a lot of variety, some are PvP, some are PvE, some are grouped…. Some events will require you to complete objectives, some events just require you to play the game
Bonus tips for XP gains (OPTIONAL but suggested)
Join Shadows early on for access to exclusive activities.
Shadow Assembly: One per day, Monday-Saturday, active twice a day.
Path of Blood: Push as high as your CR allows for bonus rewards and XP.
Shadow Contracts: Additional bounties available from Bartender Bailey, just like your Bounties, often takes a little longer time.
When possible, party up… in the Dungeons, in Raids, in Open World… you actually get better drops in parties of 4
While initially starting the gear, prioritize Combat Rating first, and then Secondary Stats, Magical Attributes, and Reforge bonuses later. Combat Rating is “a measure of how hard you hit, and how hard you can take a hit”
Laureth has a great New Player guide linked below started, and I know he’s got more in the chute. I’ll feature his, and other Partner’s content, as it comes out.
Be sure to give LauethUK a Like, Sub, and Follow:
https://www.youtube.com/@LaurethUK
LauethUKs Discord:
https://discord.com/invite/QqpQ2qEFqZ
LauethUK’s X:
x.com/LaurethUK
Resources
LauethUKs New Player Guide:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL19sTqCxXatMPQUptQrX0BZtk3auCJO1V
Wowhead’s Diablo/Blizzard Newsletter
https://wowhead-diablo.beehiiv.com/