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The first expansion of Diablo IV, titled Wrath of Hatred, along with Season Six, will officially launch on October 8. Today, we will briefly introduce the main steps for progressing in the new season.

This time, the initial progression is relatively straightforward because the expansion introduces a new chapter in the storyline. Once you choose your character and enter the game, you will receive the main quest that leads you to Hauntwood. Just follow the quest line.

This time, Blizzard emphasizes the game's difficulty adjustments, which are divided into eight difficulty levels, with the Repentance difficulty automatically unlocked from level one. So, what difficulty should we choose for initial progression? Personally, I recommend using Normal Mode. At the beginning, while doing the main quests, you primarily rely on the experience given by the tasks to level up. The experience provided from the tasks is fixed and won't increase just because your game difficulty is higher. Therefore, I usually complete quests on Normal difficulty.

If you are lucky enough to acquire useful powers or good legendary weapons during your tasks, you might try adjusting to Hard Mode. In Hard Mode, you earn 75% more experience from combat, but the monsters' health also increases by 75%. You may feel quite comfortable initially with your new gear, but as your levels increase, you will notice that the gameplay slows down, necessitating a return to lower difficulty. Hence, I recommend continuing to do main quests on Normal difficulty.

During this time, you might receive some legendary powers or crafting manuals. However, as you level up, try not to waste materials frequently switching powers or refining gear. It won't be long until your gear is replaced as your level increases. If you find decent necklaces or rings, you can apply the two strongest damage-enhancing legendary powers to your necklace and the remaining power to your ring. During the early stages, necklaces and rings can remain unchanged for a long time; it's fine to wear them from level 30 to 60.

However, since weapons require frequent changes, I do not recommend investing all your legendary powers into weapons. Simply use weapons with high item levels and damage. When upgrading, I believe attributes such as movement speed, main stats, and health are especially beneficial. More importantly, a little extra movement speed can greatly enhance the overall experience during early progress.

The main storyline of Chapter Six may take about three hours to complete. If you are playing the new class, Spirit Master, once you reach level 15, complete the class quest to unlock the Spirit Sanctuary. The buff from Spirit Guardian is very useful for progressing. After finishing the storyline, there are still plenty of tasks left for you to tackle.

In the main city, you can take on a series of tasks called Heroic Achievements, which will require you to battle through Nightmare Dungeons, Hell Tides, unlock strongholds, and more. Simply completing these tasks as required will yield a large amount of experience. At this stage, I also recommend you operate on Normal difficulty, as we are still aiming for experience based on task completion rather than fighting monsters.

After completing the Heroic Achievements series of tasks, continue to finish the other three companion tasks. During the main storyline, you will unlock one of the companion tasks. Completing these tasks will allow you to hire all the companions. Companion tasks are marked with pink-purple icons on the map, and each of them is fairly short. Initially, our goal is to raise the favor level of all companions to Level 10. Therefore, it is not necessary to overly stress about choosing which companion to take; instead, try to take each companion along to increase their levels.

Once these parts are completed, if you haven’t reached Level 60, you can go unlock the stronghold. Blizzard has added significant experience points for these strongholds. I recall that after reaching Level 50, unlocking a stronghold can directly grant you half a level of experience. However, don’t rush to tackle strongholds too early. At lower levels, you will be slower at defeating monsters, resulting in low efficiency. Additionally, since you level up quickly early on, there is not much need to gain experience through strongholds. It’s best to wait until after Level 45 to proceed with strongholds. You can prioritize unlocking the three strongholds in the new region, Hauntwood, which will help you accumulate substantial map reputation. With enough map reputation, you can earn extra skill points and pinnacle points, which are very important.

On the map of Hauntwood, there are mechanisms similar to the Lilith Altars, known as Akalarat’s Mandate, which are scattered throughout the region. However, the reputation gained from finding these altars is relatively low and not as useful as the Lilith Altars, so it’s less necessary to seek them out. Simultaneously, you can complete a task related to the Whispering Tree. Completing a task for the Whispering Tree provides significant experience along with tickets for Nightmare Dungeons.

In this new version, the designers have adjusted the方式 in which players gain experience upon completing Nightmare Dungeons. It's essential to note that don't be overly aggressive in difficulty choices; Nightmare Dungeons no longer follow level rules, and the difficulty of monsters will be determined based on your character's level and the current game difficulty. Therefore, if you plan to level up through Nightmare Dungeons, aim for a difficulty that allows for quickly defeating monsters to maximize efficiency.

Combining these strategies should allow you to quickly reach Level 60. At this level, the gear you collect will have an item level of 750. It’s at this point that you will need to adjust your legendary powers based on your build needs. Therefore, during the early stages, be sure to conserve your materials; otherwise, you may find yourself short on materials when you switch out your gear after reaching Level 60, which can be quite frustrating.

During this stage, the adjustments to your equipment will mainly involve legendary powers, so there's no need to excessively refine or enchant your gear. Because you will frequently change gear, it's possible that you might find a better piece of equipment just after you've optimized your current gear. If you have plenty of materials and want to enhance your gear, you can do some refining. However, at this point, there's no need to obsess over perfect attributes; just make sure the attributes you refine can be useful, with an emphasis on conserving materials.

Once your entire gear set is at item level 750 and your skill points as well as legendary powers are properly balanced, you can then challenge the 20th level Deep Pit Major Secret. Currently, you do not need to climb from level one to level 20; you can directly enter level 20 to grind. After completing this, you will unlock the Pain One difficulty level, indicating that your early progression is mostly complete.

Next, depending on how you want to play, prioritize completing the Seasonal Journey tasks. Most of these tasks are straightforward, and completing each one will yield good rewards, including gear, materials, and tickets. Additionally, be sure to participate in activities such as Hell Tides, Nightmare Dungeons, Whispering Tasks, and Deep Pit Majors. At this stage, your primary goal is to collect the necessary inscriptions and smoothly acquire boss tickets. In the new season, drop rates for boss tickets are high, and once you have enough tickets, I recommend using the new party-finding feature to team up for boss fights.

After forming a group, establish an agreement with your teammates to take turns using tickets for boss fights. This way, each player only contributes once, yet everyone gets to fight the boss multiple times. Bosses now drop a significant amount of extra gear, enabling you to quickly refine your build.

Final Summary

• Step 1: Complete the Main Storyline on Low Difficulty

Start by completing the main storyline on a low difficulty to familiarize yourself with the game's mechanics and story.

• Step 2: Complete Heroic Achievements and Companion Tasks

After finishing the main storyline, continue with the series of Heroic Achievements while simultaneously completing the three companion tasks.

• Step 3: Unlock Strongholds and Complete Tasks

The next step is to unlock strongholds. Along the way, complete a Whispering Tree task and grind through Nightmare Dungeons, again prioritizing a lower difficulty for quick monster kills.

• Step 4: Gear Up After Reaching Level 60

Once you reach Level 60, switch to a full set of item level 750 gear. Make adjustments to your legendary powers and refining to successfully complete Level 20 of the Deep Pit.

• Step 5: Enter Pain One Difficulty

Finally, transition into Pain One difficulty, focusing primarily on farming inscriptions and boss tickets. Aim to collect all the required dark gold gear for your build. Once your build is established, your initial progression is considered complete.