Activities to help you reach Renown level 5 in Diablo 4 Season 1

The first season of Diablo 4, Season of the Malignant, arrives today! Season of the Malignant features its own story, new enemies, and new gear for you to earn if you choose to participate. I say choose because, in order to access the Seasonal content, you need to create a brand new level 1 Seasonal character.

That means starting (almost) from scratch in earning Renown, the game’s reputation system. While you gain Renown somewhat passively just by playing the game — completing quests, dungeons, and so forth — it still takes time to reach Renown 5 in each zone. And you’ll want to hit max Renown, because you’ll get extra skill points, potion slots, and paragon points for doing so. Those extra points make the early game easier, and they can also be essential for late game play.

Some players may not start from scratch, however, as the Renown that was earned on other characters from discovered areas and Altars of Lilith on will carry over and apply to your newly created Seasonal character. Depending on how many you found, you could start up to Renown level 2 in each zone on your seasonal character, though you’ll still need to earn Renown 3 and up in each zone — and you’ll need to play on World Tier 3 to get the last two Renown levels, so that will have to wait until you’ve progressed.

For everyone jumping into Diablo 4 Season 1, here’s how to maximize earning Renown to unlock your rewards quickly.

Maximizing Renown rewards from activities

Only certain activities in Diablo 4 grant Renown, and for players that want to make it to Renown level 5 in Season 1, you’ll want to focus on prioritizing the following to maximize your Renown gains:

• Discover areas — 5 Renown each
• Find Altars of Lilith — 10 Renown each
• Unlock waypoints — 20 Renown each
• Complete side quests — 30 Renown each (previously 20)
• Complete dungeons — 40 Renown each (previously 30)
• Complete Strongholds — 100 Renown (three per zone)

Recently, Blizzard announced that side quests and dungeons are receiving a +10 increase in Renown values and that this change would be retroactively applied to all the ones players have completed so far. While this is a win for all players, those who plan on creating seasonal characters now have further incentive to prioritize these activities, especially the ones that overlap.

As you travel to and from side quest objectives and dungeon locations, choose routes that allow you to simultaneously activate undiscovered waypoints and any uncovered areas. If Altars of Lilith happen to be on the route, you can deviate and grab them as well but because these are in the hidden nooks of the world, you may want to try and knock these out all at once before questing to take advantage of the stat bonuses they give you.

Each zone has the same number of Strongholds but differing numbers of waypoints, side quests, dungeons, areas, and Altars of Lilith:

Fractured Peaks

• Total side quests available — 35
• Total dungeons available — 23
• Side quests with overlapping dungeons and where to find them:
  • Margrave: Legacies of Light’s Watch in Light’s Watch
  • Margrave: Bound by Blood in Conniving Tunnels
  • Frigid Expanse: Cries of Innocence in Black Asylum
  • Frigid Expanse: The Dread Martyr in Hallowed Ossuary
  • Bear Tribe Refuge: Call of the Ancients, Hammer of the Grizzly in Rimescar Cavern
  • Bear Tribe Refuge: The Shattered Tribute, Next Quest, Hammer of the Champion in Hoarfrost Demise and Rimescar Cavern
  • Kor Valar: Blood Sermon in Sanguine Chapel
  • Kyovashad: Sight to Madness in Cultists Refuge
  • Forgive Me in Kor Dragan Barracks (Note inside dungeon)
  • Nevesk: The Woodsman of Nevesk, Chain of Possession, Sanctified Study in The Red Cellar and Sanctified Study
• Waypoints — 7
• Altars of Lilith — 28
• Areas — 76

Scosglen

• Total side quests available — 47
• Total dungeons available– 25
• Side quests with overlapping dungeons and where to find them:
  • Corbach: The Seer in Domhaimme Tunnels
  • Cerrigar: Daughter of the Oak in Underrot
  • The Downs: Fields of Ruin, Feral Moon in Sarat’s Lair
  • Tur Dulra: The Diviner in Wretched Delve
• Waypoints — 8
• Altars of Lilith — 34
• Areas — 70

Dry Steppes

• Total side quests available — 38
• Total dungeons available — 21
• Side quests with overlapping dungeons and where to find them:
  • Untamed Scarps, Crane Tribe Hutmoot: Consumed by Pride, Raising Spears in Champion’s Demise
  • Untamed Scarps, Crane Tribe Hutmoot: Worthy of Arreat in Ancient’s Lament
  • Untamed Scarps: Augry of Bones, Hubris Smiles Back in Grinning Labyrinth
  • Chambatar Ridge: Curious Curios, In The Name of Love in Whispering Vault
• Waypoints — 8
• Altars of Lilith — 33
• Areas — 51

Khejistan

• Total side quests available — 44
• Total dungeons available — 23
• Side quests with overlapping dungeons and where to find them:
  • Gul Kea, Southern Expanse: The Speaking Stone, Voice from the Past in Conclave
  • Iron Wolf Encampment, Ragged Coastline: A Wolf’s Honor in Forgotten Ruins
  • Caldeum: Remnants in Prison of Caldeum
  • Zakarum Chapel, Amber Sands: Symbol of Faith in Tombs of the Saints
• Waypoints — 6
• Altars of Lilith — 31
• Areas — 54

Hawezar

• Total side quests available — 49
• Total dungeons available — 23
• Side quests with overlapping dungeons and where to find them:
  • Zarbinzet, Umir Plateau: The Heretic, A Price to Pay in Blind Burrows
  • Zarbinzet, Umir Plateau: Remnants of Faith in Maugan’s Folly, Augan’s Works
  • Wejinhani, Dismal Foothills: Desperate Remedies in Light’s Refuge
  • Vyresz: Left Behind in Shadowed Purge
• Waypoints — 6
• Altars of Lilith — 34
• Areas — 56

Good luck in Season 1!