How to level your seasonal characters like the wind (or a pro) during the Diablo 4 anniversary event — ending this week!

It’s the first anniversary of Diablo 4, some crazy how — an entire year of Helltides, Nightmare Dungeons, and getting slapped down by the Echo of Lilith — and Blizzard is marking the milestone with the March of the Goblins event! Free gifts, extra treasure goblins, and the return of the Mother’s Blessing XP and gold buff is a lot to love, but the Mother’s Blessing has traditionally made for an absolute rocket boost to the leveling process.

Since the event ends on June 20, you only have a few more days left to take advantage of these buffs — but  there’s no reason you can’t rocket to the end of Season 4 with a new level 100 character. So if you’re looking to level, here are some tips to get the most out of the anniversary event for leveling your characters in Diablo 4 so you too can blast a new character to 100 like a professional speedrunner.

First, unlock the Elixir of Antivenin. This is an exclusive elixir that you can use with any other elixir at a given time, giving you an additional source of XP increase. Complete the Pinch of Poison quest from Gea Kul to earn the recipe, which you bring to any Alchemist to learn. Craft yourself five or so when you have the materials.

Now, stack those buffs. Yes, Mother’s Blessing is an incredible 25% boost (multiplicative), but it still combines with your other bonuses. Make sure you allocate your Smoldering Ashes from the Battle Pass to the Urn of Aggression Seasonal Blessing first for 5% (level 28) to 20% (level 53) — yes, the other tracks are also helpful but this is only useful as you progress to 100 so you want to get the most out of it. Otherwise, start using the following consumables as soon as you hit their level requirements:

• Level 10 — Seasonal elixir of Momentum or Holy Bolts (6% bonus XP)
• Level 35 — Crafted Elixir of Antivenin (8% bonus XP)
• Level 45 — Type 1 incense (5% bonus XP)
• Level 50 — Advanced elixir replaces your basic (8% bonus XP)

These are all additive bonuses, so consumables plus a max Urn will be netting you an extra 41% XP. If you’re doing Legion events, don’t sleep on the campfire bonus — that’s another 15% accrued XP buff!

Next, stick to high mob density activities. You want to constantly be killing. Helltides, events (both Legion and World), and certain nightmare dungeon keys are your targets here. Save whatever side quests you accrue for after the event.

Spend as little time in towns as possible. To paraphrase content creator Raxxanterax — “town is an XP loss, treat it like lava.” How do you best apply this?

• Learn your Tempering manuals as they drop — they take up valuable bag space!
• Batch activities when you are in a main city — salvage gear, stick items in the stash, craft elixirs, and zoom back out into the world.
• Don’t detour much to pick up items in Nightmare dungeons — up to 10 legendary items will get sent to your stash, which is more than enough wiggle room for what will drop from normal mobs. This doesn’t work as well for Helltide because you have a much higher drop density though; instead, prioritize legendaries over lower items and remember they now break down for lower tier components as well at the Blacksmith!

Finally, remember that high risk means high reward, but only when you survive it. Advance your world tier when you’re ready. Farm higher level mobs in Helltide using the Profane Mindcage if it doesn’t impact your speed — that 15% bonus for killing a monster 10 levels above you is zero help if it takes you five times longer to kill.

Above all — have fun. If blasting levels brings you joy, use this guide freely. If you want to savor the experience of Sanctuary in all its open world glory, do that instead! We’ll see you in Sanctuary.

Originally published June 7, 2024