Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred introduces a new gaming mode: the Kurast Undercity

Vessel of Hatred the newest expansion for Diablo 4 has added a new gaming mode for players called the Kurast Undercity. Located under the city of that name, the Kurast Undercity is a timed dungeon encounter designed to help build up your character equipment and experience with an eye towards more difficult endgame activities. The Undercity can be tackled solo or in a group, and can be run as early as level 15 — although the first character into Nahantu must progress about halfway through the campaign first to have access to the quest that unlocks it.

The Kurast Undercity is a fixed format instance with varying map layouts and scaled difficulty based on whether you’re running on Normal, Torment, etc. There are three floors that must be traversed, with a final fourth floor populated only with the boss in an untimed encounter — the timer automatically stops when you reach the boss’ floor. Each time you reach one of the three floors you will find yourself in a “Spirit Aura” where the timer pauses. This allows you the opportunity to consider which path you’ll take to the portal, although the levels tend to be more straightforward than standard Diablo 4 dungeons. Be forewarned, though: you’re allowed to bring Mercenaries in with you, and they sometimes start attacking enemies while you’re still in the Spirit Aura.

The default timer is set to 100 seconds but there are numerous ways to increase it as you go. There are monsters and structures strewn throughout the level that are prefixed as “Afflicted”; defeating one adds time based on the difficulty of the opponent. In addition, traveling to a new floor adds 30 seconds each time, so that you’re guaranteed an additional minute to reach the boss level. If the timer expires before reaching the boss the run ends, although you do still get some rewards in that scenario. Note that there is no treasure that drops during the event, it’s all saved for the end; even the Portal Prankster — the game mode’s version of a Treasure Goblin — only spawns an additional chest at the end if defeated.

How to unlock the Kurast Undercity feature

The city of Kurast is opened naturally over the course of the Vessel of Hatred campaign, but you can likely make a beeline there on any character once the prologue which unlocks Vessel of Hatred content is complete. The first quest for the Undercity is offered by Ormus in the Council Chambers (located in the northeast section of Kurast), and has you travel into a small dungeon to rescue the Councilor Sihek who is trying to find a cure for the afflicted “dregs” that you’ll encounter during the campaign. The subsequent quests function as an unlock as well as an explanation of the lore reasons you’d want to venture into the Undercity. The first you’ll complete is called The Undercity: Wail of the Forgotten, and it involves discovering that spirits of the Zakarum who sacked Kurast a century ago are rising up and being led by Alia, Kurast’s End, a priestess who threw in with Mephisto (and who will end up being the first boss you’ll encounter in the Undercity).

Completing Wail of the Forgotten unlocks the Spirit Brazier allowing you to run the Kurast Undercity. You’ll want to complete the entire quest chain in order to unlock all three opponent possibilities when running the Undercity. The three main quests that unlock a new encounter are:

• The Specter of Travincal — go into the Undercity to defeat Alia and the spectral Zakarum threat.
• The Promise — the Nangari are immune to the plague that causes the dregs, could their blood be the key to fighting it? Go into the Undercity and collect the blood of the Golden Scale to find out.
• The Lacuni — the Beastmen also are present in the Undercity and they too may be helpful in fighting the plague.

Once you’ve completed the full Undercity quest chain you can return to the Spirit Brazier at will; the opponent you’ll face is randomly selected from the three above so as you continue to run the Undercity you’ll become more familiar with the challenge you will face as you strive to unlock new rewards for your character.

Tailoring your Kurast Undercity experience

Accessing the Kurast Undercity requires the completion of a quest chain (detailed below) but once you’ve unlocked it and are at least level 15 you can start running it. You’ll need to interact with the Spirit Brazier in Kurast, located southeast of the town portal, to access the Undercity. There are four Affixes:

• Reward Upgrades (for reaching Attunement Rank 1) — default is “Enhanced” (i.e. better) gear drops
• Starting Time — default is 100 seconds
• Time Bonus Penalty — this reduces the amount of time that can be gained from Afflicted targets, default is 0%
• Potion Drop Penalty — this reduces the quantity of potions that drop during your run, with a default of 0%

These affixes are modified through the use of Tributes. Tributes are a new type of drop that can be found everywhere in game, and are stored in the Dungeon Keys tab of your Inventory. Tributes have their own rarity based on the content you can receive them from, with the more difficult the content the better the Tribute. A Rare Tribute may have guaranteed Runes, while a Legendary Tribute may only be usable on Torment difficulty and reward Ancestral Legendaries if the Undercity is completed with at least Attunement Rank 1. Of course, the greater rewards means more difficult affixes — the aforementioned Legendary Tribute has a starting timer of 60 seconds, a time bonus penalty of 35%, and a potion drop penalty of 40%. Tributes are consumed when used regardless of level of success during the run.

Your Undercity run can be further modified by Bargains, which use resources such as gold or Veiled Crystals to influence the loot roll outcome. An example is the Bargain called Core Stats, which guarantee a flat Core Stat affix (for example, Agility +120) on eligible Legendaries for the cost of 50 Veiled Crystals. Bargains don’t increase the difficulty of the run so the only risk is that you’ll lose the resource if you’re not successful in completing it. Note that you must have a Tribute placed in order to use a Bargain.

The rewards for Kurast Undercity

The boss you encounter at the end of the run is similar to other bosses in D4; they won’t be as tough as the Lilith encounter but they will require you to pay attention especially on the higher difficulties. Defeating the boss causes a lootable chest to spawn, as well as a Stash chest just in case you’ve accidentally let your bags get full before you started the run.

The rewards you receive are determined by your Attunement Rank. There are four ranks you can reach, with the first rank requiring the most effort to get. Attunement is rewarded from defeating monsters in the Undercity, with elite opponents granting more progress on the meter. Failure to reach the first rank of Attunement does not mean you get nothing for your run; you’ll get rewards but they will not be enhanced. There are also Beacons and Grand Beacons found on the levels — lighting these spawns an event similar to those you find in the open world, with waves of monsters attracted to the Beacon. While optional, they are a solid boost to your Attunement meter and are required to reach the highest ranks.

The combination of timer and Attunement essentially means players (or groups) will need to strike the right balance of speed and murder. While killing non-Afflicted mobs won’t help with the timer, it’s necessary to do so to help increase your Attunement ranks. Ideally enemies will be gathered up into one location and burned down, but depending on the difficulty level you’re playing at that may be easier said than done. Expect there to be recommended builds for running the Undercity after launch.