Diablo 4 Season 10: A Practical Leveling and Endgame Roadmap
If you want a clean, no-nonsense roadmap for getting from 1 → endgame fast (and actually enjoying the ride), you're in the right place. Season 10 shakes things up: chaos armor perks, an overhauled Infernal Hordes with a leveling variant, chaos rifts that tie into nightmare dungeons, and-yes-the nightmare dungeon updates from Season 9 are still in play. There's a lot to think about, but also a lot of opportunity. Here's a compact, practical guide to get you leveled, geared, and pushing Torment as smoothly as possible.
Before You Start: Little things that matter
Make your character, skip the campaign if you want maximum speed, and select the seasonal content. Pick your starting difficulty based on how fast you want XP versus how safe you want to be. The usual rhythm applies: play on Normal to blast through, and scale up to Hard/Expert when you hit your class' first real power spike (for many classes this comes around level 15 when passives and key aspects land). If enemies stop dying quickly, lower difficulty-there's no value in staying too high and slowing your clear speed.
A few housekeeping items to do immediately in-game:
Open the wardrobe, equip a pet so it picks up loot for you.
Teleport to the Den and recruit/gear your mercenary(s). Mercs are very impactful for leveling and provide currency to speed your early gearing.
Do the Kovashad side quest for crafting herbs-at level 10 you can craft basic elixirs (5% XP) and later advanced elixirs (8%). Keep these active whenever possible.
Given the PTR impressions and early-season power shifts, starting on Hard is a reasonable bet-if you're comfortable-and pushing to Expert around early power spikes can pay off. But be prepared to compensate: higher difficulty gives more XP, but only if you keep clear speed high.
Levels 1-15: Hell Tide & the seasonal quest line are king
Early leveling is all about the seasonal questline-it teaches the mechanics, hands out progression rewards, and gets you the seasonal systems unlocked. Your first Hell Tide will largely determine where you sit: complete the Hell Tide whispers rather than obsessively min-maxing cinders at this stage. Hell Tide scales better with party play (more players = faster clears and better ethereal returns) so if you can group up, do it.
During Hell Tide you'll see fleeting horde compasses-these are essentially leveling-friendly Infernal Hordes and should be treated as priority XP content. The devs say all offerings should be viable, but reality will likely point to "best" combos. For now, trust AoE builds and good movement; these content types reward both.
Chaos Rifts pop during Hell Tide spawns. In PTR they felt a little slow XP-wise, but they're tied to crucial rewards: reputation, seasonal materials, sigils for chaos-tagged nightmare dungeons, and storyline progression. If you're not hyper-leveling, it's worth doing them-the gains are more than raw XP. If they feel slow early, slot them for later when your clear is stronger.
Season Journey & Blessings: Don't ignore the Battle Pass changes
Season journey rewards are no longer just cosmetics-the Season Blessings (unlocked through the journey) are meaningful passives that speed leveling and progression (XP boosts, glyph drops, etc.). The early chapters of the journey are easy but deliver impactful rewards, so knock them out as you go. The battle pass itself is cosmetic-only now; the utility comes through the season journey blessings-treat them like small multipliers that compound your gains.
Class passives are unlocked automatically at the required levels (assuming you've done the class quest at least once). These will often represent second or third power spikes for classes-pay attention to when your class gets its big toys (golems for Necromancer land later, for example).
Level 15-50: Prep, strongholds, and the "eye level" mindset
After your first few Hell Tides you'll be toggling between prepping gear, doing short nightmare dungeons for codex aspects, and advancing the seasonal questline. A quick five-minute prep between Hell Tide respawns can make a big difference:
dismantle junk, socket runes, imprint useful aspects on rings/amulets (these tend to stick around), and swap into your best eye-level weapon when available.
Stronghold clears on Normal (the classic "clear all strongholds" strat) become super valuable around the last 10 levels before 50. Strongholds are fast and give XP comparable to higher difficulties but with less downtime. They also unlock waypoints that speed future routing. If you prefer continuous Hell Tide grinding, that's fine-both avenues work-but don't sleep on strongholds as a high-efficiency tool. By level 50 you should have your core aspects in place, mercenary progression underway, and a weapon on par with your level. The goal heading into 60 is to be able to handle Torment 1 pit clears.
Level 60: Paragon, Glyphs, and the power spike
Level 60 is a turning point. Paragon points unlock, glyphs start to drop, and your onward progression requires more deliberate gearing. At this point:
Temper (craft) your gear for flat defenses and flat damage boosts. Those raw numbers matter a lot at mid-levels.
Prioritize runes (two sockets on gear) so your runes actually function-they're more impactful than chasing gems initially.
Nightmare dungeons are a great farm for the resources to socket/temper/upgrade.
Once you're comfortable with your core setup, start pushing pit tiers to unlock Torment 1. The first ancestral you should chase is your weapon-get that high eye-level ancestral ASAP using town merchants like the den merchant or the oel gambler for early upgrades.
Torment & the Layer Boss Loop: Baruk, Keys, and Chaos Armor
Torment endgame begins with Torment 1 and moves up. Your initial push should be to clear pit tier 10 to unlock Torment 1. The early goals in Torment are the layer bosses and the new boss Baruk. Layer bosses are easier to kill these days, but their chest loot still requires the appropriate keys-those keys are earned through content (Hell Tides, Whispers, etc.). Group play pays again here; more players = more drops.
Baruk is central this season: he requires 666 Aether to summon, drops chaos armor and unique chaos perks, and unlocking him in Torment 1 or higher is tied to seasonal unique tables and special chaos perks. If you see an Infernal Hordes compass, consider running it at this stage to get Baruk and the associated rewards.
Be mindful: uniques have been rearranged this season. Infernal uniques were moved into various layer bosses and content loops, so if you're chasing a particular item, double-check where it drops this season.
The Ongoing Loop: Farming, Reputation & Power
From here it's the classic seasonal churn: farm hell tides for whispers and chaos rifts, run nightmare dungeons for glyphs and escalation chances, pit grind to raise Torment tiers and mythic drop chances, and chase ancestrals/uniques that suit your build.
Season journey progression and rep rewards keep compounding your power-prioritize the things that unlock blessings and quality-of-life multipliers early.
A few tactical reminders:
If your weapon falls behind on eye level, use the gambler and den merchant to bridge the gap.
Keep your mercenary and party synergy in mind-some bosses and content are much easier with proper merc choices.
If you see an infernal hordes compass, prioritize it in the Torment phase-Baruk and those chaos armor perks are season-defining.
Final Thoughts
Season 10 is a season of movement: you'll be bouncing between Hell Tides, chaos rifts, nightmare dungeons, and pit grinding.
Start smart-equip a pet, recruit mercs, and lean into the seasonal questline. Accumulate sufficient D4 Gold and Diablo 4 Items in the early stage to prepare for rapid strengthening in the future. Use Hell Tide early as your leveling backbone, experiment with chaos rift timing based on XP returns, and don't underestimate the stronghold strat for a fast push to 50. At 60, temple your gear, get your ancestral weapon at a high eye level, and begin the pit/Torment loop. Baruk and chaos armor will shape the mid- to late-season meta, so be ready to pivot and chase those drops.
MMOexp Diablo 4 Team