Everything we learned from Diablo 4’s endgame live stream

Blizzard hosted a 90-minute live stream that offered a deep dive into Diablo 4’s endgame content. Here’s everything you need to know.

While Blizzard has already confirmed that characters in Diablo 4 aren’t designed to be used forever and that seasonal updates will encourage replayability, the game has a pretty deep endgame structure. In their April 20, 2023, live stream, Blizzard went into much more detail about what players should expect from the sequel’s endgame content.

From the Paragon Board, Helltide events, Nightmare Dungeons, and more, here’s everything we know about what will happen once Lilith, Inarious, and most likely Diablo himself, have all fallen to your blade. Don’t forget, Blizzard also confirmed that Diablo 4 will feature one final beta that will run from May 12 to 14, 2023 where you can prepare for the Hellish delights that await.

Capstone Dungeons & Legendary powers

Diablo 4 will feature four early difficulties (with more added later) that will be referred to as World Tiers. World Tier 1 will be Normal difficulty, with World Tier 2 being Veteran, and 3 being Nightmare, then the fourth one being Torment. Players won’t be able to access Nightmare/World Tier 3 until they hit level 50, and once they do, they’ll also need to complete a Capstone Dungeon to prove their character (essentially their build quality) is ready for the increased difficulty.

Capstone Dungeons serve as gateways to the next World Tier. Naturally, higher World Tiers don’t just increase the enemy difficulty, they also increase the quality of loot found, with rarer and increasingly powerful items more likely to drop from dead monsters or be found in caches. World Tier 3 will see more sacred items drop, while World Tier 4 will increase the likelihood of finding Ancestral and Legendary items.

Legendary items will contain Legendary powers and these can not only stack if you find more of the same type of power on multiple equipped items but the powers can be extracted and added to a different item. This gives players far more options to tailor their build and playstyle, either stacking powers or taking advantage of different ones by adding them to the loot they equip.

Helltide events

Helltide events can happen randomly in World Tier 3 and beyond and will give players the opportunity to farm lots of experience and cool items. They are similar to Rifts from previous Diablo games but take place on the existing map. When they happen, the sky will turn red and blood will rain from the sky. Players will then be given the opportunity to kill the monsters that spawn from these Helltide events in order to farm items known as Cinders.

Cinders are a separate currency that players can obtain by taking part in Helltide events and allow players to open the various Helltide Caches that will spawn on the battlefield. If the player has enough Cinders, they can open the crate and plunder the rewards inside, but beware, the monsters will be in hot pursuit. Players that die in Helltide events will lose half their Cinders when they respawn, something that will force players to think tactically and creates a risk vs. reward dynamic to Helltides.

Legendary bosses can also spawn during Helltide events such as the Butcher and others. As the Butcher is a character that appeared in the original Diablo and again in Diablo 3, it will be interesting to see if any other legacy bosses appear in Helltide events.

Nightmare Dungeons & Sigils

Not to be confused with any standard dungeon you enter while playing on World Tier 3 or Nightmare difficulty, Nightmare Dungeons are special events where players can use Nightmare Sigils to unlock a portal to a specific dungeon, somewhere in Sanctuary, and enter to take on a warped, double-tough version of that same dungeon. Each Sigil will also offer certain gameplay modifiers that shake up and remix the area, adding unique stipulations to the enemies and the environment.

Sigils can be unlocked by completing Whispers of the Dead contracts (monster hunts) and completing Nightmare Dungeons unlocks new and more powerful Sigils. Sigils can also be used as crafting materials and modified into different Sigils that may be of more interest to each player. This allows each person to tailor their experience further, chasing monsters and loot that suits their playstyle and preferences.

Paragon Boards (endgame leveling)

The Paragon Boards are an endgame leveling system that unlocks for every character once they reach level 50, offering much more build variety than the standard skill tree. The idea here is that every character has more options when it comes to spending level-up points, allowing players to build their character their way, and set them down a specific build path.

Points can be spent unlocking different nodes and each node offers a certain benefit that can be cherry-picked by players who can also ignore others. The cost of nodes increases the more powerful each character becomes and some nodes will be labeled as Rare, offering more valuable buffs and upgrades that are specific to each class.

There will be multiple Paragon Boards that players can level up and each board will feature at least one Legendary node which offers a more significant upgrade. This is designed to motivate players to complete as many as they can to max out their character – before moving on to another.

That wraps up everything we know about the Diablo 4 endgame. In the meantime, check out some of the other Diablo 4 guides we’ve put together for you:

All Diablo 4 beta rewards & how to unlock them | Is Diablo 4 coming to Xbox Game Pass? | Will Diablo 4 be on Steam Deck? | How to get Diablo 4 beta wolf pet cosmetic | Diablo 4 system requirements | Will Diablo 4 have microtransactions & is it pay to win? | Is Diablo 4 coming to Nintendo Switch? | Diablo 4: Who is Tyrael? | Will Diablo 4 have controller support on PC? | Will Diablo 4 beta progress carry over to the full game?