[GameSpot] - Diablo 4's Endgame Grind Is A Combination Of Challenging Dungeons And Open-World Activities

[343iBot]

Diablo IV's endgame involves completing bounties for a creepy tree, battling against Helltides, and conquering challenging Nightmare Dungeons in order for players to continue progressing their characters.

Blizzard has finally thrown back the curtain on Diablo IV's endgame, revealing in greater detail what players will be doing after having completed the game's main story campaign. In a new video titled "Into the Endgame," members of the Diablo IV team elaborate on what players can expect from endgame, and it's a combination of different activities.

For those who are looking for a challenge similar to that of Diablo III's Rift system, Nightmare Dungeons will be a great way to become more powerful. Diablo IV sports more than 120 dungeons, and any of them can be converted into a Nightmare Dungeon using a Nightmare Sigil. Doing so will essentially create a hard mode of that dungeon, one with more difficult monsters, different objectives, and various affixes that will change up the experience. One affix mentioned by associate game director Joseph Piepiora is the Hellgate affix, which will randomly spawn portals throughout the dungeon from which monsters not typically found in the dungeon will swarm through.

The best rewards will come from playing on higher World Tier difficulties, but doing so is a little more involved than simply selecting a harder difficulty via a menu. Once players have completed the campaign, they'll need to complete capstone dungeons in order to unlock higher world tiers. These dungeons are meant to put players to the test to ensure they have what it takes to survive on the next difficulty.

Outside of dungeons, there are a number of endgame-focused open world activities for players to take part in to continue progressing their characters. Helltides will see certain sections of the map consumed by a hellish storm where the sky turns red and the rivers run with blood. Enemies in this area will be more powerful as a result, and defeating them will grant shards which can be turned in for big rewards. Diablo IV will also feature a bounty system, where players will collect Whispers of the Dead on behalf of the mysterious Tree of Whispers. Bounties can be turned in for reward caches. Players will also want to be sure to complete the normal version of various dungeons in order to unlock Legendary Aspects (some of which we've already seen thanks to the beta), which can be used to convert items into Legendaries.

For more PvP-minded players, the Fields of Hatred is Diablo IV's endgame PvP zone where players will battle it out to collect, and then cleanse, shards that can be used to acquire endgame gear. Cleansing and extracting shards, however, won't be easy, as other players will be looking to kill each other and steal shards to make out with the biggest hauls.

All the while players will be leveling up and unlocking skills. After level 50, players will start to earn Paragon points and unlock the Paragon Board progression system, where players can further fine tune their characters. The board wasn't seen in Diablo IV's recent open beta, but Piepiora said the Paragon Board offers "a lot more depth, a lot more customization, and many more options as you go" for players as they progress their characters.

Blizzard will further elaborate on Diablo's endgame in an April 20 livestream, where members of the development team will be joined by Diablo content creator Rhykker to discuss endgame systems as well as how player feedback from the beta will be implemented into the full game.

Diablo IV's beta proved to be a major success for Blizzard, with the developer calling it the most successful beta in the franchise's history. Sorcerer and Necromancer proved to be the two most popular classes during the open beta, and more than 2.6 million players reached level 20. Diablo IV is scheduled to release on June 6, though players who preorder the deluxe or ultimate editions of the ARPG will be granted early access starting on June 2.

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