Rather than having a blanket difficulty system solely for combat, Diablo 4 weaves its difficulty system in as a core part of the experience via a 'World Tier' system.

These not only provide a more challenging and demanding gameplay experience, but also modify the rewards received either via currency and XP multipliers, or unlocking new loot qualities – it’s a system you’ll have to engage with if you want to delve into the true endgame of Diablo 4.

In this guide, we’ll be explaining how to unlock and change the World Tier, the World Tier modifiers and unlocks, and what a Capstone Dungeon is.

How to increase and change the World TierCapstone Dungeons explainedWorld Tier modifiers and unlocksDiablo 4 Season Pass Explained

How to increase and change the World Tier in Diablo 4

World Tiers are a different approach to difficulty that’s woven in as a deeper part of Diablo 4’s experience and unlocks the full endgame experience.

At launch, there are four World Tiers: Adventurer, Veteran, Nightmare, and Torment.

The first of the two World Tiers – Adventurer and Veteran – are unlocked right from the getgo, and whether or not you start with one or the other, you are free to change to either of these whenever throughout your journey.

The selection of World Tiers 1 and 2 after creating a character.

The third and fourth World Tiers – Nightmare and Torment – are unlocked after beating the campaign, and completing the Cathedral of Light and Fallen Temple Capstone Dungeons on World Tiers 2 and 3 respectively.

You can change the World Tier at any point either from the character select screen, or from World Tier statues located throughout the map.

Left: The World Tier statue in Kyovashad. Middle: The character select screen with the 'Change World Tier' option on the right side of the screen. Right: The World Tier select screen.

You can see the current World Tier you're playing on at any time beneath the map in the top right corner of the screen.

Capstone Dungeons in Diablo 4 explained

A Capstone Dungeon is a more challenging dungeon experience intended to be a 'gear check' that ensures you’re ready to increase and progress onto the next World Tier.

As such, when you first attempt one of these, it’s possible you might have a tough time overcoming the challenge within.

If that’s the case, you’ll want to complete some of the other activities and content around the world to get stronger gear, or tinker around with your ability tree and skill points to figure out a build that'll help you summit the challenge.

The requirements for unlocking World Tier 3, including beating the 'Cathedral of Light' Capstone Dungeon.

If you’re stuck for ideas or what builds to try, consider checking out our class tier list guide and the class-specific guides linked inside that page.

Once you’ve met the requirements and beaten the required Capstone Dungeon however, you’ll be ready to move up to the following World Tier.

World Tier modifiers and unlocks in Diablo 4

When increasing to higher World Tiers, it’s not just the difficulty that goes up, but also the kind of rewards you can expect to see, as well as the endgame content available.

Playing in World Tiers 1 or 2 both have access to the same content available, but the latter grants multiplies to XP and Gold earnings.

The modifiers to enemies and experience gains on World Tier 2 - Veteran.

The same is true for other World Tiers too, and they each have various adjustments to enemy difficulty and experience gains as shown below:

World Tier rankRecommended level, and enemy and experience adjustmentsWT1 - AdventurerRecommended for levels 1-50'Enemies are easy to defeat'WT2 - VeteranRecommended for levels 1-50'Enemies are more challenging'- Additional 20-percent XP and 15-percent more GoldWT3 - NightmareRecommended for levels 50-70'Enemies are more formidable'- 'Monsters overcome 20-percent Resistance'- Additional 100-percent XP and 15-percent more Gold from monstersWT4 - TormentRecommended for levels 70+'Enemies are more fearsome'- 'Monsters overcome 40-percent Resistance'- Additional 200-percent XP and 15-percent more Gold

Additionally, World Tiers 3 and 4 unlock additional items, content and world changes on top of their respective enemy adjustments – they are as follows:

Sacred and Unique items now dropNightmare Sigils used to 'unseal' Nightmare Dungeons now dropHelltides appear across SanctuaryChampion monsters with damage resistance auras now appearAncestral items and new Unique items now drop (World Tier 4 Only)

The idea is that as you progress through the game and your character becomes stronger, you increase the World Tier to match the overall difficulty with your current power, and in return, gain additional and more powerful rewards.

The full description for World Tier 3 - Nightmare, including the modifiers and world changes it brings.

If you want to learn about which classes are the best to use, be sure to check out our class tier list, or if you're looking for what to do after hitting World Tier 3, you might want to take a look at our guide on how Renown works.

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