Leveling in Diablo 4 between Levels 1 to 50 can be exceptionally tedious, especially for players who have already completed the main campaign.
But if you play your cards right and focus on the right activities, you can zip to level 50 much faster than you normally would doing random quests and exploration. Enter Strongholds.
What are Strongholds in Diablo 4
Strongholds are areas that have been taken over by enemies. You’ll need to clear these areas, complete a few objectives and eventually take down their final bosses. At that point, you can reclaim the Stronghold and turn it into a friendly village filled with vendors and a Waypoint.
However, when leveling, you may not always want to reclaim a Stronghold. Instead, you can clear it, get the XP, and farm all over again. PS: You can easily recognize Strongholds thanks to their unique flaming skull icons and “Stronghold nearby” banner alerts.
How to farm Strongholds, Diablo 4
How to reset Strongholds in Diablo 4
Resetting Strongholds in Diablo 4 is straightforward. After clearing all enemies, the game will ask you to find a Shrine and rekindle it to conquer the Stronghold. Instead, you can leave the game and log back in to reset the Stronghold.
By doing so, you can clear a Stronghold, leave the game, and come back to reset it and start all over again. This can be done for as many times as you want. In terms of XP per hour, Strongholds are the best XP farms in the game from levels 1 to 50. This is why farming Strongholds is such a popular leveling tactic.
Best Strongholds to farm
There are 15 Strongholds in Diablo 4 and they were clearly not created equal. Based on extensive testing by Raxxanterax, these are the best Strongholds to farm as of Season 1.
| Stronghold | Level | Region | Tier | XP/Hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temple of Rot | 35 | Dry Steppes | Best ❘ S | 1580 |
| Kor Dragan | 30 | Fractured Peaks | Best ❘ S | 1092 |
| Alcarnus | 40 | Kehjistan | Best ❘ S | 1021 |
| Onyx Watchtower | 20 | Dry Steppes | Great ❘ A | 937 |
| Ruins of Qara-Yisu | 25 | Dry Steppes | Average ❘ B | 845 |
| Eriman's Pyre | 35 | Hawezar | Average ❘ B | 843 |
| Crusader's Monument | 35 | Hawezar | Average ❘ B | 841 |
| Omath's Redoubt | 45 | Kehjistan | Average ❘ B | 822 |
| Altar of Ruin | 45 | Kehjistan | Average ❘ B | 822 |
| Moordaine Lodge | 20 | Scosglen | Average ❘ B | 807 |
| Norstrava | 18 | Fractured Peaks | Average ❘ B | 800 |
| Vyeresz | 40 | Hawezar | Poor ❘ C | 641 |
| Malnok | 18 | Fractured Peaks | Poor ❘ C | 618 |
| Tur Dulra | 30 | Scosglen | Poor ❘ C | 614 |
| Hope's Light | 25 | Scosglen | Worst ❘ D | 361 |
These are the different Tier levels used for our list:
- S Tier – Best: Best dungeons to farm. Prioritize when possible.
- A Tier – Great: Great dungeons to farm.
- B Tier – Average: Decent dungeons to farm.
- C Tier – Poor: Bad dungeons to farm. Avoid if possible.
How to farm Strongholds
We have established that some Strongholds are simply better than others in terms of XP per hour. Plus, some Strongholds also appear to offer more rewards upon completion, regardless of their level (the hardest ones in terms of monster levels are not necessarily the most rewarding).
However, when using Strongholds for farming XP purposes, their recommended level is extremely important. As that recommended level represents the minimum level of the monsters within, you should avoid Strongholds that have monsters that have a much higher level than your character’s. This is how we recommend farming Strongholds:
- Level 15 to 30: Farm Onyx Watchtower
- Level 30 to 45: Farm Temple of Roth
- Level 45 to 50: Farm some more Ony Watchtower and reclaim other leftover Strongholds for more Renown rewards
The road to level 100
Once you’ve reached level 50, we recommend you tackle the Cathedral of Light Capstone dungeon in order to move to World Tier 3 (Nightmare) difficulty. If you stay in World Tier 2, your leveling will become excruciatingly slow… Once you’ve moved to World Tier 3, focus on farming Nightmare dungeons (more on that below) as these offer the best XP/hour in the entire game.
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