I’ve seen many a topic on both the EU and US forums with players raising the issue of the “gap” between difficulties of T3 and T4.
A few things to say right off the bat: I have only a level 63 Sorcerer in D4 so far. I’m by no means an expert at D4 but have played every Diablo game since the very beginning.
I’ve typed out my “story” to give folk an idea of the journey I encountered. You can skip ahead to the tip if you wish of course - but the story may if nothing else resonate with some of you having encountered very similar problems or had a very similar journey.
The Story:
Like many others I suspect who played previous Diablo games or ARPGs/MMOs in general - I played through the Campaign in WT2 and progressed to WT3 VERY easily. But I hasten to add - I took my time with the campaign and didn’t actually finish it until I was level 53 - I kept wandering off with Side Quests and farming renown until areas were maxed at WT2 before I moved to the next area.
Once campaign complete and in WT3 - as others have experienced, I found I was trashing dungeons and mobs and started attempted Nightmare Dungeons - didn’t run into any trouble until Tier 16 and Tier 19/20 was about my limit at the gear I had available. That was showing mobs at level 70-75+ and I was still able to kill them even with my Sacred high 600/low 700 Item power gear whilst having to be a bit careful, I figured I was doing pretty well, but…I found I just wasn’t getting gear upgrades anymore as I worked my way through the level 50s. I’d hit the gear cap or pretty close anyway for Sacred gear at WT3 I think earlier than intended. In any event I figured it was time to move on to WT4.
Once I hit level 60 the minimum to equip Ancestral gear I headed for the Capstone (Yep 10 levels early as far as the game and some are concerned, but as mentioned above, WT3 wasn’t feeding me any better gear from what I could tell).
Aside from a few difficult elite packs where they were clustered together and the usual D4 scenario that many have complained about of too many mobs, too much crap on screen all at once = can’t see crap 1-shot nonsense which kicked in a few times - the dungeon was fairly easy to clear…until Elias.
The Soul Burners were absurdly OP, spreading out and hammering me from afar. Annoyed after about 8-10 attempts, I asked a higher level friend of mine to come smash him for me. I figured…this is just bad design…it’s silly I could get the dungeon down with only a few issues and Elias down to 50% only to be trashed by his ranged adds I could do nothing about in time despite having plenty of potions available and a defensive elixir on.
Anywho, WT4 Open - I got cracking - Open world mobs…just like in the capstone…honestly no biggie unless you get overwhelmed with mobs or large clusters of elites.
The biggest problem I encountered were the damn ranged mobs, just like in the capstone: Soul Burners or Arrow cannon thingies - almost instant 1-shot…whilst they off screen no less…its like…WTF you supposed to do if ya can’t even see them?
Additionally, charging mobs coming in from off screen - similar problem. Anything else I’ve been able to handle with a bit of careful play - but those off-screen ranged or charging mobs were lethal - still are quite nasty. But now my gear has improved, it’s now 3 or more shots and I can actually react to ranged or charging mobs.
For my efforts though - barely any Ancestral Gear was dropping, Ancestral dungeons were too hard for my current gear and Grim Favors were proving frustrating - dropping almost nothing but sacred gear or worse - I got 1 upgrade from half a dozen hand-ins from the tree since hitting WT4 - I know - that’s luck of the draw. But deeply frustrating never the less.
The Tip:
The biggest problem in moving from WT3 and WT4 as most have noted is the gap in difficulty and the difficulty in getting the gear you need to start bridging that gap as drops from Grim Favors or open world mobs for Ancestral gear (even if they are yellow) are few and far between. (At least if you’re unlucky like I think I have been). It’s even worse when you’re getting 1-shot for whatever reason after being something of a “god” in WT3, and you work your butt off In WT4 to get a hand-in and get nothing for your trouble - that is incredibly frustrating.
So how to solve it: Unfortunately the answer isn’t great - but like most I loathe the “Go back to WT3” elitist rubbish that some spout or “Improve your resistances/gear” comments - maddeningly unhelpful. So here’s what I’ve found is working for me:
WT4 Helltide zones.
Owing to my sucky luck since hitting WT4, I’m of the view now that bothering with almost anything else is hardly worth the effort given your 1-shot squishiness.
But Helltide mobs, despite being level 75 - are still very easily killable I’ve found at level 60 odd. You have to be careful not to get swarmed of course.
As content creators have noted: One of the best methods of farming Ancestrals is via the Mystery Chests in the Helltide Zone. So do just that.
Get 175 Cinders, Mount up and look for a Mysterious Chest. The mobs you kill in these zones to get Cinders seem to drop Yellow Ancestral gear reasonably often (even non elites) and the mystery chest has a good chance of dropping an Ancestral Legendary as well as ancestral yellows.
Keep an eye out for a Treasure Goblin too - I’ve come across 5 in 3 Helltide Zones and got 2 unique and 1 Ancestral Legendary. Yes - its luck, absolutely, but its also an opportunity for easy top-end gear.
This tip may be obvious to most players. But hopefully it will help others who like me start WT4 and find they are getting trashed. I’m not saying doing the Helltide zones in WT4 is easy, but its the easiest option in my opinion Vs frequency of reward drops Vs time investment.
Working well for me as a Level 63 Sorcerer - already feeling a difference now I’ve got most of my slots with Ancestral gear. Throw a few hours at this if you been in my shoes and hopefully you’ll notice a difference too 