Diablo Itemization Guide

Diablo 4's loot grind is the core experience that defines the ARPG genre. The hardest part of any Diablo game isn’t the boss fights nor the modifiers that affect a Nightmare Dungeon, but trying to pick the right gear to equip after leveling up, especially when there are plenty of gear slots to fill up. With the randomized nature of the loot you gain, it's difficult to determine which gear is an upgrade or material fodder. Luckily, Diablo 4 gives players a degree of control over how they can, as well as stats only rolling on specific gear. This guide will assist players in picking out the right gear

Item Rarities

Like its predecessors, Diablo 4 has loot qualities ranging from Common, Magic, Rare, Legendary, and Unique. This guide will only cover Rares, Legendaries, and Uniques, since these will be the bulk of your gearing process.

Rare and Legendary loot has the highest number of affixes in the game. These rarities (despite their names) will be a frequent sight when killing monsters. Legendary loot has a direct effect on your class abilities, which is determined by the Legendary Aspect that can be found on the gear. Uniques are the most powerful items in the game as they have abilities and affixes that can never be found on any other item and are the anchors that every class builds around. These drop very rarely and could take hours or even days to find.

Sacred and Ancestral Gear

Upon beating the campaign, the level 50 Capstone dungeon, and reaching World Tier 3, you will have access to Nightmare Dungeons, which guarantees Rare and Legendary loot upon completion. In World Tier 3, Sacred gear will begin dropping, which is a direct upgrade to the gear found in World Tier 1 and 2. At level 70, World Tier 4 can be unlocked, where Ancestral gear will start dropping and is the most powerful quality for loot in the game.

Legendary Aspects

These Aspects define your class and build for 90% of the game. They give active or passive bonuses to your skills that cannot be found on the skill tree or in the affixes of your gear. For example, the Aspect of Ancestral force will give the Hammer of the Ancients skill an AoE effect that deals additional damage. Some Legendary Aspects are available to all classes and function generally, while others provide specific augments and passives. These will be the backbone of any build, providing a vital source of skill and passive interaction.

Codex of Power

The Codex of Power is a compendium of almost all the Legendary Aspects in the game. Players can use this to inscribe a Legendary Aspect into a piece of gear that they like. If there is a certain Legendary Aspect that you like, it can be found in one of the many dungeons that can be found all throughout the map. When playing on the Eternal Realm, unlocking a Legendary Aspect on the Codex of Power will unlock it for all other characters in that realm. The Codex has already organized all the aspects into different roles, such as Offensive, Defensive, Utility, Mobility, and Resource. Use this if you have a specific set of Aspects that you want to imprint on your gear.

The Occultist

This vendor will be a frequent stop for you if you wish to re-roll the affixes on your gear, extract or imprint Legendary Aspects to your gear. If you have a piece of gear with most of the affixes that you want but with one lackluster stat, you can re-roll that one bad affix into something integral to your build, like crit chance, bonus damage to debuffed enemies, etc., for an ever-increasing cost.

The Occultist is also responsible for imprinting a Legendary Aspect into a piece of gear that you like, giving you full control over your build. Be aware that once you imprint a Legendary Aspect, it can never be extracted, so choose wisely. You may also extract a Legendary Aspect that you need from a piece of gear with the worst affixes to save that Aspect for gear with the best affixes.

The Blacksmith

Once you have the loot with the appropriate affixes and Aspects, you can bring it to the Blacksmith to upgrade its overall item level and its stats. You can also bring junk items to dismantle them into upgrade materials.

The Blacksmith interacts with a hidden mechanic called “item level breakpoints.” When the upgrade to an item level reaches a certain breakpoint, it will significantly upgrade the item more than if it was upgraded before the breakpoint. Here is a list of the breakpoints to keep track of when upgrading your loot:

• Level 1: Power 1 – 149

• Level 2: Power 150 – 339

• Level 3: Power 340 – 459

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