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Diablo 4 offers players many ways to power up their characters. While general farming and looting will level you up and have you getting new gear, increasing your World Tier will have you receive better rewards and XP but give you more of a challenge to earn it all.
When starting up for the first time, you'll only have access to the first two world tiers, Adventurer and Veteran. Depending on the world tier you select, the beginning sections of the game may go by much quicker. This will allow you to level up fast and unlock more skill points to spend.
Which World Tier Should You Play On?
World Tiers directly affect the monsters of the world while you play; the higher the tier, the stronger everything is in the world. For those looking to get the most challenge out of Diablo 4, playing on the highest World Tier available to you will offer the biggest challenge.
As you increase the World Tiers, you'll get more money, XP, and better item drops to make up for the additional challenge. Playing on a higher World Tier will make your character much stronger, faster and is recommended for those wanting to level up quickly.
How To Change Your World Tier
When logging into the game, on the screen where you select your character, the menu to the right side of the screen will allow you to choose which World Tier you'll be playing. Once in the game, the World Tier can still be switched, but it can't be done just anywhere. To change your World Tier in-game, head to any of the major cities and look for the large statue of the angel called the World Tier Statue. Interacting with this statue will allow you to change the World Tier without having to log out of your character and back in again.
How To Unlock Every World Tier
The first two World Tiers are automatically unlocked when you first start up the game. Adventurer is the basic World Tier, offering basic difficulty with no bonuses to loot, gold, or XP. Veteran is also available and offers a decent boost to difficulty with moderate increases to XP and gold.
Nightmare is the third World Tier and is recommended for players levels 50-70. This is aimed at players beginning to focus on endgame content. This World Tier offers a bonus of 100% to XP, Sacred and Unique item drops, along with Nightmare sigils. This World Tier does also decrease your overall resistance to incoming damage while greatly increasing the strength of enemies. To unlock this World Tier, you'll need to complete the Cathedral of Light Capstone Dungeon in Kyovashad, which is unlocked after finishing the main campaign.
Torment is the fourth and final World Tier and is designed for players level 70+. This World Tier offers a 200% bonus to XP earned but further decreases your resistances and greatly strengthens monsters in your world. Enemies on this World Tier do drop Ancestral items, which are some of the best in the game. To unlock this World Tier, you'll need to complete the Fallen Temple Capstone dungeon. This is found toward the end of the endgame content and is only meant for very powerful characters.