The Diablo 4 Open Beta is a sampling of the upcoming game’s experience. The limited-time trial will let audiences create ten characters, play through the opening areas, and progress up to level 25. While all player characters will be wiped after the beta, players are still encouraged to max out their adventurers because special awards await anyone who hits specific leveling and progress milestones.
However unless you participated in the Early Access beta, you will only have three days to reach max level and earn a special Beta Wolf Pack cosmetic. Is that enough time? Probably, but you’ll have to work fast and farm a little extra XP.
Diablo 4 Beta: How Long Does It Take to Reach Level 25?
In many level-based games, character levels accrue quickly in the beginning, but that rate slows down exponentially the further you get in the journey. The same is true in Diablo 4. While you can expect to reach Level 5 an hour into the Diablo 4 beta, don’t expect to continue leveling at a similar rate afterward.
Each player who hit the level cap during the Diablo 4 Early Access beta has told a different story, but it will take most players between five to nine hours to reach level 25. Before the beta started, some players estimated beta participants would require anywhere between five and eight hours to reach Level 25, and those estimates have proven to be fairly accurate. However, there are outliers on both ends. Several players reached Level 25 in as little as six hours, while others stated it took around nine hours to hit the cap. Of course, if you are only interested in the Beta Wolf Pack cosmetic and not hitting the beta’s max level, you just need to reach Level 20, which should noticeably take less time.
Classes and builds are two of the more interesting “x-factors” in terms of those estimates, though. Based on the Early Access beta, a powerful AoE Sorcerer build will probably be the fastest leveling combo for those looking to speed through the game. Sorcerers’ weak defenses and steep mana requirements may put off newer players, but their ability to deal absurd amounts of damage to large groups of enemies is nearly unrivaled. Rogues are also quite powerful (though certainly more complicated to learn), while Barbarians were the slowest levelers (though they will be popular among new players thanks to their durability). Necromancers and Druids weren’t available during the Early Access beta, though the former will likely be a much faster leveler than the latter.
Admittedly, dungeon-crawler ARPGs like Diablo 4 are the epitome of “your mileage may vary.” Groups of enemies can ambush you and can provide an extra influx of EXP, and if the RNG gods are in your favor, a random minion or boss can drop a powerful item that makes leveling even easier. But if one troupe of enemies spawns a powerful mini-boss monster resistant to your current build, you can find yourself in trouble. To make a long story short, we cannot guarantee you will hit Level 25 as quickly as others have. For what it’s worth, though, average leveling time reports have proven to be fairly consistent.
Diablo 4 Beta: How to Farm XP Quickly
Thanks to Diablo 4’s level scaling, XP grinding doesn’t work in the same way it did before. Every area you visit automatically adjusts its difficulty to match your character. On the bright side, you will never have to worry about out-leveling a location to the point where enemies dish out less XP. On the flip side of that coin, you can’t visit lands meant for higher levels and farm enemies there either. Still, Diablo 4 offers plenty of ways to power level.
For instance, before you even start playing, set the world difficulty to Veteran. Enemies are tougher on that setting, but they also provide more XP and loot. Setting the difficulty any lower will slow you down. Once you actually start, just play the game as normal. Complete every side mission you come across because they generally provide a ton of XP. Also, don’t forget to fight random mobs you bump into. You don’t necessarily have to go out of your way to grind enemies, but you should kill any monsters you encounter while running from quest to quest. Also, try to adventure in a party of friends or with randos since group members automatically receive buffs that increase you XP gains. You also receive an XP boost if you kill mobs while near other players, but the party XP buff is significantly stronger.
If you really want to speed up your leveling while slaughtering the minions of hell and helping random townspeople, then always take some time to clear dungeons and participate in events. While quests are finite in Diablo 4, you can repeat dungeons and events ad infinitum for both loot and XP. Refreshing and re-running dungeons is a great source of XP for those who aren’t necessarily looking to see every piece of the beta’s Act One narrative as quickly as possible.
However, of all the side activities in Diablo 4, none provide as much XP as Strongholds. Areas such as Malnok, Ostrava, and Kor Dragan are veritable XP farms since you have to wade through tidal waves of monsters to reclaim these areas. Strongholds are challenging, but the rewards are worth the struggle since Malnok and Ostrava turn into towns for NPCs (and since clearing Strongholds adds to your region progress, which provides extra XP rewards). But what happens when you clear Kor Dragan? Then you unlock the hardest (and most rewarding) event in Diablo 4’s first act: The Gathering Legions.
That event doles out a metric ton of XP, partially due to the overwhelming number of enemies you have to face. So you should search for Kor Dragan and free it as soon as you finish the main story. Plus, you can push The Gathering Legions’ XP rewards even further by resting at a nearby campfire beforehand. Doing so provides a stackable buff that increases XP gain. If you can also join a group during that event for another XP boost, and will never want for XP farming locations again.
Unless Blizzard hamstrings the amount of XP you acquire from events, Strongholds, and quests, you can follow the above advice to power level your way to a Beta Wolf Pack cosmetic during the upcoming Open Beta.