This guide is purely about leveling up your character to the max level of 20 with minimal effort and time investment, preparing for the epic fight against Ashava the Pestilent, and grabbing the rewards along the way.
Contrary to the full release, I wouldn't recommend choosing The Barbarian or The Druid for the Server Slam. The beta shows that both The Barbarian and Druid had a slow, cumbersome start. Although they were buffed after the open beta, with Blizzard specifically mentioning a significant buff for the Druid, they still heavily rely on the appropriate legendary affixes.
General manager Rod Fergusson explained why The Barbarian appears weaker initially but is an absolute beast in the endgame. The Barbarian carries four weapons and thus has the most item slots in the game, making him increasingly powerful as more legendary items and abilities become available.
But as we know, the drop rate of legendaries has been significantly reduced compared to the beta. You might still get the right legendary, but the odds are much lower than they were six weeks ago, so I wouldn't bet on that, especially if you're short on time and unwilling to grind for gear. The Druid follows a similar pattern despite receiving significant buffs.
According to Blizzard, we don't know how strong and significant these are. This is a bit of a gamble. It could be great, or it could be absolutely underwhelming.
Also, the barbarian and the Druid will not have class specialization during the service lamb. You can get the barbarian's quest, but it's located in the dry steps outside the playable area. The Druid's animal spirit attunement a significant part of his power, according to Rod Fergusson, is also outside the playable zone in Skosglin.
On the other hand, the other three classes can use their specialization, and it's absolutely powerful in all three cases. And last but not least, the barbarian and the Druid have the lowest base movement speed. So that's why I've firmly believed that the Barbarian and Druid, whilst definitely formidable in the full release, may not be the most efficient choices in the Server Slam.
Instead, I believe you'd fare better with the other three classes. If time is of the essence, I for 01:00 a.m. Torn between beginning my journey with the Spellbinding Sorcerer, equipped with a Hydrabuild, or maybe zooming around with a Nimble Rogue.
But let's not forget the Allure of Skeletons and the mighty Golem. Ah, decisions, decisions. I think I'll leave it up to a spontaneous choice, but rest assured, it'll be one of these three that'll become my champion.
Now, with the class selected, the next crucial decision you'll face is the difficulty level on which you want to embark on your adventure. If you're confident in your ability to survive the veteran mode without frequent deaths, then, by all means, go for the higher difficulty to snatch those extra experience points while leveling up at certain points in the game. You could even consider adjusting the difficulty down.
Just remember, more is indeed more in this context. Now, once you're finally in the game, your mission is clear cut. Reach Kyovashad as swiftly and directly as possible.
Forget about collecting gear, opening chests, chopping logs, or inspecting piles of stone. Unless you literally stumble upon them. You'll likely out level these items in minutes, so it's not worth the distraction. Proceed through the prologue at breakneck speed, arrive in Kyovashad, and then forget about side quests and the main story. Completely. Sure, the main quest yields a hefty amount of experience, but it's also a slow process.
Also, farming dungeons isn't quite the same as in the beta. You'll have to wait about a minute for the dungeon to reset automatically. However, I would recommend running a few dungeons for two particular reasons.
Firstly, completing certain dungeons can unlock codecs of power aspects for your chosen class. Check the codecs, identify these dungeons, and focus solely on completing them. Besides the legendary aspect, you'll also accrue renown points, which are crucial for reaching renown level three.
This grants you an extra potion and more importantly, two additional skill points. Both are rewards you should definitely aim to achieve. If you have some extra time, consider collecting the Altars of Lilith for a maximum boost in your character's core stats. It's a bit time consuming, so I wouldn't recommend it unless you're passing by anyway. While the boost to your character's core stats is nice, the renown and experience points you gain from this are relatively minor.
On the other hand, Strongholds yield a whopping 100 renown, and some can be conquered as early as level 15. It's definitely worth the effort. If you struggle, don't hesitate to temporarily lower the difficulty level. It may cost you a bit of XP, but you'll earn the 100 renown much quicker.
And there are faster ways to gain XP and cheap Diablo 4 gold anyways. If you're having trouble locating Dungeons Strongholds or anything else, I highly recommend using the interactive map on MapGenie IO. With a simple click, you can deactivate all points of interest on the left side and only enable the ones that matter to you, like Events or Strongholds.
Clicking on the Dungeons even reveals detailed information about the aspects. It's a truly invaluable time saver after the various tweaks and changes to the dungeon system. Following the beta phase, it seems that the most efficient way to farm experience points now is through repeated participation in public events.
Just to the west of Cuba Shot, there are three such events that are easily accessible. It's as simple as getting there, playing the event, teleporting back to town, and then teleporting back to the event. Doing so will put you in a new instance where you can typically complete the event again.
Or if fortune smiles upon you, you might even arrive at an event that's nearly finished, and all you have to do is bag the rewards. This is a process you can often repeat several times. Even when you occasionally teleport back and find no event in progress.
Don't be disheartened. Give it a few more tries of teleporting back and forth. Most of the time, you'll eventually find another instance with the event waiting for you to start.
And from here on out, it's just simply rotating from one event to another. With this method, leveling up should be a breeze. In addition, you'll receive a 5% XP bonus for shared world activities as long as other players are nearby. So it's absolutely worth your while to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other players battling against the legions of the underworld.
But wait. I have some additional tips to help you squeeze even more XP out of your limited time.
In Kyovashad, the potion brewer can concoct an elixir for you that grants bonus XP for, I believe, about 30 minutes. Therefore, keep this potion active whenever you have the necessary ingredients to brew it. As previously mentioned, there is a 5% XP bonus for having open-world players near you.
But for members of your own party, there is an even bigger 10% XP bonus. So cooperative play is definitely more rewarding if you all want to level up quickly. So maybe the official Diablo Discord server is a good place to find yourself some allies with whom you can tackle the slam together.
And I have one last piece of advice for you. If you're really keen on saving a significant amount of time, play countercyclically. What this means is that you shouldn't play when everyone else is.
Don't even try logging onto the servers at the start of the slam at 12:00 p.m. On Friday, only to spend hours frustrated in the queue making practically no progress. Instead, consider logging in early Saturday morning, around five or 06:00 a.m.
By that time, the rush should have passed and the service should have been patched, allowing you to jump right into the grind. The same principle applies to Ashava don't rush for the first Ashava. Instead, consider waiting for the third or fourth.
This strategy should significantly reduce your login frustration and the associated wasted time. But those were all of my tips to efficiently and with the least possible time investment level up to 20 to then be able to take on Ashava.
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