Diablo 4 brings some of the best traditions in the franchise back to the gaming world, one of them being the piles of gold, gear, and other fun bits of loot that reward brave adventurers for their trouble. The quality of items in the game starts with Common and runs up to Unique, with higher-level items and accessories available as players level through various builds and finally reach the endgame.
The Loot Reborn event has given players even more cool stuff, along with a wide variety of ways to upgrade and customize that gear. Other items, like gems and consumables, are also worth the investment of gold and materials when upgrades are required. This isn't about the highest-level items, but something that has a special buff or complements a character's unique build.
Diablo 4: Best Nightmare Dungeons for Glyph Leveling (Season 4)
Players that want to quickly level up their Glyphs in Diablo 4 can find details on the best Nightmare Dungeons to target here.
Updated May 24, 2024, by Kristy Ambrose:Now that Loot Reborn is giving players even more options regarding builds, gear sets, and play styles, even more great leveling and endgame gear is still worth upgrading. The best pieces of gear and where a player can find them remain mostly unchanged, and are mostly confined to World Tier 4. Players who regularly run Nightmare Dungeons have a better chance of finding the coveted Uniques and Legendaries and the materials to upgrade them.
12 Khanjali Of Frozen Orbit
Drops From Enemies At World Tier 4 Difficulty
- Salvage is better than selling to recover any Aspects or gems.
The Khanjali is a legendary dagger for Sorcerers, and the Frozen Orbit is an Offensive Aspect that appears on various Legendary items. It's the additional ability it grants that's more important than the item itself. This is a nice dagger for any class that can use it, but when it comes to upgrades, this would be best reserved for a Sorcerer that specializes in frost or lightning.
The Khanjali of Frozen Orbit grants an extra ability to the spell Frozen Orb. Instead of reaching its target and exploding, it stays in place and explodes twice. Anything that improves spell damage or critical hit would make a good combination for this cool spellcaster build. Upgrade it and keep it for as long as possible, then salvage it to get the Aspect and use it on something else.
11 Ring of the Sacrilegious Soul
Looted From Various Locations at World Tier 3 and 4, or the Echo Of Varshan
- A BiS item for Necromancers, or useful for Salvage by other classes.
It's obvious why a Necromancer would upgrade this ring as much as possible and keep it forevermore, especially if they have a build related to raising skeletons, exploding corpses, and tendrils. This ring isn't Legendary, but Unique, so it's also available on World Tier 3 in addition to 4.
Diablo 4: Season 4 - Necromancer Minion Build
As expected, the Necromancer brings many friends to the party in Diablo 4 and they can be the stars of the show with a solid build investment.
The Ring of the Sacrilegious Soul used to be a random drop, but these days it can be farmed from the Echo of Varshan, a boss in the Malignant Burrow. For players who are in a different class, it would be better to Salvage it for the materials needed to upgrade your own curated gear.
10 Health Potions
Drops From Enemies And Chests
- Tougher enemies necessitate more healing.
Players can often forget that Diablo 4 is an RPG without a dedicated healing class. Players have been expected to use their own health potions since the beginning of the franchise, and the Druid is the only class with any spellcasting powers that restore hit points. Upgrading health potions is a must if players are to survive and thrive.
When it's time for combat, self-healing options are extremely limited depending on the character's unique skill tree build and gear. Choosing gear that improves the character's constitution and hit points is helpful, but upgrading the healing potions as soon as possible should be every player's priority.
9 Greaves Of The Empty Tomb
Randomly Drops From High-Level Enemies and Bosses On Any World Tier
- A nice item for Necromancers for leveling and endgame, or Salvage for valuable materials.
Many of the benefits granted by the Greaves of the Empty Tomb are great for any class, like increased movement speed and maxing out the character's Evade charges, but most of the benefits increase Shadow damage, a power that is exclusive to Necromancers. They increase the Lucky Hit for any DoT spell that does Shadow Damage and give their Sever Specters the ability to spread the same damage over deconsecrated ground as they travel.
Diablo 4: Season 4 - Necromancer Leveling Builds
Master the art of death with these three early-game leveling builds for the Necromancer class in Diablo 4.
These are a random drop that players can find from killing their foes in the open world, provided they're level 85 or higher, with an increase in the drop chance in a Nightmare Dungeon. It's a Unique-quality item that's a key part of several endgame builds and is worth upgrading, which includes adding some sockets.
8 Mother's Embrace
Drops From Lilith
- A unique ring that's useful for any class.
This might be one of the first Unique items that many players see in Diablo 4, depending on when they finish the campaign quests. Thanks to level scaling, it's up to each player when and how they close the storyline.
After following Lilith across what's left of Sanctuary, and fighting anyone and anything she leaves in her wake, she finally faces the protagonist. When she falls, she drops a Unique ring called Mother's Embrace, which is great for any class.
Mother's Embrace improves critical strike damage and chance, Overpower damage, and Core Spell damage. It also has the power to refund resources like Mana or Fury if the Core Spell hits five or more enemies. It's worth upgrading at a jeweler and keeping it for as long as possible.
7 Rage Of Harrogath
Drops From High-Level Enemies, Chests, and Bosses On Any World Tier
- A BiS Item for Barbarians.
A Unique item for Barbarians, and it's a chest piece, which is something different for a class that's known for their lack of armor. It's especially beneficial to those utilizing the Thorns ability. The Rage of Harrogath also includes all of the benefits that players have come to expect with Unique endgame items, like improved Critical Hit chance and extra damage to enemies suffering from Bleed.
Diablo 4 Season 4: Endgame Double Swing Barbarian Build Guide (Patch 1.4.0)
Slice and dice through the hordes of Hell with this Torment-worthy Double Swing build for the Barbarian class in Diablo 4.
What makes this piece different and worth the upgrade costs is the reduction in cooldown times that it grants through Lucky Hit. The more of the Barbarian's enemies are affected by Bleed, the better the chance this will reduce the cooldown time of their abilities.
6 Eluding Boneweave Armor
Looted From High-Level Enemies, Chests, and Bosses On Any World Tier
- Ideal for a Sorcerer's build or Salvage materials.
The Boneweave armor is a Legendary chest piece that can drop from various elite enemies found in both dungeons and cellars. Other classes would be better off selling this or salvaging it, however, it's worth upgrading for a Sorcerer of the fiery persuasion.
The Eluding Boneweave armor reduces damage and improves both the character's Pyromancy and Conjuration skills. Other classes will appreciate the ability to become Unstoppable if injured while crowd-controlled, as the Dodge function is essential to survival.
5 Resistance Elixirs
Made With Herbs At The Alchemist, or Looted From Chests and Enemies
- Higher levels mean better, more effective potions.
Another detail that's easy to miss in a sea of upgradable gear and equipment is elixirs. Players can also upgrade the elixirs and potions used for elemental buffs, armor improvements, and increased experience gain. The trick here is to upgrade the raw materials that the player has foraged and collected in the wilderness to make more complex potions.
Diablo 4: How To Reroll Item Stats
Players who have reached level 25 in Diablo 4 can reroll item stats by spending money and some rarer materials. Here's how to do so.
Refining raw herbs and plants is something the Alchemist can also do in addition to brewing the basic Weak versions of most potions. Players should make and upgrade anything that improves Thorns or Poison a priority to improve the character's chances of success and survival.
4 Vigo's Protecting Amulet
Obtained By Finishing The "Descent" Quest
- Handy stats and abilities for a variety of classes.
An overpowered item if there ever was one, this item is one of the Legendary pieces of gear that players get as a reward from the main storyline. After facing and defeating Lilith's Lament as part of the "Descent" quest, the reward is Vigo's Protecting Amulet. Melee fighters might take it or leave it, but for the casters, it's a handy item worthy of a few upgrades.
The only class-specific buff on the amulet is the improvement to Fury generation, which is useful to Barbarians. Other perks include improvements to cooldown times, weapon mastery, and a better rate of healing. The best part comes from the bubble of invulnerability that randomly pops around the character, making them immune from any damage for almost 5 seconds.
3 Gemstones
Looted From Ore Deposits, Gem Caches, Chests, and Enemies
- Stockpile and upgrade gems to use on gear and weapons throughout the game.
There are different grades of gemstones in Diablo 4, just like there are different kinds of gear. Jewelers don't just upgrade necklaces and rings; they can also cut and refine the rough gemstones that characters collect during their travels. The collection includes conventional precious stones along with small skulls, which are collected and cut in the same way.
Diablo 4 All Trophies and Achievements List & How to Get Them
If you're on your way to getting Platinum in Diablo 4, here's our list of all Trophies and Achievements and a guide on how to get them.
Investing in upgraded gems isn't just a good investment of both gold and resources during the progression of each character. It's also another way to upgrade any gear that has a gem socket. Putting new sockets into gear is barely worth it. It's better to upgrade the gems instead.
2 Aspects
Found On Weapons That Drop From Bosses and High-Level Enemies
- Whether regular or Legendary, it's better to keep or extract them.
There are a few different levels of Aspects in Diablo 4 these days, with some powerful endgame choices introduced as part of the Loot Reborn event. Like before the various patches and updates, these are found on weapons or gear. They can be equipped by the character, or extracted and added to the Codex of Power for later use.
Any Aspect that the player finds now can be upgraded to Legendary. Although some Aspects are situational or intended for certain classes, it's better to keep and upgrade them instead of selling them. The materials needed to upgrade to Legendary Aspects are Unique and Legendary as well, and can either be extracted from Legendary jewelry or found in World Tier 3 and 4 dungeons.
1 Esadora's Overflowing Cameo
Drops In Nightmare Dungeons, and From Lord Zir and Other World Bosses
- Essential for endgame Sorcerer builds that specialize in lightning spells.
An ideal Unique item for any Sorcerer, this one is one of the essential pieces of the endgame build for a lightning-based spellcaster. For those players who are building a Shocking Sorcerer for endgame content, this is one of the best items to upgrade in Diablo 4, and that upgrade should include a few extra gem sockets.
Esadora's Overflowing Cameo grants the wearer increased resistance to non-physical and elemental damage, gives Shocking Impact more ranks, and makes it possible for a culmination of Crackling Energy to explode into a lightning nova complete with AoE damage.
Like most other Uniques, this one has a chance to drop from enemies or be found in chests, but it's easier to find in a Nightmare Dungeon at level 85 or higher.
Diablo 4
- Developer(s)
- Blizzard
- Franchise
- Diablo
- Metascore
- 88
- Platform(s)
- PC , PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S
- Released
- June 6, 2023
