It's pretty remarkable how much content Blizzard managed to cram into Diablo 4. The game features not only spectacularly deep skill trees, but a massive open world. It's jam-packed with dungeons to conquer, side quests to complete, villages to discover, and world bosses to defeat. It would take even the most dedicated players days to work their way through all of it, and many will never see everything the game has to offer.
With all that content, there is a lot to be said for those who don't want to experience Diablo 4 alone. The game features a robust co-op system that encourages players to not just link up with friends for a few dungeons, but to complete large sections of the game together. Getting started in co-op is easy , but there are lots of mechanics working behind the scenes that players can use to further their experience.
9 BattleTag, Not Gamer Tag
This won't be a problem for PC players, as Diablo 4 will automatically launch from Blizzard's BattleNet hub. However, console players may get thrown for a loop. When trying to create a party of friends in-game, players will be able to see their PSN or Xbox Live friends list, but they won't be able to link their games that way.
Players will need to add friends to their party via their BattleTag or through the email they've associated with their BattleNet account. It's a bit obtuse and not totally obvious, but that's Blizzard.
8 Choose A Host
When players group up into a party, they will need to decide which party member will "host" the others in their game world. For the most part, this won't change anything about the world itself. All it determines is which quests will have already been completed in the shared game world. Whichever player's world the party plays in will be set to that player's point of progression.
This is a matter of personal preference. Maybe one player wants help from their friends to get through a few quests that the other players have already completed. Or, maybe one party member isn't interested in doing main quests but wants to fill out their map. The party can join their world and focus on fresh content for everyone.
7 Be Aware Of Quest Progress
As stated earlier, the player set as the party's host will determine which quests have been completed and which haven't. However, if the other players in their party take on a quest in the host's world that they haven't completed in their own world, their own progress on that quest won't be adjusted once the party splits up.
There is one exception to this rule, which is if every party member is at the exact same point in progressing a quest. In that case, they will all progress the quest at the same time. Otherwise, players should be prepared to repeat any quests they complete in a friend's world once they return to their own.
6 Don't Sweat Levels
In other co-op games, there might be a disparity between the character levels of each player. This can weigh down the co-op experience, either leaving one player over-leveled for the enemies they face, or leaving another player facing enemies far stronger than they can take on.
Thankfully, Blizzard has found an artful solution. While it would take pages of text to describe the tech behind it, suffice it to say that no matter what level the characters in a party are, every enemy they fight will be scaled to their individual level. Enemies all have more health, but just so they still pose as much of a threat against two players. Otherwise, players shouldn't notice any difference in difficulty when playing in a lower-level world. This means a level 20 Druid and a level 60 Rogue can take on a boss together and find it equally challenging.
5 Don't Sweat Loot
Like character levels, loot drops aren't something players need to stress about sharing. Just like when encountering another player in the open world, there's no way for one player to "steal" a piece of loot from another player.
Instead, when there is a loot drop in the world, each player in the party will see loot unique to them and scaled to their level. These drops won't be necessarily equivalent; for example, one player may get a legendary item while another will only see rare loot. But there's no need to fight over gear pieces. The same goes for gold and resource drops: every player will get their own. However, if a player decides to drop some of the loot from their inventory, that gear becomes fair game. Everyone can see it and pick it up at will.
4 Split Up
This may seem counter-intuitive, but just because players are grouped up doesn't mean they need to do everything together. Players should be willing and open to the idea of splitting off and doing their own thing (for a short or a long time) before joining back up. A player may start a side quest that their party members can't join, or maybe they simply need to step aside and get something to eat.
It all works because, no matter where players wander off to, all they need to do is head to the nearest town and there will be portals right next to that town's waypoint that can warp them back to any of their party members. So go on, explore!
3 Revive Fallen Friends
When players are killed in Diablo 4 while playing solo, there's not a lot they can do about it. They just have to accept that their gear is going to lose some durability (which will cost gold to repair) and they'll be reset to their nearest checkpoint. That checkpoint usually isn't too far away, but it's still not ideal.
In co-op, that changes. When a player dies, they can still choose to revive at a checkpoint (and if they've wandered off into a dungeon on their own, they may have to), but they can also wait until their teammates arrive and be revived on the spot. The revive process takes about 3 seconds, so players should only attempt it when it's safe. Once a player is revived, they will remain in a ghost state until they move, so if they come back surrounded by enemies they won't be instantly killed again.
2 Synergize Characters
It's one thing when players have a dedicated group of alt characters who always play together and can plan their builds around each other. When players who've been playing solo decide to jump into a co-op group, everyone's characters don't always mesh together. This usually becomes apparent after just a few fights.
If this problem arises, players should make use of Diablo 4's simple-to-use respec system. For just a few gold, players can remove the skill points they've invested in one particular skill (and its upgrades), or refund every skill point they've spent. Then it's just a matter of deciding which skills work best with their teammates. A Druid teaming up with an ice-focused Sorcerer might want to invest in AOE skills to clear out frozen enemies. Meanwhile, a Barbarian teaming up with a Flurry Rogue might invest in shouts to buff their teammate's damage.
1 Trade
While teammates can't steal each other's loot or gold, sometimes players may want to give their party members an item that better suits their build (or that is exclusive to their class). While dropping the item is one option, it's also possible to trade items.
In the action wheel, there is the option to invite a player to trade. After the other player accepts the invite, a trade screen will pop up. Players can add weapons, armor, gold, gems, and elixirs, and the other party member can do the same. While players can't trade legendary or Ancestral gear or any items they've enchanted themselves, everything else is fair game.
Diablo 4 was released on June 5th, 2023, and is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC.