Diablo 4 Gearing Guide

Gearing in Diablo 4 can be challenging. Finding the right Affixes, Aspects, Uniques, Charms, Tempers, and everything else your build needs can quickly become a daunting task.

This guide breaks down what you should focus on at each Torment tier as you climb in power, so you aren't wasting valuable materials or spending hours farming something you don't actually need yet.

Before worrying about gear, though, your journey should start with a solid build.

As much as everyone wants to play exactly how they want, modern ARPGs will always have skills and builds that perform better than others. If you want your first character's progression to be as smooth as possible—and set yourself up for success later—starting with a strong build can make a massive difference.

Torment 1 – Get Started and Move On

Torment 1 is your starting point.

Most strong builds won't even need all of their Aspects online to begin progressing here. Torment 1 also unlocks access to Ancestral gear at 900 Item Power.

Your primary goal is simple:

Get your basic gear together and move on.

Once you reach Level 70, drops from any difficulty will be at least 850 Item Power, meaning it's possible to have a complete set of 850 gear before you even enter Torment 1.

Because of this, Torment 1 will often be something you move through extremely quickly.

If your character can't comfortably progress into Torment 2 yet, that's completely fine. Stay here, continue farming upgrades, and move forward when your character is ready.

Don't worry about perfect Affixes, perfect Aspects, or perfect gear at this point.

Torment 2 – Start Target Farming

Torment 2 increases your chances of finding 900 Item Power Ancestral gear and should be your first real stopping point for farming.

You should always be watching for the Aspects your build needs, but don't feel like you need to complete your entire Aspect setup this early. You'll have much better opportunities to specifically farm Aspects later.

Instead, concentrate on improving your overall gear.

Some of your best options are:

  • Helltides: Open targeted chests for specific gear slots.

  • Nightmare Dungeons: Farm Obols and use them to purchase the gear slots you need from the Purveyor of Curiosity.

  • Infernal Hordes: Open the Equipment Chest for additional gear.

  • Horadric Cube: If you have access to the Cube, you can begin crafting gear, but don't spend too many resources here yet.

Your goal is still progression, not perfection.

Torment 3 – Skip It

If your build is progressing smoothly, there isn't much reason to stop and heavily farm Torment 3.

Continue upgrading your character and push toward Torment 4, where you'll begin working on several of the systems that will shape your final build.

Torment 4–6 – Build the Foundation

This is where your gearing strategy starts to change.

Instead of simply equipping whatever makes your character stronger, you can begin deliberately putting your build together.

During Torment 4 through Torment 6, focus on:

  • Finalizing your Charm Set bonuses

  • Beginning to Masterwork your gear

  • Target farming your important Unique items

  • Farming the Aspects required for your build

You can continue finding Aspects through Helltides, Obols, Infernal Hordes, Undercity, and normal drops.

However, by this point you should also have accumulated enough Pure Primordial Dust to begin upgrading Rare items into Legendary items using the Horadric Cube, assuming you have access to it.

This gives you a much more targeted method of Aspect farming.

How to Target Farm Aspects

You can use Rare items (Yellow) that drop naturally or purchase them from the Purveyor of Curiosities and upgrade them to Legendary items.

When you're purchasing items specifically to turn them Legendary for Aspects, you want to spend as little as possible while also limiting the pool of possible Aspects.

Here's what you should buy:

Amulets

Avoid these for Aspect farming. Amulets have the largest pool of possible Aspects, making them extremely inefficient for targeting something specific.

Rings

Rings can roll Resource and Offensive Aspects.

Use Rings when you're specifically targeting Resource Aspects.

Weapons

Weapons can only roll Offensive Aspects, making them much better than Rings when you're targeting an Offensive Aspect.

If your class can purchase both one-handed and two-handed weapons, purchase one-handed weapons because they're the cheaper option.

Gloves

Gloves can roll Offensive and Utility Aspects.

Because the pool is split between the two categories, they aren't ideal for targeted Aspect farming.

Boots

Boots can roll Mobility and Utility Aspects.

Use Boots when you're targeting either of these categories.

Helm, Chest and Pants

These slots can roll Defensive and Utility Aspects.

Use these when you're looking for Defensive Aspects. Chest and Pants are cheaper than Helms, so prioritize those two whenever possible.

Start Target Farming Your Uniques

Torment 4–6 is also a great time to begin hunting for the specific Unique items your build requires.

Specific Uniques can be targeted by farming bosses. Use the Boss Farming Loot Table linked here as a reference to determine which boss drops the item you're looking for.

One important thing to remember is that bosses are generally around one Torment tier stronger than normal monsters on the Torment tier you're currently playing.

For example, a boss on Torment 4 will feel closer to fighting a Torment 5 monster.

Because of this, it's often a good idea to drop down one or even two Torment tiers when farming bosses during progression.

At this stage, you do not need a perfect 900 Item Power Unique, 850 Item Power is perfectly fine.

You don't even need perfect Affixes.

Your first goal is simply to obtain the Unique you need and get its Unique Power online.

You'll worry about finding better versions later.

Complete Your Charm Sets

Bosses are also an excellent source of Charms, allowing you to work on two progression goals at the same time.

Save the Boss Materials you acquire from activities such as:

Seasonal Ranks, War Plans, Helltide Chests, Legion Events, Whisper Caches, and Undercity.

Then use those materials during this stage to farm your Uniques and Charms together.

Again, don't worry about the Affixes on your Charms yet.

Your priority is completing the set and activating its bonus.

Six-slot Seals are rare during early progression, so don't get stuck trying to find one immediately. Complete your five-piece bonus first and worry about finding the right Seal later.

Also, don't filter out Charms during this stage.

Pick them all up and salvage them at the Enchanter.

You're going to need those materials later.

Torment 7–8 – Start Refining Your Build

Once you reach Torment 7 and Torment 8, you're entering the stage where you can really start refining your character.

Now you can begin focusing on:

  • Getting the correct Affixes

  • Crafting better items with the Horadric Cube

  • Finishing your Masterworking

  • Greater Affixing your Tempers

  • Rerolling your Charm Affixes

  • Replacing temporary gear with pieces closer to your final setup

This is a stage where you should feel comfortable staying for a while.

There is no reason to rush through Torment 7 and Torment 8.

Continue using all of the farming methods from the previous tiers, but now you'll start investing more time and resources into the Enchanter to get the Affixes your build actually wants.

If you have access to the Horadric Cube, that's one of the best places to start.

You can craft an entire set of gear with the Affixes you're looking for with relatively little effort.

Helltides also remain incredibly strong for farming Cube materials. If you're running low, head into Helltides, find the Ruptures, and spend some time replenishing your materials.

Don't Ignore Your Defenses

Torment 7–8 is also where your defensive setup becomes increasingly important.

As you're gearing, don't blindly follow the offensive recommendations in a build planner if your character is struggling to survive.

Taking Maximum Life instead of Main Stat may be the better choice.

Dropping an offensive Affix for additional Armor or Resistances can make a massive difference.

The same applies to your Tempers.

Even if you're following a build guide, it's okay to deviate from it when your character needs something specific.

A dead character does zero damage.

Torment 9–10 – Finish Your Build

Torment 9 is essentially a continuation of the previous tiers.

Your objective now is to finish preparing your character so you can comfortably farm Torment 10.

By this point, your gear should be fully Masterworked.

You don't necessarily need every Masterworking Crit to land on the perfect Affix yet. If you don't have enough materials to repeatedly reset pieces, that's okay.

Get your gear to Masterwork 25 and secure the Pinnacle Crit after 25.

You can optimize individual Masterworking Crits later.

This is also a great time to start pushing higher Pit tiers.

Level your Glyphs as high as you comfortably can. The additional power from your Glyphs can help compensate for damage you may have sacrificed by taking defensive Affixes or Tempers earlier in your progression.

Your ultimate goal during this stage is simple:

Get your character comfortably farming Torment 10.

Torment 10 – You've Made It

Torment 10 is the primary farming goal.

This is where you have access to all of the major increased drop rates you're looking for while gearing your character.

The World Tier information indicates that rewards continue increasing as you move into higher Torment tiers, but you shouldn't feel like you need to immediately push beyond Torment 10.

If your character can comfortably farm Torment 10, you've built a successful character.

Moving into Torment 11 and Torment 12 becomes less about unlocking your core gearing opportunities and more about increasing things such as your experience gains, allowing you to level your Paragon faster.

At this point, you can focus on perfecting the character:

  • Better Ancestral gear

  • Better Greater Affixes

  • Perfect Affix combinations

  • Better Unique rolls

  • Optimized Masterworking Crits

  • Greater Affixed Tempers

  • Optimized Charms

  • Higher Glyph levels

  • Faster farming

The important thing is that you don't need all of those things before reaching Torment 10.

The Biggest Gearing Mistake: Trying to Perfect Gear Too Early

One of the easiest ways to slow down your Diablo 4 progression is trying to create perfect gear before you actually need it.

Your priorities should change as your character gets stronger.

Torment 1–2: Get your basic gear and keep moving.

Torment 4–6: Get your build online. Find your Uniques, Aspects, and Charm Set bonuses.

Torment 7–8: Start refining Affixes, Tempers, Masterworking, and defenses.

Torment 9–10: Finish your gear, level your Glyphs, and establish Torment 10 as your primary farming difficulty.

Torment 11–12: Push your character further and take advantage of the additional experience.

You don't need perfect gear to progress.

Get the pieces your build needs first, build a solid foundation, and optimize when optimization actually matters.