In the days since the official launch of Diablo 4, several players have already beaten the game's campaign and caught up with the Ultimate and Deluxe Edition owners who have been playing for a week. While the main campaign of Diablo 4 isn't meager by any means, at roughly 30 hours it's also not too daunting of an undertaking for anyone committed to hours of dungeon crawling action. The campaign is just the tip of the game's iceberg, though, as there is a bevy of content for players to dig into alongside the main story missions both during and after the campaign.
Before the launch of the game's live-service model with the first Battle Pass and Season in late July, players that have finished Diablo 4's campaign are arguably just beginning to get into the real heart of what the game has to offer. In addition to having the largest map of any Diablo game to-date, there are still the incredibly challenging Capstone and Nightmare Dungeons for players to attempt, Aspects to collect, and builds to perfect through the Paragon Boards. Even after rolling credits on the story, there's plenty of ground to cover and activities to sink time into across Sanctuary.
Capstone and Nightmare Dungeons Represent Diablo 4's Toughest Challenges
The first thing that players will want to do after beating the campaign is attempt the newly-unlocked Capstone Dungeons. Capstone Dungeons are only accessible after completing the main story and are two massive dungeons with level caps of 50 and 70. Each dungeon features unique bosses and loot, including some of the build-changing legendaries that most players will be seeking out as part of Diablo 4's post-game progression. Completing a Capstone Dungeon unlocks World Tier 3, which subsequently allows players to collect Nightmare Sigils.
The Nightmare Sigils can be used to turn any dungeon in Sanctuary to a Nightmare Dungeon. Nightmare Dungeons are aptly-named challenges that transform the layouts and enemy encounters of the game's dungeons and are where players will likely acquire some of the best loot that Diablo 4 has on offer. Players are also likely to encounter a Helltide in a Nightmare Dungeon, which is a timed-event that grants power to Lilith's minions and spawns tougher enemies for players to fight.
Enter the Endgame of Diablo 4 by Increasing World Tier and Completing Paragon Boards
Beating one of the two Capstone Dungeons unlocks the ability for players to scale up to World Tier 3, which trades off the increased challenge with increased gold and EXP rewards. But World Tier 3 isn't the end, as once players are high-enough level and better-equipped to beat the Level 70 Capstone Dungeon they're ready to tackle World Tier 4. Similar to World Tier 3, World Tier 4 offers the greatest monetary and experience rewards for slaying foes but also finally gives players access to Sacred and Unique Diablo 4 items.
In addition to continuing to explore the map and taking on tougher challenges, the post-campaign endgame of Diablo 4 is where Paragon Boards will come into focus as the greatest opportunity that players have to customize their build and progress their character to the peak of its power. The Paragon Glyphs allow for skill specializations as part of specific build strategies and can completely change the way players approach their character as they enter the true endgame of Diablo 4. Fans have yet to see how Diablo 4 will expand following the beginnings of the game's live-service content, but already there's more than enough content to keep players busy for weeks after completing the campaign.
Diablo 4 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.