Tips for Starting Season 6

Diablo 3 launched a new season on April 29th, so it's time to boot it back up for a while. Unlike previous seasons, not too much has changed this time around. Blizzard took the time to address balance issues, improved the game's quality of life, and added quite a bit of new transmogs.

One of the most important quality of life changes (or bug fix depending on how you look at it) is how bounty completion works. You no longer have to worry about completing Act III and Act IV bounties out of order and missing the bonus cache.

As an additional reward for this season, completing the Conquerer season journey gets you another stash tab.

Focus on one class and one (or two) builds.

Seasons are short enough that you'll want to play one character, especially early on in the season. This allows you to level up 3 legendary gems quickly and make your character strong enough to effectively farm higher level greater rifts and Torment X (T10).

While Haedrig's Gift gets you a free set extremely early in the season (more on that next), it shouldn't determine what class you play. That being said, it will make the early paragon levels easier.

• Barbarian - Legacy of Raekor (Furious Charge build)
• Crusader - Armor of Akkhan (Condemn build)
• Demon Hunter - Embodiment of the Marauder (Sentry build)
• Monk - Inna’s Mantra (Pet build)
• Witch Doctor - Zunimassa’s Haunt (Pet build)
• Wizard - Delsere’s Magnum Opus (Slow Time)

Demon Hunters and monks are going to have the easiest time getting going with Haedrig's Gift this season, their sets are slightly stronger for farming higher torment levels early on (not necessarily speed farming, but they are strong and safe). The sets given to barbarians and wizards are better for pushing greater rifts. Crusaders and witch doctors have the weakest sets this season.

Wizards appear to the be the strongest class again this season. Barbarians are in a good place for both solo and group play this season. Monks and witch doctors are solid for supporting groups, but appear to be a little weak on the solo side of things. Demon Hunters are going to struggle in groups, will do alright for solo play.

Get your set pieces as quickly as possible.

Like the previous season, you'll have access to a full set of gear relatively quickly after hitting level 70. You'll need to complete the following three quests to get your Haedrig's Gift pieces:

• Reach Level 70 (Chapter III)
• Defeat Izual at level 70 on Torment II or higher (Chapter IV)
• Complete a Greater Rift Level 20 solo (Chapter IV)

All three of these are pretty easy, most two-piece bonuses will get you into Torment 2 (T2) and a four piece bonus should make level 20 greater rifts (GR20) a breeze.

Farm Greater Rifts until Paragon 250.

First off, Paragon 250 allows you to join public games at Torment 10 (T10) difficulty. Second, greater rifts are the best way to get experience.

Once you hit paragon 250, your strategy should be the following:

1. Farm the highest level greater rift your character can do without failing the boss (ideally in slightly less than 10 minutes); you can do this solo, with a few friends, or in a group (I personally don't like doing greater rifts in public games, but other people might have different opinions).
2. Farm bounties in public games for crafting materials (on T10); try to farm the keywarden in each act while doing bounties if keywardens aren't completely out of the way (or wait until after all the bounties are done).
3. Farm T10 rifts in public games for greater rift keys.

Note: Whenever you open a private game, do a quick key run before starting solo greater rifts.

Run bounties. Run lots and lots of bounties.

The majority of end game contnet revolves around the stuff that comes from bounties. In addition to the act bounty crafting materials, it's the best source for Reusable Parts and Arcane Dust. Killing elite packs in the process will get you a reasonable amount of Death's Breath too.

Outside of that, bounties help take the repetitive nature of running rifts out the game. It's a great way to change up what you do while playing the game.

Keep an eye out for key items for your Horadric Cube.

Certain gear is great to have on your build somewhere while farming T10 rifts or farming mid-to-high level greater rifts. The following items are always good to have:

• Nemesis Bracers - Nemesis Bracers are always priority number one for me. They allow you to farm Death's Breaths much easier and they let you speed run greater rifts much faster (the extra elite packs are always welcome)
• Broken Crown - Putting a Broken Crown in your cube or having one available for particular areas is a great option, especially the vault or fighting a gem goblin; otherwise, opening chests after boss fights during bounties is another good source of gems.
• Leoric's Crown - More of a leveling item, the Leoric's Crown basically doubles the benefit of whatever gem is in your helm. Best for rubies during the leveling process or diamonds at max level for 25% cooldown reduction.
• Cindercoat - Reducing the cost of fire skills makes resource heavy builds for some classes much easier (like the wizard, demon hunter, and monk).
• The Furnace - One of the strongest weapons in the game, an additional 50% damage to elites is better than just about any other combination of items in the game.
• In geom - The favorite item of most speed farming builds, there's always a home for its unique ability in your cube.
• Unity - Having a Unity in your cube and equipping your follower with another one and a relic that prevents them from dying will reduce damage taken by 50%.
• Convention of Elements - Probably the best ring in the game, cubing it guarentees a perfect roll, so it's normally worth 50% increased damage (but realistically more, since you can time your abilities).
• Ring of Royal Grandeur - Get one from Act I bounties and put it in your cube. It will open up your builds quite a bit and there isn't too much competition in the jewelry slot (outside of Unity or Convention of Elements).
• Avarice Band/Goldwrap - This combination of gear between your armor and ring slot will make you virtually unkillable (especially when paired with a level 25+ Boon of the Hoarder)

Note: Hexing Pants of Mr. Yan are the best legendary pants in the game, but not necessarily good for the cube for that reason (there's no competition in that slot).

I left out class-specific or build-specific gear because you'll know what you're looking for when you look up builds. The list above is meant to be general purpose.