Diablo 4 has consumable Elixirs that you can find around the world or craft. These give bonuses range from decreased Resource cost to a percentage damage reduction from a specific element. But you don’t care about those things while you’re leveling. What you do care about is the 5% bonus XP you earn while you have an Elixir active. 5% might not sound like a lot, but if it takes you 50 hours to reach level 100, a 5% boost will save you over two hours of grinding.
Exclusive to Season of the Malignant characters, Malignant Tunnels are a great source of XP if your character can handle Malignant Elites. Malignant Tunnels are variants of normal dungeons with guaranteed Malignant Elite monster spawns. These enemies can be slain twice and count as Elite monsters, meaning they give a ton of XP when slain. Paired with the Overgrowth event at the end of every tunnel, you can earn a nice chunk of XP farming these if you have some invokers to spare.
If you’re leveling a new character and don’t wish to be power leveled, the Tree of Whispers is your next best option. Assuming you skip the Diablo 4 campaign at character creation, you’ll have access to the Tree of Whispers from level one. You’ll want to complete ten Grim Favors, speak to the tree, and repeat until you can unlock World Tier 3.
In general, the fastest way of earning Grim Favors is to complete dungeons marked by the Tree of Whispers. These grant five Grim Favor each, providing a cache reward every couple of dungeons. Paired with the XP earned from slaying monsters in these dungeons, you should be able to level from 1-50 much faster than if you did the campaign. This isnt quite as fast as optimal power leveling, but this is a great option for solo players or those creating characters at the start of a new Season.
If you want to do a solo playthrough on your Alt, and are skipping the Campaign (already completed on your Main) but have yet to do all your Renown or acquire your build’s Codex of Power Aspects, you should acquire Renown (Up to Reward Tier 3 in each region until World Tier III – Nightmare Difficulty)/Codex of Power Aspects from regions in the following order:
| Region | Approximate Alt Level Range |
| Fractured Peaks | Levels 1-20 |
| Scosglen | Levels 20-30 |
| Dry Steppes | Levels 30-35 |
| Hawezar | Levels 35-40 |
| Kehjistan | Levels 40-45+ |
If you already have completed the Campaign, Tier 5 Renown Rewards for each region, and have acquired all relevant Codex of Power Aspects for your Alt on your Main, you can take advantage of a couple of fast-leveling strategies. As of Season 1, you only benefit from killing monsters up to 10 levels higher. Beyond this, there are no further benefits to your experience gain.
While progressing from level 1-50, Strongholds offer the best XP gains. While completing Strongholds is a one-and-done activity that technically can’t be repeated, those looking for the most optimal and efficient way to reach level 50 should reach the Stronghold boss and then leave the game. After going back to the main menu, load back into your character and you should be at the entrance to the Stronghold, and find that all enemies within are reset.
From around levels 12-17, you can complete the Malnok and Nostrava Strongholds near Kyovashad, as they both have a minimum level of 15 – the lowest for any Stronghold in Diablo 4.
After reaching level 17, do the same at Onyx Watchtower, Moordaine Lodge, or Hope’s Light, all of which have a minimum level of 20. Reset and repeat these Strongholds until you reach level 22, ensuring that you do not fully complete any by ringing the bell at the end.
From level 22-32, head to Kor Dragan in Fractured Peaks and solely grind this Stronghold. That’s because this has a minimum level of 25, allowing you to make the most of the levelling curve that stays three levels above your character (enemies of three levels or higher above your character level offer the most XP per kill).
Finally, from level 32-45, repeat the Temple of Rot Stronghold. While it might not be the most exciting, this will offer the fastest route to level 45, around which you can switch to World Tier 2 and comfortably complete the Cathedral of Light Capstone Dungeon. This means you’ll be able to move onto endgame content on World Tier 3 as fast as possible.
Certain Dungeons such as Sirocco Caverns (Level 20) and Uldur’s Cave (Level 45) are maximally efficient for both loot and leveling on your Alt. If you farm these dungeons about 5 character levels lower than the minimum levels of the monsters, you can find AND use loot of higher Item Power Tiers than would otherwise be possible at your character level, hyper-accelerating your progression; this is while gaining experience quickly as well! Since the monsters are higher levels than you, a bit of pushback from the monsters is to be expected.