What can you do as a free member?

Member benefits illustration

Create your free account today and unlock all our premium features and tools to enhance your gaming experience.

Member benefits illustration

Create your free account today and save articles to your watchlist and get notified when they're updated with new information.

Member benefits illustration

Create your free account today and save your favorite games for quick access later, synced across all your devices.

Member benefits illustration

By creating a Game8 account and logging in, you'll receive instant notifications when someone replies to your posts.

Comment rating feature illustration

By creating a Game8 account and logging in, you can make use of convenient features in the comments section, such as rating and sorting comments.

Premium archive feature illustration

By creating a Game8 account and logging in, you can access Premium articles that are exclusively available to members.

Site Interface

Guest
Free Member
Article Watchlist
Game Bookmarks
Cross-device Sync
Light/Dark Theme Toggle
User Profiles
Direct Feedback
Comment Rating

Game Tools

Guest
Free Member
Interactive Map Access
Interactive Map Pins
Interactive Map Comments
Interactive Map Pins Cross-Device
Check List
Event Choice Checker
Deck Builder Cross-Device
Message Board Notification
Message Board Cross-Device
Build Planner
Stat Calculator
Diagnostic Tool
Weapon/Armor Wishlist

Want more information?Learn more

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred (D4)

Best Equipment for Early Game

Add to Watchlist

★ NEW: Season 10 Guide | Season 10 Release Date
┗ Seasonal Content: Chaos Rifts | New Uniques
┗ Seasonal Mechanic: List of Chaos Perks & Chaos Armor
★ Season 10 Best Builds & Best Chaos Perks
★ Check out our Vessel of Hatred expansion guide

Diablo 4 - Best Equipment for Early Game

Knowing the best equipment to wear for the early game in Diablo 4 (D4) can provide a smoother leveling experience. Learn more about the best items and gear to wear in the early game and which affixes and stats to look out for!

List of Contents

Best Equipment for Early Game

Tips and Strategies for Early Game Gearing
Check Icon Prioritize Gear with Higher Rarity and Item Power
Check Icon Watch for Skill Boosts and Primary Stat Affixes
Check Icon Save Unused Legendaries for Aspect Extraction
Check Icon Weapon Choice Depends on Class and Aspects

Prioritize Gear with Higher Rarity and Item Power

Diablo 4 - Prioritize Gear with Higher Rarity and Item Power

While leveling your character, one general rule of thumb is to prioritize weapons, armor, and jewelry with higher rarity and item power. Rare and Legendary gear often features more affixes and higher item power, which increases the range and values of the stats your affixes can roll.

Watch for Skill Boosts and Primary Stat Affixes

Diablo 4 - Watch for Skill Boosts and Primary Stat Affixes

When comparing two items of similar rarities and item level, we recommend prioritizing gear that provides boosts to your class's primary stat and bonuses to your build's preferred skills, as these two affix types will generally enhance your damage output the most.

Aside from these two affixes, we also recommend watching out for effects that provide bonuses to Movement Speed, Cooldown Reduction, and your build's damage types to make your progression much smoother.

Save Legendaries for Aspect Extraction

Diablo 4 - Occultist Aspect Extraction

If you find Legendaries that are worse than your current gear or swap your current Legendaries for better items, remember that you can extract their Aspects at the Occultist. Extracting Aspects allows you to store a Legendary item's unique effect and imprint them onto better equipment later in the game.

However, note that extracting Aspects will permanently destroy the original item and that you can only imprint an extracted Aspect once.

All Occultist Features

Weapon Choice Depends on Class and Aspects

When choosing between different weapon types, first look into your class's specific weapon-based skills and mechanics to determine which fits better into your build. For example, the Barbarian's Arsenal System lets them select expertise for a weapon type and gain unique bonuses based on the weapon chosen.

In addition, note that Aspects found and imprinted on two-handed weapons are 100% more effective. This characteristic makes players choose between having one powerful Aspect on a two-handed weapon or the utility of having two different Aspects on two separate weapons.

Diablo 4 Related Guides

Diablo 4 - Tips and Tricks

Beginner Guides and Best Tips for Getting Started

Tips and Tricks

Starter Guides
Skill Tree Explained List of Controls
Character Customization Options How to Make a Battle.Net Account
Best Settings for PC Best Settings for Console
Difficulty Settings and World Tiers Guide Best World Tier: Adventurer or Veteran?
List of All Status Effects: Buffs and Debuffs Compatible Video Card List
Best Equipment for Early Game Can You Play Split Screen?
PC Controller Support Best Quest Order
What to Spend Gold On Combat Guide: How to Beat Hard Enemies
Stat Guide: All Stats Explained Early Game Guide: What to Do First
Tips and Tricks
Respec Cost Guide EXP Farming Guide
Battle Pass Guide Renown System Guide
Where to Sell Items Faded Plaque Puzzle Solutions
How to Summon the Golem What is Hardcore Mode?
How to Get a Whispering Key and Open Silent Chests How to Highlight All Interactables
Elective Mode: How to Assign Skills Can You Change Classes?
How to Stagger Bosses How to Create a Clan
List of Shrine Effects How to Get Missed Legendary Drops
Legendary Farming Guide List of Challenges and Titles
Trophies and Achievements Guide Multiplayer Guide: How to Play Co-Op With Friends
How to Use Aspects How to Skip Campaign and What Carries Over
How to Claim All Rewards and Preorder Bonuses How to Farm Expertise Quickly
How to Teleport to a Party Member's Location How to Evade
Party Bonuses and Group Scaling Explained What is Level Scaling?
Mutterlock Chest Puzzle: How to Open How to Get the Darkblade
What Does Mark For Blood Do? Powerleveling Guide
How to Make a Build How to Clear Dungeons Fast
How to Trade Best Season Blessing for Season 1
How to Hunt for Treasure Goblins Close vs Distant Explained
What is Strength What is Dexterity
What is Intelligence What is Willpower
How to Reset Dungeons What is the Armor Cap?
How to Unlock Pets How to Use the Party Finder Feature
How to Skip Cutscenes How to Level Mercenaries Fast
The Armory Explained -
Endgame Content
What to Do After the Campaign Leaderboards Release Date
Ancestral Items Guide How to Farm Uniques
Class Specializations
Barbarian Arsenal System Rogue Specialization
Sorcerer Enchantments Druid Spirit Boons
Necromancer Book of the Dead -
FAQs
What is the Max Level? Should You Uninstall the Beta?
Can You Zoom Out? Do You Need to Play Diablo 3 First?
Are There Set Items in Diablo 4? Does Diablo 4 Have Followers?
Can You Change Your Name? How to Use Two-Handed Weapons
What Is the Maximum Party Size? Can You Augment Equipment?
Where is Kyovashad? What to Inscribe into the Wood in Kyovashad
Is There WASD Movement? How to Update Graphics Drivers
How to Change Voice and Text Language List of Accessibility Features
Should You Use Keyboard or Controller? How to Show FPS and Latency
Campaign Length: How Long to Beat Should you Sell or Salvage?
How to Save What Happens If You Die?
What Happens When Items Break? Is There A Guest Pass?
How to Use Voice Chat List of Hairstyles and Hair Colors
Can You Minimize the Map? How to Save Outfits
How to Take Screenshots on PC Rarity Explained: What Does Rarity Affect?
Is Deckard Cain in Diablo 4? Is There a Monthly Fee?
Is Loot Shared Between Characters? Missables and One-Time Events Guide
Best Character Name: Are Names Unique? List of Secrets and Easter Eggs
Are There Private Servers? Is There a Loot Filter?
What Are Archetype Caches? Paragon Migration Explained
What are Extractable Aspects? -

Comment

Post (0 Comments)

Author

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Walkthrough Team
This article was created by Game8's elite team of writers and gamers.
    Leave feedback(Login required)
    Please participate in our site
    improvement survey
    12/2025
    Would you assist in
    improving Game8's site?
    ×
    This survey will take about 1 minute.
    Your answers will help us to improve our website.
    We are listening to our users' valuable opinions and discussing how to act on them.
    The information collected through this survey will be used for the purpose of improving our services. In addition, the information will only be disclosed a part of a statistic in a format that will not allow identification of personal information.
    Begin Survey
    Not Now
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Advertisements.
    Amount of Ads
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Placement of Ads
    Timing of Ad Display
    Ad Loading Speed
    Safeness of Ads
    Content of Ads
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Quality of Articles.
    Amount of information
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Frequency of updates
    Speed of new information
    Accuracy of articles
    Understandibility of articles
    Readability of sentences
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Usability of the Site.
    Ease of finding information
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Loading Speed
    Use of Color
    Font Size
    Visibility of Images
    Easy to Understand Layout
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Message Boards, Comments.
    Ease of Writing
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Readability
    Ease in Finding Information
    Comment Quality
    Comment Quantity
    Admin Response
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Site's new design.
    Please rate our site's new design
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Do you think that the website's design change makes the site easier to use?
    Has the new design made it easier for you to find information on the site?
    Has the new design improved the overall visual appeal of the site?
    How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the new design of the site?
    ×
    How likely are you to recommend Game8 to someone you know?
    Very Unlikely
    0
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10
    Very Likely
    If you have other opinions regarding potential improvement to the website, please share them with us. We would appreciate your honest opinion.
    Note: This is a free response section, so you can proceed without entering anything.
    Note: Please be sure not to enter any kind of personal information into your response.
    ×
    Thank You
    ×
    Thank you for participating in our survey! Your answers will help us to improve the quality of our website and services.
    We hope you continue to make use of Game8.
    Close
    For other opinions or comments, go here.

    Rankings

    Popular Articles
    Message Board
    • We could not find the message board you were looking for.

    Gaming News

    Best PS5 RPGs (December 2025)

    Best PS5 RPGs (December 2025)

    Popular Games

    Recommended Games

    All rights reserved

    ©2022 BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
    All trademarks referenced herein are the properties of their respective owners.

    The copyrights of videos of games used in our content and other intellectual property rights belong to the provider of the game.
    The contents we provide on this site were created personally by members of the Game8 editorial department.
    We refuse the right to reuse or repost content taken without our permission such as data or images to other sites.

    Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Walkthrough & Guides Wiki

    Quick Access
    Guide Index

    Season 11

    Season 10

    Seasons FAQs

    Builds

    Season 10 Endgame Builds

    Season 10 Leveling Builds

    Events

    Classes

    Bosses

    Lair Boss Guides

    Dungeon Boss Guides

    Unique Items

    Unique Items per Class

    Vessel of Hatred

    Mercenaries

    Game Mechanics and Activies

    Aspects

    Aspects by Type

    Runewords

    Items

    All Consumables

    All Upgrade Materials

    Tips and Tricks

    Starter Guides

    Tips, Tricks, and Game Mechanics

    Currency Farming Guides

    Endgame Content

    Class Specializations

    FAQs

    Transmog and Cosmetics

    Maps and Regions

    Waypoint Locations

    Cellar Locations

    Story Walkthrough

    Priority Quests

    Class Specialization Quests

    Side Quests

    World Bosses

    Dungeons

    Capstone Dungeons

    Strongholds

    Fractured Peaks Strongholds

    Dry Steppes Strongholds

    Hawezar Strongholds

    Scosglen Strongholds

    Kehjistan Strongholds

    Nahantu Strongholds

    Tempering System

    Gems

    Affixes

    Skills

    Paragon

    Glossary

    NPCs

    All NPC Vendors

    All PvP NPC Vendors

    Mounts

    Altars of Lilith

    Cow Level

    PVP (Fields of Hatred)

    World Events

    Rare Spawns and Drops

    Shop Bundles

    Latest News and Events

    News and Info

    Other News

    Updates and Patch Notes

    All Bugs and Error Codes

    Characters

    All Activision Blizzard Wikis