In Diablo 3, level 70 is only the beginning: Greater Rifts, Legendary Gems and the full loot pool are waiting behind it. With the right methods you get there in about an hour on a fresh Season character, and an alt with some help often takes just minutes — after that, your first Paragon levels start rolling in.
At a Glance
- Prepare the Challenge Rift before the Season starts, but only kill the Rift Guardian after the Season start message.
- Create your Seasonal hero, log in with it first and take your follower's weapon.
- Unlock the two leveling seals at the Altar of Rites: doubled kill streaks and items without level requirements.
- Upgrade the Blacksmith, craft level 70 gear and spend Blood Shards at Kadala.
- Level with Massacre streaks, Cursed Chests or Bounties — on a Torment level where enemies die in seconds.
- At level 70: continue the Season Journey, open Greater Rifts, collect Paragon levels.
Choosing the Right Difficulty
Normal through Torment VI are available from level 1. Torment VII to XVI only unlock once you have taken a character to level 70 — so while leveling, you plan with Torment I to VI.
- Rule of thumb: Regular enemies die within a few seconds, the Rift Guardian in 30 seconds at most.
- Only dead monsters count: The experience bonus climbs steeply — +17,000% on Torment XVI compared to Normal — but it only pays off if you kill fast. If things get sluggish, drop one level.
- Greater Rifts: Only the rift level matters for experience there, not the difficulty setting.
Season Start: Cache and Altar of Rites
The Challenge Rift Cache
The weekly Challenge Rift rewards you with a cache — in Season 39 it contained, among other things, 475 Blood Shards (enough for 19 armor pieces at Kadala) and about 5.1 million gold.
- Timing: Season 40 "Light's Calling" starts on Friday, October 2, 2026 at 5 p.m. CEST on the European servers. You can start the rift beforehand, but only kill the Rift Guardian once the Season start message has appeared. Then log in with your Seasonal hero first.
- Open or save it? The 15th Altar sacrifice requires one of these caches. If you open it, you'll be stuck there until the next Challenge Rift — around 83 hours after Season start in Europe. If you'll play less than roughly 15 hours until then, open it: it saves about 30 to 90 minutes of leveling.
Two Altar Seals for Fast Leveling
The Altar of Rites stands in New Tristram and has been a permanent part of every Season since Season 30. You pay the sacrifices in a fixed order, but you choose the seals yourself:
- Gateway: Doubles the duration and bonus of your kill streaks. The first sacrifice costs 10 Reusable Parts — salvage the Templar's shield and the Scoundrel's bow to get them.
- Anointed: Lets you wear level 70 gear from level 1. The second sacrifice costs one Flawless Diamond, 15 Arcane Dust and 20 Reusable Parts.
Then use the gold and materials from the cache to upgrade the Blacksmith and craft level 70 gear — start with a two-handed weapon, helm and boots.
Leveling Methods 1–70 Compared
Benchmark times for a fresh Seasonal hero with Altar seals; the fastest players hit level 70 in 30 to 45 minutes.
Massacre Streaks (0:30–1:15 h)
Kill at least 15 enemies in quick succession and a Massacre streak begins. When it ends, all experience from the streak is multiplied, and the multiplier grows with the number of kills — long streaks can push you several levels at once.
- Outside of rifts only: Massacre bonuses are disabled in Nephalem Rifts and Greater Rifts. Play dense Adventure Mode zones instead.
- Ideal solo, because you control every streak yourself.
- In a group, a kill only counts for players who hit that enemy at least once.
Cursed Chests (about 0:45 h in a group, 1:00–1:30 h solo)
These events with big enemy waves exist in Acts I, II, III and V, but not in Act IV. After each run, everyone searches their own game for the next suitable bounty. A Necromancer with Corpse Explosion can often carry the group through the lower Torment levels alone.
Bounties (1:15–1:45 h)
Slower, but you complete Season Journey objectives along the way and collect gold, materials and Horadric Caches. Work through one act at a time and do the boss bounty first — with crafted level 70 gear you get relatively weaker as you level up. Pick up at least one Horadric Cache from Tyrael only once you're level 70, otherwise you'll lack Jeweler designs for the Season Journey later. Details in the Bounties guide.
Nephalem Rifts (2–3 h)
The simplest but slowest method. There are no Massacre bonuses in rifts; pick a Torment level where a run takes 3–5 minutes.
Power Leveling with Help
With a strong level 70 character at your side, an alt often reaches level 70 in a few minutes — even faster with a Gem of Ease, whose bonus applies to the whole party. Stay close to your helper.
Experience Gear: What Actually Helps
Gem of Ease
The Gem of Ease is the only Legendary Gem you socket into a weapon.
- Effect: Monster kills grant +500 experience, +50 per rank, up to +8,000 at rank 150. The value scales with Torment level, not with Greater Rift level.
- Rank 25: The level requirement of the weapon is set to 1.
- Source: It only drops from Rift Guardians in Greater Rifts, so at level 70 at the earliest — too late for your first Seasonal hero, ideal for alts. For Paragon, the flat bonus is irrelevant. More on upgrading it in the Legendary Gems guide.
- Cube recipe: In Kanai's Cube, a Gem of Ease at rank 25 or higher removes the level requirement of any item (Work of Cathan); the gem is consumed in the process.
Ruby in the Helm and Leoric's Crown
A Ruby in your helm increases experience: Ruby +10%, Square Ruby +20%, Marquise Ruby +33%, Imperial Ruby +35% and Flawless Royal Ruby +41% (4.1% at level 70).
Leoric's Crown increases the effect of a regular gem by 75–100% — with a Flawless Royal Ruby that's up to +82% experience according to the tooltip. In the campaign it's considered a sure drop from the Skeleton King on your first kill, as long as your hero is between levels 5 and 65.
Hellfire Ring, Sets and What Gives No Experience
- Hellfire Ring: +45% experience (4.5% at level 70), with no level requirement. Its ingredients only come from the uber bosses on Torment I or higher — an item for alts, not for Season start.
- Hellfire Amulet: a random class passive, but no experience.
- Cain's Destiny: 2 pieces: +8% attack speed and +50% experience (5% at level 70); 3 pieces: 25% chance for an extra Greater Rift Keystone.
- Born's Command: 3 pieces: +20% experience (2% at level 70) and 10% cooldown reduction.
Both are craftable level 70 sets — while leveling, you can only wear them with the Altar seal or the cube recipe.
Shrines, Pools and the Group Bonus
- Enlightened Shrine: +25% experience from kills for 2 minutes, not available in Greater Rifts.
- Pool of Reflection: +25% on all experience, including completion rewards, until a bonus reserve is used up. You can stack up to 10 pools; the reserve is per character and is lost on death.
- Strength in Numbers: +10% experience per additional player, up to +30% in a full group — only when you're close together (about 1.5 screens) and only for kills.
Season Journey and Haedrig's Gift
As of Season 39, Chapter I of the Season Journey requires level 50 and Chapter II level 70 — it rewards the first of three gifts from Haedrig. Chapter III asks for Horadric Caches from all five acts. What to watch out for when opening the gifts is covered in the Season Starter guide; the Season 40 sets are listed on the Season 40 page.
Your First Paragon Levels
From level 70 on, all experience goes into Paragon levels, and each one grants a point.
- Separate pools: Softcore and Hardcore, each Seasonal and non-Seasonal — four pools, additionally separated by region. At the end of a Season, your Seasonal experience is added to your non-Seasonal pool.
- Rotation: Points cycle through Core, Offense, Defense and Utility. From Paragon 800 on, every point goes into Core, where your primary stat and Vitality take unlimited points.
- Greater Rifts: Their experience increases by about 8% per rift level up to level 70, and by about 5% per level after that; roughly half of it comes from closing the rift. Run levels you can clear quickly.
- Permanent pool: In Seasons, the Mirror seal at the Altar gives you a Pool of Reflection that refreshes itself. Without it, hunting for pools usually only pays off from around Paragon 2,500.
Which stats to fill first is explained in the Paragon guide.
Common Mistakes
- Killing the Rift Guardian too early: You've thrown away the cache for Season start.
- Too high a Torment level: Enemies that live long cost more than the bonus gives.
- Expecting Massacres in rifts: There are no streak bonuses there.
- Turning in every Horadric Cache before level 70: You'll be missing Jeweler designs later.
- Mistaking the Hellfire Amulet for an XP item: Only the ring gives experience.
- Misclicking the Gem of Ease: The cube recipe consumes it.
FAQ
How long does it take to get from level 1 to 70?
With Altar seals and Massacre streaks usually 30 to 75 minutes, with Bounties 1:15 to 1:45 hours. Using only Nephalem Rifts, expect two to three hours.
Which difficulty is best for leveling?
The highest one where enemies still die in seconds and the Rift Guardian goes down in 30 seconds or less. Until level 70, Normal through Torment VI are available.
Is the Gem of Ease worth it for my first Seasonal hero?
No, it only drops in Greater Rifts and therefore at level 70 at the earliest. For alts, it's one of the best leveling items.
Do Massacre streaks work in Nephalem Rifts?
No, they're disabled there. Play dense Adventure Mode zones instead.
Do all my heroes share Paragon levels?
Yes, within one pool: Softcore, Hardcore, Seasonal and non-Seasonal are tracked separately, and each region has its own.
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