In Diablo 4 Season 4, players delve into an array of new and enhanced crafting systems designed to elevate their gameplay. From acquiring rare items as stepping stones to mastering masterworking and tempering for endgame enhancements, understanding these mechanics is crucial for optimizing your character's potential. Let’s dive into the details of crafting, tempering, and masterworking in Season 4.

Diablo 4 Season 4 Crafting Guide

Rare Items: Rare items in Diablo 4 serve as early progression gear. They are obtained in the early World Tiers 1 and 2 but are quickly outgrown due to their limited affixes. Unlike legendary gear, rare items can only have two affixes and cannot gain a third affix even through imprinting at the occultist. However, they can be salvaged for a significant amount of gold, making them useful for maintaining your in-game economy. The purpose of rare items is mainly to provide early-game gear until you acquire legendary gear with superior affixes.

Aspects in the Codex of Power: The Codex of Power now functions differently in Season 4. Aspects dropped in the game can now be permanently added to your Codex of Power, eliminating the need to repeatedly find and collect low-powered aspects. This change streamlines the aspect acquisition process and ensures that players always have access to a comprehensive list of aspects without fear of losing them.

Item Power 925 Gear: As players progress through World Tiers and level up, they will encounter stronger versions of gear with higher item power levels. Once you reach World Tier 4 and engage with monsters at least level 95, all dropped gear will be of item power 925, the highest in the game. This incentivizes players to continuously upgrade their gear and hunt for the best possible drops to optimize their character's power level.

Greater Affix: Legendary gear can now spawn with a special star, indicating a greater affix. These affixes are 50% stronger than normal affixes and always roll at their maximum value. However, players cannot roll greater affixes onto gear; they must find gear with these affixes already present. Greater affix gear has become sought after in trading circles, adding a new dimension to item acquisition and player interactions.

Diablo 4 Season 4 Tempering Guide

Tempering in Season 4 is a new feature that allows players to enhance their ancestral legendary gear by adding additional stats or affixes. This system is accessed through the blacksmith's tempering tab, where players can select a piece of gear and choose specific affixes based on the gear type. Each gear piece can be tempered up to five times, with each reroll costing materials and gold.

However, tempering introduces a risk of "bricking" gear if players are dissatisfied with the rerolls. Once the five attempts are exhausted, the gear piece cannot be tempered further, potentially leading to undesirable outcomes. While tempering adds depth and customization to gear, it also requires strategic decision-making to avoid bricking valuable items.

Diablo 4 Season 4 Masterworking Guide

Masterworking is an advanced endgame system in Season 4 designed to further enhance and empower gear for tackling challenging content. To initiate master working, players must unlock the Pit of the Artificer by completing a tier 45 Nightmare Dungeon. This unlocks access to Rune Shards, which are used in the Pit of the Artificer challenges to obtain materials like Obusite, Inth, and Neath Iron.

At the blacksmith, players can use these materials and gold to master their gear. Each masterwork step increases all affixes on the gear by 5%, with every fourth upgrade resulting in a critical boost of 25% to a specific stat. Gear can be masterworked up to 12 times, significantly enhancing its effectiveness for high-level gameplay. Additionally, the ability to transmute materials at the Alchemist facilitates ongoing gear enhancement and optimization.

By mastering the crafting, tempering, and master working systems in Diablo 4 Season 4, players can tailor their gear to suit their playstyle, optimize their character's power level, and conquer the game's toughest challenges with confidence.