Aside from leveling up, acquiring and equipping gear is one of the primary ways to increase your combat effectiveness in Diablo 4. Therefore, your ability to progress effectively after entering the endgame is heavily influenced by the strength of your gear.

For this reason, Diablo 4 offers a variety of ways to enhance gear, such as upgrading affixes through Masterworking or embedding runes into gear to enhance it.

Although runes were first introduced to Diablo 4 via Vessel of Hatred DLC, they quickly gained popularity and played a significant role in most subsequent seasons. Below, we’ll explain the main methods for farming runes in Season 9.

About Runes

Besides being embedded into gear as enhancements, runes are also a currency for crafting specific Mythic Unique items. Furthermore, if you insert one Rune of Ritual and one Rune of Invocation into a two-slot piece of gear, they form a Runeword.

Furthermore, the utilization of runes is not unlimited. For more information, please refer to the following guidelines:

• You must obtain Vessel of Hatred expansion to farm and utilize runes.
• A single rune has no effect unless combined with other runes to form a Runeword.
• You can equip up to two Runewords at a time.
• You cannot equip the same rune twice.
• Runes can be stacked and traded.
• You can find runes on your character’s Socketable tab.
• If you wish to remove your runes, you can do so from a Jeweler.

One important thing to note is that if you want to sell excess gear to other players for Diablo 4 gold, be sure to check if the gear has runes attached to it before completing the trade. Otherwise, you will not be able to retrieve the runes separately once the trade is completed.

Also, Mythic Uniques that can be crafted from runes are typically determined by the rune’s nature, not randomly. If you have too many of the same rune, you can consume them to craft additional random runes.

How Do Runewords Work?

Runewords are actually a pair of linked Rune of Ritual and Rune of Invocation, which work together to trigger the desired gear bonus. Rune of Ritual generates offerings, which empower Rune of Invocation and trigger its effects.

Which Mythic Uniques Can Runes Be Used To Craft?

If you only have Resplendant Sparks, you can only use them to craft random Mythic Uniques. However, if you can combine Resplendant Sparks with runes at Jeweler, you can craft exclusive Mythic Unique you want!

How To Farm Runes In Season 9?

Before you start farming runes, you must complete Fundament of Faith chapter in DLC campaign; otherwise, runes won’t drop in-game.

Defeating All Bosses

Diablo 4 has multiple bosses to defeat in any season. World bosses in Season 9 are relatively easy to defeat and drop common rewards like gold or runes. While the rarity isn’t usually high, the quantity is still quite good.

Also, the lair bosses included in the endgame content, while more difficult to defeat, have a higher chance of dropping runes and a higher rarity. However, to obtain their loot, you must farm lair keys in advance to unlock boss hoards.

Also, if you own Vessel of Hatred, you’ll also receive runes from the first time you defeat campaign bosses in this DLC after the start of each season - but only once per season.

Farming Kurast Undercity

This dungeon was released with DLC, making it the primary dungeon for farming runes. Kurast Undercity is timed; upon entering, a countdown begins. Once the timer expires, you’ll be teleported out, regardless of how much loot you’ve collected.

However, you can extend your farming time by killing as many enemies as possible in the dungeon, earning more rewards. Alternatively, you can earn special tributes by completing other Diablo 4 events to increase the chance of rune drops:

• Tribute of Mystique: Offer it to Undercity Spirit Brazier to earn Magic Runes at Attunement Rank 1 (usable at all difficulty levels).
• Tribute of Harmony: Offer it to Undercity Spirit Brazier to earn Magic Runes at Attunement Rank 1 (usable only in Torment difficulties).

Obtaining Augment Caches

Starting in Season 6, you can begin hiring mercenaries. In addition to assisting you in battle, you can also gain additional benefits by improving your relationship with them.

For example, if your relationship with Aldkin reaches Rapport VIII, you can find an Augment Cache at Bartering vendor in Mercenary zone, The Den. Opening it has a chance of receiving Shattered Prisms, gems, or runes.

Reforging Runes

If you have too many low-level runes, you can reforge them at Jeweler to obtain a random new rune. Three runes of the same quality have a chance of being randomly converted into a higher-quality rune.

• 4,000 Gold + 3 Magic Runes: 85% chance of generating a Magic Rune, 15% chance of upgrading to a Rare Rune.
• 4,000 Gold + 3 Rare Runes: 85% chance of generating a Rare Rune, 15% chance of upgrading to a Legendary Rune.
• 4,000 Gold + 3 Legendary Runes: Generates a new Legendary Rune.

That’s all we have to say about runes farming in Season 9! We hope it helps you with your rune accumulation!

Diablo 4 features a rich item system. These items not only support you in completing more challenging battles and quests, but also serve as your goal for diligent farming to advance in the game.

While theoretically, the more of any item, the better, the different mechanics and gameplay of each season indicate that each season has a set of items that deserve your priority farming and stockpiling as much as possible.

For Season 9, these items primarily include lair keys for each lair boss, runes, and Obducite. Even as the season nears its midpoint, these items remain your primary consumables for character enhancement.

Based on the recent Diablo 4 Season 9 performance, we’ll provide a detailed explanation of why and how to farm Obducites.

About Obducites

This item is essentially an upgrade material for gear. Masterworking allows you to upgrade your gear by Obducites from rank 1 to 4 at a blacksmith, making gear affixes stronger. It is only applicable to Ancestral Legendary and Unique Items.

Obducites aren’t the only consumable items for Masterworking from ranks 1 to 4, Diablo 4 gold, Veiled Crystal, Rawhide, and Iron Chunk are also essential. However, aside from gold, the demand for Obducites increases the fastest with rank.

Therefore, when you first start farming gear that can be upgraded by Masterworking, you’ll need a large amount of Obducites to upgrade it as quickly as possible. Therefore, it’s recommended that you make Obducites your primary item farming target in Diablo 4 Season 9.

How To Farm Obducites?

Initially, you could only obtain Obducites by running The Pit, but this was too limited and could potentially hinder your gear upgrade progress. Therefore, after Season 6, Obducites’ farming sources have become much more diverse.

Escalating Nightmares

Although this dungeon was released after Season 9, it’s essentially a chain of three regular Nightmare dungeons, which have been one of the primary Obducites farming locations since Season 6.

While Diablo 4 Obducites can typically be dropped by any enemy in a Nightmare dungeon, Escalating Nightmares is unique in that it grants combat buffs or debuffs to the next built-in dungeon by dungeon affixes before you enter it.

As a result, if you acquire Obducite-related affixes, or the affixes simply increase the amount of loot you receive before entering Escalating Nightmares, you’ll be able to obtain more Obducites than before.

However, to access this dungeon, you must obtain Escalation Sigils. The first Escalation Sigil can be obtained by completing the seasonal questline, and the more require clearing Horadric Strongrooms at Torment 1-4 difficulty and opening the caches obtained.

Horadric Strongrooms

This seasonal built-in dungeon not only drops items that unlock Escalating Nightmares, but also a small number of Obducites. The entrance to a Strongroom will typically appear randomly while exploring a Nightmare dungeon.

After unlocking a Horadric Strongroom, you’ll need to use your Wayfinder to locate the dungeon’s portal entrance and defeat the surrounding guards to enter. The higher the difficulty and Wayfinder level, the faster you’ll find the portal.

In the dungeon, you’ll need to activate a Horadric Artifact Pillar and kill the enemies that appear to trigger the ritual. Afterward, continue clicking the artifact pillar in the new room to spawn more waves of enemies, earning more rewards, including Obducites.

In addition to loot, you can also collect Horadric Attunements during battles to redeem them for more rewards. Defeating the dungeon boss will grant you a Grand Horadric Cache, which can also yield Obducites.

Kurast Undercity

As one of Diablo 4’s main dungeons, Kurast Undercity was released with Vessel of Hatred expansion, so using it to farm Obducites requires you to own this DLC.

This dungeon is also unique in that it’s timed, and the higher the difficulty and level, the shorter the time. However, if you manage to kill Afflicted Monsters, you can restore the time in varying increments.

However, to access this dungeon and farm Obducites, you need to get Tribute of Refinement to unlock it. Fortunately, this item can be obtained by clearing Nightmare dungeons and Infernal Hordes.

Infernal Hordes

Infernal Hordes is a wave-based survival mode culminating in a unique boss battle. Your goal is to complete all waves and defeat Fell Council without using up all your resurrections, while also collecting Burning Aether to redeem Spoils of Hell chests.

These chests may contain gear, gold, and various crafting materials, including Obducites. To obtain sufficient Obducites through Infernal Hordes, you must slay more demons and collect more Burning Aether.

Each Infernal Hordes encounter has a 60-second timer, during which various events and demons may spawn. You don’t need to eliminate every demon on-screen before the timer expires; instead, you simply need to survive all the waves while collecting Burning Aether.

Because of the interconnectivity of unlocked items, you can actually run all the above dungeons or events continuously to maximize your Obducite farming efficiency within the limited timeframe.

This is the main information about Obducites farming in Diablo 4 Season 9. We hope it helps you enjoy the game!

Perhaps because the season mechanics themselves haven’t been particularly innovative, this year’s Diablo 4 seems to be making a habit of adding extra events during the seasons to keep you playing.

For example, there was March of the Goblins event in Season 7 back in March, Berserk crossover during Season 8, and Gift of the Tree event in Season 9 a few weeks ago.

While there’s no confirmed update for Season 10 yet, Diablo 4 is bringing March of the Goblins back to Season 9 to ensure you have enough Diablo 4 gold, gear, and items to start the next season.

With only a day or so left until the end of the event, if you’ve only recently started playing or haven’t achieved the desired results due to poor strategy, we’ll provide a guide for you.

March Of The Goblins Overview

This event first appeared as part of Diablo 4’s first anniversary celebration last year. Its engaging gameplay and generous rewards proved so popular among players that it’s been retained as one of Diablo 4’s “flash events.”

The six goblins available for hunting during the event are actually permanent in-game. You can encounter them during regular adventures or quests, and winning battles will still earn you gold or other rewards. However, they appear more frequently during the event.

The rarity and rewards dropped by each of the six goblins vary, ranging from common but essential gold and crafting materials to precious Mythic and Resplendent Sparks. The more, the better, so don’t miss out on even the goblins that offer more modest rewards!

The reward tracks for March of the Goblins event are entirely based on your personal progress, so if you want to earn your desired rewards, you must rely on your own hard work and cannot rely on the help of other players—who might even rob you of your loot.

How To Get Started?

Log in to Diablo 4 during the event, travel to Kyovashad, and then find Altar of the Goblin statue in front of Idania’s Rings & Amulets shop, marked by the white badge icon on the minimap.

Hovering your mouse over the statue will display the level of goblins you can track and the rewards you’ll receive for killing different goblins. From there, you can begin your goblin-hunting adventures across all areas of the game map!

You May Like: Why Did Diablo 4’s Events Once Again Lose To Diablo Immortal?

What Tips Can Help You Get Rewards More Efficiently?

Generally speaking, even the rarest goblins are not too difficult to kill in Diablo 4. The tricky thing about them is that they flee quickly once spotted, making them difficult to catch. With that in mind, we offer the following suggestions.

Memorize All Goblin Characteristics

If you already have a lot of rewards from some goblins and don’t want to waste time on them, or if you want to farm specific goblins, it’s important to remember their physical characteristics. Otherwise, you might end up wasting time tracking the wrong goblin type.

After Season 7 update, the current goblin colors and drop rewards for March of the Goblins event are:

• Odious Ector (Green): Crafting materials.
• Gilded Baron (Yellow): Enormous sums of gold.
• Glittering Prym (Diamond): Gem fragments, runes, and Undercity Tributes.
• Curious Murl (Purple): Murl’s Bag of Obols.
• Gelatinous Syrus (Blue): Splits into multiple goblins when killed, then drops legendary gear, gold, boss lair keys, and elixirs.
• Fancy Old Fedric (Mythic Purple): A Mythic and a Resplendent Spark.

The two goblins that are easily confused are Curious Murl and Fancy Old Fedric, both of whom are purple. The difference in their colors can only be distinguished when you get close to them. However, because of the very low spawn rate of Fancy Old Fedric, you should be unlikely to encounter him.

Always Monitor Your Mini-Map

Goblins will be indicated on your mini-map with a unique icon when they appear, allowing you to find them more quickly and avoid being lost in the midst of swarms of enemies.

Make Helltides To Be Your Primary Farming Location

While goblins can spawn anywhere during March of the Goblins, Helltides is a better choice because the enemy spawn density is generally higher during this event, making it more likely that you’ll encounter goblins.

However, be aware that you may encounter other, more dangerous enemies during an active Helltide, hindering your goblin-hunting progress. Therefore, be vigilant while utilizing powerful gear to protect yourself.

Another good goblin farming location is Fields of Hatred PvP location. If you prefer not to encounter too many or too powerful actual players there, you can reduce your chances of encountering enemy players by disabling cross-play.

Activate Nearby Greed Shrines

Shrines are a special buff mechanic available in Season 9, and there are several types of shrines, one of which is Greed Shrines. They can spawn anywhere in the game, and activating them provides the following buffs for 30 seconds:

• Hit enemies and drop gold.
• You can automatically pick up gold from a greater distance.
• Gives a movement speed bonus.

If you encounter and activate Greed Shrines while killing goblins, not only will you receive the above buffs, but they will also increase the chance of goblin spawns. Combined, this event promises countless rewards!

This concludes our guide to March of the Goblins, hoping to help you maximize your progress and rewards before the event ends! Have fun!

When Season 9 launched, Sorcerer and Spiritborn were the undisputed dominant classes. However, after adjustments in Patch 2.3.1, the class experience in Diablo 4 has become more balanced.

So, if you’re looking to play a new character now, other classes are also good choices. Of course, you still need to choose and craft the right build to maximize the power of each class.

Based on this, if you’re creating a Necromancer character, facing a wide variety of Necromancer builds, Blood Surge is actually a more reliable option in Season 9, especially if you combine it with Drain Vitality passive ability.

Below, we’ll first explain why Drain Vitality is so important and how it fits into Blood Surge Necromancer Build.

What Is Drain Vitality?

As one of Diablo 4 Necromancer’s passive skills, Drain Vitality primarily grants you a lucky hit, granting you a chance to gain additional Fortify upon hitting an enemy.

However, to trigger Drain Vitality, you must ensure you hit an enemy with your active blood skills. Drain Vitality then grants you a Fortify effect of 2.5% to 7.5% of your health, reducing the damage you take.

If you ultimately have an amount of Fortify equal to your health, your total damage taken can be reduced by up to 15%.

However, this skill is located on the fifth tier of Necromancer skill tree, meaning you’ll need to consume a considerable amount of skill points to gradually unlock additional skills until you “reach” Drain Vitality.

Luckily, earning skill points isn’t difficult. You typically earn them when you are farming Diablo 4 gold and character XP at the same time, or by completing quests issued by the reputation system.

What Is Blood Surge Necromancer Build?

While Drain Vitality is helpful in boosting this build’s effectiveness, its core skill is undoubtedly Blood Surge. Combined with other skills and gear, this build is highly effective in clearing groups of enemies or single-target attacks.

As for defensive mechanics, this build can boost health while stealing enemy health and heal itself with Blood Orbs. Additionally, you can curse enemies with Decrepify and Cursed Aura Aspect, reducing their damage.

Although Blood Surge Necromancer build’s overall effectiveness has decreased in Season 9 due to a significant damage reduction to Overpower, it’s still a good choice for clearing dungeons. Of course, it’s best to upgrade to a better build once you reach the endgame.

How Does Drain Vitality Improve This Build?

While Drain Vitality isn’t a panacea, it does provide a solid boost to Blood Surge build. When using Blood Attacks with this build and pairing it with the unique gloves Cruor’s Embrace, you can deal bonus damage from Coalesced Blood while also gaining a shield bonus.

In contrast, Blood Wave Build doesn’t rely on Drain Vitality to increase damage. Instead, you must continuously enhance this skill until you obtain Mutilator Plate to truly enhance the entire build.

It’s important to note that when unlocking the prerequisite skills for Drain Vitality, it’s best to prioritize skills that complement it, such as Coalesced Blood, which allows you to deal more damage while you’re healthy.

To maintain your health, you need to maintain 80% or more of your remaining health. If you already have a wealth of enhancements, Coalesced Blood may not be very useful, but if you’re in urgent need of additional boosts, it can be very helpful.

How To Further Craft This Build?

In addition to Drain Vitality and other related skills, crafting a Blood Surge Necromancer Build also requires other class mechanics and appropriate gear. We’ll explain each of these.

Exclusive Mechanic Book Of The Dead

Book of the Dead, a Necromancer-exclusive mechanic, unlocks at level 5 and allows you to customize your available minions and how they’re deployed.

Since the primary purpose of Blood Surge build is to ensure you can sustain continuous enemy attacks, and Blood Surge itself causes enemies to scatter, using minions in this build is essentially a waste.

Therefore, it’s recommended to sacrifice them directly:

• Melee Skeletons: Skirmisher [Sacrifice] - Increased Critical Strike Chance.
• Mage Skeletons: Bone [Sacrifice] - Increased Overpower Damage.
• Golem: Iron [Sacrifice] - Increased Critical Strike Damage.

Available Legendary Aspects

In addition to Cursed Aura Aspect, there are other aspects of the game that can benefit this build. As for how to obtain them in Season 9, it’s recommended to farm Helltides or gamble with Obols.

• Aspect of the Embalmer
• Aspect of Hardened Bones
• Cruor’s Embrace
• Blood Moon Breeches
• Cadaverous Aspect
• Blood-bathed Aspect
• Cursed Aura Aspect
• Aspect of the Great Feast
• Sacrificial Aspect
• Aspect of Rathma’s Chosen

Best Gear Affixes

After acquiring reliable gear, besides improving your character, Diablo 4 allows you to enhance it by acquiring additional affixes, making it even more beneficial in combat.

Note that different gear slots are suited for different affix types. Here are some recommendations:

• Helm: Maximum Life, Essence per second, Intelligence
• Chest: Maximum Life, Essence per second, All Resist
• Gloves - Cruor’s Embrace Cruor’s Embrace: Blood Surge Drains, X Times from Elites
• Pants - Blood Moon Breeches: Critical Strike Chance
• Boots: Armor, Essence per second, Movement Speed
• Amulet: Ranks to Tides of Blood, Intelligence, Attack Speed
• Rings (2x): Attack Speed, Maximum Life, Overpower Damage
• 1H-Weapon (Mace): Maximum Life, Intelligence, Lucky Hit
• Off-hand (Focus): Maximum Life, Critical Strike Chance, Intelligence

If you find the above information useful, try combining all the gear and skills, including Drain Vitality, to craft and enhance a Blood Surge Necromancer build! I wish you success!