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Diablo 4's first XP farm is here and it looks like an exceptional way to suck the fun out of the new open world action RPG.
Like clockwork, Diablo 4's most impatient players have found a dungeon to repeatedly complete for XP. It takes a little bit of set up before you can start grinding for levels. It's technically more efficient than barrelling through the campaign, as long as locking yourself into one dungeon for hours sounds fun to you.
The dungeon is Anica's Claim and, I don't know who Anica is, but I doubt they expected to have the most popular spot in the Fractured Peaks, Diablo 4's opening zone.
Inside the dungeon—which is helpfully laid out as a big circle—are unique enemies you need to kill to complete an objective and unlock the door to the final boss. These enemies are elites that have a high chance of dropping rare items along with a solid amount of XP and gold. The trick to turn this into an efficient way to farm XP, gold, and Legendary items is to simply reset the dungeon before fighting the boss.
The sheer density of enemies and the circular dungeon layout make it easy to rush through and target the elite monsters. And if you join a multiplayer party, it's not only faster to carve through it, but you'll earn 10% more XP.
Here's how to unlock and farm for XP in Anica's Claim:
- At any level, travel to the Malnok Stronghold to the east of Kyovashad and complete it
- Enter the newly unlocked Anica's Claim dungeon just north of where the Stronghold was located
- Run past random enemies until you find Animus collectors and take them out
- Continue until you complete the objective, but don't engage the boss
- Reset the dungeon by selecting leave dungeon in your action menu (E) or have your party leader leave the party
- If you're playing solo, wait a minute before re-entering the dungeon, otherwise, invite your allies and start the grind again
As an XP and gold farm, Anica's Claim is useful if you have absolutely nothing else to do. But Diablo 4's campaign already provides you with plenty of XP and gold from its dungeons and quests. You have to complete the story in order to move into World Tier 3 for the proper endgame item drops anyway. I'd only advise a farm like this if you have already completed the campaign and want to jumpstart a new character.
Diablo 4's open world map is littered with dungeons, Strongholds, and side quests. You don't really need to spend hours inside of a dungeon to level up. It's much better as a tool to make up for any difficulties you run into as you progress through the game normally.
I reached a point while playing the review build of the game where I was too far behind the level requirement for a story quest and needed to gain a few levels. That's the only time I could've used a dungeon like Anica's Claim. Unless looping through a single dungeon sounds fun to you, I'd urge you to enjoy the first 50 levels of Diablo 4 until the real grind begins.
