Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred: Kurast Undercity Guide

One of Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred’s newest features is a reworked fast-paced dungeon similar to Diablo 3’s Nephalim and Greater Rifts, called Kurast Undercity. In this dungeon, located beneath Kurast, the capital city of Nahantu, your goal is to navigate through it as quickly as possible, earning back time for killing monsters and increasing your loot reward.

If you’re aiming for the best items in Diablo 4’s endgame, the Kurast Undercity is a great place to farm and level up. This guide will help you understand how to unlock the Kurast Undercity content, upgrade your loot rewards, and manage your time effectively.

Unlock Kurast Undercity content

To access Kurast Undercity, you need to complete the “Deeds of a Champion” post-campaign quest chain. This quest will lead you through various endgame activities and eventually require you to defeat the Terror of Five Hills inside the dungeon.

You can start the mission by heading to the spirit brazier in town. Once completed, you’ll gain access to Kurast Undercity and can embark on runs whenever you like. As you progress through the questline, new districts within the city will become available for exploration.

The Undercity is designed similarly to Diablo 3’s Greater Rifts, consisting of three levels, two of which are timed. Before moving, check your map to locate optional events and monsters that provide bonus time when completed or defeated. Throughout the dungeon, you’ll find braziers that, when activated, spawn enemies and grant significant cooldown reduction. Use these to your advantage, and spam your Ultimate Skills like no tomorrow assuming your build has it.

As you progress and clear floors, you’ll encounter a boss area. Boss fights are not timed and resemble Nightmare Dungeons. During these battles, avoid the boss’ area attacks, use potions when necessary, and aim to stagger the boss for brief periods of increased damage output. Upon defeating the boss, you’ll be rewarded with a chest filled with valuable items and gears, many of which can be influenced by Tributes and Bargains.

Upgrade loot rewards

The Kurast Undercity is all about scoring powerful loot and enhancing your character’s build. As you progress through the dungeon and defeat the final boss within the time limit, you’ll receive a chest filled with loot. However, you can amplify the quality of this loot by increasing your Attunement level (you’ll need a minimum Attunement level 1).

To boost your Attunement level (which can stack up to four times), you must activate Beacons and Grand Beacons as you navigate the floors. These Beacons will summon a group of monsters linked to them. By defeating all the enemies connected to the Beacon, you’ll receive a substantial amount of Attunement, steadily boosting your meter.

It’s important to note that Attunement is a double-edged sword designed to test your greed. While striving to increase your Attunement level, you may risk running out of time and potentially forfeiting the entire run, resulting in no loot at all. Strive to strike a balance and avoid being overly greedy to reap the best rewards from the Kurast Undercity.

Manage & earn time effectively

In this fast-paced dungeon, you have only 100 seconds to start with, and your mission is to battle through multiple floors to confront the boss and claim your rewards. However, unless you’re overleveled for the difficulty, it’s a race against time to complete the dungeon before the clock runs out.

Throughout the dungeon, you’ll encounter Afflicted Monsters and imposing Afflicted Structures, each marked with an orange hourglass on the map. Defeating these foes will not only earn you valuable time but can also extend your initial 100-second limit! However, it’s a strategic decision, as taking down these enemies requires time, and you’ll need to weigh the time spent against the time gained.

The key is to stack up multiple Afflicted Monsters and unleash area damage to efficiently take them out at once, maximizing your time gain. Your goal is to reach the end and face off against one of the three formidable bosses – Alia – Kurast’s End, Yoche – The Golden, or Longtooth – The Wretched, all within the time limit. It’s a thrilling challenge that demands both speed and strategy.