Diablo 3 Farming Bounties explained, and how to tackle the Nephalem Rifts
We've got some essential advice to help you clear Diablo 3's Adventure Mode content more efficiently, and get your hands on more Legendaries too.
Although the Bounty system is a breath of fresh air when you first unlock it, you will eventually reach a point where you simply want to tick Bounties off as quickly as possible. When that time comes, it's worth keeping a few important gear-farming tips in mind.
How to farm Bounties efficiently
- Keep a track of those Bounties that take an agonising amount of time to complete, usually because of the size and scope of the environment you have to hunt around in. The fight with Queen Araneae in Act 1 is a prime example of this. Simply close the game and start another one up until the troublesome Bounty fails to appear - it's worth the extra time involved in the long run.
- You should always prioritise Movement Speed in the Core section of each character's Paragon pool. The faster you can zip around each Bounty, the faster you'll reach your target, smack it over the head, and then get on with the next task on your list. You'll find this approach beneficial, even when you're just setting out to get geared up.
- Even if you're not typically a fan of multiplayer gaming you should always try to play in a party. Very little communication is required, and while the monsters are tougher, collectively you'll breeze through the content much faster, and so get more loot. You also have the chance to exchange items with one another. If there's a Set or Legendary item in your bag that you don't need, offer it to the group - it very often prompts people to do likewise, and you might find yourself with a drop you've been after for ages.
- Certain end-game items only drop on Torment difficulty, but we don't recommend moving there the moment you can handle the heat. Instead, wait until you can cut through Torment enemies like butter, and stick to a lower difficulty while you gear up a bit more. The faster you farm, the faster you'll get the kind of items that will help you breeze through Torment.
- You'll learn in time where the entrance to Bounty caves and dungeons are likely to be on the map, and when you're tasked with clearing a single floor of a stronghold, charge straight across the map towards your destination. Ignore every creature you can along the way and consider working any travel-enhancing skills your character has into your rotation to speed things up even more.
- Don't skirt the edges of the map when hunting down a Bounty target. Imagine the area cut into thirds, and simply run along the lines that carve it up. A marker will be placed on the map when you get close to a Bounty objective, and it has quite a generous radius of effect. If you're really struggling to hunt down a target, an arrow will automatically appear on the map after around five minutes.
Split-farming Act 1 Bounties
If you're farming a Ring of Royal Grandeur - and at end-game, that's practically a given - put the difficulty level down to its lowest setting and then join any public Adventure Mode game. There's an excellent chance the group you join will be split-farming Act 1 Bounties for the Horadric Cache that spawns this precious item.
The way split-farming works is pretty simple. Each party member heads off to a different Bounty within the Act and crushes the content quickly on this low difficulty setting. Once the fifth Bounty has been completed, everyone gets a Horadric Cache for very little time and effort invested. Simply rinse and repeat this process until you have the item you need.
Need more Diablo 3 help? Learn how to unlock Zelda outfits like Ganondorf in Diablo 3 Switch, get some Diablo 3 boss strategies, and learn how use the Mystic, Blacksmith, Gambling and Horadric Caches. We also have advice for every class, from the Barbarian to the Crusader, Demon Hunter, Monk, Witch Doctor and Wizard.
Tips for farming Nephalem Rifts
Efficient Rift-farming is a little more straightforward thanks to the simplicity of the job at hand - kill monsters until the bar fills up, then kill the big monster when it appears. There are a few tips from the Bounty farming section that apply to these dungeons too, though - invest Paragon points into movement speed, play in groups whenever possible and clear routes out efficiently. Here are some Rift-specific tips to help you on your way.
- Some Rifts have an atrociously low density of monsters, making it extremely arduous and time-consuming to fill the progress bar. If you find yourself struggling for available kills, get to the next level as quickly as possible and skip the meagre sprinkling of enemies you encounter along the way. If you're in a party, everyone should split up and find the portal to the next level, then teleport to the finder when they get there. If you find yourself facing another empty level, it's not ridiculous to consider writing off the Rift fragments and starting all over again. Thankfully these occasions are rare.
- The loot dropped by Rift Guardians isn't so great that it's worth leaving the Rift and starting another one the moment you've finished killing and looting it. If you've found yourself in a Rift with high mob density, it makes more sense to carry on killing until all levels have been cleared out. The Legendary drop rate is higher in Rifts than anywhere else, after all, so it makes sense to take advantage of the better drop rate.
- On a similar note - and as a matter of etiquette as much as anything else - don't close a Rift just because you're done fighting and have teleported back to town. Your party might have stayed behind to carry on clearing the place out, so ask first.
- As all of the classes play equally well together in all but the toughest Torment settings, it can be worth partying up with friends who are playing the same class as you. That way you can trade items with each other, safe in the knowledge that the stats will be relevant to your character. It's a good approach to take in Bounties too if you're playing in a pre-made group.
Each of our class guides contains advice for allocating Paragon points. Find them from the first page of this article.