First up, look out for XP shrines, as they add +50% XP for their duration, which is very nice. Now that I’ve said that, here’s how to ignore me completely and try and optimize your journey to level 99.

I feel like you owe yourself a first run through this game that isn’t spending all of your time making the game into a math problem so you can hit level 99 a week or two earlier. Diablo 2: Resurrected is a rare thing, a visual update that preserves the gameplay and feel of the original, and the original was a game that changed the face of its genre. But please, at least consider just playing the game from start to finish your first time playing it, especially if you’ve never played Diablo 2 before. I’m sure some of you are already calculating a path to achieve that, and I do have suggestions for how to do that. Now, I’m not here to discourage you from trying to go faster. The amount of experience you need to reach max level in Diablo 2 - specifically, 3,520,485,254 XP - will mean that you can try and come up with optimized routes all the ding dang day, and you’re still looking at a lot of time and effort. But please understand, not only is Diablo 2 not like modern ARPGs, but even if you were to play the game with bots - something Blizzard frowns upon - it will take a long time to reach level 99, the max level in the game.

I know that may sound like a flip response and that if you’re here, you’re likely looking for ways to speed up the process. You can level up fast in Diablo 2: Resurrected by playing Diablo 2: Resurrected.

Diablo 2 leveling guide single player