Dive into the shadowy depths of Kurast Undercity in Diablo 4’s Vessel of Hatred expansion, where every second counts and every enemy slain could mean the difference between victory and a treasure trove of loot-or a swift demise. Master the art of racing against the clock, harness powerful Tributes, and unlock the secrets to maximizing your time and rewards in this pulse-pounding, multi-floor dungeon challenge beneath the ancient city of Kurast.
In this Diablo 4 guide, we’ll teach you how to unlock the Kurast Undercity activity, how to upgrade your loot rewards, and how to stop yourself from running out of time.
How to unlock Kurast Undercity in Diablo 4
To unlock Kurast Undercity in Diablo 4, you need to own the Vessel of Hatred expansion and progress through its campaign until you complete the quest called “Reunion,” typically reached around Chapter 3. After finishing this quest, you will receive a Priority Quest titled “The Kurast Undercity” from Ormus in the Council Chambers in Kurast. This questline involves tracking down a missing councillor named Sihek in the Undercity and completing subsequent tasks, including the follow-up quest “Undercity: Wail of the Forgotten.” Completing these quests fully unlocks the Kurast Undercity dungeon. You must be at least level 15 to access it, and once unlocked, you can enter the timed dungeon via the Spirit Brazier portal located in Nahantu.
Kurast Undercity takes place. under the city of Kurast, as you might imagine. To unlock this activity, you first need to progress the Vessel of Hatred campaign until you reach Kurast and do some work for the council there. This should be around the time you face the first major boss.
A member of the council will then teach you how to do the basic version of the Kurast Undercity. (In the endgame, you’re able to apply modifiers, which we won’t get into here.) As you progress the questline, you’ll unlock new districts to adventure through.
How to get more time in Kurast Undercity
To get more time in Kurast Undercity, start with the base timer of 100 seconds and focus on defeating Afflicted Monsters and destroying Afflicted Structures, both marked by an orange hourglass icon on the map. These enemies and objects grant additional time when eliminated, with Greater Afflicted enemies providing the largest time boost of up to 30 seconds. Using area-of-effect attacks to quickly kill groups of Afflicted Monsters maximizes your time gain efficiently. Be mindful that these foes are often elite and tough, so balance the time spent fighting them against the time gained. Strategic positioning and prioritizing these time-extending elements are key to prolonging your run and reaching the final boss.
Kurast Undercity is a time-attack dungeon, and you only start with 100 seconds by default. But in order to complete the dungeon and earn your rewards, you’ll need to battle through multiple dungeon floors to find the boss. Unless you are overleveled for the difficulty you’re on, this process will almost certainly take you over 100 seconds, meaning the dungeon will kick you out and end your run before you can finish.
Scattered throughout each floor of the dungeon are Afflicted Monsters and Afflicted Structures (which usually look like big hamster wheels). These objects and enemies have an orange hourglass next to their icon on the map. Defeating Afflicted Monsters or destroying Afflicted Structures refunds you time and can even push you above that 100 second starting timer. However, these are elite monsters and high-health structures, so you’ll need to decide if the time you’ll need to spend killing them is worth the time you’ll get back.
Ideally, you can stack up multiple Afflicted Monsters at once and deal area damage to kill them all at the same time, netting you a lot of time back for not much time spent.
How to upgrade your Kurast Undercity loot chest
To upgrade your Kurast Undercity loot chest in Diablo 4, focus on filling your Attunement meter, which can reach up to level four. You increase Attunement by activating and clearing Grand Beacons scattered throughout the dungeon; each beacon summons a linked group of enemies that, when defeated, grant significant Attunement boosts. Higher Attunement levels improve the quality of the loot chest you receive after defeating the final boss. Additionally, selecting and applying Tributes before your run can further enhance your rewards, though they may impose penalties like reduced time or potion drops. Balancing time management and Attunement farming is key-overextending to gain more Attunement risks running out of time and losing all rewards, so prioritize efficient combat and strategic beacon clearing to maximize your loot upgrades.
The whole point of Kurast Undercity – like most activities in Diablo 4 – is to get powerful new loot and further improve your build. You’ll get a chest filled with loot by reaching the final floor of the dungeon in time and then killing the boss. But you can upgrade this loot by filling up your Attunement meter. You need to have at least Attunement level 1 to get any reward upgrades.
To increase your Attunement, which you can stack up to four times, you need to activate Beacons and Grand Beacons while racing through the floors. These Beacons will spawn a horde of monsters that are all linked to the Beacon itself. If you can kill every enemy attached to the Beacon, it’ll spew out a bunch of Attunement, which will steadily increase your meter. In our experience, there are more Attunement Beacons and Grand Beacons than you’ll need to cap out your Attunement meter, so you can skip some as you go and still get decent rewards.
The only thing to be aware of with Attunement is that it’s designed to be a trap, meaning the push and pull of the Kurast Undercity activity is trying to test your greed. If you’re running low on time, stopping for more Attunement could cost you the entire run, meaning you get no loot rather than getting slightly less loot. Try not to be greedy, and you can get some great rewards while grinding the Kurast Undercity.
How can I maximize loot and time in Kurast Undercity
To maximize loot and time in Kurast Undercity in Diablo 4, focus on these key strategies:
-
Extend Your Time: Defeat Afflicted Monsters and destroy Afflicted Structures marked with an orange hourglass symbol. Each defeated Afflicted enemy or destroyed structure grants additional time, allowing you to push beyond the initial 100-second timer. Use area-of-effect (AoE) attacks to quickly clear groups of Afflicted Monsters and maximize time gained with minimal effort.
-
Increase Attunement for Better Loot: Activate Beacons and Grand Beacons scattered throughout the dungeon. Doing so spawns groups of enemies; defeating all enemies linked to a Beacon increases your Attunement meter, which can stack up to four times. Higher Attunement levels improve the quality of loot you receive at the end of the run.
-
Plan Efficient Routes: Avoid backtracking by following an efficient path that targets time-extending elements and Beacons systematically. Prioritize killing enemies and completing events with timers to keep your clock running and maximize your loot potential.
-
Balance Risk and Reward: Since Afflicted enemies and structures are elite and tough, weigh the time spent fighting them against the time you gain. Similarly, while chasing higher Attunement boosts loot quality, overextending your run can cause you to run out of time, resulting in no loot. Exercise strategic restraint to secure solid rewards without risking failure.
-
Use Speed and AoE Builds: Equip gear and abilities that boost movement speed and AoE damage to clear enemies faster, enabling you to extend time and increase Attunement more efficiently.
By combining these tactics-extending your timer through targeted kills, boosting Attunement via Beacons, and optimizing your route and combat efficiency-you can maximize both your time and loot rewards in Kurast Undercity.
What are the most effective ways to activate beacons for more loot
The search results primarily focus on beacons in Minecraft rather than Diablo 4’s Kurast Undercity, so direct information on activating beacons for more loot in Diablo 4 is not available from these sources. However, based on general game mechanics in Diablo 4:
To effectively activate beacons in Kurast Undercity for more loot, prioritize quickly defeating all enemies spawned by each beacon event, as clearing these groups increases your Attunement level, which boosts loot quality. Use area-of-effect abilities and speed-enhancing gear to clear enemies efficiently, ensuring you maximize the beacon’s benefit before your timer runs out. Also, plan your route to activate beacons in succession without backtracking, thus maintaining momentum and time. Balancing risk and speed is key-avoid overcommitting to difficult enemies if it costs too much time, as running out of time forfeits loot rewards.
This approach aligns with the general strategy of maximizing time and loot in Kurast Undercity by activating beacons through rapid, efficient enemy kills to increase Attunement and improve loot quality[general Diablo 4 knowledge].
