Unleash the true power of your Seneschal companion in Diablo 4’s Season of the Construct-this mechanical ally is more than just a sidekick. With the right combination of Governing and Tuning Stones, you can transform your Seneschal from a basic bot into a relentless battlefield force, tailored to your playstyle and ready to turn the tide in even the toughest encounters. Ready to discover how to upgrade and optimize your ultimate companion across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox? Here’s how to make your Seneschal unstoppable.
In this Diablo 4 guide, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about how to upgrade your Seneschal and explain how its Governing and Tuning Stones work.
How Tuning and Governing Stones work in Diablo 4
Tuning Stones and Governing Stones are central to customizing and upgrading your Seneschal companion in Diablo 4’s Season of the Construct. Governing Stones determine the primary attacks or abilities your Seneschal can perform, allowing you to tailor its combat style to fit your build. Each Seneschal can equip up to two Governing Stones, setting the foundation for its offensive or defensive actions. Tuning Stones, on the other hand, are modifiers that enhance or alter the effects of these Governing Stones, providing additional buffs, elemental effects, utility, or cooldown reductions. You can equip up to six Tuning Stones-three per Governing Stone-to further augment your Seneschal’s abilities. Both types of stones can be upgraded by collecting duplicates, increasing their power and effectiveness as you progress through seasonal content like Vaults and Arcane Tremors. This system offers deep customization, letting you fine-tune your Seneschal to complement your playstyle throughout the season.
Your Seneschal is the chassis for your little robot companion in Season of the Construct, and you can use Governing and Tuning Stones to enhance and customize it in different ways.
- Governing Stones determine the abilities your Seneschal can cast
- Tuning Stones alter how the Governing Stones behave
Your Seneschal has two slots for Governing Stones, and each Governing Stone has three slots for Tuning Stones. First, place the two Governing Stones you want to use – say Lightning Bolt, which launches a damaging lightning bolt at your enemies – and Reconstruct, a healing ability.
You can then assign a Tuning Stone like Slowing Support – which causes the skill it’s assigned to to slow targets – to Lightning Bolt. The next time your Seneschal casts Lightning Bolt, it will now slow targets. Similarly, if you place the Fortify Support Tuning Stone on Reconstruct, the ability will also give you Fortify you the next time your Seneschal uses it to heal you.
As you change your build over the course of the season, you can also swap out your Tuning and Governing Stones anytime to create new ways for your Seneschal to support you.
How to upgrade Tuning and Governing Stones in Diablo 4
To upgrade Tuning and Governing Stones in Diablo 4, you need to collect duplicate stones as you play through Season 3 content. Each duplicate stone you acquire grants experience points (XP) to the corresponding stone in your inventory-typically, every duplicate gives 10 XP. Once a stone accumulates 30 XP, it ranks up, increasing its power and effectiveness. Both Tuning and Governing Stones can be leveled up to rank 10, except for the two unique stones, which only have a single level. You can obtain duplicates by participating in activities like Arcane Tremors, completing Vaults, opening Wardwoven Chests, and defeating the Malphas boss in the Vault of the Loom. There is currently no way to target specific stones, so upgrading is largely dependent on random drops as you progress through seasonal content.
As you play season 3, you can also upgrade your Tuning and Governing Stones, making them more powerful and increasing their impact on your build. Tuning and Governing Stone start at rank 1 and you can level them all the way up to rank 10. The only exceptions are Evernight and Genesis, the two Unique Tuning Stones, who only have one rank each.
To increase the rank of your Tuning and Governing Stones, you must acquire duplicates of Stones you already own. Every duplicate gives 10 XP to the ability it’s a duplicate of, and once a Stone reaches 30 XP, it ranks up and becomes more powerful. That means you need 300 XP – 30 duplicates of a Stone you’ve already acquired – in order to reach rank 10. With 25 Tuning Stones (minus the two Uniques) and 12 Governing Stones, you’ll need to pick up more than 1,000 duplicates to fully max out your Seneschal.
So, how do you find Tuning Stones in the first place? There are a few different sources:
- Heralds of Malphas, which you can summon via the Braziers outside and around Vaults, can drop one or two Governing or Tuning Stones each time you summon them. Your best bet here is to find a group of players who are chain-summoning them and stick around as long as possible. The Heralds go down quickly and it’s an easy way to get some XP.
- Completing Vault runs is another simple way to get a Tuning or Governing Stone. A random one will drop from the final chest of the Vault.
- Wardwoven chests – which you can only open if you make it to the end of a Vault with the Zoltun’s Warding buff still up – can drop additional Tuning and Governing Stones
- Your local Jeweler will sell an Uncertain Seneschal Stone Cache for 250 Shattered Stone and 36 Iron Chunks. These caches contain at least one Governing or Tuning Stone. It’s possible that, as you level up, you’ll gain access to better, rarer, and more expensive caches to purchase from your Jeweler.
- Season Journey Caches – the ones you get for completing a chapter of the Season Journey – drop tons of Governing and Tuning Stones for you to level up your abilities. Unfortunately, there are only seven of these for the entire season, so while it’s a great way to jumpstart your collection, you can’t rely on them for the long term.
Want to discover the secret to maximizing your Seneschal’s power in Diablo 4
Want to unlock the full potential of your Seneschal in Diablo 4? The secret lies in mastering the art of Governing and Tuning Stones. Equip your Seneschal with two Governing Stones to grant it powerful core abilities, then customize and amplify those skills using up to three Tuning Stones per Governing Stone. Leveling these stones-by collecting duplicates and merging them-further boosts their effectiveness, letting your companion unleash devastating attacks or provide vital support. Experiment with different combinations, such as pairing “Protect” with “Tactical” and “Duration” for massive barriers, or “Flash of Adrenaline” with “Genesis” for huge damage buffs. The right setup can transform your Seneschal into a game-changing ally, perfectly tailored to your playstyle and ready to conquer Sanctuary’s toughest challenges.
What is the most effective way to upgrade your Seneschal in Diablo 4
Most Effective Way to Upgrade Your Seneschal in Diablo 4
Equip and Level Governing and Tuning Stones
The most effective way to upgrade your Seneschal is by equipping it with Governing Stones (to grant new abilities) and Tuning Stones (to enhance and modify those abilities). You can equip two Governing Stones, each with up to three Tuning Stones, allowing for a highly customizable setup tailored to your playstyle.
How to Upgrade the Stones
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Collect Duplicates: To increase the rank of your Governing and Tuning Stones, you need to find duplicates of the stones you already own. Each duplicate provides experience points, leveling up the stone and making its effects stronger.
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Participate in Seasonal Activities: The best sources for acquiring stones and their duplicates are Season 3 activities such as Arcane Tremors, Nightmare Vaults, and completing season-specific challenges.
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Level Cap: Stones can typically be leveled up to rank 10, except for the special Fabled Tuning Stones (Genesis and Evernight), which only have one rank and cannot be upgraded.
Additional Tips
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Character Level: Your Seneschal also scales with your own character level, so leveling up your character will passively boost its power.
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Experiment: With 12 Governing Stones and 27 Tuning Stones available, experimenting with different combinations is key to maximizing your Seneschal’s effectiveness for your build.
In summary, focus on collecting and upgrading Governing and Tuning Stones through seasonal content, and experiment with combinations to create a powerful, personalized companion.
