With the somewhat refreshing 2.6.4 patch hitting Diablo 3 servers worldwide on the 18th of January, I decided to make a guide to help players who are having trouble finding things to do in between seasons or near the end of a season. In other words, these are a few ways to find the motivation to keep at it while we all wait anxiously for the next patch.

Just a note to the readers: This guide is NOT an extensive guide but more of a general guide that you can hopefully refer to every now and then - when you need that extra push in motivation. Second, some suggestions might be obvious to seasoned players… but I decided to include them anyways to make a more inclusive and friendly guide.

I personally had trouble keeping myself interested in Diablo 3 at the end of seasons and found that these methods helped me out the most; I hope they help you too!

Step 1: Quit Diablo 3

Step 2: Uninstall Diablo 3

Step 3: Play another game

Alright, that’s it for this guide; thanks for checking it out!

.......

But in all seriousness, here are some of the ways you can keep engaged in Diablo 3.

Perfecting Gear"A beautiful thing is never perfect"

FALSE.

Many of us have gotten to the point in our Diablo 3 journey where we have all the gear we ‘need’ to clear either speed T13s or GRs. Most players go the extra mile to get maybe an Ancient or Primal here and there. For me, I didn’t get any Primals because I have the luck of a… well, me.

Among the several build guides online, a majority of them cover what gear pieces and stats you need but never go over perfecting/augmenting gear (Augmenting gear is adding extra main stats to a piece of gear via Gems + Legendary Gems). The reason is simple. The guides don’t need to. Because of this, some players stop at perfecting their gear according to what the guides told them to and stop playing altogether... or even create an alt.

The grind is never over... Back when I first started Diablo 3, I asked myself the “How are these guys on the leaderboard pushing 10-15 GRs higher than I do when we are using the same builds?” The answer lies in going that extra EXTRA mile. Grinding to not only perfect your gear but also farming Paragon enables players to push a certain build to the absolute limit.

This difference can be anywhere from 1 Greater Rift level to 10 or 15 (Kind of depends on where you stand with what build). An item may have a near-perfect roll but it can almost always be better. Here are two simple ways you know you’ve got The One.

1. Upgrading all your gear to Ancients.

- Granted, while being Ancient doesn’t mean it is better than a non-Ancient, an Ancient rolled Legendary can give you more oomph if rolled properly.

- Having access to Ancients unlocks another path into perfecting gear, Augments.

2. Stat Distribution.

- There is a term in Diablo 3 called ‘trifecta’ or ‘quadfecta’. This indicates that a gear has all the stats you would want for specific slots. Eg: Elemental damage, Crit DMG, and Crit Hit Chance.

*What groups of stats you need differs from build to build. You don't always want Chance to Deal % Area Damage on other builds.

3. “Bump them up! Those are rookie numbers.”

- An item may have perfect stat placement, but they might be missing a few %’s. An example would be the glove seen below.

Good main stat role, nice area damage, nice Crit Damage, but it’s missing a bit of % all across the board. Make sure all your gear has the best rolls it can for the appropriate stats you need. This will not only give you that satisfaction when checking your own gear but will also give that extra punch to clear one Greater Rift Level higher.

*Primal legendaries aren’t always the best. Some STILL have gross rolls and a perfectly-rolled Ancient you have equipped might be better!

Setting Challenging Goals and Changing Modes"Set your goals high and don't stop until you reach them"

Actually somewhat true…

Playing without some sort of concrete goal is by no means a bad idea. However, it might not be the smartest idea… You can play without a specific goal in mind, but you’re going to burn out fast. A journey without a clear end leaves you with no motivation to continue. Make sure you always set yourself small and big goals when playing.

During the end of a season, one can argue that there not many goals left to set. On the contrary, there are more than I can count. Set yourself a certain GR level you would want to achieve and make sure you challenge yourself. After, try doing the same thing, if not slightly different, on another mode.

Personally, I started with SSC (Seasonal Softcore) and set my goal to GR 95. Once I had achieved that, I decided to try SHC (Seasonal Hardcore) for the very first time and set another goal. Changing modes bring a surprising new element to an already familiar environment. What’s that new element? Well… if you die… everything is over. BUT, it challenges you. You pay more attention. You build and set skills differently. The whole atmosphere and strategy changes. This, by itself, can give you more time and motivation to keep at it.

Rewinding back to goals, make sure you don’t compare yourself and set your goals according to the leaderboard. Sure, it looks and feels nice when you see your name on the top 100. However, comparing your past goals to your current performance is always invigorating. When you compare yourself to that rank 1 Demon Hunter doing GR 119, you can get anywhere from somewhat to immensely discouraged.

Try Different Classes and Builds"Variety is the spice of life"

It goes without saying that different classes and builds each have unique playstyles. With new playstyles comes variety. With Variety, comes fun. I am sure this was not what you were expecting for the ultimate secret to getting back into Diablo 3. And, I know a majority of you have tried this many times. But, for those of you who have not, you have to give it a shot.

Farming for gear on different classes for different builds feels like a fresh start, a feeling you lose after grinding non-stop on that Condemn Crusader (we have all done it). Additionally, using items, gems, and paragon to boost your progression gives you the satisfying sense that you’re ‘cheating’ (but not really).

I realize that there are classes which certain people do not feel inclined to play. For me, it was the Barbarian. But, no matter how painful it is to level and farm, a fun looking build (which for me was WW Barb) brought new light into my life. It made the Barbarian fun, and I felt like I was playing a new game.

Look up awesome mobile ground smashing builds and try them out! Just because a certain build is not meta, it DOES NOT mean it isn’t fun nor viable. Some builds may not climb to the high GR 110s, but they can achieve a GR 80-100 with a nice boost to your motivation.

Farming Aesthetics (Rainbow Goblins)"I got the best deals, anywhere!"

Your gear is not the only thing Diablo 3 offers when it comes to grinding. Pennants, Wings, Pets, and Emblems can be found in all parts of the game. A good but not easy way of farming all the these is by hunting Rainbow Goblins.

Rainbow Goblins spawn anywhere in the open world of Diablo 3. When these special suckers die, they spawn a portal. With it, comes a chance to obtain Cosmic Wings and Rainbow Sword transmogs. While I have not yet found any of those yet, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. As I said earlier, I am incredibly lucky when it comes to being unlucky. But the possibility of a jackpot keeps me going.

Menagerist Goblins are Goblins that drop pets. I believe, to my knowledge, they drop a possible of 20 or so pets. All the more reason to hunt these guys and get a good pet collection going.

Unfortunately, there are too many wings and pets for me to list how to gain all of them. However, if you go check out any Diablo 3 content creator/streamer or Google, you can easily find the information you need. I would suggest you check out Rhykker or Bluddshed :)

Rhykker's Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRl31PWkfF0a3j3hiDRaCGA

Bluddshed's Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwMsZgvi4ok7l5hIml1SprA

Play Testing New Builds"Trying newly buffed builds is a sure way to keep interest in Diablo 3" - Trustful Source

The upcoming 2.6.4 patch brings a plethora of builds back into contention. Especially with the Legacy of Nightmares buff, unique user-created builds are endless. With all this, comes exciting experimentation. I know what you’re thinking right now, “Yeah I get that but I don’t know enough about the game to experiment and test out builds.” The answer to that question is...I have no idea either, to be honest…

This is not a setback, however. Rhykker has recently posted a patch 2.6.4 tier list with most of the viable builds. After the patch is implemented on January 6th, putting your old and dusty non-seasonal characters to use is a good way to be motivated. Your non-seasonal characters have the best of the best of gear. Form builds together and see what their power level and playstyle feels like. Nothing is worse than grinding for a certain build at the beginning of the season to only realize you don’t like the playstyle at all.

- Think of How to Effectively Start a Season.

Now this might get a bit technical. *Tink Tink Tink*

Adding onto seasonal prep and testing out builds, it is a safe bet to think of how you are going to go about starting a new season. You need a solid plan of what to first do in order to level and get gear as fast as possible in the shortest time frame. This method will help you keep your interest in Diablo through research and give you a very hyped up mentality.

If you are experienced and have done this already, then great! If not, try to find routes for leveling as fast as you can via certain maps. Next, you want to go here. This website helps you find out what pieces of gear are available for your character at each level. There might be a crucial piece of gear that you can get right away from level 1 using the Challenge Rift Blood Shards (will explain below). Or you could wait till later to use them.

If you are still lost or just have no idea where to start, here is what I do and prepare for before a season starts!

One thing you should definitely do is to save your weekly Challenge Rift. When the season starts, create a seasonal character. Immediately leave and finish that week’s Challenge Rift. In the goodie bag, you will receive 4,600,000 gold, 10 Death Breaths, 106 Veiled Crystals, 302 Arcane Dust, 218 Reusable Parts, 475 Blood Shards, and 15 of each Bounty Material (based on my previous Challenge Rift).

After this, you can go upgrade your Blacksmith, Jeweler, and Mystic to max level. Once you have all this done, it is time to level up. Personally, I go to Temple of The First Born Level 1 in Act II. This place has great density and you can gather all the tiny bugs to get massive Massacre EXP bonuses. It will almost triple your efficiency compared to that of running normal rift from level 1. Just make sure you put the difficulty on Torment IV and gradually lower/raise the difficulty as you level up.

* Your strategy and Torment level should vary (be lower and safer) on Hardcore.

If you have another area that you prefer or see someone else do something else, feel free to do as you choose. While some routes are better than others, your knowledge of how to level properly will determine your leveling speed. Do what you think is best.

If All of the Above Fails, Don't be Afraid to Take a BreakIf you're tired, learn to rest...not quit."

Everything I have listed so far is an effective and grindy way to keep yourself motivated in between seasons. However, if you have done all this or feel like it is not working for you, do not be afraid to take a break. A break is completely controlled by you. A day? 2 days? A week? Up to you. Any game, especially Diablo 3, is bound to hit you with that massive wall of boredom that many players have encountered.

Take a break by either jumping on another game for a bit or step back from games altogether. Nothing can be more refreshing than going out with some friends or spending more time in the gym. It will cleanse your mind and make you more eager to jump right back into Diablo 3.

For me, I sometimes play Hearthstone and League of Legends when I’ve tried all the things above. In my opinion, nothing feels as invigorating as taking a breather and coming back to Diablo in a new season. Just make sure you have a plan to help you get a good start.

I made this simple guide to help answer some of the questions on Reddit. The new season is only 2 weeks away! In the meantime, happy slaying!