How do you access the Diablo 4 Dark Citadel? This endgame PvE activity sees you team up with friends to tackle its difficult bosses and take down hordes of enemies throughout three wings. Resting at the bottom of a huge crater left by the Mage Clan civil war, the Dark Citadel is home to the Khazra, or Goat Demons, who are attempting to summon their overlord. It’s your party’s job to prevent that from happening.
Diablo 4‘s Dark Citadel is Diablo 4’s first multiplayer-focused content, introducing the game’s most challenging encounters. It contains complex mechanics that require some figuring out rather than being able to approach them with brute force. You’ll want one of the strongest Diablo 4 builds to take on these difficult activities. Still, we’ve found success using the Diablo 4 Spiritborn class – the newest one in the game – and its overpowered Centipede guardian.
How do you access the Diablo 4 Dark Citadel?
You will gain access to the Diablo 4 Dark Citadel immediately after unlocking the Torment I difficulty.
To unlock Torment I difficulty, you’ll need to complete the Pit of the Artificer at the obelisk in Cerrigar on tier 20. You’ll need to be level 60 to access the Pit at all.
The Pit is a randomly generated dungeon, meaning its layout will change every time you enter, but you can select the tier at the obelisk before launching it. Remember to select at least tier 20 – more if you want a challenge – and complete it to unlock the next difficulty. After doing so, launch the game in Torment I and you’ll automatically get the prompt to try out the Dark Citadel.
How do you complete a Dark Citadel run?
The first step to completing a Dark Citadel is to find a suitable party. Of course, you can join friends that meet the criteria through the usual methods, but there is also the new in-game party finder. You can run through the Dark Citadel with two players, but we’ve found it’s much better to head in with four for the best rewards. The in-game party finder is self-explanatory and can be used by anyone, without relying on the need to use community features like Discord to find a party.
When you’ve gathered your party, speak to Priestess Cualli in Kurast as part of the Crater of Lost Souls quest. She’ll explain the gravity of the situation, as the Khazra steal the residents of Nahantu, draining them of their energy and returning them as soulless husks. After speaking with her, you’ll be sent to search for survivors in the crater.
Once you complete the first few quest steps, you will enter the Dark Citadel via the Ancient Nexus, which is its own town space. It gives access to three dungeons – the Enclave of Strife, the Dominion of Zagraal, and the Labrinth of Souls, each housing multiple encounters and boss fights.
Brand new for Vessel of Hatred is the marker system. This will enable players without voice chat or who perhaps don’t want to voice chat, to still be able to participate with other players by marking things throughout the Citadel. You can drop these into your emote wheel and use them to indicate when you’ve found something interesting or the way forward. This isn’t exclusive to the Dark Citadel – you can use it anywhere in Diablo 4.
There’s also a combat log in the Dark Citadel to help you understand important moments that are taking place during combat, and where you’re taking damage from.
All Dark Citadel bosses
The bosses you will encounter include:
Gorshak, The First Ascendant
This overgrown oaf requires you to place soul essence gathered from the dungeons into the Conduit of Souls to weaken Gorshak in the Enclave of Strife. He has multiple attack patterns including a very fast stampede that can instantly flatten you, and a large, floor-pounding attack that’ll hurt if you remain in its radius too long.
Your party will be split across two different realms, completing different mechanics at the same time. Once he has been weakened, you will need to dispel ward sigils to summon his fragmented soul, where your party will be reunited in the same realm. This will then grant you more soul essence, which you’ll need to return to Sanctuary with.
Faeroch, The Incinerator
Faeroch is a huge, winged boss with three phases. She will occasionally slam down to the ground, forcing rock formations in the shape of a maze to appear, and blocking your path. You’ll need to forge a path through this newly-formed maze to find a Barrier Ward to activate within a specific time. Activating the Barrier Ward will conjure up a protective barrier that you will need to remain within to avoid taking damage when the message, “Faeroch is unleashing the fires of the Hells!” appears. The only safe area is within the barrier. This attack has three waves, and will demolish the maze walls as it rolls out. After this, you can attack Faeroch until the next maze phase appears.
Vorshok and Hurstt
Vorshok and Hurstt are two Spiritcaller bosses who appear in the same fight. You’ll need to counterspell soul orbs to weaken them before being able to cause damage. Seek out the Spell Guardians around the arena and kill them first, this will cause a Counterspell Stone to drop. Use the Counterspell Stone to reflect enemy soul orbs back at them to weaken their barriers.
Dark Citadel rewards
The rewards you can earn from Dark Citadel are some of the best and strongest in the game. These weekly rewards reset once per week. When you complete all three dungeons, ancestral items will drop but only once per character. There are two levels of gear that you can get from playing the Dark Citadel; one normal set from playing difficulties from Torment I to III, and the premier gear that only drops from Torment IV, including an exclusive mount.
You can also earn Citadel Coins from repeat runs to purchase a variety of incenses, elixirs, and scrolls including:
- Incense of Khazra Power – A rare incense that increases all stats by 30 for you and all nearby players, gains an additional +2 to each stat for five seconds after killing an enemy, and increases your experience gained by 5%. This effect lasts for 20 minutes.
- Incense of Fortitude – This incense will increase damage by 5% for you and all nearby players, grants an additional 5% damage up to 15% maximum additional damage for each nearby dead player, and increases your experience gained by 5%. This lasts for 20 minutes.
- Elixir of Swift Revival – For the next 30 minutes your healing is increased by 15% and revive speed by 25%. After reviving a player you gain +10% move speed for five seconds, and the experience you gain is increased by 8%.
- Elixir of Sacrifice – For the next 30 minutes, every ten seconds your next core skill will heal you and nearby allies for 10% of your maximum health. You’ll also restore an additional 5% maximum health for each nearby ally, up to a maximum of 25%. The experience you gain is increased by 8%.
- Scroll of Generosity – This consumable can be used to revive up to three nearby players.
- Scroll of Restoration – Use this consumable to restore all Tempering Charges on an item.
- Scroll of Abundance – Use this consumable to restore 30% health and drop health potions for nearby players.
You can increase the amount of Citadel Coins that drop from each run by playing on harder difficulties or tracking down treasury monsters. These consumables will make it easier to play with your party.
Now that you know all there is to learn about the Dark Citadel in Diablo 4, make sure you’re up to date with the Diablo 4 classes, as it’ll have all you need to know about the newest addition, the Spiritborn. If for some reason you haven’t taken the plunge into Vessel of Hatred, check out our Diablo 4 DLC review, which should whet your appetite.