When it comes to Diablo 4’s Season 6 and the Vessel of Hatred expansion, the most thrilling new addition is a fast-paced and rewarding activity known as Karass Undercity. Designed to be relevant throughout the entire game experience, from leveling up efficiently to perfecting your endgame build, the Undercity offers something for every adventurer. Let’s take a closer look at this activity and how to maximize its rewards, making it a key part of your journey through Diablo 4.

What is Karass Undercity?

Karass Undercity is a new Evergreen Activity, introduced as part of the Vessel of Hatred expansion. It becomes available after progressing through the campaign and completing a specific side quest chain. While you can enter the Undercity before completing this quest line, many of the most valuable rewards are tied to a system called Tributes, which only unlocks afterward. This makes it highly advisable to complete the quest line first for a smoother and more rewarding experience.

The Undercity is set in a series of wings, each with its own aesthetics and unique boss encounter, adding variety to each run. Whether you're a casual player or a min-maxing veteran, you’ll find the content to be fast-paced and intense. From the moment you step inside, the activity pushes you forward with no breaks except between runs, making it a true test of your character's strength and build.

Getting Started: Unlocking the Undercity

The path to unlocking the Undercity involves diving into the Vessel of Hatred campaign. During the storyline, you’ll catch a glimpse of the Undercity's dark corridors, but it’s only after completing the associated side quest chain that you’ll gain permanent access to this activity. This quest chain also guides you through each wing of the Undercity and introduces you to the various bosses, giving you a taste of the challenges to come.

Once fully unlocked, the Undercity becomes a hub for endless action, where players can revisit for great rewards and a chance to further customize their character’s gear.

What to Expect Inside the Undercity

Upon entering the Undercity, you’ll notice a timer at the top right of your screen. This timer adds urgency to your run, with a progress bar beneath it that tracks your rewards. The bar fills up as you defeat enemies, especially those guarding Brazier points, which are key to progressing through each floor.

Brazier Events are marked on your mini-map and offer the most points towards your reward bar. These points come in two forms:

Clear the Pack: Activate a Brazier, and enemies will spawn, all marked on your map. Defeating every marked enemy completes the event.

Elite Targets: Some Braziers will only mark elite enemies, requiring you to take down these stronger foes to complete the objective.

You can proceed to the next floor at any time by finding the portal, but to maximize your rewards, clearing the Braziers is crucial. Reaching Tier 4 in the reward bar gives the best loot, with Tier 1 being the minimum requirement to receive any end-of-run rewards.

Afflicted Enemies: Bonus Time and Extra Challenges

In addition to Braziers, the Undercity is home to Afflicted Enemies, which are your ticket to extending your timer and pushing for better rewards. These enemies come in several forms:

Regular Afflicted: Killing these enemies grants small amounts of bonus time.

Lesser Afflicted (Elites): These grant a more significant time boost, usually around 8 seconds per kill, and appear in small packs.

Greater Afflicted: Essentially mini-bosses with high health, defeating these can reward up to 30 seconds of additional time.

Hidden Afflicted Structures can also be found and destroyed for time boosts. Unlike Braziers, Afflicted enemies only appear on your mini-map when you're close, so efficient pathing is key. Focus on a route that covers Brazier events while taking out Afflicted enemies along the way for the most efficient use of your time.

Boss Encounters: The Final Challenge

Each run culminates in a Boss Fight Floor, where the timer is disabled, allowing you to focus entirely on defeating the boss. These bosses present a serious challenge and are some of the most visually impressive foes in the game, making each encounter feel unique.

If you fail the boss fight, you can respawn and try again, though the boss will heal back to full health. Succeeding, however, means completing your run and unlocking all the rewards tied to your chosen Tribute and Bargain options.

Tributes: Unlocking the Best Rewards

Tributes are the key to maximizing the rewards from your Undercity runs. These Diablo 4 items modify the rules of your run, such as adjusting the starting time, altering the time gained from defeated Afflicted enemies, and tweaking other aspects like potion drop rates. Tributes drop from various activities throughout Diablo 4, but their full potential is unlocked after completing the Undercity quest line.

Here’s a look at some of the key Tributes and their effects:

Tribute of Growth: Focused on leveling, it increases experience gained but penalizes time bonuses and potion drops, making runs more challenging.

Tribute of Harmony: Best for farming runes, this offers guaranteed rune drops at the cost of reduced starting time and higher time penalties.

Tribute of Radiance: This tribute guarantees ancestral legendary drops, perfect for endgame players looking to enhance their gear, though it significantly reduces the time available.

Tribute of Ascendant: The ultimate challenge, this tribute offers the highest chance of Mythic unique drops but gives a mere 45 seconds of starting time and heavy penalties, making it suitable only for well-prepared characters.

Each of these Tributes has its own rarity, affecting the difficulty and rewards of the run. Choosing the right one depends on your current goals, whether that’s leveling up quickly, farming for runes, or hunting for the rarest gear.

Bargains: Fine-Tuning Your Rewards

Bargains allow you to spend Diablo 4 gold or D4 materials to guarantee certain outcomes from your runs, such as securing skill ranks on armor or passive skill ranks on amulets. While they don’t change the difficulty of the run, Bargains give players a way to focus on the gear they need most, adding an extra layer of customization to the rewards.

The Path to Glory in the Undercity

The Undercity offers a thrilling and rewarding experience, especially for those looking to push their characters to new heights in Season 6. Its combination of fast-paced combat, strategic decision-making with Tributes, and unique boss battles makes it a valuable addition to Diablo 4. Whether you’re a seasoned adventurer or a newcomer, diving into this content can yield significant rewards for the time invested.

With its ability to let players target-farm specific gear attributes and focus on the affixes they need, the Undercity is an essential part of the Season 6 grind. So, prepare your build, grab your Tributes, and take on the challenges of Karass Undercity. The rewards await—if you can survive the darkness and emerge victorious!

MMOexp Diablo 4 Team