The Capstone Dungeons are one of the primary pieces of endgame material that players can take on and complete in Diablo 4. They contain the same basic principles as any other dungeon in the game, but they represent a much tougher challenge than any other one you might have completed prior.
You can’t unlock the ability to complete a Capstone Dungeon until you have completed the main campaign in Diablo 4. The first Capstone Dungeon can only be done on World Tier 2, will require you to be roughly level 45-50, and upon completion, will give you access to World Tier 3: Nightmare, which features tougher enemies but more XP, gold, and better loot drops. While there is a second Capstone Dungeon you can complete to unlock World Tier 4 in Diablo 4, we’ll be mainly going over the first one in today’s guide.
Starting the first Capstone Dungeon
When you see the end credits roll and hop back into Diablo 4, you will go on a couple of short quests that are considered the “Epilogue.” After completing these, you can look at your quest list, and under the Priority Quest tab, you will see a new task titled “World Tier 3: Nightmare.” This quest has a level recommendation of 50, but we were able to beat it as a level 48 Sorcerer, so you don’t have to be right at level 50 to start it, or perhaps even prevail.
The quest takes place in Kyovashad at the cathedral in the northern part of the city. By tracking the quest and setting your World Tier to 2, you can head up to the cathedral and enter the Capstone Dungeon at the back of the building.
Completing the Nightmare Capstone Dungeon
Once you enter the Nightmare Capstone Dungeon, you will be shown your first task, which is to “Collect Animus from the Revenant Knights.” Essentially, you need to go around the first section of the dungeon and defeat the Revenant Knight enemies specifically. These enemies are clearly labeled and you will certainly know when you see one, as they are large and possess more attacks than any other enemy in the dungeon.
The Revenant Knights will usually be surrounded by dozens of other enemies and sometimes even two Revenant Knights will be in one area. You need to kill all of them in the first section for the door to open at the center of the dungeon. The door is directly near the Animus, which is a pedestal in the middle of the central room. From the Animus, you need to go to both the left and right paths to find all of the Revenant Knights you need. You can check your map to ensure you have cleared both areas.
Once all of the Revenant Knights are pushing up daisies, the door near the Animus will open, allowing you to go on through. Your task in this section of the dungeon is to travel to the High Council Court and then defeat the High Council. The High Council consists of four different bosses, all with their own health bars and attacks.
You will face the Sacred Physician, Grand Inquisitor, Lord Commander, and Devoted Champion all at the same time. We recommend staying on the move constantly for this fight, as staying still will allow more than one boss to attack you at once. It’s also wise to try and kill the Sacred Physician first because if you don’t, the boss will be able to revive any other boss that dies. Killing the physician first stops this from happening.
Your biggest trouble will likely be the Lord Commander, as they have a ton of health and several heavy attacks with a giant hammer that inflict severe damage. The other three bosses don’t put up as much of a fight, but after they die, they will reappear as green ghosts that can still deal damage to you, so watch out for them as well.
After you have defeated all four of the High Council bosses, collect your loot and head on through the teleporter at the back of the room. This will take you to the second part of the Nightmare Capstone Dungeon. That’s right, you’re not done yet.
Upon entering the new section, your first task is to simply kill all of the enemies in the immediate area, called the Reliquary of Erudition. While this sounds easy enough, it can be a tad difficult given the sheer volume of enemies in certain parts of the dungeon. The ratio of enemies to the player was roughly 12:1 in most areas, so you will have your hands full most of the time. If you have a build with great AoE damage, we recommend getting a train of enemies following you and then decimating all of them at once with a combination of skills. Your strategy will largely depend on your build, however.
Once you manage to slay all of the enemies in the Reliquary of Erudition, you will face your final task: taking down The Curator. It’s safe to say this was one of, if not the toughest boss fight of the entire game for us up to that point (World Bosses aside). The Curator is level 50 and only has two damage stages on their health bar, meaning your chances of receiving extra health potions will be extremely limited.
The Curator will summon several enemies every minute or so as well, meaning you have to contend with avoiding all kinds of attacks. The boss utilizes magical attacks more than anything else, sending flying green skulls at you constantly that deal chunks of damage every time they hit you. The Curator will also send streaks of magic in several directions at once as a follow-up attack, which you can avoid by standing in between two of the streaks.
Then, as the fight goes on, The Curator has a devastating attack where they go up into the air and send three magical streaks down, which go in different directions. This is quickly followed up by two more of these attacks, and you hardly have any time to react and get to a safe location to avoid them.
As a Sorcerer, this fight was especially tough for us, as you need to quickly dodge attacks that are all long-range, and we couldn’t move that fast. Rogues will likely have an easier time with the fight, as they have access to several different dodges. If you have a close-range damage build, you might find the fight easier as well given that The Curator tends to stay still for several seconds while casting their attacks. However, you will still need to find a way to dodge all of the green skulls and magical streaks.
In the end, after defeating The Curator, you will be rewarded with high-tier loot and the ability to play on World Tier 3 in Diablo 4. Your next Capstone Dungeon can technically also be completed in Dry Steppes at this point, but the recommended level for that dungeon is 50-70. We highly recommend waiting to try that dungeon until at least level 60-65, unless you have a full party.
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