What level Nightmare Dungeon should I be doing in Diablo 4 is one of the first things that hit our mind as soon we unlock World Tier 3. But if you use high-level Nightmare Sigils, this endgame content might be challenging. So it is very important to pick the optimal level of Nightmare Dungeon for the maximum XP rewards.
Table of Contents
Today we will try to find your character’s best Nightmare Dungeon level for most XP and loot drop rate. We will also look at the math behind the behind-the-scenes calculation that will help you in the upcoming seasons. These guidelines are not set in stone but will modify according to the gear and class you are running right now.
So whether you’re a new player or a seasoned veteran, continue reading to know everything about how XP in ND works. This will help you to pick the best Nightmare Dungeon level for your class.
Before starting, here are a few noteworthy tips to consider while choosing the optimal ND level:
- Nightmare Dungeons increase in challenge as you unlock higher tiers.
- The Nightmare Dungeon difficulty is directly proportional to both character XP and Glyph XP.
- The unique loots you seek might drop with low item powers while using Sacred Nightmare Sigils.
- Ancestral Nightmare Sigils will offer better loot, but the drop rate is slightly lower than previous levels. But this will reward you more as the Item Power will be much better.
- Playing with friends or being in a group will take on tougher dungeon levels.
If you cannot complete a dungeon run, starting with the ‘optimal’ level is better to avoid discouragement. From that point, we can adjust and craft the Sigils we need. So now you have all the Nightmare Dungeon XP and loot system guidelines, find out how to choose the right Nightmare Dungeon level in D4.
What Level Nightmare Dungeon Should I Do in Diablo 4 for Optimal XP?
You should always consume a Nightmare Sigil that holds enemies three levels higher than your Character Level for the maximum bonus XP. So monsters 3 levels above you are considered optimal leveling and pushing Nightmare Dungeons in Diablo 4.
This is because higher-level monsters award extra XP, but as of now, this caps at 25% bonus XP. This means that if you kill enemies more than three levels above you, you are not eligible for any additional bonus XP.
The devs did this to inspire players to test themselves against enemies on a par with their skill level. If fighting higher-level monsters could earn players a substantial XP boost, many players will resort to being “carried” by others. Then they would farm those higher-level Nightmare Dungeons. These players will eventually try never to face anything of their level. The game would become monotonous, and everyone would lose interest, as seen in many similar ARPGs.
This bonus XP cap might be confusing for many players, as the max level in Diablo 4 is Character Level 100, but the Nightmare Dungeon Sigil Tiers goes up to Tier 100.
So if there is a max XP cap, what is the point is pushing higher-difficulty dungeons? The devs decided to motivate players by keeping the best loots of the game (like uber unique) for each class tied to higher-level monsters (higher drop chance) and even Helltides. So, like previous games in the franchise, higher-level tiers will spawn monsters with better drop rates for the best loots in the game.
Monster Levels in Every D4 Nightmare Dungeon
A simple formula calculates monster levels in every Nightmare Dungeon. The monster level of a Nightmare dungeon is computed as follows:
- Nightmare Dungeon Base Difficulty (50) + World Tier Difficulty (WT3/WT4) + Nightmare Sigil Tier = Nightmare Dungeon Monster Level
Using the above formula, we can find the monster level each Nightmare Sigil gives. We made the following table for your convenience to help you craft and consume the right Nightmare Sigil. So look at the Nightmare Sigil mentioned at the row of your required monster level below:
| Sigil Type | Sigil Tier | Base Difficulty | World Tier | Monster Level |
| Sacred | Tier 1 | 50 | 3 | Level 54 |
| Sacred | Tier 2 | 50 | 3 | Level 55 |
| Sacred | Tier 3 | 50 | 3 | Level 56 |
| Sacred | Tier 4 | 50 | 3 | Level 57 |
| Sacred | Tier 5 | 50 | 3 | Level 58 |
| Sacred | Tier 6 | 50 | 3 | Level 59 |
| Sacred | Tier 7 | 50 | 3 | Level 60 |
| Sacred | Tier 8 | 50 | 3 | Level 61 |
| Sacred | Tier 9 | 50 | 3 | Level 62 |
| Sacred | Tier 10 | 50 | 3 | Level 63 |
| Sacred | Tier 11 | 50 | 3 | Level 64 |
| Sacred | Tier 12 | 50 | 3 | Level 65 |
| Sacred | Tier 13 | 50 | 3 | Level 66 |
| Sacred | Tier 14 | 50 | 3 | Level 67 |
| Sacred | Tier 15 | 50 | 3 | Level 68 |
| Sacred | Tier 16 | 50 | 3 | Level 69 |
| Sacred | Tier 17 | 50 | 3 | Level 70 |
| Sacred | Tier 18 | 50 | 3 | Level 71 |
| Sacred | Tier 19 | 50 | 3 | Level 72 |
| Sacred | Tier 20 | 50 | 3 | Level 73 |
| Ancestral | Tier 21 | 50 | 4 | Level 75 |
| Ancestral | Tier 22 | 50 | 4 | Level 76 |
| Ancestral | Tier 23 | 50 | 4 | Level 77 |
| Ancestral | Tier 24 | 50 | 4 | Level 78 |
| Ancestral | Tier 25 | 50 | 4 | Level 79 |
| Ancestral | Tier 26 | 50 | 4 | Level 80 |
| Ancestral | Tier 27 | 50 | 4 | Level 81 |
| Ancestral | Tier 28 | 50 | 4 | Level 82 |
| Ancestral | Tier 29 | 50 | 4 | Level 83 |
| Ancestral | Tier 30 | 50 | 4 | Level 84 |
| Ancestral | Tier 31 | 50 | 4 | Level 85 |
| Ancestral | Tier 32 | 50 | 4 | Level 86 |
| Ancestral | Tier 33 | 50 | 4 | Level 87 |
| Ancestral | Tier 34 | 50 | 4 | Level 88 |
| Ancestral | Tier 35 | 50 | 4 | Level 89 |
| Ancestral | Tier 36 | 50 | 4 | Level 90 |
| Ancestral | Tier 37 | 50 | 4 | Level 91 |
| Ancestral | Tier 38 | 50 | 4 | Level 92 |
| Ancestral | Tier 39 | 50 | 4 | Level 93 |
| Ancestral | Tier 40 | 50 | 4 | Level 94 |
| Ancestral | Tier 41 | 50 | 4 | Level 95 |
| Ancestral | Tier 42 | 50 | 4 | Level 96 |
| Ancestral | Tier 43 | 50 | 4 | Level 97 |
| Ancestral | Tier 44 | 50 | 4 | Level 98 |
| Ancestral | Tier 45 | 50 | 4 | Level 99 |
| Ancestral | Tier 46 | 50 | 4 | Level 100 |
| Ancestral | Tier 47 | 50 | 4 | Level 101 |
| Ancestral | Tier 48 | 50 | 4 | Level 102 |
| Ancestral | Tier 49 | 50 | 4 | Level 103 |
| Ancestral | Tier 50 | 50 | 4 | Level 104 |
| Ancestral | Tier 51 | 50 | 4 | Level 105 |
| Ancestral | Tier 52 | 50 | 4 | Level 106 |
| Ancestral | Tier 53 | 50 | 4 | Level 107 |
| Ancestral | Tier 54 | 50 | 4 | Level 108 |
| Ancestral | Tier 55 | 50 | 4 | Level 109 |
| Ancestral | Tier 56 | 50 | 4 | Level 110 |
| Ancestral | Tier 57 | 50 | 4 | Level 111 |
| Ancestral | Tier 58 | 50 | 4 | Level 112 |
| Ancestral | Tier 59 | 50 | 4 | Level 113 |
| Ancestral | Tier 60 | 50 | 4 | Level 114 |
| Ancestral | Tier 61 | 50 | 4 | Level 115 |
| Ancestral | Tier 62 | 50 | 4 | Level 116 |
| Ancestral | Tier 63 | 50 | 4 | Level 117 |
| Ancestral | Tier 64 | 50 | 4 | Level 118 |
| Ancestral | Tier 65 | 50 | 4 | Level 119 |
| Ancestral | Tier 66 | 50 | 4 | Level 120 |
| Ancestral | Tier 67 | 50 | 4 | Level 121 |
| Ancestral | Tier 68 | 50 | 4 | Level 122 |
| Ancestral | Tier 69 | 50 | 4 | Level 123 |
| Ancestral | Tier 70 | 50 | 4 | Level 124 |
| Ancestral | Tier 71 | 50 | 4 | Level 125 |
| Ancestral | Tier 72 | 50 | 4 | Level 126 |
| Ancestral | Tier 73 | 50 | 4 | Level 127 |
| Ancestral | Tier 74 | 50 | 4 | Level 128 |
| Ancestral | Tier 75 | 50 | 4 | Level 129 |
| Ancestral | Tier 76 | 50 | 4 | Level 130 |
| Ancestral | Tier 77 | 50 | 4 | Level 131 |
| Ancestral | Tier 78 | 50 | 4 | Level 132 |
| Ancestral | Tier 79 | 50 | 4 | Level 133 |
| Ancestral | Tier 80 | 50 | 4 | Level 134 |
| Ancestral | Tier 81 | 50 | 4 | Level 135 |
| Ancestral | Tier 82 | 50 | 4 | Level 136 |
| Ancestral | Tier 83 | 50 | 4 | Level 137 |
| Ancestral | Tier 84 | 50 | 4 | Level 138 |
| Ancestral | Tier 85 | 50 | 4 | Level 139 |
| Ancestral | Tier 86 | 50 | 4 | Level 140 |
| Ancestral | Tier 87 | 50 | 4 | Level 141 |
| Ancestral | Tier 88 | 50 | 4 | Level 142 |
| Ancestral | Tier 89 | 50 | 4 | Level 143 |
| Ancestral | Tier 90 | 50 | 4 | Level 144 |
| Ancestral | Tier 91 | 50 | 4 | Level 145 |
| Ancestral | Tier 92 | 50 | 4 | Level 146 |
| Ancestral | Tier 93 | 50 | 4 | Level 147 |
| Ancestral | Tier 94 | 50 | 4 | Level 148 |
| Ancestral | Tier 95 | 50 | 4 | Level 149 |
| Ancestral | Tier 96 | 50 | 4 | Level 150 |
| Ancestral | Tier 97 | 50 | 4 | Level 151 |
| Ancestral | Tier 98 | 50 | 4 | Level 152 |
| Ancestral | Tier 99 | 50 | 4 | Level 153 |
| Ancestral | Tier 100 | 50 | 4 | Level 154 |
Best Character Level to start Nightmare Dungeon
As you can see from the above table, you can kill monsters three levels above you for a 25% bonus XP cap to get the max XP benefit. Although you don’t receive an XP bonus from over 3 levels of higher monsters, defeating higher-level monsters will still result in a more basic XP being awarded to you. So that will also encourage players to challenge themselves to reach character level 100 as soon as possible.
Nightmare Sigils Tier 1 spawns dungeons with Monster Level 54. So you can consider this as not the most efficient or optimal run. Consuming your starting Sacred Sigil Tier 1 to open the first Nightmare Dungeon at character level 51 is the best way to start your endgame journey.
Also Read: Nightmare Dungeon Tier List
Once you complete the run successfully, you will get the next high-tier Sigil as a drop. You can keep doing this to climb and push the dungeon tiers to open ancestral sigils at World Tier 4. And so, you can easily reach character level 100 as soon as possible. If you cannot finish a Dungeon at any point, stop there and return to the previous tier. You can keep playing in this tier as you level up, get more paragon points, and better loot.
Note: You can focus on other endgame content if you are currently at character level 50. Play Helltides, World Bosses, World Events, Legion Events with friends, or a party to level up easily. You can even climb above level 51 by focusing on these endgame content sections. This will make your Nightmare Dungeon pushing that much better. So read on to craft the exact Sigil for the max XP at your current character level.
How to Find the Optimal Nightmare Dungeon Level Easily?
With the above table, we can formulate the best Nightmare Sigirl for you with the max XP from Nightmare Dungeons, as per your character level:
| Your Character Level | Monster Level | Sigil Tier |
| 51 | 54 | Sacred Tier 1 |
| 52 | 55 | Sacred Tier 2 |
| 53 | 56 | Sacred Tier 3 |
| 54 | 57 | Sacred Tier 4 |
| 55 | 58 | Sacred Tier 5 |
| 56 | 59 | Sacred Tier 6 |
| 57 | 60 | Sacred Tier 7 |
| 58 | 61 | Sacred Tier 8 |
| 59 | 62 | Sacred Tier 9 |
| 60 | 63 | Sacred Tier 10 |
| 61 | 64 | Sacred Tier 11 |
| 62 | 65 | Sacred Tier 12 |
| 63 | 66 | Sacred Tier 13 |
| 64 | 67 | Sacred Tier 14 |
| 65 | 68 | Sacred Tier 15 |
| 66 | 69 | Sacred Tier 16 |
| 67 | 70 | Sacred Tier 17 |
| 68 | 71 | Sacred Tier 18 |
| 69 | 72 | Sacred Tier 19 |
| 70 | 73 | Sacred Tier 20 |
| 71 | 74 | Ancestral Tier 21 |
| 72 | 75 | Ancestral Tier 22 |
| 73 | 76 | Ancestral Tier 23 |
| 74 | 77 | Ancestral Tier 24 |
| 75 | 78 | Ancestral Tier 25 |
| 76 | 79 | Ancestral Tier 26 |
| 77 | 80 | Ancestral Tier 27 |
| 78 | 81 | Ancestral Tier 28 |
| 79 | 82 | Ancestral Tier 29 |
| 80 | 83 | Ancestral Tier 30 |
| 81 | 84 | Ancestral Tier 31 |
| 82 | 85 | Ancestral Tier 32 |
| 83 | 86 | Ancestral Tier 33 |
| 84 | 87 | Ancestral Tier 34 |
| 85 | 88 | Ancestral Tier 35 |
| 86 | 89 | Ancestral Tier 36 |
| 87 | 90 | Ancestral Tier 37 |
| 88 | 91 | Ancestral Tier 38 |
| 89 | 92 | Ancestral Tier 39 |
| 90 | 93 | Ancestral Tier 40 |
| 91 | 94 | Ancestral Tier 41 |
| 92 | 95 | Ancestral Tier 42 |
| 93 | 96 | Ancestral Tier 43 |
| 94 | 97 | Ancestral Tier 44 |
| 95 | 98 | Ancestral Tier 45 |
| 96 | 99 | Ancestral Tier 46 |
| 97 | 100 | Ancestral Tier 47 |
| 98 | 101 | Ancestral Tier 48 |
| 99 | 102 | Ancestral Tier 49 |
| 100 | 103 | Ancestral Tier 50 |
So this answers your question of what level Nightmare Dungeon should I be doing in Diablo 4. If you want more interesting D4 Guides, check out how to farm millions of gold fast using Sanctuary Discord. Also, if you’re getting annoyed by the constant error speech in-game, you can turn it off in a few simple steps. Here’s how to disable error dialogues in Diablo 4.