Diablo IV PvP guide: Everything to know

The PvP in Diablo IV is set to kindle many sparks of hatred among players (pun intended). The setup is much bigger than previous installments and is integrated into the game in a brand new way. We’ll take you through the details below.

How to start PvP in Diablo IV

The good news is that you won’t be open season for high-level players as PvP is restricted to its own area of the game. This is called the Plains of Hatred and is not available until you beat the campaign and reach World Tier 3. NPC enemies will also be present in this area. There are two Fields of Hatred in the game and both are on the west side of the map. You can’t miss them as they are covered in red instead of the light brown. Once you are in the zone, you will need to enable PvP before you can attack or be attacked by another player. All you need to do is hit up on the D-pad or E on PC and select Mark for Blood. This will let the PvP goodness begin. While you can do this at any level, I suggest being high level end game before you make the trek.

How to stop PvP 

You can not simply head into the Fields of Hatred, take out some enemies and then remove the blood mark in order to spam PvP. In order to remove the flag, you’ll need to visit the altar of cleansing in one of the towns in the area. Once you do this, you can run around and take out NPC enemies but not players. You won’t be attacked either.

Hatred’s Chosen MVP title of PvP

Being a stone cold killer in PvP comes with its risks as well as rewards. Whoever has the most kills in the zone at any time will be called Hatred’s Chosen. It’s a nice flex, but also lets everyone else on the map know where you are with your location marked. Once you are marked as the chosen, you can not simply take the mark off at a cleansing altar because it’s disabled for whoever has this title. There are a few ways to get rid of the mark though. You can simply wait out the clock and survive until someone else gets more kills than you. You can also leave the PvP zone entirely, but you will then lose all the special PvP currency you have on you. So, choose wisely

Special PvP currency

Taking out enemies in this zone will net you Shards of Hatred, the special currency in PvP. These are from PvE and PvP enemies, but real players and the PvE bosses give the most. You will have to take the shards to an extraction altar to use them. It takes a few seconds to do, but you need to use caution as you can be attacked while doing so. Whenever you die or leave the area totally you will lose all of your shards forever. In other words, haste is the key. Extracting these gives you red dust, which you probably saw in your inventory slot. Now you know what it is.

Red Dust

This red dust can only be used at the vendors scattered around the are and give exclusive rewards found nowhere else in the game. You can pick up skins for your mount, scrolls to make your damage and HP better while in the PvP zone and more. The red dust is not lost if you leave the area, only the seeds. So, if you’re in a hurry feel free to take off once you have it in your inventory or head over to the cleansing altar to rinse off.

That’s the long and short of PvP in Diablo IV. Have you checked it out yet? Let us know below. Diablo IV is available now on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series.