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.

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 challengeas 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 usingSacred 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.

You can kill monsters three levels above you for a 25% bonus XP cap to get the max XP benefit in D4.

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 TypeSigil TierBase DifficultyWorld TierMonster 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 AncestralTier 21504Level 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 LevelMonster LevelSigil 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 7174Ancestral 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.