This Diablo 3 walkthrough is divided into 4 total pages.
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Diablo III Introduction
Welcome to Portforward's Diablo III walkthrough and introduction. If this is your first time starting up Diablo III, you will be prompted to create a Hero as you begin. Choose one of the five (or six, if you have the DLC Reaper of Souls), create a name, click Create Hero and you're ready to begin your adventure!
If you decide to mark the checkbox Hardcore Hero, your Hero will only have one life and even a single death would mean the entire loss of your character. I do not recommend this setting for first time players as many things in the game will kill you just due to a lack of knowledge of what does what.
Click Start Game and let's begin!
You'll spawn outside the town New Tristram. Follow the path East, dispatching the enemies along the way if you want for some experience.
Talk to Captain Rumford, the one with the gold exclamation mark over his head, to begin the first quest. Undead enemies will spawn from the pile of corpses behind you. You'll have to kill them all to complete the quest. Once you do, the door to the town will open.
Follow the path inside the town until you reach the Slaughtered Calf Inn. Click the portal on the door and you'll be inside.
Talk to Leah. Be prepared to face-off against more undead, but this time they'll be transforming right before your eyes!
After you finish them off, walk West to the room in the back.
Click Leah's Book and collect your first Journal piece. These are just miscellaneous items dropped in the game but they do give you some experience, and that's never a bad thing while leveling up.
Walk out back to the main Inn and talk to Leah.
Walk back to Captain Rumford in front of the gate to the town.
The cart will break and a Wretched Mother will besiege the guards. Kill her you'll be able to continue.
Follow the path on the ground. Along the way, you'll meet more Wretched Mothers. Kill them to complete the optional quest objective for more experience upon completion of the quest. You can explore this area as you walk around it and kill enemies, but follow the path to the end when you're ready to move on.
You'll reach the main Wretched Mother in this location near the Waypoint. Kill her to complete the quest and take the Waypoint back to New Tristram.
Talk to Captain Rumford. When your health goes low, the screen turns red like this. To chug a health potion, press Q, the default button to use a potion which will restore 60% of your total life. I found a new item and equipped it and it had vitality, that's why this happened to me.
Then talk to Leah.
Use the Waypoint back to The Old Ruins. Wait for Leah to open the gate and follow the path to Adria's Hut.
Enter The Hidden Cellar.
Kill the enemies that spawn. The boss elite here doesn't do anything special, just kite him and his minions around the cauldron if you have trouble with him. You can click the cauldron and it'll drop a potion just for you!
After you're done with those undead, talk to Leah and then walk out back from where you came.
Wait for the door to be busted open and continue along the way North.
You'll eventually reach the Cathedral and there will be a shiny blue hole in the ground. Enter it.
Now, this Cathedral is the first randomized dungeon you'll enter. Most areas in this game have random maps except the towns and the first couple of areas plus some other ones scattered through the world.. Let's begin exploring it.
As you explore, you might come across this pool of yellow stuff called the Pool of Reflection. Click on it, and it'll grant you boosted EXP gain for a short while, until you gain 25% boosted EXP. There is a similar pool that's red and it fully replenishes your health if you click on it.
Eventually, you'll find the entrance to the next area. Enter it.
You'll enter to find Deckard Cain being chased by some skeletons.
A skeleton elite will spawn. You can get an achievement for killing the skeleton elite before killing any of his minion skeletons, like I did here. I won't mention how to get all the achievements for the different bosses in this walkthrough unless I happen to get them as I progess.
After you dispatch all those enemies, talk to Deckard Cain and walk through the secret bookcase entrance he unlocks.
Take the Waypoint back to New Tristram. Your first Story cutscene will occur here. These cutscenes are all customized for your Hero class and even gender.
Talk to Leah and then Deckard Cain.
You now have access to the other side of the town, where the Mayor's wagon was blocking the road. Follow the path until you reach this man, Haedrig Eamon.
Walk to this cellar to the Northeast and wait for Haedrig to open it and walk through it.
All these people will turn into undead. Kill them all.
Haedrig's wife is here as well and she's an elite undead. Wait for her to turn and then kill her. Then, talk to Haedrig.
Walk out of the cellar and go Northwest to open the Northwest Gate.
You'll enter The Weeping Hollow. Explore this area and follow the main path on the ground until you reach the Cemetary of the Forsaken.
For most quests in this game, as you get within a certain distance, a yellow bubble ping will pop up on your mini map and that's telling you where to go to complete the quest you're currently on.
Walk through the front gate and explore the Cemetary of the Forsaken. The goal here is to find the Chancellor's Altar, which can be in one of the three Defiled Crypt dungeons here. There are four possible Defiled Crypt locations, the one in this picture, one North, and two Southeast, but usually only three Defiled Crypts will spawn in a game. It's random where the Altar is, you'll just have to explore until you find it.
You might come across this event while exploring the Defiled Crypts. Once you activate the Jar of Souls, skeletons will just keep spawning for 1 minute and you should kill as many as you can, because there is no spawn limit within the 1 minute. Once you finish the event, you can click the Jar of Souls for some loot.
The correct Defiled Crypt will have the Defiled Crypt 2 zone. Enter it once you find it, and prepare to face another elite monstrosity thing that guards the entrance to the Chancellor's Altar. Once him kill him, enter the Chancellor's Tomb.
Run to the end of the Tomb and click on the Altar. Chancellor Aemon will spawn as a specter. Kill him, and you'll be rewarded with the ability to Teleport to the nearest major town, one for each Act. Press T to teleport back to town if you're playing on the console version.
Once you're back in town, talk to Haedrig. He'll do a little blacksmithing, then you'll have to talk to him again.
Talk to Deckard Cain. Then, take the Waypoint to the Cathedral Garden.
Enter Leoric's Passage.
Run to the door that was previously locked. Now you can unlock it. Once you it finishes unlocking, enter it.
This is another randomized dungeon, so explore it and eventually you'll find the entrance to the next area.
Close to the entrance, there will be some Necromancers performing some dark spell binding on a man. Kill the Necromancers and free him.
He'll do a little talking and then you can talk to him to see what was going on and start another quest.
Follow the path and turn into this ally to click this chest so the Templar can have his equipment back.
Continue along the path until you read this staircase blocked off by spikes. The Templar will break down the spikes so you can walk down.
Now it's time to kill Jondar, a Templar who betrayed the order and is being hunted down by your Templar friend.
Kill him, and talk to the Templar. He'll offer to join your party if you so wish to have him accompany you. There's no negatives to accepting his help. If you decide to have him follow you, you can press F to see his equipment and spells he can use. Each follower has four tiers of spells they can use, each unlocked by your current level. In each unlocked tier, click one of the two spells to have your follower use that ability in battle.
Walk down the stairs and enter the next dungeon. Explore it until you find a hole into the ground like this.
Enter it, and just follow the path until you reach this door. Unlock it and enter it when it's finished unlocking. As you're exploring your way up to this door, you might notice Leoric's Sword, which upon activation, starts a little role play between some ghosts. It isn't required to progress, it's just for a little extra history for the game.
Kill the skeletons guarding the gate at the entrance and then reach this skeleton lying on the throne and click to activate him.
Time to fight your first major boss! The Skeleton King. This one will probably be more difficult than any boss you've encounterd in this game so far, so I'll explain his abilities.
He'll do forward-moving cleave and whirlwind attack doing Area-of-Effect damage. Just move to the side and a little away from him to avoid the damage.
He will also summon a skeleton party, teleport away, then summon another skeleton party. Kill these skeletons as he'll just keep spawning them occasionally and you don't want to be overwhelmed by a skeletal army. Every once in a while, he'll also teleport onto you and do an attack at the same time, hard to avoid but it is possible to avoid it if you time an escape ability, like Vault, correctly.
Once you kill The Skeleton King, a path will open up where he was initially resting. Take this path down to the Desolate Chamber and walk to the source of the undead's restlessness. Talk to him.
After you finish talking to him, teleport back to town or use the Waypoint here.
Talk to Deckard Cain, and then talk to him again to begin the next part of the story.
Take the Waypoint to the Cemetary of the Forsaken and go North into the Fields of Misery.
Find the Khazra Den. It's not on the main path so you'll have to do some exploring to find it.
Once inside, follow the path until you reach the middle. There will be some zealots and cultists here. Slay them all.
Eventually you'll kill them all and you'll be able to pick up the Glowing Sword Shard. Do so and teleport back to town.
Talk to Deckard Cain.
Then talk to Leah.
Take the Waypoint back to the Fields of Misery. The Waypoint is given to you even if you didn't find it while exploring for the Khazra Den.
Follow the path until you read The Old Mill and talk to the Soundrel standing outside. Keep talking to him until he opens the door.
Head inside when the gate opens and talk to the Brigand. We're going to do something about these Brigands pestering this family!
Once you've killed all the Brigands, talk to the Scoundrel and then head to the gate North. Wait for the Scoundrel to open it.
Follow the path until you reach the Waypoint then talk to the Scoundrel. You'll have the option of having the Scoundrel follow you instead of the Templar at this point. I prefer the abilities and tanky stats of the Templar so I declined his offer (all followers not accompaning you will be at the main town where you can talk to them to see their gear/spells and have them follow you instead).
Head down and talk to Alaric.
Head Northwest and wait for the bridge to be ready for use.
Explore this area until you find either the Crypt of the Ancients or Warrior's Rest. It doesn't matter which one you find first.
In the Crypt of the Ancients, explore it until you find this Beacon of Light and take it.
Continue exploring the Festering Woods until you find the other area you didn't clear.
In the Warrior's Rest, follow it until the end to find this Beacon of Honor.
Press M to bring up the Waypoint map and select the Drowned Temple. If you do it while inside the Crypt of the Ancients or Warrior's Rest, it will say you're already in the Drowned Temple but you can still teleport to the actual Waypoint of the Drowned Temple. Then walk down and place the two beacons on either side of Alaric.
The bridge will open up and you'll be able to enter the Drowned Temple.
Once inside, start killing everything you see. You'll get this achievement if you kill the three Elites here with one ability.
Move on and talk to Alaric. He'll open the door for you.
Kill all the cultists Maghda spawns.
Pick up the Glowing Sword Shard when you can.
Teleport back to town and talk to The Stranger.
Follow the path West, as West as you can go until you reach this Ferryman.
Follow the path until you reach the center of this town.
Kill the enemies that keep spawning. You'll have to kill an Elite boss and then one Elite pack.
Talk to the Priest when he becomes available.
Enter the Wortham Chapel Cellar.
Go to the middle of the chapel, but Maghda beat you to it and stole the final piece.
Teleport back to town and head to Cain's House.
After the cutscene inside the house, talk to Leah.
Take the Waypoint back to Wortham Chapel Cellar.
Exit the cellar and go to the otherside of the chapel and through the gate. Follow it until you reach the Caverns of Araneae.
This is another randomized dungeon and by far my least favorite. There are so many dead ends but you'll have to explore it until you find the Chamber of Queen Araneae. Enter it, and prepare to face off against one giant spider and her spawn (which I suppose are pretty giant as well).
Walk to the end of and get near this lady in the web. She'll start talking but once she finishes, Queen Araneae slithers down from her throne.
She'll drop pools of venom on the ground. Avoid them, and do as much damage as you can. Twice she'll run away and summon her spawn to fight you for a short while.
After you finish her, go over to the pool of venom here. Click on it, then go over to the lady in the web and click on her. The venom will destroy the web holding her.
She'll open the door behind her. Enter the Highlands Crossing. img(235199); Wait for her to walk forward a little and get her bearings. Talk to her when she's available to give a quest. img(235204); Time to find the Khazra Staff. Explore this area until you find it, and be ready to face off against some Khazra and a Khazra Elite when you pick the staff up. The staff won't be on the main path. img(235206); Follow the path and you'll reach the Khazra Barricade. Enter it. img(235208); Follow the long path until you reach Leoric's Manor Courtyard. Bust open the door and head inside. img(235210); Enter Leoric's Manor. img(235212); Explore it until you find all the cultists down here. Slay them all. img(235214); Talk to the Wounded Man. img(235216); Follow the path behind him and enter the Halls of Agony Level 1. img(235218); Explore this dungeon until you find the Halls of Agony Level 2. img(235220); Explore this dungeon until you find the Highlands Passage. img(235224); Follow the path until you reach The Cursed Hold. img(235226); Talk to Queen Asylla. img(235228); Now you have to free the prisoner's spirits from their bones in this prison. It's random where they are placed, so just explore the dungeon and when you find circles of yellow on your minimap like the ones in this picture, go to them and free the spirits. img(235230); When you find all six, walk to the middle of the prison and wait for The Warden to show himself then dispatch him. There's a new Warden in town! img(235232); After you kill The Warden, go Southwest and follow the path until you reach the Halls of Agony Level 3 and enter it. img(235234); Explore the dungeon until you find the Chamber of Suffering. This is the final boss fight of this act, so make sure your gear and skills are all ready. You won't be able to change your skills once inside until you kill the boss. img(235236); This hulk of a monster is called The Butcher. He has three main abilities to watch out for. Always be on the move during this fight. The squares you see on the ground will be lit on fire during the fight for short periods of time. If you take too long to kill The Butcher, the entire arena will be lit on fire and it'll be very difficult at that point. img(235238); He'll target you (or a party member at random, if you're with a group) and charge. You'll see an indicator on the ground for his charge path. He'll collide with the wall and stun himself momentarily. img(235240); He will also throw this hook at you. Before he does it, he stops and reels the hook back to throw in your direction. If you get hit by it, it'll drag you into him then he'll do a power slam on your head and it'll cause of a pain. Do your best to avoid it! He'll also send a shockwave of spears in a cone direction towards you sometimes. The damage isn't sever and it's okay for it to hit you a little. img(235203); Once you finish him, go to the back and enter the Cells of the Condemned. img(235207); Follow the path to the bottom and kill all the cultists holding The Stranger. img(235209); Talk to The Stranger when you can. img(235211); He'll regain his power and you learn he's actually Tyrael! Talk to him img(235213); Teleport back to town. You can use the Town Portal he creates. img(235215); Talk to him in town. img(235217); And now the final quest in this Act. Talk to the Caraven Leader and you'll be on your way to Act II.
More Diablo 3 Walkthroughs
This Diablo 3 walkthrough is divided into 4 total pages.
