Starting Diablo 4 Season 12 with Vessel of Hatred, you'll notice the game's basically daring you to waste time. Don't. If your goal is level 60 fast, treat it like a clean sprint, not a sightseeing tour, and save your tinkering for later—same idea as how folks stock up on diablo4gold so they can stay focused on momentum instead of stopping every five minutes to fuss with upgrades.

Difficulty and setup that actually helps

Pick Normal. Yeah, it sounds boring, but it's the right call on a fresh seasonal character because you're lighter on early power and you want packs to fall over instantly. Make sure you're in the Seasonal Realm, then resist the urge to skip the expansion campaign at character select. Act VII quest XP is the real shortcut right now, and it's way more reliable than gambling on whatever open-world loop happens to be hot that day. Also, equip your pet the moment you load in. It's small, but not having to backtrack for gold and mats keeps your pace steady.

Campaign speedrun mindset

Do the early seasonal steps just long enough to unlock the Reputation Board, then put the rest of that track on pause. After that, push the Vessel of Hatred main story hard. Run past anything the quest doesn't demand. Don't stop for random events, don't chase stray mobs into corners, don't "just clear the area" because it feels tidy. You'll quickly find the campaign is basically a conveyor belt of XP if you keep moving, and hitting the mid-40s (often higher) before things slow down is totally normal when you don't get distracted.

Power bumps while you're flying

At level 10, visit the Blacksmith and start tempering. It's one of those systems people forget until they're already struggling, but early temper rolls do a lot: movement speed on boots, extra damage on weapons, whatever keeps fights short. Keep an elixir up at all times for the 5% XP—no exceptions. Once you're around level 45, stack an incense for another 5% and you'll feel the difference right away. For mercenaries, Subo's the practical pick while leveling because his marking helps you stop wandering in jungle paths that all look the same.

Skipping the slow ending and closing out 60

When the campaign sends you to meet Prava at Lorath's old hut, that's your cue to bail out of the story. Leave the game, hit the character menu, and use Skip Campaign to dodge the drawn-out finale and drop straight into endgame activities. From there, rotate clean XP sources: Helltides when they're up, Strongholds if you want chunky bursts, and Kurast Undercity when you're in the mood for a tighter loop. If you're also trying to keep your gearing smooth without wasting runs, it helps knowing services like eznpc exist for picking up currency or items so you can stay on the build you actually want instead of settling.