Diablo IV

***Season 2 patches have somehow made the servers more unstable. Lots of people are complaining that they're losing HC characters due to disconnects. You've been forewarned!!! ***

PLEASE READ:
- Current as of July 6th hotfix
- Diablo 4 is regularly patched so some of this information may change in time. If you notice something that needs updated please comment or DM me and I'll look it over.
- Also note that these tips are only for getting to lvl 50 for this achievement. Much of the following information and class rankings would change if I was taking lvls 50-100 into account.

The absolute fastest way to unlock this is to have a high lvl friend power lvl you. If done correctly you could get from lvl 1-50 in a couple hours.
If you're curious to go this route check out this article or others like it:
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/diablo-4-power-leveling-gu...

The Normal Way to Unlock This
First I'll run through the classes to give you an idea of which may be the best to use for this, using a 5 point scale to rate their dmg and defensive capabilities.
Then we'll look at great aspects to strive for, items you NEED, and general tips.

Classes
Notes: This is how I would personally rank the classes best for Hardcore, mainly focusing on how they handle bosses. All of the classes have either really good crowd control abilities or fantastic AOE dmg or both, so as long as you're careful mobs shouldn't pose an imminent threat.
Bosses are the most likely situations where you'll face death.
I've played each one to around lvl 25-30 and watched many Youtube vids on early class strengths and weaknesses to inform my opinion.
Survivability includes both mobility and defensive skills.

1) Sorcerer: ..........dmg - 4, defensive skills - 5, mobility - 3
2) Barbarian: ........dmg - 4, defensive skills - 4, mobility - 4
3) Rogue: ..............dmg - 5, defensive skills - 2, mobility - 5
4) Druid: ................dmg - 3, defensive skills - 5, mobility - 2
5) Necromancer: dmg - 3, defensive skills - 3, mobility - 1

Sorcerer
The only character with a "cheat death" ability. The second you get to lvl 15 and unlock your specialization enhancements, immediately equip the Flame Shield enhancement. Every 2 minutes the shield can activate when you take fatal dmg and makes you Immune to dmg to 2 seconds.
That, along with Ice Armor (use on every build, even Fire/Shock), Teleport, Deep Freeze (only on certain ice builds), and great burst dmg, the Sorcerer is one of the best suited classes for Hardcore.

Barbarian
This big lug dishes out strong dmg and has some mobility skills but they all culminate in him getting in close and dirty. Just make sure you always have some barrier active or a mobility skill off cooldown to use so you can get out of trouble when necessary.

Rogue
This is the class I'm using in Hardcore.
Rogue has by far the most mobility skills of any class and many passives that increase movement speed. If you're good at positioning yourself well in battles then this class could be #1 or #2 in the ranking for Hardcore.
But besides Dark Shroud they have little defensive capabilities so stay on the move!
Rogue has the highest dmg potential in the early levels but low defense. Glass cannon for sure!
I would only recommend ranged builds for hardcore. Try not to get in close to avoid wipes.

Druid
Lots of defensive and healing capabilities, but very little mobility and comparatively low dmg output under lvl50. Still a great choice and it sits at the top of some internet guru's lists so don't count him out.

Necromancer
Skeletons can help slightly with enemy aggro, but more often than not, especially with bosses, they focus solely on you. Necro has no mobility skills early on and very little defensive capabilities.
He can still be good though so don't let this ranking scare you out of using him if you're dead set on it.
See BigPoppaHoyle's comment below this solution for Necro tips.

Aspects
(These are great general aspects to use for staying alive. Obviously there are great offensive ones you should be using also and some defensive that are class specific but I'll just list the best general use ones here)
Protecting Aspect - When hit while not Healthy, a magical bubble is summoned around you for [3.0-5.0] seconds. While standing in the bubble players are Immune. Can only occur once every 90 seconds.
Aspect of the Protector - Damaging an Elite enemy grants you a Barrier absorbing up to [X] damage for 10 seconds. This effect can only happen once every 30 seconds.
Aspect of Disobedience - You gain [0.25-0.50]% increased Armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to [25.00-50.00]%
Aspect of Might - Basic Skills grant 20% Damage Reduction for [2.0-6.0] seconds.
Eluding Aspect - Becoming Iniured while Crowd Controlled grants you Unstoppable for 4 seconds. This effect has a [40-20] second Cooldown.

Hardcore mode Items
(Both of these randomly drop from enemies after you reach lvl 20, more often from Elites.)
1) Scroll of Escape - immediately teleports you to safety when used. Assign it to your action wheel and memorize where it's at so you can quickly use it when needed.
2) Elixir of Death Evasion - makes characters immune to all damage for two seconds once their Life reaches zero. Like other Elixirs, this effect is active for only 30 minutes, and it disappears once it procs.

Tips
- Play on WT1. This should be obvious, but don't make this riskier or more difficult on yourself.
- Make sure you play with a stable internet connection. This may change in the future, but right now if you disconnect from the server for any reason your Hardcore character goes bye-bye.
-While you can skip the campaign if you've already completed it on an Eternal character I wouldn't personally recommend it. If you do skip it you'll most likely be running a lot of Dungeons to level, increasing your chances of running into the Butcher and dying. Up to you though.
- Crowd control effects like Slow, Freeze, Daze, etc, can end your run very quickly so any abilities or gear with Unstoppable effects can be very worthwhile.
- If you're in a dungeon and you see a skull icon and hear rattling chains, I would recommend immediately teleporting out of the dungeon. The chain rattling means The Butcher is imminent and he's not coming to invite you to dinner, you will BE his dinner. Get out.
- Pick your battles wisely. Hardcore mode introduces more Elite enemies and regular mobs more often have extra health and abilities. If all of your defensive abilities are on cooldown and you see a powerful pack of mobs/elites ahead, run away for a minute.
- If possible, play with at least one other person. Enemies are a bit tougher to take down in coop but you gain +10% XP in a group and you won't always have all the enemy aggro meaning your defensive cooldowns have more time to reset before needing them again.
- Unless you love risky moves and the threat of imminent death I wouldn't recommend doing Strongholds in Hardcore mode until you're a high level and you have a master build. Basically avoid them if you only care about this achievement.

If you have recommended changes please comment below!

***Season 2 patches have somehow made the servers more unstable. Lots of people are complaining that they're losing HC characters due to disconnects. You've been forewarned!!! ***

PLEASE READ:
- Current as of July 6th hotfix
- Diablo 4 is regularly patched so some of this information may change in time. If you notice something that needs updated please comment or DM me and I'll look it over.
- Also note that these tips are only for getting to lvl 50 for this achievement. Much of the following information and class rankings would change if I was taking lvls 50-100 into account.

The absolute fastest way to unlock this is to have a high lvl friend power lvl you. If done correctly you could get from lvl 1-50 in a couple hours.
If you're curious to go this route check out this article or others like it:
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/diablo-4-power-leveling-gu...

The Normal Way to Unlock This
First I'll run through the classes to give you an idea of which may be the best to use for this, using a 5 point scale to rate their dmg and defensive capabilities.
Then we'll look at great aspects to strive for, items you NEED, and general tips.

Classes
Notes: This is how I would personally rank the classes best for Hardcore, mainly focusing on how they handle bosses. All of the classes have either really good crowd control abilities or fantastic AOE dmg or both, so as long as you're careful mobs shouldn't pose an imminent threat.
Bosses are the most likely situations where you'll face death.
I've played each one to around lvl 25-30 and watched many Youtube vids on early class strengths and weaknesses to inform my opinion.
Survivability includes both mobility and defensive skills.

1) Sorcerer: ..........dmg - 4, defensive skills - 5, mobility - 3
2) Barbarian: ........dmg - 4, defensive skills - 4, mobility - 4
3) Rogue: ..............dmg - 5, defensive skills - 2, mobility - 5
4) Druid: ................dmg - 3, defensive skills - 5, mobility - 2
5) Necromancer: dmg - 3, defensive skills - 3, mobility - 1

Sorcerer
The only character with a "cheat death" ability. The second you get to lvl 15 and unlock your specialization enhancements, immediately equip the Flame Shield enhancement. Every 2 minutes the shield can activate when you take fatal dmg and makes you Immune to dmg to 2 seconds.
That, along with Ice Armor (use on every build, even Fire/Shock), Teleport, Deep Freeze (only on certain ice builds), and great burst dmg, the Sorcerer is one of the best suited classes for Hardcore.

Barbarian
This big lug dishes out strong dmg and has some mobility skills but they all culminate in him getting in close and dirty. Just make sure you always have some barrier active or a mobility skill off cooldown to use so you can get out of trouble when necessary.

Rogue
This is the class I'm using in Hardcore.
Rogue has by far the most mobility skills of any class and many passives that increase movement speed. If you're good at positioning yourself well in battles then this class could be #1 or #2 in the ranking for Hardcore.
But besides Dark Shroud they have little defensive capabilities so stay on the move!
Rogue has the highest dmg potential in the early levels but low defense. Glass cannon for sure!
I would only recommend ranged builds for hardcore. Try not to get in close to avoid wipes.

Druid
Lots of defensive and healing capabilities, but very little mobility and comparatively low dmg output under lvl50. Still a great choice and it sits at the top of some internet guru's lists so don't count him out.

Necromancer
Skeletons can help slightly with enemy aggro, but more often than not, especially with bosses, they focus solely on you. Necro has no mobility skills early on and very little defensive capabilities.
He can still be good though so don't let this ranking scare you out of using him if you're dead set on it.
See BigPoppaHoyle's comment below this solution for Necro tips.

Aspects
(These are great general aspects to use for staying alive. Obviously there are great offensive ones you should be using also and some defensive that are class specific but I'll just list the best general use ones here)
Protecting Aspect - When hit while not Healthy, a magical bubble is summoned around you for [3.0-5.0] seconds. While standing in the bubble players are Immune. Can only occur once every 90 seconds.
Aspect of the Protector - Damaging an Elite enemy grants you a Barrier absorbing up to [X] damage for 10 seconds. This effect can only happen once every 30 seconds.
Aspect of Disobedience - You gain [0.25-0.50]% increased Armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to [25.00-50.00]%
Aspect of Might - Basic Skills grant 20% Damage Reduction for [2.0-6.0] seconds.
Eluding Aspect - Becoming Iniured while Crowd Controlled grants you Unstoppable for 4 seconds. This effect has a [40-20] second Cooldown.

Hardcore mode Items
(Both of these randomly drop from enemies after you reach lvl 20, more often from Elites.)
1) Scroll of Escape - immediately teleports you to safety when used. Assign it to your action wheel and memorize where it's at so you can quickly use it when needed.
2) Elixir of Death Evasion - makes characters immune to all damage for two seconds once their Life reaches zero. Like other Elixirs, this effect is active for only 30 minutes, and it disappears once it procs.

Tips
- Play on WT1. This should be obvious, but don't make this riskier or more difficult on yourself.
- Make sure you play with a stable internet connection. This may change in the future, but right now if you disconnect from the server for any reason your Hardcore character goes bye-bye.
-While you can skip the campaign if you've already completed it on an Eternal character I wouldn't personally recommend it. If you do skip it you'll most likely be running a lot of Dungeons to level, increasing your chances of running into the Butcher and dying. Up to you though.
- Crowd control effects like Slow, Freeze, Daze, etc, can end your run very quickly so any abilities or gear with Unstoppable effects can be very worthwhile.
- If you're in a dungeon and you see a skull icon and hear rattling chains, I would recommend immediately teleporting out of the dungeon. The chain rattling means The Butcher is imminent and he's not coming to invite you to dinner, you will BE his dinner. Get out.
- Pick your battles wisely. Hardcore mode introduces more Elite enemies and regular mobs more often have extra health and abilities. If all of your defensive abilities are on cooldown and you see a powerful pack of mobs/elites ahead, run away for a minute.
- If possible, play with at least one other person. Enemies are a bit tougher to take down in coop but you gain +10% XP in a group and you won't always have all the enemy aggro meaning your defensive cooldowns have more time to reset before needing them again.
- Unless you love risky moves and the threat of imminent death I wouldn't recommend doing Strongholds in Hardcore mode until you're a high level and you have a master build. Basically avoid them if you only care about this achievement.

If you have recommended changes please comment below!

PLEASE READ:
- Current as of July 6th hotfix
- Diablo 4 is regularly patched so some of this information may change in time. If you notice something that needs updated please comment or DM me and I'll look it over.
- Also note that these tips are only for getting to lvl 50 for this achievement. Much of the following information and class rankings would change if I was taking lvls 50-100 into account.

The absolute fastest way to unlock this is to have a high lvl friend power lvl you. If done correctly you could get from lvl 1-50 in a couple hours.
If you're curious to go this route check out this article or others like it:
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/diablo-4-power-leveling-gu...

The Normal Way to Unlock This
First I'll run through the classes to give you an idea of which may be the best to use for this, using a 5 point scale to rate their dmg and defensive capabilities.
Then we'll look at great aspects to strive for, items you NEED, and general tips.

Classes
Notes: This is how I would personally rank the classes best for Hardcore, mainly focusing on how they handle bosses. All of the classes have either really good crowd control abilities or fantastic AOE dmg or both, so as long as you're careful mobs shouldn't pose an imminent threat.
Bosses are the most likely situations where you'll face death.
I've played each one to around lvl 25-30 and watched many Youtube vids on early class strengths and weaknesses to inform my opinion.
Survivability includes both mobility and defensive skills.

1) Sorcerer: ..........dmg - 4, defensive skills - 5, mobility - 3
2) Barbarian: ........dmg - 4, defensive skills - 4, mobility - 4
3) Rogue: ..............dmg - 5, defensive skills - 2, mobility - 5
4) Druid: ................dmg - 3, defensive skills - 5, mobility - 2
5) Necromancer: dmg - 3, defensive skills - 3, mobility - 1

Sorcerer
The only character with a "cheat death" ability. The second you get to lvl 15 and unlock your specialization enhancements, immediately equip the Flame Shield enhancement. Every 2 minutes the shield can activate when you take fatal dmg and makes you Immune to dmg to 2 seconds.
That, along with Ice Armor (use on every build, even Fire/Shock), Teleport, Deep Freeze (only on certain ice builds), and great burst dmg, the Sorcerer is one of the best suited classes for Hardcore.

Barbarian
This big lug dishes out strong dmg and has some mobility skills but they all culminate in him getting in close and dirty. Just make sure you always have some barrier active or a mobility skill off cooldown to use so you can get out of trouble when necessary.

Rogue
This is the class I'm using in Hardcore.
Rogue has by far the most mobility skills of any class and many passives that increase movement speed. If you're good at positioning yourself well in battles then this class could be #1 or #2 in the ranking for Hardcore.
But besides Dark Shroud they have little defensive capabilities so stay on the move!
Rogue has the highest dmg potential in the early levels but low defense. Glass cannon for sure!
I would only recommend ranged builds for hardcore. Try not to get in close to avoid wipes.

Druid
Lots of defensive and healing capabilities, but very little mobility and comparatively low dmg output under lvl50. Still a great choice and it sits at the top of some internet guru's lists so don't count him out.

Necromancer
Skeletons can help slightly with enemy aggro, but more often than not, especially with bosses, they focus solely on you. Necro has no mobility skills and very little defensive capabilities.
He can still be good though so don't let this ranking scare you out of using him if you're dead set on it.
See BigPoppaHoyle's comment below this solution for Necro tips.

Aspects
(These are great general aspects to use for staying alive. Obviously there are great offensive ones you should be using also and some defensive that are class specific but I'll just list the best general use ones here)
Protecting Aspect - When hit while not Healthy, a magical bubble is summoned around you for [3.0-5.0] seconds. While standing in the bubble players are Immune. Can only occur once every 90 seconds.
Aspect of the Protector - Damaging an Elite enemy grants you a Barrier absorbing up to [X] damage for 10 seconds. This effect can only happen once every 30 seconds.
Aspect of Disobedience - You gain [0.25-0.50]% increased Armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to [25.00-50.00]%
Aspect of Might - Basic Skills grant 20% Damage Reduction for [2.0-6.0] seconds.
Eluding Aspect - Becoming Iniured while Crowd Controlled grants you Unstoppable for 4 seconds. This effect has a [40-20] second Cooldown.

Hardcore mode Items
(Both of these randomly drop from enemies after you reach lvl 20, more often from Elites.)
1) Scroll of Escape - immediately teleports you to safety when used. Assign it to your action wheel and memorize where it's at so you can quickly use it when needed. If you have one in your inventory it is automatically used when you get a server disconnect and saves your character!
2) Elixir of Death Evasion - makes characters immune to all damage for two seconds once their Life reaches zero. Like other Elixirs, this effect is active for only 30 minutes, and it disappears once it procs.

Tips
- Play on WT1. This should be obvious, but don't make this riskier or more difficult on yourself.
- Make sure you play with a stable internet connection. This may change in the future, but right now if you disconnect from the server for any reason your Hardcore character goes bye-bye.
-While you can skip the campaign if you've already completed it on an Eternal character I wouldn't personally recommend it. If you do skip it you'll most likely be running a lot of Dungeons to level, increasing your chances of running into the Butcher and dying. Up to you though.
- Crowd control effects like Slow, Freeze, Daze, etc, can end your run very quickly so any abilities or gear with Unstoppable effects can be very worthwhile.
- The Resistance stat is completely worthless right now. If it's patched I'll recommend stacking Res but until then focus on straight Armor rating on gear.
- If you're in a dungeon and you see a skull icon and hear rattling chains, I would recommend immediately teleporting out of the dungeon. The chain rattling means The Butcher is imminent and he's not coming to invite you to dinner, you will BE his dinner. Get out.
- Pick your battles wisely. Hardcore mode introduces more Elite enemies and regular mobs more often have extra health and abilities. If all of your defensive abilities are on cooldown and you see a powerful pack of mobs/elites ahead, run away for a minute.
- If possible, play with at least one other person. Enemies are a bit tougher to take down in coop but you gain +10% XP in a group and you won't always have all the enemy aggro meaning your defensive cooldowns have more time to reset before needing them again.
- Unless you love risky moves and the threat of imminent death I wouldn't recommend doing Strongholds in Hardcore mode until you're a high level and you have a master build. Basically avoid them if you only care about this achievement.

If you have recommended changes please comment below!

EDIT - As a couple of commenters have mentioned it seems you need to clear a stronghold now to unlock the pre-req side quests and this probably won't be safe to do until later in the levelling - perhaps ~30.

This negates some of the value of this method but leaving this here as it still could be the safest way from ~30 to 50.


As someone who plays a lot of ARPG's and has played a lot of D2, D3 & D4 - mostly on softcore but somewhat on hardcore - ICE Faux Pirate's guide is pretty decent on general play on HC for D4.

For those not looking to really "play" but just to get this chieve as quickly and easily as possible I would recommend a more focussed addition to the guide on how to most easily get the achievement. Please read to the end if trying this method or at least don't ever complete the dungeon or you can never farm it again!

Just to be really clear - Never open the boss room door at all - if you are opening this you are passing the farm and going towards eliminating the dungeon from your char's save.

I would recommend the "Hallowed Glacier" sidequest dungeon for the side quest "Call of the Ancients" in the Bear Tribe camp near Kyovoshad: details here - https://www.wowhead.com/diablo-4/guide/zones/call-of-the-anc...

You need to be lvl 15 I believe and do a couple of pre-requisite side quests as listed in the wowhead guide. Follow the tips in ICE Faux's guide to get there if you need it, but it doesn't take long and the first 10-20 levels are fairly risk free. You will get around 2 levels from doing the pre-requisite side quests.

Skip down to the bullet list on strat below if you just want the strat without additional comments or warnings

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If you want a (relatively) risk free but fairly quick path to level 50 just spam this side quest dungeon (without completing). This was actually the fastest way to farm uniques pre-season 1 once Blizz finished nerfing all the popular farm dungeons. It remains un-nerfed as of Season 2 so contains a decent amount of elites (more XP) without any bosses.

The only non-dungeon areas with comparable elite density are the PVP zones (naturally to be avoided on HC) or event zones such as Blight (season 2) or Helltide (not applicable to levelling to 50) which are far more risky for those only seeking to hit 50 whilst avoiding the dreaded HC reset.

On WT1 the following will only apply to weak / unoptimised builds and/or under-geared chars but.. if you are going in at ~lvl 15 and not sure how well your char will deal with elites then please be careful and preferably enter with a scroll of escape at hand and ready to go. The elites in here are no more dangerous than your usual open world ones but you may face 2-3 at a time in the larger rooms quite frequently or occassionally even 4-5.

As you get used to the dungeon you will know where this grouping may occur and how to easily avoid having to fight all of them at once if it is a struggle (kiting the first 1-2-3 back into where you came from basically).

The critical point if using this farm is to never finish the dungeon. I recommend uncovering the whole map the first run or 2 to learn the dungeon and path. After this you can farm in about 5m per run or less (depending on build etc) for about 2/3 to 3/4 of a level on WT1 initially (1/3 to 1/4 of a level in the 40's). This will not be the fastest way to gain XP but is quicker than roaming the world doing events and side quests etc and very low risk - far less risky than braving dungeons where bosses or the Butcher can ruin your day!

The other beauty of this approach is that, due to the elite density, you will get plenty of gear upgrades - rares and legendaries - as you go. So you can keep your gear as level relevant as you feel you need to. There is also a blacksmith in the bear camp so you can melt / sell the stuff you dont want every few runs as needed. You will need to return to a major town such as Kyovoshad if you want to apply new aspects or to upgrade your potions etc. You probably won't need pots in here but it would seem sensible to keep them somewhat upgraded as you go ;)

This dungeon, unlike full dungeons, has no procedural generation to the layout so once you learn it, it will always be exactly the same. Elite spawn locations are fairly fixed - but not of course exactly the same each time - so the path I describe below tries to account for that. Experience after a few runs will soon help you learn where to expect and look out for elites.

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The basic path once you have the quest;

1. Enter dungeon and at the 1st branch turn right / South and follow down to the next "room"
2. Clear room including dead ends and the exit from the North path you ignored but dont waste time going all the way up the North branch - there are very rarely any elites up the top of that path
3. Proceed to mini-boss room, clear, proceed to next area
4. Follow dungeon, clearing the small dead end to North in first mini-room (often elites here) and passing boss chamber entrance - which we are never going to use ^^
5. Follow round to South - clearing the dead end to the East mid-way down (again often elites) - then take the path to your char's left (right path on the screen - you are facing down) and follow this around and North East ignoring the path to the South West / left
6. Clear up to next mini-boss including mini dead ends - kill him and pick up the item he guards (boss chamber keystone) for speed boost to improve clear speed
7. Backtrack to the South West path we ignored in previous large chamber and take this
8. Clear final "room" (this is to the far S - we have not gone back N towards the boss room) including 2 dead ends to South of the room - 1 immediately on entering and 1 at far West side - as well as the link up path at the far West of the room going North back towards a path we ignored earlier (no need to follow this path all the way back to previously visited area but just the start of it for elites)
9. Once cleared "leave dungeon" then exit game and re-enter which will reset the dungeon

You will soon learn the dungeon and this path (and usual elite placement) as it is quite small and is a very efficient and risk free farm ^^

Hope this helps some with the chieve - happy hunting and remember your scroll of escape always on hardcore!

I just finished this using the Sorceress playing ONLY on World Tier I to keep things as safe as possible. I used a tankier Lightning Build. Spark as the Base attack, Charged Bolts as the Core attack, and Unstable Currents as the Ultimate. I used Vyr's Mastery as well for the added survivability. This build can however also utilize the Crackling Energy skills for more damage if you so choose to sacrifice some defense from the other skills, but getting the Flame Shield Enchantment as soon as possible, as well as heavy use of Ice Armor and Teleport are the most vital for survival. You'll also be picking the passives like Mana Shield and Protection, as well as some defense Lightning and Frost passives like Electrocution and Icy Veil.

Play around with the build some if you want, but those are some very good ones I found and I never died or had to use a Scroll of Escape with this build. The gear will kind of take care of itself as you play, especially if you keep doing Tree of Whisper quests. Just make sure you are reading things and make liberal use of gem slots where possible to increase health and armor.

The best way I found was to skip the story if you can and jump right into the open world, and to completely avoid dungeons so you don't meet The Butcher. Just focus on doing the Tree of Whisper quests and Side Quests to hit level 50 as fast as possible, as well as doing World Events as you see them since they all net decent experience.

The Tree of Whisper quests particularly were very helpful, and you can also combine them to get the Chaotic Whispers Achievement for opening 10 Chaos chests while you grind to level 50! These quests really will help you knock this out much quicker, even though they can get a little grindy and boring/tedious.

A final note to add is I found that when you start on Hardcore you DO NOT carry anything over from previous non-Hardcore characters, so keep this in mind that you will be going in from scratch, but still not really a problem on World Tier I, as long as you never change it. Ended up taking about 20-25 hours playing it super safe.

Hope this helps! Please don't downvote unless you state why in the comments, and happy Achievement Hunting!

Just to add more info. The other guides are fine.

I just got this in about 6hrs playing cautiously, running a summoning necromancer.

The nice thing about necros is that the skelly bois and golem do all the work for you - you just curse (I used Iron Maiden) and then Bone Spear from afar and let the minions do all the dmg. That way I sit back and chill. If you get the Occult Dominion Aspect, put it on your amulet to get +3 skelly mages AND skelly warriors. I had a total of 14 doing the dirty work for me.

For XP, I just ran open world Whispers, farming Grim Favors because the Tree of Whispers yields ridiculous XP as do each of the events, and there are at least 2-3 different regions with them active. The only events I did not do are the Basements (Icon is stairs going into a basement, kinda looks like a laptop to me :) because they are so closely packed it's easy to get swamped by enemies and die.

Same for dungeons - too closely packed and few means of escape.

Finally, if you move up or down on the map, be careful because monsters will come at you quickly owing the 16:9 aspect ratio, so try to engage at a distance left or right.