Season 4 of Diablo 4 has introduced a new nice feature called Tempering. It’s your go-to crafting system if you want to personalize your gear in the game. With that, you’ll be able to add two specific stats, known as affixes, to your items. If you want to Temper any equipment, you can do this at the Blacksmith using something called Temper Manuals.
Once your item is completely decked out (Tempered) with its new affixes, it’s time to kick things up a notch with Masterworking. You’ll need special materials from The Pit, which is a new challenging end-game dungeon series. Masterworking basically supercharges your gear’s stats, taking your character’s abilities to a higher level. With Tempering and Masterworking combined, your gear will not only be more powerful, but also more flexible and visually impressive. It’s about creating builds that are as fun to play as they are effective.
How Tempering Works in Diablo 4
In the past, Diablo games had your weapons gear drop with all its affixes in place. You could then reroll one from Occultist, but that was about it. However, the developers have changed the situation in Diablo 4 with the Tempering system. Now, you can add two specific affixes to your non-unique gear through Manuals.
Imagine these Manuals as books of recipes and these recipes are affixes. They drop from bosses, world bosses, and those grueling Nightmare Dungeons. Consuming a manual unlocks new affixes that you can then add to your items through the Tempering process. If you find a manual of a lower rarity than one you’ve already used, it can even boost the stats range of your affixes.
Each manual falls into one of six categories, and each category matches up with certain types of gear:
- Weapons: Just for weapons.
- Offensive: For weapons, amulets, gloves, and rings.
- Defensive: For shields, helms, chest pieces, pants, and amulets.
- Utility: For shields, helms, chest pieces, pants, amulets, gloves, and boots.
- Mobility: For amulets and boots.
- Resource: For amulets and rings.
The Tempering Process
Here’s how you do it: Select two Manuals and roll for affixes, you need to spend some Gold, Veiled Crystals, and salvaging gear materials. If the attempt doesn’t work and you don’t receive the desired affix, you can Temper again, but be careful—each item has a limited number of rerolls available. Use them up and once the Temper counters end for a gear, you’re stuck with what you’ve got.
How to Masterwork Items in Diablo 4
Once your item is fully Tempered, it’s ready for Masterworking at World Tier 4. This is where the big boosts happen. Masterworking can increase your item’s stats significantly but you’ll need special materials from The Pit—an endgame dungeon series—to do Masterwork on gear. It’s a twelve-level process where each level ups your affixes by 5%, with a huge 25% boost to one random affix at levels four, eight, and twelve.
To enter The Pit, you’ll first need to complete a priority quest upon reaching world tier four. Here, you’ll gather Runeshards, the currency needed to open The Pit. You’ll face a race against time inside, defeating enemies to fill up a bar that, once topped, opens a portal to the boss. After defeating this last enemy boss, you’ll be able to unlock the chest which contains all the valuable materials you require to use the Masterwork system. Be as fast as you can inside The Pit, and you might even level up your tier level, unlocking access to even rarer materials.
With both Tempering and Masterworking at your disposal, your builds in Diablo 4 can be more flexible, powerful, and visually dazzling. Whether you’re enhancing a sorcerer’s icy reach or a barbarian’s crushing blows, these crafting systems offer a deep, rewarding way to make your mark in Diablo 4.
