What Are Aspects in Diablo 4?

Diablo 4 from Blizzard Entertainment brings whole new features and systems to the familiar formula. One of the new mechanics introduced in Diablo 4 to encourage exploration and engage with dungeons around Sanctuary is the Aspect system, and here we will explain what Aspects are so you can best optimize your characters.

How to Obtain and Use Aspects in Diablo 4

All throughout Sanctuary you will find a ton of dungeons that you can complete, and besides having some good loot and providing a solid amount of experience, they also reward Aspects when you complete each individual dungeon. Aspects are powerful additional effects in Diablo 4 that you can imbue your equipment with. It will work with any piece of gear from white rarity to Legendary items, the only restriction being that it will be tied to a specific class. Luckily, when you obtain Aspects, they are stored in your Codex of Power and you can use stored Aspects with other characters.

To use the Aspects, you’ll need to make your way to the nearest town and interact with the Occultist NPC. After a brief chat you’ll be able to bring up the upgrade menu with them and then place the item you wish to upgrade in the slot, along with the Aspect you’d like to apply to it. You’ll get to see a preview of what effect is being added to your gear before you apply it. You’ll need materials to perform the upgrade, including gold and Veiled Crystals that you can get from scrapping Rare or Legendary items at the Blacksmith.

Aspects in Diablo 4 are composed of five different categories, including Defensive, Offensive, Resource, Utility, and Mobility. Defensive Aspects focus on providing effects that help you survive longer in battle, such as generating Armor when dealing damage. Offensive Aspects are all about dealing more damage; they have some strong effects such as dealing a high percentage of extra damage against enemies that are stunned or frozen.

Resource Aspects are very useful as they can help you to maintain the resource that your character spends to use their skills, such as Essence on a Necromancer. This will enable you to have a higher uptime on using your skills, which can be invaluable for certain classes. Utility Aspects are interesting, providing more niche buffs that can be useful in very specific scenarios, like when you become injured you gain a defensive buff called Unstoppable.

Lastly, the rarest of all the Aspects are those in the Mobility category, with only six being available to accumulate in the game. Mobility is always heavily sought in Diablo, and it’s just as valuable in Diablo 4 despite the fact you get mounts for the open world. The reason is that it’s still incredibly useful to have something to boost your speed while you fight your way through dungeons. They can be quite long and a bit of a time sink running through, so extra speed from Mobility Aspects will always be welcome.

That covers what Aspects are in Diablo 4, how to get them, and how to use them. There are a whole lot of dungeons to complete, so there are plenty of Aspects for you to discover and use to make your characters stronger and more efficient!