These are the best new level 85 farming spots for Diablo 2: Resurrected

Diablo 2: Resurrected’s first ladder season kicks off April 28, 2022, and with it comes a bunch of new level 85 areas where you can farm for the best gear in the game. These new areas were actually introduced with Patch 2.4, released two weeks prior to the ladder start, but they’re really going to come in handy as you strive to become the most powerful player on the leaderboards. Let’s take a look at the best level 85 farming spots in Diablo 2: Resurrected for different damage types and classes to get you off to a great start.

What’s so great about level 85 areas in Diablo 2?

Do you ever wonder why there are so many Chaos Sanctuary and Baal runs in Diablo 2: Resurrected? Besides the massive experience these areas dole out, they’re also both spots where any item in the game can drop, including the best high-level stuff. We’re talking about your Griffon’s Eye Diadem, your Windforce Hydra Bow, and your Death’s Web Unearthed Wand. These types of items that command a huge amount of trading power (not to mention demon-slaying power) can only drop from what are known as level 85 areas in the game.

Just one high-end item from a level 85 area can make you rich for the rest of the ladder season.

These areas have strong monsters that will make pie out of your under-geared corpse, but the payoff can be enormous. Keep at it and you’ll be rewarded. Just one high-end item can make you rich at the start of a ladder. Diablo 2 had the same handful of level 85 areas for decades, and though they’re beloved they have become quite stale for a lot of players. They also shoehorned many players into choosing a common cookie-cutter build to dole out the right type of damage to deal with monster resists in those areas.

Diablo 2: Resurrected’s Patch 2.4 has thankfully changed all that, introducing 16 new level 85 areas for your farming enjoyment. These areas are spread out through the game’s five Acts and have different types of monster immunities within. This broadens the selection of builds that can effectively farm end-game Diablo 2 content, and it gives players new and old something fresh to look at.

Many of these areas also contain a sparkling chest somewhere in the procedurally generated map. If the area has multiple levels, it will often be located in the deepest part. Also note that you will occasionally encounter a specific monster immune to your damage type in these areas. Just ignore them or let your mercenary kill them and carry on. Speed is key while magic finding in Diablo 2: Resurrected, so don’t waste too much time trying to slay one or two enemies.

Adding the Infinity runeword into your setup will change things drastically, allowing you to farm far more areas. This guide focuses on farming before Infinity, which is where the majority of players will spend most of their time. Keep in mind that regular magic finding rules still apply to these areas; a higher magic find percentage on your character will result in better drops.

Level 85 farming areas for cold damage

The Blizzard Sorceress has long been a favorite build of magic finders in Diablo 2, and even with the changes to Hydra this season there will no doubt be plenty of cold damage being thrown around. While the Ancient Tunnels in Act 2’s Lost City and the Mausoleum in Act 1’s Burial Grounds are still top spots for any build doing cold damage, there are six new spots to check out with your character dealing cold damage. I’ve included them in the chart below along with the level 85 areas that have always been good for farming with cold damage.

The Amazon and Assassin are likely going to benefit most from these areas, but there are plenty of other builds that dole out lightning damage. Trying to farm before Patch 2.4 using lightning damage was difficult without an Infinity runeword; that’s changed with some new level 85 areas with monsters weak to lightning.

Level 85 farming areas for fire damage

With notable changes to Sorceress and Druid fire skills, there will no doubt be plenty of people looking for good places to magic find with fire damage. This used to be a hard sell before Patch 2.4, as there was essentially only one spot to effectively farm with fire damage. Here’s a look at where you should farm with fire damage now that the patch has added new areas.

The most famous dealer of magic damage in Diablo 2 is the Hammerdin Paladin, but it’s notably being joined this time by the Fist of Heavens Paladin. Magic damage was already an extremely efficient way to farm the Chaos Sanctuary and The Pit, and there are now even more spots to have fun while searching for the ultimate gear. As you can see below, there are still a ton of areas to farm if you’re dealing magic damage.

So you want to try out a Rabies Druid or a Poison Nova Necro? Watching enemies drop after you run by is a very fun way to play. If you’re a Necromancer, having the ability to cast the Lower Resist curse can also break enemy poison immunities that would otherwise put a stop to your fun. I’ve included a table for natural resistances (without adding any curses), as well as a table for areas you can farm once you have your Lower Resist curse at level 12 or higher.

If you have your Lower Resist curse leveled up, these additional areas will be suitable for farming. Just cast the curse on enemy mobs and get to work spreading poison. You can also use a wand with the Lower Resist curse embedded, though it won’t be as effective.

What about physical damage?

Dealing pure physical damage in Diablo 2: Resurrected is much less common than elemental or magic damage types. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. If you’re farming gear with a character that deals pure physical damage, you should be able to run most of the level 85 areas — old and new — in the game. There will be some monsters with immunities, but feel free to skip them and carry on to prevent too much of a slowdown. In general it will be slow going due to your lack of area-of-effect (AOE) damage, but it can be done. Our Diablo 2: Resurrected guide to classes and abilities has more information on this topic. And be sure to check out our roundup of the best gaming laptops if you need a new PC to handle the new ladder season.