Update March 2023 due to this post getting lots of views, Season 28 makes gaining paragon/xp much easier due to the season theme ‘Alter of Rights’ with many helpful options you can unlock, the permanent xp pool alter option even on death, another option for extra progress orb drop, potion powers that can be unlocked on the final stages to improve power, plus quite a few other to help you speed up your rift runs. I have been getting GR runs under a minute more often in s28 even with low paragon. The method of running back to back greater rifts as fast as possible is still a great method if you can’t get a solid no nonsense group together. I ended s27 with just about 4300 paragon not playing much for the last 5-6 weeks and ran solo half of the time.
Note the below information was written during Season 27 of Diablo 3.
Some of this info might be common knowledge but for some newer players or others who suck at time management this could help you out. Basically we are min maxing our game time, this may not be the most fun way to play the game, but it can get you there faster.
Goal is to start and finish greater rifts quickly and do as many possible in an hour.
Today I was playing and working my way closer to 3,000 paragon (2808 currently), each point of paragon gives you +5 of main stat if added there. I decided to try a few variations of greater rift levels with my demon hunter shadow impale build in two configurations. First I did GR 130 for an hour and gained 6 paragon with my higher damage build, then with a less powerful speed build did an hour in GR 120 and gained 8 paragon.
Don’t be afraid to use a less powerful fast moving build, speed is essential.
Reason the lower 120 came out more is because they can be completed quicker and so you can do a few more runs. I then decided to fully xp pool by running some regular nephalem rifts, to be fully pooled you will need to collect 10 xp shrines which will equal 1 full level of experience until your next paragon. I did 120 again fully pooled and gained 10 paragon in an hour. The time it took to gain those pools was about 45 minutes (note a new post how to route xp pools fast, fully pool in around 10 minutes e.g. 10 pools) so it wasn’t really worth it since I could have gained about 4-5 paragon in that time, my thinking on this has changed as xp pool routes dramatically speed this up so I always fully pool even topping them off during runs.
Don’t pickup loot, exception red primals.
Now running nephalem rifts is needed to get GR keys, before doing these speed GR paragon runs I would suggest stocking up about 50-100 GR keys and you can collect some xp pools then without wasting much time. Just craft the gear for your follower to get extra rift keys to make this quicker. So below are the details of how running solo might be the best way to get really high paragon, it has many advantages over public group runs.
Your character should not be dying much if at all during these, you lose xp pools on death too.
If I would have started this method earlier I might be over 4k paragon or more by now. I typically waste time in groups waiting and then other bs that goes on. Do not fall into the trap of trying to turn up the GR level real high, you will just slow yourself down since you can run the same GR level for many days and this works. For instance at the time I write this I can do a max of GR 137 under the 15 minute cap on demon hunter but am running GR 120 for these quick runs.Highest GR you can finish between 2-3 minutes on average makes this work decently.
Do not increase the GR level during the runs, can keep same GR level for many days and gain xp aka paragon levels.
My paragon examples above could be improved a bit more with more practice and shaving off more time. Keep in mind my paragon was 2808 when I started so your numbers may differ, its faster the lower you are and slower the higher you are with the same gr 120 example.
If you start averaging less than 1:30 per GR level it may be time to increase GR a little.
How to get higher season paragon solo, this assumes you have a basic understanding of Diablo 3, decent gear, and some rift experience.
- Run nephalem rifts to collect plenty of gr keys at least for your hour run, make sure your follower has the crafted gear that allows extra rift keys to be earned. It’s possible to earn 9 keys per nephalem run at max torment level with the gear bonus on follower. I typically stock up around 100 keys so I can run non stop for a few hours, using a speed build helps here.
- What ever paragon level you are now find the highest GR level you can finish in at least 4 minutes, but between 2-3 is recommended. You will run this GR level for an hour non stop, do not change it.
- During your GR runs do not collect gear unless its a primal aka the red border gear, at end of rift do your gem leveling and come back to town and complete GR by talking to Orek. You typically wont need to do any repairs to your gear during the hour run.
- Start another GR immediately and repeat all of this for an hour or however long you can keep it up.
- After the hour is done maybe run some regular nephalem rifts to replenish gr keys and grab some xp pools along the paths, or if you have plenty still do another hour run. If you were lucky and found some primal red border gear you can finally see what you got, don’t be surprised if it’s worthless. The nephalem rifts can be run exactly like the GR Paragon runs if you want except you have a 30 seconds timer after each so you can pickup gear at end. Me personally I just blast through them and pickup the GR keys and blood shards, then I gamble the blood shards after a for runs during the 30 second timer phase.
Advantages of doing this solo
- Public groups generally waste time, if you get your mind right this will be easy with a set time goal like an hour.
- Most public groups have varying skill levels and no perfect GR is right for all.
- Solo is actually easier and more efficient, unless you have some friends who regularly play with you its best solo.
- You can run for however long as you want, plus you can pause the game if you need to do something in solo mode.
- Easier to track your own status, write some notes and decide when you want to turn up the GR level.
- No group drama, waiting for the perfect meta builds, or any of that bs. You can do that later if you want, lets get powered up higher than most first.
- Maybe your build is too squishy, gain another 50 paragon and add the points to vitality without removing points from your main stat.
Yes you can gain more paragon xp in a 4 man group, but like I wrote above they are not usually as efficient and people come and go. Now to take this another level if you find more like minded people to group with and do these uninterrupted the xp per hour will be higher. After my tests about 4-5 hours later I had paragon 2848 up from 2808, this will be improved the more I do it.
Update I am averaging 8-10 paragon per hour with no loot or time wasting at my paragon of 2856+ in GR 120.
Use these methods to push past your current GR limits, max out your gems, and just be a better D3 gamer.
An update at the end of Season 27 I was at 4200+ paragon and doing GR 147 solo using Tal Rasha Set with arcane meteor build, I did not play much of the last month of the season and could have been over 6k if I would have kept playing. I did not finish a GR 150 fast enough solo usually getting it done in around 16 minutes.