What happens when you die in Diablo 4? Explained

You’re going to die a lot in Diablo 4. Many players have noted a significant increase in difficulty compared to the game’s predecessor, Diablo 3, particularly when it comes to bosses found in Strongholds and later endgame content. Naturally, you’ll be anxious about the consequences of such failures for your character; just what happens when you die in Diablo 4? Read on for the definitive answer to this fundamental question.

What lies beyond the veil of death in Diablo 4?

Before we get into it, it’s worth noting that the consequences for death vary based on which difficulty setting you’re playing on, between Normal and Hardcore. For a Normal character, dying results in you being sent back to a checkpoint, unless another player revives you within a few seconds of death. In addition, all of the gear you have equipped loses 10 points of durability.

Durability is a fairly obscure stat in Diablo 4, and one that you actually won’t have to deal with at all until you die. Unlike most titles with such a system, the durability on your weapons and armor in Diablo 4 doesn’t reduce through use in combat, but rather exclusively through death. Each piece of gear starts with 100 durability, and loses 10 each time you die. When it reaches zero, that piece of gear is considered ‘Broken’, and can no longer be used by your character.

Broken gear can be repaired at a blacksmith, either once it’s fully broken or at any stage of durability loss along the way. The cost to do so increases based on the amount of durability lost, so it’s a good idea to repair all of your gear regularly in between quests and dungeon runs, just to be on the safe side.

Dying with a Hardcore character is another matter entirely, however, If you die with a Hardcore character, then that character will be permanently deleted from your save file, along with all of their items and equipment. It’s a severe penalty, but it comes with the upside of increasing your chances of finding rare loot, and the opportunity to be commemorated in the Hall of Heroes should you surpass level 10.

So there you have it: one of the essential questions of life, answered. In Diablo 4 terms, anyway. Now that you know what happens when you die in Diablo 4, you can go into battle more prepared and, in the case of Hardcore characters, much, much more carefully.