Diablo 4 Unique, Sacred, And Ancestral Items Guide
Diablo 4 Unique, Sacred, and Ancestral items will probably cause a migraine when you first encounter them. If you’re a veteran of the series, you’ll be surprised at the inclusion of new rarities. If you’re a newcomer, you’ll be flabbergasted at this mechanic. And that’s why we’ve got you covered. Our Diablo 4 Unique, Sacred, and Ancestral items guide will help you figure out just what all of these terminologies are, and where you’ll actually find this type of loot.
What Are Unique, Sacred, and Ancestral Items in Diablo 4 – Loot Guide
Classification of Item Rarities and Features
Before we go into detail about the Diablo 4 Unique, Sacred, and Ancestral items, let’s do a quick refresher on the loot system. When talking about rarities, you’ll see the following:
- Common (grey)
- Magic (blue)
- Rare (yellow)
- Legendary (orange) – Given the new Codex of Power/Legendary Aspects mechanics, legendaries are just rare items with a Legendary Aspect (i.e. perk/affix). They’re no longer the one-of-a-kind drops that every class searches for.
- Unique (gold) – This is now the highest rarity, which we explain below.
- Note that Sacred and Ancestral items are mostly affixes related to stat rolls, which we detail later in this guide.
Unique Items
The Diablo 4 Unique items now occupy the highest tier in terms of rarity. They have a more noticeable gold frame. However, the most important factor to remember is that they have fixed aspects/perks. These cannot be extracted nor imprinted. The best example of this is the Mother’s Embrace, a unique ring that you’ll obtain at the end of the campaign. The one we obtained has the following stats and perks:
- +18.7% fire and shadow resistance
- +6 all stats
- +2.9% Lucky Hit chance
- +10.5% critical strike damage
- +14% Overpower damage
- +1 socket
- Perk: If a Core Skill hits five or more enemies, 25% of the resource cost is refunded.
As mentioned, the perk solely belongs to this item. As such, it’s the only one of its kind that will have this effect, not unless you find a duplicate later in your travels. You can find more Diablo 4 Unique items as you play on World Tier 3: Nightmare onward.
![The Mother's Embrace is the first of many Unique items that you'll find throughout your journey.](https://www.gamespot.com/a/uploads/original/1816/18167535/4148213-diablo-4-unique-sacred-legendary-items-2.jpg)
Sacred and Ancestral Items
But what about the Diablo 4 Sacred and Ancestral items? These aren’t a specific type of rarity, akin to comparing magic versus rare versus legendary items. Rather, they’re just another means of saying that “this item has better rolls.”
Here’s how you can get them:
- Sacred items will start dropping from World Tier 3: Nightmare onward. That means you’ll want to clear the Cathedral of Light Capstone Dungeon so you can switch to World Tier 3.
- Ancestral items will start dropping once you reach World Tier 4: Torment. This also requires you to beat another Capstone Dungeon.
- Endgame activities such as Whispers of the Dead, Helltide Events, and Nightmare Dungeons offer many opportunities to amass Sacred and Ancestral loot.
![Although there's only a single level that separates the two, the Sacred Rare Sword has significantly better stats compared to the Legendary Scythe that's non-Sacred.](https://www.gamespot.com/a/uploads/original/1816/18167535/4148214-diablo-4-unique-sacred-legendary-items-3.jpg)
Sacred and Ancestral items act as affixes for stat rolls, and are applied to any rarity. As such, it’s possible to see an Ancestral Legendary or a Sacred Rare, and various combinations. All it takes is a lot of grinding, and maybe a little luck when it comes to RNG drops.
Diablo 4 has numerous classes, mechanics, and activities. For more about the game, you can visit our D4 guides hub.
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