Dark Citadel is the first group raiding activity added to Diablo 4 in Vessel of Hatred expansion.

Many players are interested in Dark Citadel, however, this mode must be unlocked, and it is difficult to complete it. Many players do not understand its mechanism.

This article will take you through the entire process of completing Dark Citadel. You will learn how to unlock Dark Citadel missions, how to form a team, how to solve various puzzles in Dark Citadel and so on. After completing Dark Citadel, you can get many rewards, including Diablo 4 Gold and Experience Points.

How To Unlock Dark Citadel?

Many players are interested in Dark Citadel, but some do not know how to unlock it. You first need to meet the following conditions to access Priority Quest Chain for Dark Citadel.

• Complete the base game’s campaign - Kill Lilith
• Reach level 60
• Unlock Torment 1 Difficulty
• Be in a Torment 1+ World

Once you’ve reached the above conditions, you’ll need to track down the purple priority quest called “Crater of Lost Souls”, which unlocks Dark Citadel.

How To Build A Party For Dark Citadel?

Once you’ve unlocked Dark Citadel, you’re ready to build a party and enter this new world!

You’ll need at least two players to solve all the puzzles in Dark Citadel, and some puzzles will require you to work with your teammates to solve them. But it may be difficult to kill the final boss with just two players, as its health pool is very thick, and it may take more than four players to defeat it.

If you want to challenge Dark Citadel, you can choose to create your own party or join an existing party. You can find Party Finder in the upper left corner of Social Tab and use it to find the party you want to join.

After joining a party, remember to exchange Diablo 4 Gold for some good weapons and equipment to help you travel in the Dark Castle more smoothly.

Where To Find Warrior’s Camp And Dark Citadel Entrance?

Find Warrior’s Camp

Warrior’s Camp is not marked, but a large area will be highlighted on your map. You can find Warrior’s Camp in the northeast of this area.

Find Dark Citadel Entrance

After completing the questline, you will unlock a Waypoint at the location where you completed the quest - “Rise of the Khazra”. You can find the entrance to Dark Citadel through one of the three doors of the room.

How To Complete Dark Citadel Community Challenge Priority Quest?

You need to successfully complete all Dark Citadel Wings. They are located in the three doors of Rise of the Khazra Waypoint area.

How To Complete Dark Citadel?

You need to work with your teammates to solve a series of puzzles to clear Dark Citadel. Here are some common puzzle types and their solutions:

Soul Siphons

Soul Siphons mechanics are similar to Blood Altar event in Overworld, where you need to charge a Siphon after clicking to activate it.

Charging a Siphon requires you to stand in the highlighted area and wait for the crystal on top of Soul Siphon to completely fill with light. Once a Soul Siphon is fully charged, a darkened crystal will drop nearby. Generally, you will need to activate two Soul Siphons in the same room to proceed.

Soul Siphons will charge faster if multiple players are standing in the corresponding area. If you are playing in a group, you can try to activate and charge all Soul Siphons at the same time.

Finally, pick up the glowing objects dropped by each Soul Siphon and place them in the altars near the door.

Spirit Realm Teleporting

In this puzzle, the team needs to charge Gateway in the center of the room by using the following method.

After killing Gateway Guardian Elite, Soul Shards will spawn on the ground. You can pick them up by simply walking over them. Once you have collected Soul Shards, you will need to walk through the gate to deposit them.

The gate will activate once you have collected enough Soul Shards. Once the gate is activated, an animation will automatically play, and standing in the glowing circular area will teleport you to Spirit Realm.

You will need to find and retrieve a marked quest item in Spirit Realm. Once you have found it, pick it up and return to the teleporter to return to Dark Citadel area. You will then need to place the object into a spherical statue - it is in the same room as the teleporter.

This puzzle is often used during boss fights and is difficult. It is important to note that the player will gain stacks: Impending Doom - as they walk through Spirit World. Before they reach their maximum value, you will need to stand in the glowing blue area on the floor around the pillars to reset these stacks. This area is called Soul Dampener.

Group Doors

Solving this puzzle requires your partner to stand on the button of the corresponding color to help you remove the barrier, and then you can go through the door to the other side. Therefore, Group Doors Puzzles cannot be completed alone. You must cooperate with your partner.

After this, you may encounter two situations. In the first case, you can immediately stand on another button to open the door for your partner. In the other case, you will see several doors, one of which leads to a corridor. You need to follow the corridor to find the statue at the end of the corridor and interact with it to unlock the way for your partner.

Barrier Guardians

Players may encounter it in the final boss battle of Labrinth of Souls (the second wing of Dark Citadel).

Barrier Guardians are large monsters that look like they are wearing inner tubes made of energy. You need to find and kill them.

After killing Barrier Guardians, you can pick up the items in the alcoves and use the teleporter in the alcoves to return to the central area. There are symbols on the top of the pillars in the central area. You need to place the dropped items on the matching pillars.

There is a circular statue behind the pillars. After placing all the items on the corresponding pillars, press the button on the circular statue to eliminate the barrier and move on.

What Are The Best Builds For Dark Citadel?

Diablo 4 Dark Citadel is densely populated with enemies and has time-sensitive elements. In this case, the success of an action often depends on whether you can grasp the timing accurately. Therefore, builds with AoE and speed are suitable in Dark Citadel. In addition, Barbarian’s excellent teamwork ability can also bring benefits to the team.

Here Are Some Suitable Builds Recommended For You:

• Leapquake Barbarian
• Rend Barbarian
• Quill Volley Spiritborn
• Evade Eagle Spiritborn
• Minion Necromancer
• Soulrift Necromancer
• Lightning Spear Sorcerer
• Fireball Sorcerer
• Shadow Step Rogue
• Barrage Rogue

What Rewards Can You Get After Completing Dark Citadel?

You can get the following rewards for completing Dark Citadel:

• Gold
• Experience Points
• Khazra Horns
• Scattered Prisms
• Forgotten Souls
• Runewords
• Citadel Coins

In addition to this, you can also get caches of gear as checkpoint rewards, which may contain Legendary and Unique Gear.

The player’s Treasure Rating determines the size and quality of each cache. If you want to improve your team’s Treasure Rating, you can hunt down specially marked Elites with the title “Treasure” in front of their names.

What Items Can Be Exchanged For Citadel Coins?

You can get Citadel Coins in Diablo 4’s Dark Citadel. You need to trade them at a merchant outside Dark Citadel, where you can exchange Citadel Coins for exclusive cosmetics, Incense, Special Scrolls, Elixirs, and Caches.

After reading this, I believe you have a general understanding of the internal mechanism of Dark Citadel, so why not call your friends to explore this wonderful world in Diablo 4 together? With this guide, I believe you will be fine.