Diablo 3: Darkening of Tristram - How to Get Started

The retro festivities of “Darkening of Tristram”, a unique New Year’s Event in Diablo 3, begins on Jan. 1st. In it, you’ll be able to send your hero back to Old Tristram, applying a pixelated filter over all your in-game graphics, and recreating the Labyrinth found underneath the church. It’s a partial re-imagining of the original Diablo re-made in the Diablo 3 engine, and you can delve deep — all the way down to the big boss Diablo himself.

That means you can collect all sorts of new unique gear and unlock achievements, fighting down each level of the Labyrinth and defeating four bosses. Before you can do any of that, you’ll need to unlock the portal that leads to the ‘Darkening of Tristram’ — here’s how (and when) you’ll be able to access the retro remake world of the Labyrinth.

More Diablo 3: Darkening of Tristram guides on Gameranx:

How to Get Started | Retro Event Guide

While ‘The Darkening of Tristram’ officially begins on Jan. 1st, you won’t be able to access the Old Tristram portal until Jan. 4th. The first three days are a preliminary event, giving your character time to prepare and unlock the Old Tristram portal when it becomes available.

How to Get Started:
1. Set the game to Adventure Mode.
2. Start in Act 1, New Tristram.
3. Check your map and look for locations marked with “The Darkening of Tristram”.
4. Hunt down the Cultists to find clues leading to the Old Portal.
5. Defeat enough cultists, and you’ll unlock the hidden location of the Old Portal.

The Old Portal will take your hero directly to the Darkening of Tristram Event, and that’s where all the fun is. The dungeon itself isn’t a 1-to-1 remake of Diablo 1‘s Labyrinth, but it is inspired by it. You should be able to finish it a whole lot quicker than the original game’s massive underground, at least.

There are plenty of secrets to find in the event, including Wirt’s Leg and a secret portal to the Cow Level.