Resplendent Sparks Farming Made Easy

What You Need to Know

• Recent changes to the game have made it easier than ever to obtain Mythic Unique items.
• Reputation rewards caches offer the most straightforward method of farming Resplendent Sparks.
• Beginner and casual players can easily get more Resplendent Sparks, but there’s a catch.
• Multi-player games dramatically improve the chances of success for everyone.

Resplendent Sparks were introduced earlier this year and are used to craft Mythic Unique items, making them the most valuable and rare material in the game. Numerous guides have since been published, like this one by my friend Jen of Hatred, which explain the most efficient ways to farm this new material. However, there’s one very important factor that virtually all of those guides gloss right over, which is how beginner and casual players can also go about doing this. So, if you’re one of those Diablo 4 players who has yet to experience the thrill of equipping Mythic Unique gear, then you’ve come to the right place because this guide is for you.

Game Changes

The first reported instance of a player getting a random Mythic Unique drop, which was a Harlequin Crest, happened a little over a year ago. For quite some time it seemed like the opportunity to equip one or more of these powerful items was a privilege that was relegated to the ranks of only the most elite gamers. However, there have been several changes to the game over the past few months that have made it possible for just about anyone to obtain one of these items for themselves:

• Resplendent Sparks material was introduced to the game.
• The option to craft Mythic Uniques was added to the Alchemist UI.
• Resplendent Sparks were included in the Seasonal reputation reward system.
• Tormented versions of Ladder Bosses were introduced to the game.
• Drops for Ladder Boss summoning materials were expanded to include a larger variety of endgame activities.
• Certain endgame Boss kills guarantee Resplendent Sparks drops.
• The chances for Mythic Unique drops from Tormented Bosses was improved.

Always a Bridesmaid

Despite all of those recent enhancements to the game, getting one’s hands on a Mythic Unique is an experience that has still eluded a large percentage of players. In fact, I recently read a post on Reddit by a Diablo 4 player who said that he’s played all five Seasons without a single Mythic Unique drop. He wanted to know if such a low drop rate was typical, or if he had just been extraordinarily unlucky. As for myself, I’ve had only one Mythic Unique item randomly drop while playing solo over the same period of time, so I would say his experience is pretty much par for the course. Nevertheless, forum posts like his are not unusual, which suggests that getting a Mythic can still prove to be quite tricky for many beginner and casual players.

At the same, it’s also true that Mythic Uniques are not really necessary for your build until your character reaches the late endgame. Completing both the Battle Pass and Season Journey is quite feasible without equipping any Mythic items, provided that your build has decent gear and the right Aspects. Also keep in mind that any Mythic Unique item acquired during a Season is good for only that Season and will be transferred to your Eternal roster when the Season concludes. So, the decision as to whether it’s really worth it to go after a Mythic Unique is one that each player needs to consider individually. However, if you would simply like to experience the thrill of equipping a Mythic Unique then there are a few steps you’ll need to follow.

Reputation Rewards

Most everyone should know by now that crafting a Mythic Unique item of your choice requires four Resplendent Sparks and costs 50 Million Gold. The most obvious way to get your first couple of Sparks is to level up a Main character and an Alt character and then run enough endgame activities with both characters to claim the top Reputation Reward cache twice.

The process of claiming the top cache a second time with an Alt character will be much quicker and easier if you keep the following in mind:

• Create an Alt character that is the same class as your Main character.
• Salvage enough Legendary items with your Main character to obtain all the necessary Aspects for your Class.
• Obtain any other essential Aspects for your Class by completing side dungeons with your Main character.
• Save some Legendary, Sacred, and Ancestral gear while leveling your Main character and then use that gear to equip your Alt.

Two Down – Two to Go

Okay, but what about getting the next two Sparks? Well, you could, of course, level up two more Alts, but doing it that way can get rather monotonous, especially during the first couple weeks of the Season. So, the other more popular option is to tackle a couple of the endgame Bosses. Players will receive one Spark when they defeat Tormented Duriel or Andariel for the first time in a Season and another Spark when they defeat the Echo of Lilith for the first time in a Season.

Pfft, easy peasy, right? I mean, what are you waiting for, just do it. Well, I don’t know about you, but all I can say as a casual player is, “that’s much easier said than done.” This is the issue that the Mythic Unique farming guides tend to gloss over most of the time. While it’s true that defeating Torment Duriel/Andariel and the Echo of Lilith will each reward a Spark, how in the world are beginner and casual players actually expected to get this done?

Diablo Community

Believe me, I get it. The prospect of joining a party with strangers fills many inexperienced players with a sense of dread. Nevertheless, I strongly encourage you to keep in mind that the Diablo community is very welcoming and supportive. I must admit that, prior to Season 4, I also failed to see any real need to randomly party up with other players. However, with the introduction of Resplendent Sparks in the game, I knew it was time for me to finally take the plunge, and the result has been a dramatic improvement in my endgame progression.

More specifically, I’m referring to requesting carries via a Party Finder that is used by thousands of gamers, such as the Sanctuary – Diablo 4 Community Discord (we have our own Discord too). Diablo games have always been built around community participation and players at all levels should seriously consider taking advantage of what our community has to offer.

For example, there are always lots of players online who are offering free Tormented Boss carries to help other players get another Resplendent Spark. Less experienced players have no need to worry about accepting such offers because all you need to do is to have your character present in the Boss room during the battle. It doesn’t matter if your character dies during the run because you’ll still get the Spark after the Boss is defeated. So, you can plan to request a Tormented Duriel or Andariel carry as soon as your Main character reaches WT4.

Now, you may ask why would another player offer to carry you through a Tormented Boss for free? It’s simply because they will expect you to summon the Boss with your materials, which means they get to share in the drops without having to use their own materials. So, it’s a win-win situation for everybody with zero pressure on the players who are being carried. If giving this a try sounds good to you, then be sure to hold on to enough Duriel or Andariel summoning materials for at least a couple of runs so you’ll be ready when the time comes to jump in.

You can take the same approach for your first Echo of Lilith kill as well. I have always succeeded in finding some very generous players who are also willing to do this carry for free. However, if you’re unable to find such an offer, then there will always be other players who are willing to trade a Lilith carry for something like Gold or a power level for one of their Alts.

Party Finder

It was recently announced that a new in-game Party Finder UI will be included in Patch 2.0 as part of the VoH expansion. I suppose the most astonishing thing about this is that it took so long to get it added to the game. Nevertheless, this new feature may very well make the process of joining a party even simpler and more worthwhile.

The Party Finder UI will have a variety of tags that will allow players to communicate exactly what type of group they would like to join or want to assemble. This means that it will soon be much easier for casual players to link up with other gamers for activities that are best done in a group. I already know that I am most certainly one of those players who will be offering lots of free carries once this new feature goes live. However, there’s no need to wait until October because players can still accomplish pretty much the same thing right now on Discord.

What to Craft

Okay, you’ve got four Sparks now (yeah sure, like it was that easy), but what Mythic Unique item should you craft? It’s possible that getting the most out of a Mythic Unique item might mean having to respec your character. In any case, you’ll probably want to review some push build guides for your Class just to be sure. At the same time, the ever-popular Shako is usually a good choice for any build because of its bonus to all active skills, along with its damage reduction. Replacing any Ancestral Legendary or Unique helm with the Harlequin Crest should instantaneously boost your character by as much as 10 tiers in the Pit or by 1 or 2 tiers in the Infernal Hordes.

If you happen to be short on Gold at this point, then the most efficient way to get all the Gold you’ll ever need is to repeatedly run Infernal Hordes and use all of your Aether to open the Gold chests after defeating the Council. Plenty of Infernal Hordes Compasses drop from a variety of sources, including Reputation Reward caches, and they can also be crafted at the Occultist. Running Tier 1 – 3 Infernal Hordes solo should be pretty easy by the time your Main character reaches Level 100 with all Glyphs upgraded to 15.

Gimme Chocolate!

Once you’ve experienced what it’s like to obtain and equip your first Mythic Unique item, it’s likely that you’ll want craft even more. However, repeating the Resplendent Spark farming process as described above is not possible because you get Resplendent Sparks from only the very first Tormented Duriel/Andariel and Echo of Lilith kills of the Season.

Consequently, if you want more Mythic Unique items then you’ll likely have to do lots more endgame Boss runs and hope for some lucky drops. The goal here is either to get more of the Mythic Unique items you want for your build or to salvage enough Mythic drops so you can craft another item of your choice. The good news is that you can go back to the same Party Finder and join other players for Boss rotations.

Using your own summoning materials to do solo Ladder and Tormented Boss runs is all well and good. However, you can achieve a four-fold increase in your chances of getting Mythic Unique drops by getting into rotation parties. These parties usually consist of four players, each of whom takes a turn summoning the respective Boss. This works because all party members get the same amount of item drops regardless of who summoned the boss.

Salvation for Solo Players

Taking the leap into joining random parties can seem like an insurmountable obstacle for many beginner and casual players. The only question you really need to answer for yourself whether you’d like to progress further in your game and to fully experience the many new features being added next Season. So, if at any point you decide that you’d like to learn more about any part of the process described above, then feel free to message me on Twitter or the PureDiablo Discord and I will gladly to show you the ropes, free of charge.

Disclaimer on Content Speculation

There are still many changes coming to Diablo 4 with the release of the VoH expansion. Consequently, there will likely be changes to how players level up their characters and go about obtaining the best gear. Nevertheless, the guidelines presented above should continue to be applicable in future Seasons, generally speaking. Please be sure to check back here at PureDiablo for additional updates as more information becomes available.

See You Next Time

The PureDiablo community would like to know your opinion on this topic, so please sound off in the comments section below, or contact me on Twitter. Let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions for future topics here at PureDiablo. In the meantime, be sure to keep an eye on the news feed so you’ll have all the up-to-date info you need to get the most out of your game.

If you believe that any of the information shared above is inaccurate in any way, please let us know, along with a reference for the correct information, so we can update this document accordingly.

Gazerrick is a staff writer for PureDiablo who focuses primarily on casual gaming interests and lore for the Diablo community. When not hacking and slashing his way through a new Season, he can be found participating in, and presenting at, various pop culture conventions in southern Arizona. You can follow him on Twitter @Gazerrick9000 for even more of his gaming indulgences. A collection of his creative media is also available at Cactus Palm Perspectives.