How does Diablo 4 co-op campaign progression work? Story progress & enemy scaling

Nathan Warby
Diablo 4 characters standing side by side

Just like its predecessor, Diablo 4 features a co-op system that allows players to tackle Lilith’s armies together, but how does campaign progression work when playing with friends? Here’s everything you need to know about Diablo 4’s co-op campaign progression.

Diablo 4 features a lengthy campaign to complete before players reach the extensive endgame content, during which they’ll be showered with new gear and rewards. The story takes our hero into the path of some challenging enemies, so many will call on friends for help on their quest to save Sanctuary.

Just like past entries in the series, Diablo 4 includes co-op play, even introducing crossplay support for the first time. But players might be wondering how campaign progress works when playing co-op.

Here’s everything you need to know about co-op campaign progress in Diablo 4.

Diablo 4 co-op campaign progression explained

Diablo 4 players will progress together in co-op as long as they are all at the same point in the story as confirmed by Blizzard General Manager, Rod Fergusson. However, if your party is made up of players at different point in the campaign, only the host will progress.

Responding to a fan on Twitter, Fergusson said: “The host of the party owns the state of the world. If you’re aligned (aka at the same point in the quest line) then you all progress. If there is a misalignment (like you invited someone new half way through) then they won’t get the story quest progress/xp until they catch up.”

The dev later recommended that if Diablo 4 players are teaming up, but aren’t committed to being a regular party, “it’s always best to have the player with the least amount of progress to be the host.”

If you’re an experienced player helping out a newcomer and are worried about blitzing through missions too easily, don’t worry, Diablo 4 has a difficulty feature to ensure that every party member gets a fair fight.

“One of my favorite features is the fact that the game scales individually for players so questline progress aside, you can have a level 1 and a level 30 playing together and having fun because the game scales for them and the new player doesn’t have to hide in the corner,” Fergusson added.

These features should give Diablo 4 players of all levels the chance to team up with their friends and enjoy the campaign. For more on Diablo 4, check out our other guides:

How to earn skill points in Diablo 4 | How to upgrade healing potions in Diablo 4 | How to level up fast in Diablo 4 | How to fast travel in Diablo 4 | All classes in Diablo 4 | Diablo 4 Renown system explained | Is Diablo 4 coming to Game Pass?

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About The Author

Nathan is a Senior Writer for CharlieIntel and Dexerto, primarily covering FIFA and Call of Duty, as well as general gaming news and guides. After leaving university with a degree in Sports Studies and a master's degree in Magazine Journalism, he took on a role as a local news reporter before moving into games media. You can contact Nathan by email at [email protected].