Diablo 4 Complete Paragon Board Guide | Boards, Glyphs and More Explained

The Paragon Board is one of the most complicated new features in Diablo 4, at least at first glance. This adaptation and update of the famous Paragon system award players for sticking with their characters and levelling them beyond the level 50 soft cap. With it, you can give your characters massive stat bonuses that can help their damage, survivability, cooldown timers and more. It goes even deeper than that, though, with hyper-specific abilities that can drastically increase the performance of a certain playstyle or kit which is on par with some Legendary Aspects or Affixes. 

Unfortunately, though, the Paragon Board can be pretty daunting. Compared to the more streamlined nature of the Skill Tree, the Paragon Board is a behemoth of new terminology and features that many players won’t have experienced during their first 50 levels. Between the different types of Glyphs and nodes to how the additional bonuses work, there’s a lot that can scare players off from fully immersing themselves in this system. That’s why we’re here to help. 

Here’s your complete guide to Paragon Boards in Diablo IV, including how to unlock them, a breakdown of how Glyphs work and how to acquire more, how to choose additional Paragon Boards and more. 

Want more Diablo 4 content and articles? You can find more here on KeenGamer:

1. Diablo 4 | Crackling Energy Sorcerer Build Guide (Endgame Lightning Sorcerer)
2. Diablo 4 | Ice Shards Sorcerer Build Guide (Endgame Freeze Sorcerer)
3. Diablo IV Review – A Time Sink Worth Investing (XBX)
4. Diablo 4 | World Boss Guide: World Boss Spawn Times, Strategies and Loot
5. Diablo 4 Beta | Bio-Bomb Necromancer Build Guide (Corpse Explosion Build)

What are Paragon Boards and How Do They Work in Diablo 4?

Diablo IV’s Paragon system unlocks when you reach level 50. At that point, you stop gaining Skill Points to put into your class’ Skill Tree and instead gain Paragon Points – you gain 4 Paragon Points throughout a single level – which can be spent on the Paragon Board. We’ll be using the Sorcerer (or Sorceress) Paragon Board as an example here but there is a set of Boards unique to each of Diablo 4’s five classes. 

The main idea of the Paragon Board is that it’s mainly a source of additional stat bonuses and boons that can help round out your builds. There are also some extremely strong abilities present on the Paragon Board that can drastically increase the potential of certain builds or abilities.

Paragon Board Overview

There are 3 different node types (sometimes referred to as tiles) on the Paragon Board, each denoted by a different colour. Every node only costs 1 Paragon Point to unlock, but the choice of the node can be very important to your build. The different tile types are:

• Normal Nodes: Base stat increases to Strength, Intelligence, Willpower or Dexterity.
• Magic Nodes: Increases to stats such as Physical and Non-Physical Damage, Elemental Resistance, Maximum Life and more. Magic Nodes can also include increased base stats like Normal Nodes, only they offer higher bonuses (+5 on Normal and +7 on Magic).
• Rare Nodes: Provides various benefits to different stats similar to Magic tiles. Additionally, they have bonus stats that activate once you reach certain requirements, usually by hitting a certain amount in a specific stat (such as reaching 200 Intelligence).

The main goal of the Paragon Board is pretty simple: use Paragon Points you earn to work your way through the Board. Your main pick-ups will be Normal Nodes to increase your character’s raw stats but you should be on the lookout for Magic and Rare Nodes to increase specific parts of your character’s strength. As you do, your stats will get higher meaning more additional Rare Node bonuses will become available to you, making your character even more stronger so you can rinse and repeat the process.

You’ll gain Paragon Points up to the level cap at level 100 (with 4 points per level) and you can also pick up another 20 Paragon Points by reaching Stage 5 Renown in all locations. This brings the total of nodes you can activate on Diablo 4’s Paragon Board up to 220 nodes on a fully maxed character. Every type of node can also be completely refunded at any time if you make a mistake or want to change up your build. 

Board Node Differences

Magic and Rare Glyphs 

The other important part of Diablo 4’s Paragon Board system is the Glyphs you can socket into it. There are Magic Glyphs (blue) and Rare Glyphs (yellow), which are not to be confused with Rare or Magic Nodes. You’ll start with a very limited number of Glyphs but will pick up more as you defeat Elite enemies in World Tiers 3 and 4.

At certain points in the Paragon Board, you’ll come across a special tile known as a Glyph Socket. When purchased with a Paragon Point, you can fill these Glyph Sockets with either a Magic Glyph or a Rare Glyph. Depending on what you slot, you’ll gain a variety of different bonuses: 

• Magic Glyphs will give you bonuses to a specific stat based on other nodes purchased within range (such as 0.5% increased damage for every 5 Intelligence purchased within range).
• Rare Glyphs have two bonuses – a main bonus and an additional bonus – with the main bonus being very similar to a Magic Glyph. The additional bonus will only become active once you reach a certain requirement, which is usually either purchasing a set amount of specific nodes within range (such as 25 Dexterity purchased within range) or reaching a specific number on one of your stats (such as 200 Intelligence) and will give you additional powers when you do so. 

Another type of Rare Glyph is one which gives surrounding Paragon Nodes an additional stat increase. This can be difficult to parse, at first. Essentially, if you socket these Glyphs, surrounding Rare and Magic Glyphs will gain a bonus correlating to the socketed Glyph: for example, the Reinforced Glyph grants a 25% bonus to all Rare Nodes within range, taking the effectiveness of a nearby Lightning Resistance Node from 12% to 15%. These are the most finicky Glyphs to use so stick to the raw stat and ability ones if you’re just starting. 

Let’s give an example of socketing a Rare Glyph onto our Sorcerer’s Paragon Board to give you an idea of how it all works. We’re going to socket the Rare Glyph called Control into our socket: this makes me deal +4.2% more damage to Crowd Controlled targets per 5 Dexterity I’ve purchased within range. This essentially means that, for every Dexterity Node I purchase in the radius of the Glyph (which is shown in red), I get 4.2% increased Crowd Control damage. At current, I have 5 Dexterity Nodes purchased, equalling a 22.5% buff.

That’s not all, though, as we also have Control Glyph’s additional bonus. If I can meet the requirement, this deals increased damage to Slowed, Chilled, Stunned and Frozen targets. Said requirement is that I need to have purchased at least 25 Dexterity within the Glyph’s radius: once again, check the red area of the board to determine the Glyphs range. As we just mentioned, I’ve already purchased 5 Dexterity Nodes within range, giving me enough purchased Dexterity to activate both bonuses. 

This is only one example and learning where to optimally socket certain Glyphs is a very important part of endgame Diablo IV. 

Additional Bonuses on Rare Nodes

How to Upgrade Paragon Board Glyphs in Diablo IV

Another thing to note about Glyphs, both Rare and Magic, is that you can upgrade them. Upgrading a Glyph increases its radius (allowing it to benefit from more Nodes) and the bonuses it provides. These upgrades are nothing to scoff at, either, and you’ll want to continue levelling up your favourite Glyphs so they can drastically help you in endgame Helltides, Nightmare Dungeons and other pieces of difficult content.

So, how can you upgrade Glyphs in Diablo 4? The answer is Nightmare Dungeons. Whenever you complete a Nightmare Dungeon, you’ll be given the normal assortment of loot and rewards but it will also spawn the Awakened Glyphstone. This is where you’ll upgrade your Glyphs: simply interact with the Glyphstone and you can choose which Glyph you wish to upgrade. The amount of EXP you have to pump into your Glyphs depends on the tier of Nightmare Dungeon you completed, with higher tiers awarding much higher amounts of Glyph experience. 

This, of course, adds a new layer to the Diablo 4 endgame as you’ll not only be running Nightmare Dungeons for better loot and rewards but also experience for your Glyphs.

Choosing a Second New Paragon Board

Eventually, after spending enough Paragon Points and getting through enough of the Board, you’ll reach a node called the Board Attachment Gate. These can be found at the edge of the Paragon Board. Upon unlocking it, you’ll instantly gain +5 to Strength, Intelligence, Willpower and Dexterity, but the really interesting thing is that it will allow you to connect a second Paragon Board.

The first Paragon Board you get is always static, meaning it is always going to be the same no matter what. For your second new Board, though, you get to choose between 8 different additional Boards all with their Nodes and bonuses attached to them. The available Boards each correspond to a specific playstyle of that class, allowing you to deepen your skill and power with one style of play. Using Sorcerer as an example, there are 2 Boards related to different elements of Fire, 2 Boards for different parts of Frost, 2 Boards for Lightning and 2 Boards for mixed-element playstyles.

These secondary Boards can also be rotated allowing you to choose where you begin your journey. Rotating the board can be especially useful when you’re hunting a specific thing, whether that’s another Glyph Socket, a certain Rare Node or high-stat bonuses. You may want to want to rotate the board so you’re close to the Legendary Node, making it easier to reach in fewer points, or you may want to start nearer a select group of useful Magic or Rare tiles, instead. These secondary Boards even have additional Gate Tiles, meaning that you can get a third or even a fourth Board attached, so long as you have the Paragon Points to spend. 

The biggest difference between each additional Board is the exclusive Legendary Node attached to each. Every Paragon Board has a single Legendary tile that the Board is named after: these give massive boosts and special abilities to a specific part of your character’s kit, allowing you significant boosts in performance to a certain area. For example, the Ceaseless Conduit Paragon Board for Sorcerers increases the utility and damage of the Crackling Energy buff significantly, allowing it to become a brutally efficient part of your kit for Lightning Sorcerers. 

Additionally, the Rare Tiles and Magic Tiles on the Paragon Board usually align and follow the theme set out by the Legendary Node. Using Ceaseless Conduit as an example yet again, there are Magic Nodes here that increase Crackling Energy damage as well as Rare Nodes which do the same. Like with Glyphs, you can attach a connected board at any time (so long as you’ve also refunded all Paragon Points spent on it) to change up builds whenever you want.

Choosing the right secondary Board for your build is immensely important. Between the variety of stat and ability bonuses to the hyper-specific Legendary Nodes, you should know what you’re going for when you choose the board. If you manage to attach multiple different boards, you can even combine each new Legendary power to create super unique combinations. Be sure to experiment

Legendary Nodes

Paragon Board Tips and Advice

The best tip I can give for those who feel intimidated by the Paragon Board system is to simply go into it with a goal in mind. Before you mess around and start putting points into the Board, take a look at it first and see what things catch your eye. It can be a cluster of Magic Nodes, a specific Rare Node that would greatly enhance your build or even just some stats that will help you out. Focus on reaching that point with your first batch of Paragon Points and branch out from there: once you’ve done it once, it should become far less overwhelming.

Additionally, when it comes to choosing what Glyphs to socket, you need to determine whether the additional bonus is worthwhile or not. Some sockets are better picks than others, mainly due to what kind of Normal or Magic Nodes surround them, and you have to figure out where the ones you want to use best fit. If there’s a Glyph you want in your build and it needs +25 Dexterity to activate, make sure there’s actually +25 Dexterity surrounding the socket: if there isn’t, choose another one and keep an eye out for future sockets. Upgrading Glyphs to get additional range helps, too.

Finally, don’t be afraid to mix things up. One of the great things about Diablo 4, including the Paragon Board, is how easy it is to wipe the slate clean and begin anew. Refunding nodes is cheap and easy, as is reattaching any additional Boards, which allows for much deeper and more engaging build craft. In 10 minutes I went from an Ice Shard-focused Frost Sorcerer to a Crackling Energy-based Lightning Sorcerer and it was super simple to switch everything from my Glyphs to my Nodes. Don’t underestimate the bonuses the Board gives.

Go Forth and Conquer Sanctuary

That was everything you need to know about the Paragon Board in Diablo 4.