What are Aspects & how to get them in Diablo 4

The Codex of Power in Diablo 4 houses your collection of Aspects; important items used to improve your gear. Diablo 4 has changed a lot since launching last year, with Season 4 looking to bring even more significant changes.

This includes a rework of the Codex and how you'll be able to use all your collected Aspects in the game to better effect. For a full rundown of what it is and how to use it, here is what you need to know about the Codex of Power. 

What are Aspects?

Aspects are unique modifiers that can transform Rare items into Legendary ones.

Aspects are contained in the Codex of Power. By visiting an Occultist, players can imprint an Aspect on an item. This will grant that item the power attributed to the Aspect, and transform the item into a Legendary.

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Every Aspect is unique and grants unique abilities. For example, an Aspect you find will be attributed to a particular class and may grant a stat increase to one of the abilities of that class. By seeking out Aspects for your class, and specifically for the abilities you use, you can make your character even more powerful.

Aspects are a great way to finalize a build, to add that last boost of power to a particular setup of items and skills.

How do you get Aspects?

Aspects come from completing dungeons. They are not guaranteed, but whenever you complete a dungeon, you have a chance of acquiring the Aspect assigned to that particular dungeon.

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While on the map screen, you can mouse over dungeons and see which kind of Aspect you can get for completing them. This takes some of the guesswork out of acquiring Aspects and allows you to focus on the ones that mean the most to you.

Once you have the Aspect you want, return to the Occultist in town to slot it into one of your items.

Season 4 Codex of Power changes

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As revealed in a recent Campfire Chat, the Codex of Power is getting an overhaul. Since launch, when you acquire an Aspect you only have its most basic version. For example, say an Aspect granted a stat increase between 5% and 15%. If you have that Aspect in your Codex, whenever you use it you will only ever get the minimum 5% buff.

This ensures that the best loot always comes from random drops, how the game is intended. However, it does also mean that beyond a certain point, the Codex is effectively useless. With the changes coming in Season 4, the Codex will become extremely useful to all players.

Let's go back to our example. With the new changes coming, if you get an item equipped with that 5-15% Aspect that has a 10% buff, and you salvage that item, the Aspect in your Codex will be permanently raised to 10%. This means you can upgrade the Aspects in your Codex, and potentially have the strongest versions of each one available at any time, infinitely.

This will give huge value to many more items, and the Codex itself. It simultaneously reduces the number of useless drops, reduces the work required to get the best rolls on items you want, and gives players something tangible and useful to work towards.

That is it for the Codex of Power and how Aspects work. For more info, head to our Diablo homepage where we have guides on the best endgame builds for each class, how to defeat Malphas, Uber Unique crafting, the current player count, and the upcoming Vessel of Hatred expansion.