Diablo 4 has just ended up being an also-ran of its predecessor

The irony is that in being so scared of taking any big swings, because of the failures of Diablo 3, Diablo 4 has just ended up being an also-ran of its predecessor a decade too late D2R ladder items. It's not a terrible game, but it's a very dry and unambitious one, relying on the sheer weight of its AAA production values and historic name to carve out a space in the genre Blizzard long-neglected. Maybe it's past time that I should have accepted that the developer isn't what it once was, but it's still sad to see the reigning monarch of action-RPGs slumped so lifeless in its throne. 

The Diablo 4 item power breakpoints are a strange and secretive system that determines how good a piece of dropped gear really is. If you're used to playing games with item power, you may assume that you can just keep equipping stronger items as you find them in the game, and that's certainly true when you're playing through the campaign. 

However, once you decide to unlock Nightmare world tier, or even Torment, and want to start creating a strong build to tackle tough content, you can't just keep equipping every new item, and you'll likely find that items with higher power don't drop as often. So, which items are worth investing in? This is partly where Diablo 4 item power breakpoints come into play, so let's dive in.

Generally, you should prioritise items that are high power or can reach past the highest breakpoint via upgrades. While the power of item drops is linked to level, it also seems to be affected by world tier in terms of Sacred and Ancestral buy d2r items. These two gear types unlock at Nightmare and Torment world tier respectively, and often roll higher stats and item power than their regular counterparts.