Uniques are the highest tier of items you can find in Diablo 4. They have powerful effects that can completely alter the way you play your character build. While they are incredibly rare and harder to find than Legendary Aspects, Uniques have the potential to be Best in Slot (BiS) gear with a special effect. These iconic items also come with a background flavor text.
Where can Uniques drop?
You can find Uniques only in World Tier 3: Nightmare and World Tier 4: Torment. Before then, Uniques cannot drop at all. The following is a list of confirmed drop locations and developer confirmed cannot drop locations.
Drop Locations
Overworld
Helltide Chests (Drops ANYUnique at each chest, CANNOT target farm!)
Uniques do not drop until World Tier 3 or higher, with some Uniques only dropping in World Tier 4, and Uber Uniques only dropping in World Tier 4 from enemies level 85 or higher. Uniques and Uber Uniques can also be target farmed from endgame bosses, including Echo of Varshan, The Beast in the Ice, Grigoire, The Galvanic Saint, Lord Zir, and Duriel, King of Maggots. Each Unique item has an associated drop weight, which is one of the factors that determines how often the item can drop relative to the pool of all available Uniques. However, this drop weight is not the only factor in determining how often Uniques can drop in the game, with other factors like Nightmare Dungeons, and other mechanics influencing the actual drop chance. In other words, math is only useful for relativistic drop rate comparison, and not absolute drop rate comparison. The drop rates we display in the table below are in the following order:
High
Medium
Low (about half the drop weight of High)
Minuscule (about half the drop weight of Low)
Nearly Impossible (about 200,000 times lower than the drop weight of Minuscule)
What is the Drop Rate of Uniques?
Unique items have a low chance of dropping from drop locations in World Tier 3 and World Tier 4. In Season 2, this drop chance was lowered significantly, making it impractical to farm Nightmare Dungeons (the previous best place to farm Uniques). The only practical way to farm Unique items is to defeat the Endgame Bosses or World Bosses target farming the particular item that you need. This means you'll need to stock up on Exquisite Blood, Living Steel, Blackened Femur, Gurgling Head, Malignant Heart, and Trembling Hand to summon the bosses and acquire the Uniques you desire. Note that World Bosses drop guaranteed loot at iLevel 925, making them a juicy target indeed.
What are Uber Uniques?
Extraordinarily, some Uber Uniques can have drop rates so low that players question if they exist in the game at all. In fact yes, they do exist as confirmed by the developers. Season 2 adds Duriel, King of Maggots which allows you to target farm these extraordinarily rare items. Details on finding these Uniques include:
World Drop Uber Unique Details
Enemy must be Level 85+.
They can drop from anywhere you can get a regular Unique.
They always drop at iPower 925.
Nearly impossible drop rate, perhaps 1 in 100,000.
Some Uber Uniques can only drop for certain classes (See Class Availability in the table below)
Duriel Uber Unique Drop Details
Incredibly, Duriel can drop Uber Uniques at an exceedingly high rate compared to world drop rates. The Maxroll community has confirmed this rate to be about ~2.0%, making it likely to get an Uber Unique on average in 1 in 50 kills (as of Season 2). Even more importantly, Duriel drops these items at 925 item power, making him the best place by far to drop Uber Uniques in the game. Keep in mind though that the aspect range for Uber Uniques is not a guaranteed max roll, so getting a completely perfect Uber Unique is still an extremely extraordinary drop! Those who are looking to deck their characters out with complete Maxroll'dUber Uniques can expect an intense amount of Duriel kills to achieve a perfect character!
Uber Unique Drop Rate is ~2.0%.
Uber Uniques always drop at iPower 925 from Duriel.
Uber Uniques do not drop with maximum roll ranges on their aspects or affixes.