Crowd Control plays a major part in Diablo 4's combat. It comes in many forms, from Stun and Knock Down to the humble Slow effect that's much more impactful than many players think. Its benefits aren't as immediately noticeable, but some builds shine brighter when paired with this movement-impairing mechanic.
The Penitent Greaves is a Unique pair of boots that's more or less essential to a number of builds for the Rogue, Necromancer, and Sorcerer classes; it isn't as mandatory for Barbarians and Druids, but it's still good for opening up new avenues for power. Here's an overview of how to farm for these boots and some tips on how to use them in Diablo 4.
Diablo 4: How to Get the Penitent Greaves
Like every other Unique item in the game, the Penitent Greaves have a low chance of dropping from most loot sources on World Tier 3 and above. Killing even a single white-name monster has a chance of rewarding players with this item. However, the best way to farm for this and all the other Uniques is by farming Helltides.
Tortured Gift Chests have a chance of dropping Unique items. The hidden Tortured Gifts of Mysteries, in particular, are great for farming gear since it guarantees several legendary item drops every time they're opened. These require 175 Aberrant Cinders to open, and players can unlock as many of these chests as they can find.
Tortured Gifts of Mysteries spawn randomly in preset locations across all Helltide-afflicted areas. After opening one, make sure to visit the other spawn locations for a chance at finding more chests.
An alternate way of farming for the Penitent Greaves is by constantly spamming Nightmare Dungeons according to the player character's level. Nightmare Dungeons reward the most XP out of all endgame activities, and they are decent all-around sources of loot as well. The completion rewards at the end of every run guarantee at least one legendary item with a chance of it being a Unique item.
Penitent Greaves Builds and Tips
The Penitent Greaves create a field of frost around the user that chills the ground around them. The ice patch will eventually freeze enemies.
Chill counts as a Crowd Control effect, which means item affixes and skill tree passives that grant bonuses against Crowd-Controlled targets will work as long as the enemies are standing on the ice. This makes the Penitent Greaves extremely useful for every build that exploits impaired enemies.
For example, the effectiveness of the Frost Archer Rogue build will spike dramatically with the Penitent Greaves, as players will no longer have to rely on spamming Caltrops and Cold Imbuement just to chill targets. On a more general note, players can generate their primary resource effortlessly with the greaves when paired with Aspect of the Umbral.
Wearing the Penitent Greaves frees up a skill point and an Aspect slot for the Barbarian and Druid, respectively. The former won't have to spec into Hamstring while the latter can replace Aspect of Quicksand with something else.
Diablo 4 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.