Skill slots (or Ability slots, as the game calls them) are really important in Diablo 4. Each slot corresponds to a button or key and can have an ability or skill assigned to it. There are a lot of skills and abilities in Diablo 4, though, and it can sometimes feel like you don’t have enough skill slots, especially early in the game.
Thankfully, there are ways to unlock more, but only in the early stages of the leveling experience. If you’re expecting to have a wide-ranging hotbar with countless ability slots, you’re likely going to be out of luck.
How to get more ability slots in Diablo 4
At the start of the game, you have just one skill slot unlocked. You won’t have any abilities unlocked at the start, so your one skill slot is assigned to your basic attack. However, at level two, you get your first skill point, which you can spend on an ability, and that ability will automatically be assigned to your one and only skill slot.
At level three, you’ll get another skill point, but you won’t yet get another skill slot. So, if you unlock a second ability at level three, you won’t have a slot to assign it to. I had no problem with this when I was playing as a Barbarian, but I immediately noticed it playing as a Rogue. I wanted to be able to use both melee and ranged attacks, but I couldn’t. Not yet.
Related: How to get and equip Aspects in Diablo 4
At level four, you’ll unlock one more skill slot, so you can then assign two different abilities to your action bar. Then, you won’t unlock any more skill slots until level eight, when you’ll unlock all of the remaining four, bringing your total number of skill slots to six.
Can you get more than six skill slots in Diablo 4?
Six is the maximum number of skill slots in Diablo 4. There is no way to get more than that (unless you count the Sorcerer’s Enchantment Slots). This might seem like it’s not enough skill slots when you consider the huge number of skills you can actually learn, but there is a good reason for limiting the number of skill slots.
If you’ve played Diablo 2, then you’ll remember that you can have way more skill slots in that game, but if you actually assign a skill to each of them, not only is it too complicated to actually play, but you also find that your skill points get spread too thin. You end up with a wide range of abilities that are too weak to be effective.
Related: How to get the Edgemaster’s Aspect in Diablo 4
We recommend not selecting more than six active abilities in your build at any given time. Since there are only six available slots for abilities in a single build, you’ll want to have only the necessary six active abilities in your loadout to be accompanied by passives that enhance your durability and damage throughput. If you need a new active ability—or if a spell catches your eye while leveling—you should make an effort to unlearn another spell so that you don’t overload your kit with spells you’re not using.
Limiting your skill slots to 4 in Diablo 4 encourages you to specialize your character and ensures that your abilities will always be powerful enough, even late in the game.
