Nightmare Dungeons in Diablo 4 (D4) are dungeons transformed by Nightmare Sigils to have more dangerous foes, unique affixes, and increased rewards. Learn about all of the available Nightmare Dungeons in Season 5 and how to unlock them!
List of Contents
For Season 5 (Season of the Infernal Horde), there won't be a Nightmare Dungeon rotation. The list of available Nightmare Dungeons remains the same as in the previous season.
Best Nightmare Dungeons and Dungeon Affixes
Nightmare Dungeon Overview |
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Nightmare Dungeons are regular open-world Dungeons altered by Nightmare Sigils to feature more difficult enemies and challenges while increasing their rewards.
During the April Developer Update Livestream, the developers referred to the Nightmare Dungeons as the game's "key dungeon replayability system." These dungeons' positive and negative affixes provide various enemy and environmental modifiers, giving players a different experience in each Nightmare Dungeon.
Every season, a subset of 30 Dungeons from the base open-world Dungeons are selected to join the pool of Nightmare Dungeons for that period. Varying dungeons rotate in and out of this subset over time to provide players with different monster groups and area layouts each time.
Players can only access Nightmare Dungeons starting from World Tier 3 (Nightmare difficulty), as Nightmare Sigils don't drop until reaching this difficulty. You unlock this World Tier after completing the Cathedral of Light Capstone Dungeon.
World Tiers Explained: How to Change World Tier Difficulty
Reaching the end of a Nightmare Dungeon allows players to upgrade their Paragon Glyphs, which are tiles they can embed inside Glyph Sockets on Paragon Boards, becoming powered by nearby Paragon nodes and empowering nearby nodes in a large circular radius.
In addition to these characteristics, Nightmare Dungeons also provide a higher chance of rewarding Sacred and Ancestral items from drops compared to other content in the game, as confirmed by Associate Game Director Joseph Piepora on Twitter.
A drop rate adjustment was introduced in Version 1.1 that increased the drop rates of Sacred and Ancestral items inside Nightmare Dungeons from +5% to +10%, giving players more incentives to farm them.
Sacred and Ancestral Items Explained
As a reward for completing Nightmare Dungeons, there's also a chance to obtain an Infernal Compass. This item can be used to open a new rogue-like dungeon called the Infernal Hordes.
How to Farm and Upgrade Infernal Compasses
Additionally, you can acquire Uber Boss summoning materials by completing Nightmare Dungeons or defeating elites within them. These materials can be used to summon Uber Bosses, allowing you to farm the Uniques that you need to finish your build.
All Uber Bosses and Boss Loot Tables
To unlock Nightmare Dungeons, players have to obtain and use Nightmare Sigils, which provide various modifiers and Affixes and summon a portal toward the Nightmare Dungeon on use.
These Sigils are initially earned through Whispers of the Dead in World Tiers 3 and 4, but they can also drop as rewards from completing Nightmare Dungeons.
You can also craft Nightmare Sigils at the Occultist using Sigil Powder, which you can get by salvaging Sigils that you don't intend to use. Players can craft Nightmare Sigils from Tiers 1 up to 100 at the Occultist.