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Diablo 4’sfifth season has added a long-awaited horde mode to the game, giving players an opportunity to test their builds against waves of demons. It’s arguably the best source of XP in the game and awards tons of useful items, including Legendary items with greater affixes. Needless to say, farming this activity will be a core part of gearing your character for difficult Pit tiers.
Despite its integration into endgame progression, Infernal Hordes aren’t clearly explained in-game through the seasonal model or quest chain. In this guide, we go over how the Infernal Hordes activity works, how to unlock it, and showcase some of the rewards you may expect to earn by successfully defeating the forces of Hell.
How To Unlock The Infernal Hordes Activity
The Infernal Hordes activity is unlocked upon completing"The Eyes of the Enemy" quest, found in Zarbinzet upon reaching World Tier 3.Speak with the soldiers in town to learn of the impending demonic invasion. Follow them to the eastern end of town, slay the nearby Hellborne, and then talk to one of the survivors. He’ll guide you to the gates of Hell. Complete the short dungeon to unlock the Infernal Hordes activity.
How To Start An Infernal Horde
Infernal Hordes is effectively a horde mode that lasts for a set number of waves, determined by the tier of Infernal Compass you consume. To start an Infernal Horde activity, you must first use anInfernal Compass.This itemfunctions identically to a Nightmare Dungeon Sigiland drops from virtually all endgame activities in World Tiers 3 and 4. You can also forge compasses at the Occultist.
Infernal Compasses will not drop until you complete Season 5’s seasonal questline.
Inscribed in each compass are a series of modifiers that alter the activity’s difficulty, rewards, and maximum number of waves.The Infernal Compass is broken up into nine different tiers,each tougher than the last. The rewards grow substantially with each tier, but so too does the difficulty. We suggest farming T2 Infernal Hordes when you’re just starting out. If you’re able to handle Level 100 enemies, jump to T3 and T4. Higher tiers are balanced around endgame builds, so come prepared.
Clearing The Infernal Hordes
The Infernal Hordes is a wave-based survival mission with some roguelite elements sprinkled in.For each wave, you must slay as many demons as possible within 60 seconds.Defeating enough demons will spawn a temporary event in the arena, requiring you to destroy a certain object, kill enemies in a certain area, or survive a boss rush.Completing these events will drop Aether, a material you can exchange for loot at the end of the activity.
These events include:
At the end of each wave, you’ll be givenone of three random modifiers.You must select one modifier to progress to the next wave. Each modifier comes with a positive modifier and a negative modifier.These modifiers apply toallfuture waves, so be mindful of what you select. In general, you’ll want topick modifiers that increase Aether drops.
Some modifiers are rarer than others, denoted with yellow text and multiple hands. These tend to be tougher but come with much stronger boons. Keep an eye out for them.
Here are a few modifiers we’ve found in our short time playing Infernal Hordes.
Soulspires drop +2 Aether
Aether Fiends explode and damage foes.
Hellborne drop +1 Aether
Aether Lords drop +3 Aether.
Masses spawn an Aether Lord on death.
As you can see, most of these modifiers make the mission slightly harder but come with higher Aether drop rates. It’s also worth noting thatsome negatives are actually boons in disguise.For example, “The Teeming Masses” will spawn an Aether Lord whenever you destroy an Aetheric Mass. You can pair this with “The Summoned Lords” to gain a whopping +6 Aether from every Aetheric Mass you clear.
The Fell Council
If you manage to survive through every wave, the Fell Council will challenge you to combat. Walk through the doorway at the top of the arena to start the boss fight.The Fell Council consists of three to four demons, most of which flood the arena with large AoE attacks and Hydra turrets. You’ll want tofocus on one demon at a time, as killing them will greatly reduce the number of attacks you’ll need to avoid.
There aren’t many mechanics or debuffs you need to juggle here. Melt every demon in the Fell Council, and you’ll complete the Infernal Hordes activity. Be sure to spend your Aether on the Infernal Chests before you leave.
Infernal Hordes Rewards
Defeating the Fell Council will spawn at least three chests in the arena, potentially more depending on your Infernal Compass tier.You can exchange your Aether to open an equipment chest, resource chest, or Gold chest.Here’s what they give:
Other chests can also spawn at higher Infernal Horde tiers.Tier 3 and above can spawn a Greater Affix chest, which will drop at least one Legendary with a guaranteed greater affix. Opening this chest costs 60 Aether andcannotbe repeatedly opened. If you want more chances of opening this chest, you’ll need to clear the Infernal Hordes at higher difficulty tiers.
