Diablo 4 Season 6: Infernal Hordes explained

Infernal Hordes continues into Season 6 of Diablo 4 after being the theme of the previous season. Here’s how the mode works now that the Season of the Infernal Hordes has ended.

While Infernal Hordes was the main theme of Diablo 4 Season 5, the mode has been popular enough to survive into Season 6 alongside other seasonal gimmicks like Malignant Hearts and Vampire Powers. However, while it was the glue that kept Season 5 together, it’s just become another endgame task in subsequent seasons.

Still, Infernal Hordes can be a fun mode to try and is a great way to unlock some high-level loot. Below, we’ll explain how you access Infernal Hordes in Season 6 and what’s changed now it’s been incorporated into the wider scope of Diablo 4’s endgame activities.

How to unlock Infernal Hordes in Diablo 4

To unlock Infernal Hordes in Season 6 of Diablo 4, or the current Eternal Realm, you’ll need to unlock an Infernal Compass from doing other endgame activities such as Nightmare Dungeons, Whispers, the Pit, and high-level Helltides.

These don’t appear on the lower difficulties, but once you start playing on the Torment difficulty, you’ll soon start earning these items. Then you’ll be able to access the Infernal Hordes as you did in Season 5.

Infernal Hordes used to be unlocked after completing a World Tier 3 quest line that was playable in both the Seasonal and Eternal realms of Season 5. However, this has changed in Season 6 now that the game’s story has moved on from Locran’s quest.

We were unable to locate the original Infernal Hordes questline when playing on the Seasonal and Eternal realms, both before and after the Vessel of Hatred questline.

How Infernal Hordes work in Diablo 4

Infernal Hordes are wave-based dungeons with increasing difficulty. You face waves of enemies that grow tougher as you progress. Each tier, from 1 to 8, offers better rewards but tougher challenges.

Infernal Hordes are divided into tiers, with Tier 1 available in World Tier 3 and Tier 3 starting at World Tier 4. Higher tiers provide better loot, including guaranteed greater affix drops, but also come with increased difficulty.

In Diablo 4’s Infernal Hordes, you have 60 seconds per wave to gather Aether, the in-game currency. Complete Aether events to maximize your Aether gains. Each wave offers boons and banes that impact your experience and rewards.

At the end of each wave, you can choose from three boons, each paired with a bane. Boons increase your Aether gain, while banes make the dungeon harder.

Aether events include Soul Spires, Aetheric Masses, and various enemy types like Aether Fiends and Aether Lords. Completing these events during waves will yield extra Aether, which is crucial for unlocking valuable rewards.

The final phase of Infernal Hordes involves battling the Fell Council, a group of multi-bosses with unique mechanics.

Diablo 4

How to get Infernal Compasses in Diablo 4

You can get Infernal Compasses through general gameplay or craft them using Forgotten Souls at the Occultist.

Make sure you salvage old compasses to receive Abyssal Scrolls for upgrading compass tiers. For higher-tier dungeons, crafting compasses can be more valuable.

Now that you know everything about Diablo 4’s Infernal Hordes, you might want to find out more about the best builds in the current meta or see the full loot table for Infernal Hordes.