The Diablo franchise is famous for its late-game content loops. In Diablo 4, this loop appears to be the Nightmare Dungeon mechanic. Nightmare Dungeons provide experience-efficient ways for players to gain gold, loot, and even upgrade Paragon Glyphs.
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If you are approaching the end-game in Diablo 4, you may be wondering how to unlock this content, especially since it is not explained in-game. Keep reading for answers about how to unlock Nightmare Dungeons, the different types, how to complete them, and the rewards you'll earn.
Like most difficulty jumps in Diablo 4, Nightmare Dungeons are not unlocked until you meet several conditions.
Once your first Nightmare Sigil drops, you will gain a priority quest to use it and complete your first Nightmare Dungeon.
Once you've completed a Tier 3 Nightmare Dungeon, you will also be able to complete a priority quest from the Occultist to unlock Sigil Crafting. This gives you a use for the Sigil Powder you've been picking up and more control over the difficulty of your Nightmare Dungeons - more on that later.
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To start a Nightmare Dungeon:
You can place a marker on your map over the Nightmare Dungeon, causing a red line to appear between you and the dungeon. This line is the shortest path there and accurately navigates even through undiscovered parts of the map.
Each dungeon will have two negative affixes, and one positive affix rolled from the following list at random.
Name
Effect
Type
Poison Damage
You deal 10% more Poison Damage.
Positive
Shadow Damage
You deal 10% more Shadow Damage.
Positive
Frost Damage
You deal 10% more Frost Damage.
Positive
Fire Damage
You deal 10% more Fire Damage.
Positive
Lightning Damage
You deal 10% more Lightning Damage.
Positive
Physical Damage
You deal 10% more Physical Damage.
Positive
Control Impaired Explosions
Being hit by Control Impairing Effects creates an explosion around you.
Positive
Increased Critical Strike
Your Critical Strike chance is increased by 6%.
Positive
Poisonous Evade
Using Evade leaves a pool of poison behind that damages enemies.
Positive
Increased Healing
Your Healing Received is increased by 10%.
Positive
Lightning Caller
You occasionally call down lightning strikes that damage nearby enemies.
Positive
Thorns
Your Thorns are increased by 249.
Lightning Storm
Lightning gathers above the player. Get into the protection dome to avoid severe outcomes.
Negative
Volcanic
While in combat, gouts of flame periodically erupt near players.
Negative
Nightmare Portal
While in combat, Nightmare Portals open randomly near players, pouring out dangerous monsters.
Negative
Drifting Shade
Drifting Shade chases players. Upon reaching them, it explodes for heavy damage and creates a Nightmare Field that Dazes victims.
Negative
Death Pulse
Killing a monster releases a deadly lightning pulse after a short delay.
Negative
Monster Vulnerable Resist
The duration of Vulnerable Effects vs Monsters is reduced by 45%.
Negative
Monster Fire Damage
Monsters deal an additional 15% of their Physical damage as dealt as Fire.
Negative
Monster Poison Damage
Monsters deal an additional 22% of their Physical damage dealt as Poison over 5 seconds.
Negative
Monster Shadow Damage
Monsters deal an additional 15% of their Physical damage dealt as Shadow.
Negative
Monster Burning Damage
Monsters deal an additional 22% of their Physical damage dealt as Burning over 5 seconds.
Negative
Monster Bleeding Damage
Monsters deal an additional 22% of their Physical damage dealt as Bleeding over 5 seconds.
Negative
Monster Lightning Damage
Monsters deal an additional 15% of their Physical damage dealt as Lightning.
Negative
Empowered Elites (Cold Enchanted)
Elites always have the "Cold Enchanted" affix.
Negative
Empowered Elites (Poison Enchanted)
Elites always have the "Poison Enchanted" affix.
Negative
Empowered Elites (Shock Lance)
Elites always have the "Electric Lance" affix.
Negative
Empowered Elites (Suppressor)
Elites always have the "Suppressor" affix.
Negative
Monster Shadow DoT
Monsters deal an additional 22% of their physical damage dealt as Shadow over 5 seconds.
Negative
Monster Cold Damage
Monsters deal an additional 15% of their Physical damage dealt as Cold.
Negative
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In addition to Affixes, each Nightmare Sigil, and thus dungeon, has an associated Tier. These tiers, similar to World Tiers, decide the difficulty - and potential rewards - of the dungeon.
There are many tiers of Nightmare Dungeon, going from 1 to 100. This becomes more important once you start crafting, as you will be able to select your desired Tier.
The rewards for doing a Nightmare Dungeon were intended to fill a similar niche to Diablo 3's Greater Rifts. And while they will be getting buffs with the arrival of Season 1, they are already a great way to earn a number of rewards.
Just like a normal dungeon, enemies in Nightmare Dungeons will drop loot. However, the loot tables for Nightmare Dungeons are a bit different. Inside a Nightmare Dungeon, you can expect to find:
In particular, the drop chance for sigils and glyphs seems to be higher in Nightmare Dungeons.
If you've gotten to a point where Nightmare Dungeons are relevant, you'll probably be unsurprised to hear that enemies give experience when they die in Diablo 4. However, you may not realize that the amount of experience you gain is substantially buffed inside a Nightmare Dungeon, making it the most efficient leveling tool in the late game.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, completing a nightmare dungeon will spawn an Awakened Sigil. Clicking on this sigil will open a menu to upgrade your Paragon Glyphs, allowing you to improve their bonus or even radius.
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