Though you can take on Helltides and other activities, the core of the endgame of Diablo 4 revolves around farming Nightmare Dungeons to level your character and your glyph. With a few dozen of them active at any given time, some Nightmare Dungeons are better to farm than others—as long as you know where to find them and you have a Sigil with decent affixes.
Blizzard Entertainment gave Nightmare Dungeons a huge buff ahead of season one, which made them even more valuable for farming XP. Though with Sigils for so many of them, it may be hard to know which ones are worth your time and which ones aren’t. Content creator Raxxanterax compiled a tier list of Nightmare Dungeons, which serves as a good metric to know which Sigils you should salvage and which ones you should open (and that’s before any dreadful affixes like Resource Burn play a role in your decision).
Here are our top choices for Nightmare dungeons and where to find them, based on Raxxanterax’s tier list. Blind Burrows leads the charge, but you’ll find common names like Aldurwood and Champion’s Demise in the mix. We’ve also used his combined metrics to account for raw XP and clear time if you’re looking to level both your Glyphs and your character.
Best Nightmare Dungeons to farm and their locations in Diablo 4
- Blind Burrows
- Guulrahn Canals
- Sunken Ruins
- Aldurwood
- Raethwind Wilds
- Maulwood
- Champion’s Demise
- Demon’s Wake
- Whispering Pines
- Lost Archives
- Witchwater
- Earthen Wound
- Cultist Refuge
Related: Diablo 4 Nightmare Dungeons Tier List (July 2023)
Blind Burrows
The gold standard for Nightmare dungeons in season zero, Blind Burrows is among the quickest to farm, and the tons of Spider mobs and Spider Hosts make this an XP fest to farm. You just need to kill three Infested Villagers and the Broodguard boss, and you’re done with this dungeon. We enjoy farming this dungeon, though we don’t enjoy the droves of Poison status effects that often make our red health bar look a sickly green-yellow (but hey, that’s what Blood Mist is for).
- Location: Fethis Wetlands, Hawezar
- Enemy type: Beasts (Spiders)
- Boss: Yes
- Closest waypoint: Zarbinzet
Guulrahn Canals
This is another quick dungeon to farm, whether you’re looking for XP or to level your Glyph. Guulrahn Canals doesn’t have a boss, so you just need to slay all enemies in the first area and destroy a Cocoon and Corpse Piles. Short, sweet, and to the point.
- Location: Jakha Basin, Dry Steppes
- Enemy type: Spiders, Zombies
- Boss: No
- Closest waypoint: Hidden Overlook
Sunken Ruins
Sunken Ruins is the first of several Scosglen Nightmare Dungeons on our list for season zero, and it’s also a great one to farm. The first part asks you to return two Stone Carvings to the pedestal (if you’re in a group, splitting up helps tremendously if players can handle it). After that, take out three Skeletal Constructs and an Elite and you’re good to go.
- Location: Northshore, Scosglen
- Enemy type: Ghosts, Zombies
- Boss: No
- Closest waypoint: Braestaig
Aldurwood
Aldurwood is one of our favorite NIghtmare Dungeons to farm, especially now that our Temerity helps us tank the Tusked Chargers in higher Nightmare difficulties. You’ll need to kill three Aldurkin Elites, then head to a boss fight against the Den Mother to wrap up this dungeon. Once more, splitting up is key here since that lets you clear this quick dungeon even more quickly.
- Location: The Shrouded Moors, Scosglen
- Enemy type: Werewolves, Beasts
- Boss: Yes
- Closest waypoint: Tirmair
Raethwind Wilds
The buff to Nightmare Dungeons has helped Raethwind Wilds thrive. This short dungeon has good enemy density and a clear pathing, which makes it more forgiving to farm. After killing all enemies in the first area, take down three of the Gorgonic Wildlife (basically ultra-large Elite versions of animals) and fend off a boss to wrap up this dungeon.
- Location: Wailing Hills, Scosglen
- Enemy type: Bandits, Wildlife
- Boss: Yes
- Closest waypoint: Braestaig
Maulwood
Maulwood shines because of its enemy density, and with a good enough build, you can probably steamroll your way through most of this dungeon unless you’re pushing your Nightmare Dungeon levels too high. You’ll just need to kill three Bandit Sentries, then three Skeletal Constructs, and you’re done.
- Location: Dobrev Taiga, Fractured Peaks
- Enemy type: Bandits, Werewolves
- Boss: No
- Closest waypoint: Margrave
Champion’s Demise
Champion’s Demise is another favorite of ours, especially when running into a group. You only need to grab three Stone Carvings, take down two Elites that appear by you once you deposit the last one, and take down a boss. That’s it.
The objectives are simple enough, the map layout is easy to navigate, and it doesn’t require much running around after you’ve dunked all three Stone Carvings. It may not technically be the best, but this is our personal pick to farm in a group, even if it’s more out of habit than anything else.
- Location: Untamed Scarps, Dry Steppes
- Enemy type: Goatmen, Spiders
- Boss: Yes
- Closest waypoint: Jirandai
Demon’s Wake
You’re back to Scosglen for this one. Demon’s Wake is on the longer side, so if you’re looking for pure speed, you may consider skipping it. That said, the enemy density helps keep its head afloat when it comes to farming, which has granted it a spot in the A Tier in Raxxanterax’s tier list. Destroy two Idols of the Shaman, then complete a Slay All Monsters objective in a large area called the Ravaged Barracks.
- Location: Westering Lowlands, Scosglen
- Enemy type: Fallen, Skeletons
- Boss: No
- Closest waypoint: Firebreak Manor
Whispering Pines
Now that fast-traveling to a Nightmare Dungeon is an option, Whispering Pines has become a much better choice when it comes to farming. Like Demon’s Wake, this dungeon is on the longer side, but you can find plenty of enemies to make it worth your while. You’ll need to defeat two Gatekeepers, then wrap up a Slay all Enemies objective and fight a boss.
- Location: Highland Wilds, Scosglen
- Enemy type: Spiders, Fallen, Wildlife.
- Boss: Yes
- Closest waypoint: Tirmair
Lost Archives
With its good blend of speed and enemy density, Lost Archives earned a spot among the best Nightmare Dungeons to farm. Take down two Elites, recover two Mechanical Boxes, and take down a boss to finish this dungeon. Lost Archives isn’t too large, so even if you’re solo, you can get this done reasonably quickly if you’re using a good build.
- Location: Desolate Highlands, Fractured Peaks
- Enemy type: Ghosts, Fallen
- Boss: Yes
- Closest waypoint: Nevesk
Witchwater
The most annoying part of Witchwater is the enemies since you’ll be up against Spiders and Snakes. Expect to find lots of Poison, Immobilize, and Stun procs (if you’re running a class that can overlook those, great, but we’re running a Bone Spear Necromancer so those can add up quickly). You’ll need to free four Prisoners, destroy three Ward of Eyes, and best Slither to wrap up this dungeon.
- Location: Blightmarsh, Hawezar
- Enemy type: Snakes, Spiders
- Boss: Yes
- Closest waypoint: Vyeresz
Honorable mention: Earthen Wound
Earthen Wound sits on the B-tier in Raxxanterax’s spreadsheet when it comes to pure XP, but if you’re looking to get some Glyph XP, this rises to A. This carves it a spot in the A tier for combined Glyph and Character XP, beating out Champion’s Demise and Whispering Pines (though these two are still better for leveling your character, based on Raxxanterax’s data).
This dungeon requires you to smash through two Corpse Gates, collect Animus from the Animus Carriers, and then kill a boss to get a completion. The first objective can be fast since you barely need any backtracking, but the enemy density doesn’t help its case too much.
- Location: Umir Plateau, Hawezar
- Enemy type: Cannibals, Ghosts
- Boss: Yes
- Closest waypoint: Zarbinzet
Honorable mention: Cultist Refuge
Cultist Refuge is on the shorter side, which certainly helps its case. It’s not packed with enemies, but you can still get a decent amount of XP per hour due to how many runs you can squeeze in. You’ll have a Slay All Enemies objective ahead of you, then you’ll have to take down the Overseer and defeat two High Priests to grab a completion. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s quick and that helps. You’ll also have to clear the Nostrava Stronghold to unlock this, which is one of our favorite Strongholds in all of Diablo 4.
- Location: Nostrava, Fractured Peaks
- Enemy type: Cultists
- Boss: No
- Closest waypoint: Nostrava
This list takes into account the findings of content creator Raxxanterax and reflects the state of the game as of Patch 1.0.3, before the release of season one. We’ll update this piece accordingly once more information becomes available.
