Diablo 4 Infernal Hordes guide – Diablo’s wave-based survival mode, explained

More horrors are coming to Diablo 4 in Season Five, aptly dubbed the Infernal Hordes, a new activity where countless waves of Hell’s Legions have one goal—to kill you.

As this is a new activity first going live on the PTR, certain features and elements may change when Season Five officially drops on the live realms. Despite this, the Infernal Hordes activity should still be a fun new activity, whether you get to experience it on the PC PTR or when it launches on the live servers.

Here’s everything we know about Diablo 4‘s wave mode so far.

What is the Infernal Hordes Season 5 activity?

The Infernal Hordes activity sees Diablo 4 players confronting countless waves of Hell’s Legions, and this activity becomes stronger every day. You earn Burning Aether during this activity to unlock powerful weapons and rewards.

If you successfully slay the Hordes, you battle the Fell Council, a powerful group of enemies that would love to see your character’s skeleton hanging on their walls.

How to enter the Realm of Hatred and the Infernal Hordes’ rules

You’ll need to use an Infernal Compass to enter the Realm of Hatred, where you can participate in the Infernal Hordes activity. You can get Hell Compasses by defeating endgame bosses and participating in nightmare dungeons, helltides, and whispers. You’ll also get one when you complete the new Eternal quest.

Before entering the activity, these are the fundamental rules of the activity:

• Each wave lasts 90 seconds.
• Collect Burning Aether to spend at the end of a successful Infernal run.
  • Burning Aether is an individual currency you can earn, regardless of whether you’re playing in a group or solo, meaning you don’t share your Aether with other players.
• At the end of each wave, kill the remaining enemies and choose from three Infernal Offers. Once one has been selected, the next wave will begin.
  • Infernal Offers will give you a choice of three different Boons and Banes to modify your run, and these can stack. You can also choose one to increase the difficulty of your run, meaning you get more Burning Aether, or you can choose a moderate boon to make your run more manageable.
• Once you’ve defeated all the waves in your Tier, you will advance to the Well of Hatred to battle the Fell Council. You can spend your Aether on the Spoils of Hell by beating the three council members.
  • There are four Spoils of Hell you can get after Infernal Hordes run, including the Spoils of Equipment, Spoils of Materials, Spoils of Gold, and Spoils of Greater Equipment (which guarantees an item with a Greater Affix).

What are the Tiers of Infernal Compass?

There are eight Tiers of Infernal Compasses, which scale in difficulty and on your World Tier. Every Tier increases the number of waves, with the first three Tiers containing five waves then scaling up to 10 waves in Tier Eight of the Infernal Compass.

These compasses are upgraded using Abyssal Scrolls. But the Infernal Compasses can only be earned from Tiers One to Three, and you can start earning the Infernal Compasses at the following World Tiers:

• Tier One: Available in World Tier Three.
• Tier Two: Available in World Tier Four and increased bonus affixes with increased drop rates for crafting materials and legendary and unique drops.
• Tier Three: Available at Level 100, includes bonus affixes and the Spoil of Greater Equipment.

With each Tier difficulty, the starting difficulty of the Monsters will increase, and your rewards will increase. The catch, though, is the number of revives you can use decreases. So, the higher the Tier, the greater the rewards and the risks.

If you’re ready to try Diablo 4’s roguelike version, it’ll be available in the PC Season Five PTR from June 25 and on the live servers once Season Five drops on Aug. 6.