How to get Black River Scythe in Diablo 4 – Drop Location and Unique Effect

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Wondering how to get the Black River weapon in Diablo 4? This Unique one-handed Scythe useable by the Necromancer class has some impressive stats to back it up, for both you and your minions.

There are plenty of Unique items to find in Season 2, as well as tons of new endgame activities like the endgame bosses. You’ll need the best gear to take it on, which is where Black River comes in. How do you get Black River, and what is its Unique Effect? We’re here to let you know all the details.

Where to find Black River in Diablo 4

The Black River can be found in random drops throughout World Tier 3 and World Tier 4. Anywhere that drops Unique items has a chance of giving you Black River. However, because it’s a random drop, your chance of finding it is pretty low.

You’re going to need to grind for a bit to find this weapon. There are plenty of locations that have a better chance of dropping it, though, if you’re looking to go farming.

Black River farming locations

We recommend running Nightmare Dungeons or completing events in Helltides to maximize your chance of the scythe dropping. Nightmare Dungeons and Helltide events have plenty of chances for Unique items to drop. Just make sure you’re doing the best dungeons for loot, as some are better than others.

A big nightmare

Because Nightmare Dungeons can take a while to run through, we find it easier to farm in shorter ones. The Guulrahn Canals and the Flooded Depths are great for speedrunning.

A Diablo 4 player enters a dungeon for loot.
Image taken by Videogamer

However, because Black River is a random drop, it has a chance of dropping from any enemy you defeat or chest your open on World Tier Nightmare and Torment difficulties.

Sadly, no endgame boss contains this weapon as part of its loot table, like some other Unique gear. This scythe can only come from random drops.

Black River Unique Effect and Affixes

The Black River one-handed scythe has the following Affixes:

  • +Intelligence
  • +Ranks of the Fueled by Death Passive
  • +Ranks of the Hewed Flesh Passive
  • +Ranks of All Corpse Skills

And the following Unique Effect:

  • Corpse Explosion consumes up to four additional Corpses around the initial Corpse, dealing 122 to 130% increased damage and with a 21 to 25% larger radius per additional Corpse

As stated above, the Black River Scythe can only be used by the Necromancer class. This Unique weapon is not for everyone but works particularly well with the Corpse Explosion Necromancer build or Bone Spear build. Unfortunately, Barbarians, Druids, Rogues, and Sorcerers won’t be able to equip this weapon.

That’s all you need to know about the Black River Unique weapon in Diablo 4. Make sure to check out our guide for getting the Flickerstep boots if you need some more impressive gear to take on Sanctuary.

How to get Black River FAQ

Where can you find the Black River Scythe?

The Black River can be found anywhere that drops Unique items in World Tiers 3 and 4.

Where’s the best place to farm for Black River?

Nightmare Dungeons and Helltides are the best places to farm for this weapon. It can drop from anywhere in the higher World Tiers, but these locations are more likely to due to more Uniques dropping at them.

About the Author

Annie Thelen

Annie is a journalist interested in gaming and tech news. She is Guides Writer for Videogamer. Her favorite games are Legend of Zelda, Halo, Persona 5, Saints Row 2, and The Sims 2.

Diablo 4

  • Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X
  • Genre(s): Action, Action RPG, RPG