Diablo 4 Infernal Hordes – how to unlock, Infernal Compass, and rewards

The Infernal Horde is a new features coming to Diablo 4 with the launch of Season 5. Infernal Hordes are a way for players to gather and unlock new pieces of Legendary gear and Uniques, which help them progress their characters with completely different end-game content type to spice things up. The game mode is very different to the other features in the game, such as Helltides, the Pit, and Nightmare Dungeons, as it is a wave-focused mini-game with ever-increasing risks and returns. Here’s a closer look at the Infernal Horde feature in Diablo 4.

How Infernal Hordes work in Diablo 4

Infernal Hordes allows players to take on waves of enemies either solo or in a group. Each successive wave gets slightly harder. Before starting an Infernal Horde, you will spend an item called an Infernal Compass, which sets the tier of the content you’re facing. It works similarly to Nightmare Dungeons. Each Compass gives you a set amount of lives and tunes the difficulty of the enemies you’ll face.

Once a Horde starts, you’ll get 60 seconds to clear the wave. At the end of the wave, you’ll then have three hands that emerge from the ground called Infernal Offerings. Each one grants you rewards and benefits but also adds further challenges to fight against. You’ll need to select one before the next round commences, triggering another wave of enemies you need to clear in 60 seconds. The amount of waves depends on the compass you used to start the event, as does the amount of lives you have.

You’ll repeat the process several times before the final wave appears. The final wave spawns three bosses out of a pool of five. Each one has different abilities and skills to learn and avoid. Weakening the three bosses tends to empower their skills and abilities, making them more dangerous as the fight progresses. Defeating all three will completes the Infernal Horde, granting you rewards.

How to Unlock Infernal Hordes in Diablo 4

To unlock Infernal Hordes, you’ll need to reach level 50 and unlock World Tier 3 difficulty. From there, you’ll get a new priority questline that takes them to Hell. You can start the quest by heading to Hawezar and starting Of Lambs and Wolves. From here, you’ll get a tutorial explaining the activity and how it works.

Once Infernal Hordes is unlocked, you’ll need to acquire Infernal Compasses, which grants access to the mode. You can acquire through various methods:

• Nightmare Dungeons – Drop depending on the level of Nightmare Dungeon.
• Offering from the tree – A chance to contain lower tiers in Whisper caches. Higher tier ones have lower chances.
• Helltide chest – A rare chance to drop higher-level compasses.
• Pit runs – A rare chance to drop higher-level compasses.
• Occultist – Costs Forgotten Souls and Sigil Powder to craft. Different tiers cost different amounts. 
• Infernal Hordes – Infernal Hordes can also drop the Compass.

In addition, each Infernal Compass has its own tier, changing in the difficulty of each Infernal Horde: 

• Tier 4-5 Compasses can be found via Higher tier Nightmare Dungeons
• Tier 4-8 Compasses can also drop in higher-tier Pit runs.

Once you have an Infernal Compass, you can use it to enter the Infernal Horde. Keep in mind the feature is available to both seasonal and eternal characters.

Where to find an Infernal Hordes Compass in Diablo 4

To find the location of an Infernal Compass, players can pretty much do whatever content they want. You’ll often find them throughout the world, in various end-game activities:

• Nightmare Dungeons
• The Pit
• Helltide Chests
• Crafted at the occultist
• From the Infernal Hordes themselves
• Tree of Whisper caches

Pretty much any major end-game activity has a chance of awarding Compasses, though the tier changes on the difficulty setting. For example, when you unlock World Tier 3 and complete the quest chain to unlock the Infernal Horde feature, you will often find Tiers 1-3 compasses in Nightmare Dungeons, Helltide chests, and Tree of Whispers caches.

When you start progressing later into the game, you can farm Tier 4-8 Infernal Compasses, which help you get to a harder version of the content. Higher tier Nightmare Dungeons tend to drop Tier 4 and 5 Compasses, while the high tier Pit runs can drop Tier 4-8 Compasses. They are also very rare drops from Helltides and Tree of Whispers after completing Nightmare dungeons at Tier 75 and 100, respectively.

They essentially work like Nightmare dungeon keys. You’ll get higher difficulty Compasses the deeper into the World Tier system you go. The lower the World Tier you’re in, the lower the tier of the Infernal Compasses. Keep this in mind when you’re farming content that’s more appropriate to your character’s strength and level.

Depending on the tier of the Infernal Compass, you’ll find a variety of affixes on them. Typically the higher tier, the less revives and the more waves you get. You’ll also get more lucrative rewards from them, such as greater chances to get Uniques and Legendaries. It’s part of the reason you want to grind more challenging content to give you better odds of getting that perfect piece of gear for your build.

How to upgrade an Infernal Compass

If the idea of farming for rare drop higher tier Infernal Compasses is off-putting then you can instead craft and upgrade them. Visit the Occultists in any major city and you will find a new crafting option to make Infernal Compasses yourself. Be advised that you can craft these using Forgotten Souls and Sigil Powder, two very rare crafting resources. Dismantling Infernal Compasses can also grants Sigil Powder.

From there, you can further upgrade your Infernal Compasses with Abyssal Scrolls. These items typically drop from Helltide Mystery Chests and from the material Spoils of Hells at the end of Infernal runs. You will use them to upgrade your Compasses, pushing them to higher tiers.

Infernal Horde rewards

As players complete Infernal Hordes, they’ll accumulate Burning Aether. This is a currency that players can spend on unlocking different rewards – materials, gold, or even Legendary and Unique items.

You get Burning Aethers by killing Aether Fiends and Aerther Lords, and for smashing Soulspires and Aetheric Masses. You’ll need a total of 20 to unlock a reward called a Spoils of War, containing the gold, materials, or item reward. If you can earn 60, then you can then choose to unlock the Greater Equipment Spoils of War, which guarantees an item with a Greater affix.

You’ll largely be running this game mode to assist with any crafting you intend on doing. Furthermore, due to the significance of target farming Uniques and Legendaries, this mode will greatly help players reach their desired end-game builds.