The Helltide is one of the many activities in Diablo 4. It’s the prime source to collect Forgotten Souls to enchant your gear at the Occultist and target farm Legendaries or Unique items! Learn how to unlock it, the special locations, spawn timings, events, rewards, and general tips & tricks to get the most while farming.
General
While roaming Sanctuary, be aware of your surroundings, as you might find yourself caught in a Helltide where powerful bosses roam the hellscape to put an end to you. This zone-wide event empowers enemies, raising their level three above your character level which increases their difficulty. With heightened danger comes powerful rewards to make the adventure worthwhile. Let's learn about how to push back the tide!
Unlocking Helltide
Helltide is unlocked as soon as you make your character (Seasonal) and can be played starting in World Tier 1. Different World Tiers unlock various components:
- World Tiers 1 & 2
- All Gifts are Mystery Chests (No individual gear or Living Steel Gifts).
- No roaming bosses.
- No meteor showers.
- Less monster density (compared to World Tiers 3 & 4).
- World Tier 3
- Standard Armor, Weapons, Jewelry, and Mystery Gifts.
- Living Steel Gifts that drop 3 at a time.
- Roaming bosses.
- Meteor showers.
- World Tier 4
- Standard Armor, Weapons, Jewelry, and Mystery Gifts.
- Living Steel Gifts that drop 5 at a time with a chance of another 5.
- Roaming bosses.
- Meteor showers.
Location & Timing
Helltides start at the top of every hour and last for 55 minutes, with a 5 minute break until the next event. It takes over a fixed set of four connected Zones in any Region. These zones can be normal as well as Strongholds, so be sure to cleanse them sooner rather than later. The game sends out a worldwide message right before a Helltide event starts:
"The Helltide has risen in multiple territories"
Helltide zones are highlighted in red with a flaming sword marker on them when you look at the map. This icon also tells you how much time is left when hovered over. Here are the zones per region:
Dry Steppes
Fractured Peaks
Hawezar
Kehjistan
Scosglen
Zones
Khargai Crags
Temple of Rot
Untamed Scarps
The Onyx Watchtower
Zones
Sarkova Pass
Frigid Expanse
Kor Dragan
Malnok
Zones
Dissmil Foothills
Fethis Wetlands
Ruins of Rakhat Keep
Eriman's Pyre
Zones
Amber Sands
Ragged Coastline
Southern Expanse
Dilapidated Aqueducts
Zones
Northshore
Deep Forest
Tur Dulra
Hope's Light
Threat Meter
Helltide is a dangerous activity from the moment you step foot into it. Killing enemies of various types or opening Gifts only increases this danger via the Threat Meter. As you slash through a Helltide, the Threat Meter fills from the first tier to the next, and finally the last. Entering a new tier triggers an ambush while also adding more random ambushes of more lethal packs of enemies.
When you cap the Threat Meter, you become Hell Marked. This starts a chain of ambushes at max density as your Threat Meter slowly drains. Once fully depleted, a Hellborne spawns to challenge you for your transgressions.
A Hellborne is a fallen champion with abilities similar to 1 of the 5 player classes. Once defeated (or you die at any point) your Threat Meter resets to fight the demonic hordes again! Lastly, you can carry over your current status from one Helltide to another.
Hellborne rewards an assortment of Rare and Legendary items and crafting materials once defeated. It will also drop several random Boss Summoning Materials for either Varshan, The Beast, Grigoire, or Lord Zir. Like most things in Diablo 4, grouping up with others can make filling up your Threat Meter a breeze. Staggering when each player caps the meter allows the other players to fill theirs simultaneously. This allows more Hellborne to be spawned and obtain more Boss Summoning Materials.
To learn more about Bosses read our full Boss Guides.
Special Helltide Events
Helltide contains many standard Local Events you see out in the overworld. It also contains special events you only see during Helltide and a roaming boss that is just waiting to kill you.
Accursed Ritual
The Accursed Ritual is a special Helltide event. When opening Gifts or killing Hellborne, a Baneful Heart can be collected (persist after Helltide ends). Once you collect 3, look for the ritual site. Deposit the Hearts into the pedestals and waves of enemies start descending upon you. An alert goes out to other players in the Zone as well allowing them to join the fray.
As the waves of enemies reach their peak, the Blood Maiden appears. She is a true Boss fight with several mechanics to be aware of to avoid a quick death.
- Flame Ring - On top of her melee attacks, she casts a ring of fire that grows outward. Only the ring itself does damage, so using a Movement Skill to get inside the ring keeps you safe. If touched, you take a moderate amount of Fire damage and are Vulnerable for several seconds.
- Flame Circle - As you progress through the fight, you may notice a circle of fire cast around you. This is important to notice and start moving away from other players as soon as possible. After being cast on you, fire circles are left on the ground where you stand every 0.5 seconds until 4 have been placed. At this point, they start to explode in order. If you fail to move, all 4 circles can be placed on top of each other and kill you quickly. This is why you need to move as soon as you can to avoid yours and other player's circles as well.
- Summon Disciples - At the 75%, 50%, and 25% health breakpoints, she takes to the sky and you guessed it, places four fire circles on the ground that summon 4 Hellborne Disciples. They are tougher than normal enemies and should be dealt with as quickly as possible.
Once defeated, the possible rewards you can receive are Rare and Legendary items, along with crafting materials and a small random amount of Exquisite Blood. Players who contribute more Baneful Heart can receive more bonus loot from the defeated Maiden.
Portal Invasion Event
This event can spawn instead of Local Events in affected Zones. Numerous Occultists are trying to perform a ritual, and you must prevent it. Killing the Occultists causes Invasion Portals to spawn, summoning additional demons. Once you defeat all combatants, a Helltide Commander Boss spawns.
Defeating one of these Bosses grants players Aberrant Cinders, items, and Obols.
Roaming Boss - Kixxarth, Helltide Assassin
During the Helltide a special Boss can spawn in various locations in the affected zones. It is marked with a Boss Icon on the Minimap and moves around on a set path to hunt down players. He is very tanky and has a variety of attacks that can crowd control everybody within range.
Defeating this Boss grants players Aberrant Cinders as well as a high chance for legendary items.
Doomsayer
When roaming around a Helltide, you may come upon a blood-soaked human kneeling in the middle of a ritual site. Talk to this Doomsayer to trigger a demonic ambush.
They are part of a possible Helltide specific Whisper and there is a small chance of having a ton of different loot (similar to a Mystery Chest) drop from the encounter.
With that known, it is wise to be on the lookout for Doomsayers and have a little chat with them and see what they do.
Hellspires
Hellspires trigger a mini-event similar to that of the overworld traps in Season 2's Blood Harvest and Season 3's Arcane Tremors.
Once activated, a boundary ring forms around the spire. Leaving this ring ends the event. Waves of demonic forces spawn and attack you while the spire itself periodically attacks in an array.
As the event progresses, three flamethrower-like attacks start and rotate around the spire, with meteors falling around you towards the end. Once complete, the spire self-destructs and you can collect your rewards. These are great for gaining a lot of threat quickly.
Ravenous Soulspires
Ravenous Soulspires trigger a mini-event similar to that of the overworld traps in Season 2's Blood Harvest and Season 3's Arcane Tremors.
Once activated, a boundary ring forms around the spire. Leaving this ring ends the event. In addition, a blood link forms between you and the Soulspire that siphons health away from you. The amount of health drained starts off small, but quickly ramps up. Pace your Immunity Skills along with Health Potions to stay alive. If you feel you can't take it anymore, leave the ring to end the event!
The Soulspire summons enemy waves similar to the Hellspire, but with no other attacks. If you make it long enough, the Soulspire self-destructs and you can pick up your rewards. These are great for gaining a lot of threat quickly.
Local Events
Various other Local Events (marked by an orange circle) as well as the Gathering Legion Zone Event can spawn in the Helltide as well. It is always worth doing these for the extra rewards and Aberrant Cinders!
Hellworms
These demonic Graboids aren't necessarily an event themselves but it can be quite an event the first time you see one. They act as a surprise environmental hazard, waiting underneath the surface (literally) to pop out and spew a few waves of demons on you to deal with.
They are a fairly rare occurance, but as your Threat increases, your encounters grow too. They also have the nasty side effect of being able to knock you off your mount, so traverse the lands covered in Helltide with caution.
Aberrant Cinders
Killing enemies or opening a normal chest has a chance to drop Aberrant Cinders. One out of every five monster kills grants you Aberrant Cinders (on average), while Local Events, Elites and certain Nodes drop guaranteed Aberrant Cinders. Here are some base numbers we were able to observe:
| Enemy/Object | Amount of Aberrant Cinders |
| Elites | 1 |
| Treasure Goblins | 1-6 |
| Normal Enemies | 0-1 |
| Event Chests (from Local Events) | 3-6 |
| Chests | 0-1 |
| Fiend Rose | 3-4 |
| Screaming Hell Vein Nodes | 3-4 |
| Dammed Soul * | 3-5 |
| Tortured Souls * | 3-5 |
| Wretched Souls * | 3-5 |
* It appears you only get Aberrant Cinders from interactable items that are lit up with a red hue:
Another valuable reward is Forgotten Soul. These are a possible drop when you open a Tortured Gift. Just know that if you want to maximize your loot gains, it is important to gather your friends and farm for these high level materials to upgrade your gear.
Tortured Gift Rewards
On top of the normal items monsters can drop, you may also receive Aberrant Cinders. This currency allows you to open Tortured Gifts throughout the zones that are affected. Each Gift has a particular gear slot linked to it, allowing you to target farm for possible Legendary or Unique items! Different gear slots have different values, so take note as you roam the zones and see a Tortured Gift. Also, Tortured Gifts are unique to you, so there is no reason to worry about other players or party members stealing them. The last bit of information is, DO NOT DIE! If you do, you lose half your collected Aberrant Cinders, and they do not carry over from one Helltide event to another.
World Tiers 1 & 2
- Tortured Gift of Mysteries (Costs 100 Aberrant Cinders) and contains:
- Forgotten Soul
- Rare/Legendary/Unique items from any gear slot!
- Murmuring Obols
- You can identify them by this special icon
- You can identify them by this special icon
World Tiers 3 & 4
- Tortured Gift of Protection (Costs 75 Aberrant Cinders) and contains:
- Forgotten Soul
- Legendary/Unique Armor Items (Helms, Chest Armors, Gloves, Pant, and Boots).
- Murmuring Obols
- (1) Living Steel.
- You can see the kind of item slot a Gift drops by the name, for example, Tortured Gift of Helms
- Tortured Gift of Jewelry (Rings) (Costs 75 Aberrant Cinders) and contains:
- Forgotten Soul
- Legendary/Unique Rings.
- Murmuring Obols
- (1) Living Steel.
- Tortured Gift of Jewelry (Amulets): (Costs 125 Aberrant Cinders) and contains:
- Forgotten Soul
- Legendary/Unique Amulets.
- Murmuring Obols
- (1) Living Steel.
- Tortured Gift of Weaponry (Light) (Costs 125 Aberrant Cinders) and contains:
- Forgotten Soul
- Legendary/Unique One-Handed Weapons, Shields and Focuses.
- Murmuring Obols
- (1) Living Steel.
- Tortured Gift of Weaponry (Heavy) (Costs 150 Aberrant Cinders) and contains:
- Forgotten Soul
- Legendary/Unique Two-Handed Weapons.
- Murmuring Obols
- (1) Living Steel.
- Tortured Gift of Mysteries (Costs 250 Aberrant Cinders[/d4-items) and contains:
- [d4-item id=1205842]Forgotten Soul
- Angelbreath
- Multiple Legendary/Unique items from any gear slot!
- Murmuring Obols
- (1) Living Steel.
- These are rare (2 per Helltide except Kehjistan which has 3) and are worth opening if you see one. You can identify them by this special icon
- These are rare (2 per Helltide except Kehjistan which has 3) and are worth opening if you see one. You can identify them by this special icon
- Tortured Gift of Living Steel (Costs 275 Aberrant Cinders) and contains:
- Forgotten Soul
- Angelbreath
- (3 WT3 / 5 WT4)) Living Steel with a bonus chance at another 5 (WT4 only).
- These are rare (2 per Helltide except Kehjistan which has 3) and are worth opening if you can spare the Aberrant Cinders. You can identify them by this special icon
- Living Steel is the Boss Summoning Material for Grigoire, The Galvanic Saint!
- These are rare (2 per Helltide except Kehjistan which has 3) and are worth opening if you can spare the Aberrant Cinders. You can identify them by this special icon
To learn more about Grigoire, The Galvanic Saint read our full Boss Guides.
Strategy
Here are some tips for having a successful outing during a Helltide event:
- Prepare. Make sure you are keeping track of when the last Helltide event started to know when the next one starts. Organize your activities to suit.
- Group up. Gathering even just one friend to help kill monsters faster can yield more Aberrant Cinders during the 55 minutes of farming.
- Seek Local Events. Local Events have the highest yield of Aberrant Cinders due to enemy density and event rewards, so be on the lookout for them when traveling in a zone.
- Don't wait to spend! Since Aberrant Cinders are not carried over from one Helltide event to another, you have to spend them before the event is over! Keep a mental note of several nearby Tortured Gifts that can be opened as the end of the event draws near! Use your Map Pin to mark a particular Gift that you want to open.
- Open Cheap Gifts for Forgotten Souls. Opening any Tortured Gift has a chance to drop a Forgotten Soul. So, if this is your goal, only open 75 Cinder cost Gifts to rapidly acquire them!
Helltide Map Tool
Our Map Tool, which among many other benefits lets you easily find Helltides (and a whole lot more!) and find Local Events, Living Steel Chests and more. It's a powerful tool that we aim to update more as the game evolves over time.
Summary
- Helltide is a great event to do with friends to get high level materials such as Forgotten Souls.
- The event only lasts for one hour, so prepare and be ready.
- Don't go fast and furious, as dying cuts the amount of Aberrant Cinders you have collected by half - play smart!
- Remember what Tortured Gifts you want to open around you to target specific gear slots for possible Legendaries or Unique items!
- Don't wait until the last minute to open a Tortured Gift, as once the event ends, all Aberrant Cinders are lost.
Credits
Written by Dredscythe
Reviewed by McFluffin
