Diablo 4 Helltides Guide – Best Ways to Farm (Season 4)

Helltides are one of the most important endgame events. Read this article to see our short Helltides guide, what they are, what are they best used for in Diablo 4, what items can you find, how best to farm them, and more.

Diablo is one of the most popular action RPGs of today. In the fourth installment of the popular franchise, players are fighting against Lilith, the mother of demons. But, defeating Lilith is not all. There is so much more that you can do, once you finish the main story. So much so that some players state that the real game begins only after you finish the main story. One such event, that becomes available only in the “endgame” is Helltides. So, keep reading to see our short but sweet guide to Helltides in Diablo 4.

Helltides Guide for Diablo 4

There is a lot of endgame content in Diablo 4, but most of it revolves around either Uber Bosses or Helltides. Uber Bosses are great for target-farming a specific Unique or Uber Unique item, but Helltides are more useful for leveling, so you can survive those tough boss fights. Below we will answer a lot of general questions and offer some advice and tips on how to make to most out of your Helltides.

What Are Helltides

Helltides are an endgame activity in Diablo 4. They are global events that appear in certain areas of Sanctuary. Each Helltide lasts an hour, after which it will appear in another location, meaning you can basically participate in Helltides without pause. Helltides are under constant attack by demonic forces and that makes them a great way to level up your character and get some powerful loot and special materials.

How to Unlock Helltides in Diablo 4

To be able to participate in Helltides, you first have to complete the main Campaign. Once you do so, a quest in Kyovashad will appear, titled The Helltide Rises, that serves as an introduction to Helltides. Complete it and the Helltides will be unlocked for you.

Until Season 3, Helltides were available only on World Tiers 3 and 4. Since the Season of Loot Reborn, Helltides have become available on all World Tiers.

Helltides Locations

Helltides appear all over Sanctuary, but, only one is active at the time. The area where a Helltide is currently active is marked with red on your minimap, with a flaming red sword icon, so they are easy to notice.

Helltides can appear in every non-city location, specifically:

• Dry Steppes
  • Khargai Crags
  • Temple of Rot
  • Untamed Scarps
  • The Onyx Watchtower
• Fractured Peaks
  • Sarkova Pass
  • Frigid Expanse
  • Kor Dragan
  • Malnok
• Hawezar
  • Dissmil Foothills
  • Fethis Wetlands
  • Ruins of Rakhat Keep
  • Eriman’s Pyre
• Kehjistan
  • Amber Sands
  • Ragged Coastline
  • Southern Expanse
  • Dilapidated Aqueducts
• Scosglen
  • Northshore
  • Deep Forest
  • Tur Dulra
  • Hope’s Light

Diablo 4 Helltides Features

Helltides are more than just areas with increased enemy activity. They have special events and mechanics that you can use to get the most out of them. 

Aberrant Cinders

Being active in Heltides (opening chests and defeating enemies) will reward you with Aberrant Cinders. These are like a “Helltide-currency”, that you need to open Tortured Gifts, also found in Helltides.

You usually get a single Abberant Cinder for each enemy you defeat (more for Bosses), or for each chest that you open. So, quantity is key here. Once you gather enough Cinders, you can then open Tortured Chests.

Important note is that if you die during a Helltide, your collection of Abberant Cinders will be halved.

Tortured Gifts

Tortured Gifts are special chests found only in Helltide areas. They require Abberant Cinders to open and offer powerful loot. You can find them on your minimap, represented by a tiny spiked chest icon. Each chest will drop a powerful item, some Murmuring Obols, and has a chance to drop a Forgotten Soul or a Baneful Heart. There are five different tiers of Tortured Gifts:

• Tortured Gift of Protection (Requires 75 Cinders, drops only Boots, Chest, Helm, Gloves, and Pants items)
• Tortured Gift of Jewelry (Requires 125 Cinders, drops only Rings and Amulets)
• Tortured Gift of Weaponry (Requires 150 Cinders, drops only one-handed and two-handed Weapons)
• Tortured Gift of Mysteries (Requires 250 Cinders, has the greatest chance to drop the powerful Legendaries and Uniques)
• Tortured Gift of Living Steel (Requires 275 Cinders, drops Living Steel, an item needed to summon Grigoire, the Galvanic Saint)

Threat Meters

Once you enter a Helltide area, you will see a Threat Meter. That represents your Threat level. The higher your Threat, the more enemies will spawn around and target you. When you reach the maximum (level 3), you will become Hellmarked. Swarms of enemies will appear and attack you, with a powerful Hellborne being the last one. These Hellbornes mimic one of the player Classes and when killed, drop some powerful items, materials, and Baneful Hearts, needed for Accursed Rituals.

Accursed Rituals

Accursed Rituals are locations that you can find in Helltides, represented by three pedestals surrounding a ritual site. You need to insert a Baneful Heart into each of the pedestals, and that will start the ritual. During that time, more and more enemies will appear, with a tough Boss, named Blood Maiden at the end.

Once defeated, she will drop some powerful loot, crafting materials, and some Exquisite Blood, needed to summon Lord Zir.

Bosses

There are a couple of mini-bosses that you can encounter during a Helltide. The first one is Kixxarth, Helltide Assasin, which has a chance to appear and roam the Helltide. Defeating it will give you some Aberrant Cinders and it has a high chance to drop a Legendary item.

Another Boss is found when you encounter a ritual circle with some occultists trying to open up demon portals. Once you prevent that a Helltide Commander will appear. Defeat this Boss to get some Obols, Aberrant Cinders, and items.

Best Ways to Farm Helltides Effectively

As you have gathered, Helltides are chock-full of enemies. There is an occasional Elite or a boss, but most of the time, you will be facing swarms and swarms of demons. We would recommend that you focus a bit more on AoE attacks rather than on the direct damage ones. But still, have something powerful to fight those Bosses.

Another very important tip is that almost everything in Helltides can be done in a group. Team up with friends or other random players, and farming Helltides will be a piece of cake.

Helltides last for an hour, so keep track of how much time you got. Maybe it is better to fully prepare for the upcoming Helltide than to try to get a couple of minutes into the current one.

Aberrant Cinders do not carry over to the next Helltide, so be sure to spend them all. Take note of where the Tortured Gifts are (pin them on your map if need be) and when the Helltide is nearing its end, hurry up and spend all of your Cinders on those Gifts.

You can use the Profane Mindcage Elixirs to increase your Threat and the levels of enemies that you encounter, in order to get more XP and better loot.

Try not to die. Besides obvious results, dying will reduce the number of your gathered Abberant Cinders by half. That can set you back quite a lot, especially if you tried to gather as much as possible before looking for Tortured Gifts. Avoid stockpiling a lot of Cinders, just in case.

We hope these tips help you out in your Helltide runs. We will update this Helltides Guide with more tips and tricks as the game progresses and Diablo 4 changes.