Season 9 of Diablo 4 has brought in some wild loot mechanics, and if you’re chasing mythic uniques, ancestral items, or legendary runes, here’s what you need to know. Skip the grind, maximize returns, and avoid the traps.
🔥 1. Nightmare Dungeon Escalations – Loot Central
Why it matters:
Nightmare dungeon escalations now drop crazy amounts of loot—we’re talking multiple Greater Ancestral items and up to 12 uniques from Astaroth on Torment IV.
What to do:
- Activate the Urn of Escalation to boost Diablo 4 Astaroth’s gear drops.
- Use the Urn of Strongrooms to get more escalation sigils.
- Focus on dungeons with modifiers like:
- Horadric Bestiary
- Strongrooms
- Forgotten Wisdom
- Obols Mine
- Obol Reserve
Pro tip: Each escalation can net you 6,000–8,000 Obducite, with Strongrooms alone being worth it just for the bulk Ancestral Legendaries.
🧨 2. Infernal Hordes – Best for Reputation and Runes
Why it matters:
If you want reputations fast, skip whispers and farm elites.
What to do:
- Focus on 6-wave Infernal Hordes for Scrolls of Tempering.
- For reputation, do 10-wave runs. One decent run can net you 100,000+ rep.
- Look out for elite-heavy waves like Hellborne or Aether Fiends.
Pro tip: Save your Aether to buy Greater Archetype Caches—each gives a Greater Ancestral item and a class-specific Ancestral Unique.
🧪 3. Obols & Vendors – Still Good With Buffs
Why it matters:
The Urn of Curiosities gives you a 20% bonus item chance from Obol gambles.
What to do:
- Gamble at the Obol vendor regularly.
- Visit the Den of Mercenaries and check the bartering caches.
- Watch for random Ancestral drops like “Protecting Pants” with Greater Affixes.
🏛 4. Undercity Tributes – Legendary Runes & Ancestral Gear
What works:
- Tributes of Radiance = Ancestral Legendaries
- Tributes of Harmony = Legendary Runes (finally dropping reliably!)
Where to get tributes:
- Aether Helltide chests
- Tree of Whispers (Greater Dungeon Key chests)
- Killing Belial repeatedly
💀 5. Lair Bosses – Where the Mythics Drop
Here’s the hard truth:
To get Mythic Uniques and top-tier Ancestrals, you need Betrayer’s Husks. These drop from the rare Ambush Belial, which spawns maybe once every 10 kills.
So what’s the move?
- Some players buy Betrayer’s Husks via a Reliable third-party.
- If you want Mythics fast, this is the path most players take.
Alternative:
Grind Belial manually if you enjoy pain and RNG hell.
⚒️ 6. Smithing Caches – Avoid the Trap
Why you should skip them:
- These eat up Forgotten Souls, Veiled Crystals, Iron Chunks, and Rawhide.
- Sure, you might get something decent, but you’ll have no materials left to temper or masterwork it.
Final Thoughts
This season makes loot wildly accessible—if you know where to look. Skip the outdated grind loops. Stick to:
- Nightmare Dungeon Escalations for raw loot and Obducite.
- Infernal Hordes for reputation and Scrolls.
- Lair Bosses + Ambush Belial for Mythics.
- Tributes and Obols for supplemental Diablo 4 gear, gold, and runes.
Want the best gear? Plan your runs. Respect your time.
