Infernal Hordes are an endgame activity introduced in Season 5. In it, you will have to fight through timed waves while picking up a resource (Burning Aether) for rewards, culminating in a boss fight. There are a few rewards you can get from this activity, notably a few Unique weapons that were introduced with this activity.
How to unlock Infernal Hordes
In order to unlock Infernal Hordes, you must first complete “The Eyes of the Enemy” questline that starts in Zarbinzet — note that you will need to be in at least World Tier 3 before you can start it (we have a guide on Capstone Dungeons if you need help unlocking this Tier), and you will only need to do this questline once per account. Once it’s completed, you will get your first Infernal Compass, which is needed to access the Infernal Hordes.
Infernal Compasses
In order to get into the Infernal Hordes, you will first need an Infernal Compass. These Compasses will take you to the starting point of an Infernal Horde, and its difficulty will depend on the tier of the Compass. There are 8 tiers that the Compass can come in. If you want to do more difficult Infernal Hordes, you can either try to find higher level Compasses, or you can upgrade one that you have with Abyssal Scrolls.
Alternatively, you can craft Infernal Compasses at the Occultists with Sigil Powder and Forgotten Souls.
Abyssal Scrolls
Abyssal Scrolls can be used to upgrade your Infernal Compass to a higher tier. There are two ways you can obtain these:
- Drops from the Spoils of Materials in Infernal Hordes.
- Obtained through Salvaging Infernal Compasses.
Infernal Hordes
Once you’re in the Realm of Hatred to tackle the Infernal Hordes, you will have to face multiple waves of enemies, with each one lasting a minute. The amount of waves that you will need to fight and the level of these enemies will depend on what tier you’re on — at tier 8, you will face 10 waves, and the enemies will be at level 200.
While the main goal is to clear out the enemies attacking you, you will also need to collect Burning Aether, and there are a couple of ways to obtain these:
- Defeating Aether Fiends and Aether Lords.
- Destroying Soulspires and Aetheric Masses.
The Burning Aether is used to obtain the rewards at the end of this activity, so be sure to grab as many as you can!
Infernal Offers
After each wave, you will get to choose 1 out of 3 Infernal Offers. Each of these will give you a positive effect (such as being able to get more Burning Aether), but at the cost of getting a negative effect (such as taking more damage from Elites). Keep in mind that the Infernal Offers stack with each other, be careful not to take too many effects that will overwhelm you.
The Fell Council
Once you’ve cleared every wave, you will need to face the Fell Council. There are 5 members of the Council, and you will have to fight a random combination of 3 of them. Each of these Council members will attack with a different element, so you will need to be prepared for every possibility.
- Geleb the Flame
- Wyand the Shadow
- Ismail the Accursed
- Maffer the Cruel
- Bremm the Maelstrom
Spoils of Hell
After completing a run, you are able to use any Burning Aether you’ve gathered to unlock the Spoils of Hell. There are 4 different types of Spoils you can unlock, with different Burning Aether costs for each one:
- Spoils of Equipment – 20 Burning Aether
- Spoils of Material 20 Burning Aether
- These can also drop Masterworking materials
- Spoils of Gold – converts all of your remaining Burning Aether into Gold
- Spoils of Greater Equipment – 60 Burning Aether
- These can only be found in World Tier 4, and will guarantee a piece of gear with a Greater Affix
