Diablo 4: Hard Dungeons That Give Great Rewards

With Lilith amassing her forces to take Sanctuary for herself in the events of Diablo 4, it's up to a new generation of adventurers to protect the world from the forces of the Burning Hells. In the game, players who complete the story may still progress through Diablo 4's many difficulty levels, challenging them with endgame content they can repeat to their heart's content.

However, players who want to go the extra mile may want to prepare themselves for some of the game's most challenging offerings, especially in terms of dungeons that are far more dangerous than the ones they've faced in their original playthroughs. Which challenging dungeons should players try, and what kind of rewards await them there?

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By  Waseem Muhammad

Updated on July 15, 2024 by Rhenn Taguiam: With Diablo 4 preparing for its Vessel of Hatred DLC that is expected to release this October, players are teased for a return to Burning Hells in upcoming Season 5 this August. While this Season has yet to have a name and no news about the Lord of Terror’s return has been confirmed, the theme centering around Diablo’s home at least hints towards some story related to him - perhaps even towards his revival. With this in mind, players will likely want to brush up on their skills and their builds as they race for the game’s tougher difficulties, especially when Season 4’s soft reset is likely just a teaser for more massive changes in patches to come. For players who want to maximize their Diablo 4 experience, they may want to venture into the game’s most difficult dungeons that give them the best rewards.

14 Aldurwood

Decent For Glyph Experience, Low-Level XP Farms

With Necromancers starting to reassert their dominance as a Diablo 4 Class regarding minion-heavy gameplay, the summon damage boost of their Aspect of Reanimation can dramatically increase their DPS in prolonged fights. This Aspect is unlocked via Aldurwood, a lower-level Dungeon in the Shrouded Moors at Scolsgen. Compared to other Dungeons, Aldurwood is straightforward in its objectives: defeat the three Aldurkin Werewolves before fighting their Den Mother.

While manageable at lower difficulties, Aldurwood can become a challenging Nightmare Dungeon for first-timers who find it difficult to readjust to the Den Mother’s enhanced frontal attacks, minion-enhanced vanishing tricks, and stronger overall minions. When managed, however, Aldurwood can be a worthwhile Dungeon for farming due to its predictable layout and straightforward objectives. The above-average density of Elites can give players an incentive to farm for Glyph Experience, as well as XP for leveling at least before discovering more spammable Dungeons for their characters.

13 Komdor Temple

Straightforward And Short Dungeon For Glyph Farming

The southern portion of the Scarred Coast will house the Komdor Temple, a desecrated temple known for housing the Triune and facilitating rituals worshipping the Greater Evils. A curse had transformed its denizens into Khazra or goatmen, which players must fight. Sorcerers who want to strengthen their Teleport’s capabilities should farm Komdor Temple at least once for their Aspect of the Bounding Conduit, which not only shortens their Teleport’s CD but also enables Crackling Energy to attack two more targets after doing so. While its objectives require players to defeat three Khazra High Priests and the Khazra Abomination, their beefed-up nature as Nightmare Dungeons can make initial Komdor Temple runs difficult.

The amped-up Khazra High Priests remain multi-affixed Elites, only this time buffed to be harsher mobs against players. This setup can spell trouble for players when fighting the Khazra Abomination, as its slate of mid-ranged attacks and summoning of damaging bile pits can pose a challenge to players who need to stay mobile while attacking. However, once players outmaneuver the Abomination by dodging the bile while they attack, this Dungeon can be repetitive enough for Glyph farming.

12 Sirocco Caverns

A Convenient No-Boss Farming Location

Located just west of the Seared Basin in the Scouring Sands, Sirocco Caverns is a Dungeon mostly notable for awarding the Aspect of Vocalized Empowerment, allowing active Shout Skills of the Barbarian and the Druid to generate five to 10 Primary Resources. As a Nightmare Dungeon, Sirocco Caverns may be a suitable challenge for players to conquer due to its lack of bosses but the potential of overwhelming mobs. Its main objectives involve destroying certain items and killing certain Elites across the entire zone, with the major threat being Elites that protect the object and those that spawn after destroying them.

The Sirocco Caverns remains a popular destination for endgame players due to its straightforward nature. Should players find their groove in eliminating its rather challenging mobs, then Sirocco Caverns can become a suitable farming location for both XP and Glyph Experience.

11 Belfry Zakara

Long-Range Boss With Erupting AOE Can Pose A Threat To Newcomers

Players of Diablo 4 who want to create Earth-focused Druid builds should probably clear Belfry Zakara for its Aspect of the Ursine Horror, practically transforming Pulverize into an Earth Skill while adding spikes that deal damage-over-time. Unlike other Dungeons, Belfry Zakara’s aesthetic immediately reflects its lore of the undead Drowned consuming its sacred grounds. The Nightmare Dungeon variant of this challenge can threaten first-timers, especially when its object-destruction mission comes with Elite defenders pre- and post-destruction and the Elite Anchorbound Captain mini-boss with its own Elite guard. Its Drowned Seahag boss can create slowing water pools that summon creatures or erupt as damaging burst attacks, as well as a powerful frontal knockback wave attack.

However, players who figure out how to defeat the Drowned Seahag can find the Belfry Zakara a worthwhile farming location for Glyph Experience. While its extended nature can become a drag for players, its challenging knockback-with-burst toolkit can serve as training for when players have to start farming more difficult Dungeons and bosses.

10 Fallen Temple World Tier 3 Capstone

The Final Challenge Before Unlocking Torment

Before players venture into the hardest difficulty in the Diablo 4 experience, they need to complete Capstone Dungeons first. In the case of transitioning from World Tier Three (Nightmare) to World Tier Four (Torment) to maximize their benefits, they have to defeat Elias, Hatred’s Remnant in the Fallen Temple World Tier Three Capstone. As the name implies, players can only do this challenge at World Tier Three, and may be repeated afterwards.

However, it’s not in doing this repeatedly that Diablo 4 gives players a decent reward but rather in what it implies. When players finish the Fallen Temple, they unlock the highest difficulty level in Diablo 4. At World Tier Four (Torment), monsters give +200% EXP and +15% Gold and may now drop much-coveted Ancient Items and more Unique Items. This benefit extends to all dungeons within Torment, drastically upping their difficulty but also the prospect of rewards.

9 Champion’s Demise

Exhausting Grind For Worthwhile Endgame Entrance

Among areas players can encounter in their Diablo 4 gameplay, Champion’s Demise is quite recognizable for its infamy as one of the first dungeons nerfed for being abused as a farming location. Regardless of its changes, however, Champion’s Demise remains one of the most popular grinding locations for players, especially for teams who can split up and do objectives concurrently to finish them much faster.

While not necessarily on the difficult side for higher-tier players, the backtracking involved in doing Champion’s Demise solo can make the dungeon take more time than unusual to complete. When encountered for the first time in a player’s initial run in higher-tier Nightmare Modes, Champion’s Demise could pose a challenge especially considering the traveling aspect and the prospect of being chased by mobs.

8 Witchwater

Snakes With Poisons, Crowd Control Can Make A Mess Out Of Builds

While Witchwater serves as just one of the many immediate dungeons available for Diablo 4 players to enjoy at launch, its manageable mission tree is hindered by challenges tied to the nature of its mobs. The dungeon itself has seven objectives that range from freeing Prisoners, finding a key and traveling to inner areas, destroying specific objects, and fighting a rather annoying end boss. Reaching any of these objectives will warrant the summoning of mobs, most of them accompanied by Elites, on top of a standard selection of monsters already in the area.

Unlike other dungeons, the regularity of finding Nangari Oracles in the area means players will be targeted by a lot of crowd control effects. This can be disadvantageous for players who can’t get out fast, as the Nangari mobs may be able to overwhelm them quickly. Even Slither can be challenging to builds who can’t withstand its AOE poisons, as not only can it spawn poison puddles but also attacks that force players into walking on them such as eye beams, front sweeps, and a frontal cone attack.

7 Iron Hold

Dungeon Roam Packed With Mobs, Elites

Players on the lookout for a dungeon they should learn how to farm to reach the mid-game to the early late-game progress of Diablo 4 should consider finishing Iron Hold. While still among the dungeons players can farm to get Legendary items in a rather efficient manner, its mob density can make it challenging for players who are still trying to perfect their builds.

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Part of what makes Iron Hold challenging is its rather tight corridors despite being a walk-heavy dungeon. Players should ideally follow the first two objectives of the dungeon, where they should locate the Key Warden and grab their Key and then gather the Blood Stones. There’s no need to completely loot the Blood Stones, however. The main objective of the Iron Hold farm is to explore the map to find two clusters of Elite Mobs, kill them, and farm their loot. One or both of these mob sets may carry a Legendary Item, making Iron Hold one of the most efficient processes players can enjoy in the game.

6 Uldur’s Cave

More Elites For More Consistent Mid-Game Challenges

Despite its nerf in the earlier months of the game’s release, Uldur’s Cave remains one of the most iconic early-game farming spots that may still offer a decent challenge to players still gearing up in the Diablo sequel. Unlike other dungeons, there’s no dedicated boss to defeat at the end of the level. Instead, the last part of the dungeon spawns an Elite monster while the final objective is a dungeon-clearing segment.

What makes Uldur’s Cave a challenging but worthwhile dungeon is the frequency of Elite mobs that spawn after completing objectives. Doing this at higher difficulties like in Torment should pose some degree of challenge for players, although may be made more manageable due to breathing room between mobs.

5 Ghoa Ruins

Being Overwhelmed In Tight Corridors Is A Possibility

Known as the location of the Rogue’s Enshrouding Aspect, Ghoa Ruins is a worthwhile Nightmare Dungeon players could farm as long as they’re able to prepare for its rather long nature coupled with tight corridors. Players who haven’t prepared their mobility skills may find themselves quickly overwhelmed with mobs before they even finish its objective of destroying Seaborn Goddess statues. As elite-status statues, they may summon mobs and even elite guardians to protect them, forcing players to double back if they carelessly speedrun their way through the dungeon.

Even the Drowned Seahag can pose some difficulty for players who aren’t quick on their feet. She can summon Drowned minions from pools which she can then erupt into geysers, and may even hit players hard with her staff if they come too close. The rather closed nature of the boss area can make it difficult to dodge her AOEs, making her quite the pesky boss to deal with.