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Infernal Hordes is one of the best multi-reward farms in Diablo 4 Season 14: a single activity that pays gold, Obducite, Forgotten Souls, Gem Fragments and a guaranteed Ancestral Legendary. The loop is simple - load an Infernal Compass, survive 6, 8 or 10 waves of 60 seconds each, stack Burning Aether, kill the Fell Council, then spend that Aether on the Spoils of Hell reward you actually want. Here is how to run it and how to squeeze the most out of every Compass.
- Load a Compass and pick a difficulty you can clear fast.
- Survive the waves, banking Burning Aether from every kill and event.
- Take Infernal Offers that snowball Aether (they stack all run).
- Beat the Fell Council, or pay 666 Aether to fight Bartuc instead.
- Spend all your Aether on the Spoils that match your goal.
What Infernal Hordes Is (and Why It Is a Top Farm)
Infernal Hordes is a wave-based endgame activity set in the Burning Hells. You enter with an Infernal Compass, fight escalating waves of demons against a 60-second timer, and bank a run-only currency called Burning Aether, which you convert into rewards at the end. Three things make it a top farm this season:
- It pays several currencies at once - gold, Obducite, Forgotten Souls, Gem Fragments and gear - instead of one resource.
- You choose the payout on the Spoils of Hell screen, so you target exactly what you need.
- It scales with Torment, and the Season 14 ladder now runs up to Torment 12, so the loot grows with your character.
Season 14 also increased the experience from Infernal Hordes run with Escalation Sigils, so it doubles as strong XP while you gear up. If you are still climbing tiers, our Torment 12 guide covers the fast route to the paying difficulties.
How to Unlock and Enter
You unlock Infernal Hordes by completing the The Eyes of the Enemy questline once per account, which grants your first Infernal Compass. After that a Compass is a consumable key - one per run - and it cannot be crafted, so you farm them as drops. Before Torment you get a lighter version called Fleeting Hordes (4 waves, fewer Offers) as a leveling introduction.
Compass source | Notes |
|---|---|
The Eyes of the Enemy quest | Your first Compass (the unlock) |
Helltide chests | Reliable drip while you farm Cinders |
Tree of Whispers caches | Turn in Grim Favor |
Nightmare Dungeons | Sigil clears |
The Pit and endgame bosses | Bonus drops alongside other farming |
Keep a stack ready by running Helltides and cashing in Whisper caches between sessions.
How a Run Works
Each Compass randomly rolls 6, 8 or 10 waves, and every wave is a 60-second survival fight. The core loop:
- Open the Compass and pick a difficulty that matches your build.
- Clear each wave, killing as much as you can in the 60 seconds.
- Before the first wave and after every wave, choose one of three Infernal Offers - Boons buff your Aether, Banes make the fight harder for bigger rewards. These stack cumulatively, so an Offer taken on wave 1 still applies on wave 10.
- Bank Burning Aether from Aether Fiends, Aether Lords, Soulspires and Aetheric Masses.
- After the final wave, fight the Fell Council (three random members, one boosted Council Speaker), or spend 666 Aether to fight Bartuc instead for a higher-roll loot gamble.
- Spend all your banked Aether on the Spoils of Hell.
You have a limited revive pool (about four for a group), so dying repeatedly ends the run early and caps your Aether - survivability matters as much as damage.
Which Spoils of Hell to Pick
This is the decision that turns Hordes from mediocre into a targeted farm. After the boss you spend your Aether on one or a split of these:
Spoils | Aether cost | Reward | Pick when |
|---|---|---|---|
Spoils of Materials | All remaining Aether | Obducite, Gem Fragments, Forgotten Souls | You are masterworking gear |
Spoils of Gold | All remaining Aether | A large gold lump | You are saving for rerolls and masterworking costs |
Spoils of Greater Equipment | 400 Aether | A guaranteed Ancestral Legendary with a Greater Affix, plus Obducite and often 1-2 Scrolls of Restoration | You are hunting gear upgrades |
Bartuc | 666 Aether | A boss fight with a shot at high-end drops, including Mythic Uniques | You have surplus Aether and want a gamble |
Two rules matter here. First, Spoils of Materials and Spoils of Gold both consume every point of Aether, so if you also want a Spoils of Greater Equipment, open it first. Second, Aether does not carry over between runs, so spend it all down to whole chests. In a group, Aether is earned and spent independently, so your picks never affect your teammates' rewards. Bartuc can drop Mythics - see our Mythic Uniques 3.0 guide for what to do with them.
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Maximizing Aether per Run
More Aether means more loot, and the whole game is engineering big Aether per run. The Offer pool shifts between seasons, so play the categories rather than memorising names:
- Prioritise Offers that spawn extra Hellborne and grant Aether per Hellborne kill - this is usually the highest Aether path.
- If you get doubled-elite or Aether Fiend Offers instead, commit to that path - it is a close second.
- With neither available, take flat-Aether Offers (for example, bonus Aether for defeating the Fell Council) since they do not distort your event spawns.
- Avoid Offers that pile on Soulspires or Aetheric Masses, or that slow your clear - unwanted events cost you time and Aether.
- Destroy every Soulspire and Aetheric Mass you do see - they are free Aether.
- Match Torment to your clear speed, not your ego: Aether comes from kills, so over-pushing a tier you clear slowly actually lowers your total.
- Build for AoE and survivability. A setup that one-shots a boss but clears trash slowly farms Aether poorly.
The common complaint that Hordes are long and the loot is thin is almost always an Aether problem: slow clears mean low Aether mean weak Spoils. If your character is under-geared, a Diablo 4 power leveling push is the fastest fix - a properly geared, high-Paragon character turns every Compass into a full payout.
Infernal Hordes as an Obducite and Gold Farm
Obducite is the core masterworking material, and it is the bottleneck that gates your power late in the season. Infernal Hordes hands it to you through Spoils of Materials and the Obducite bundled into Spoils of Greater Equipment, alongside gold and gear, which is why its reward density is so high. This matters more now that The Pit no longer drops masterworking materials and instead pays Paragon Glyph experience - if you were still running the Pit for Obducite, stop. Other strong Obducite sources are Kurast Undercity (Tribute of Refinement) and Nightmare Dungeon Escalations. For pure gold, simply end runs on Spoils of Gold; our gold farming guide covers where Hordes fits in the wider gold loop, and the boss loot table helps you target the gear your materials upgrade.
Common Mistakes That Waste Your Runs
Most bad Horde sessions come down to a short list of fixable errors:
- Opening Spoils of Materials or Spoils of Gold before Greater Equipment, which burns all your Aether and locks you out of the guaranteed Legendary.
- Over-pushing Torment so your clears slow down and your Aether drops.
- Ignoring Soulspires and Aetheric Masses, which is free Aether left on the floor.
- Burning revives on a tier you cannot survive, ending the run early.
- Chasing single-target damage over AoE clear, which farms Aether slowly.
Fix those and Infernal Hordes becomes exactly what it should be: the highest reward-density loop in the game. Feed the gear and materials you win here into the wider Season 14 farm loop.
FAQ
How do you unlock Infernal Hordes in Diablo 4?
Complete the The Eyes of the Enemy questline once per account, which grants your first Infernal Compass. After that you need one Compass per run, farmed as drops from Helltides, Whispers, Nightmare Dungeons and endgame bosses.
How long does one Infernal Hordes run take?
Roughly 5-7 minutes for an 8-10 wave Compass once your build clears waves quickly, plus the boss fight and Spoils selection. Slower clears drag the run out and cut your Aether.
Which Spoils of Hell reward should I pick?
Spoils of Materials for Obducite and masterworking mats, Spoils of Gold for gold, Spoils of Greater Equipment (400 Aether) for a guaranteed Ancestral Legendary. Open Greater Equipment first, since Materials and Gold consume all your Aether.
What is better, the Fell Council or Bartuc?
The Fell Council is the free default. Bartuc costs 666 Aether for a higher-roll loot gamble, including a shot at Mythic Uniques. Take Bartuc only when you have banked plenty of surplus Aether.
Does Infernal Hordes drop Obducite?
Yes. Spoils of Materials exchanges Aether for Obducite, Gem Fragments and Forgotten Souls, and Spoils of Greater Equipment also includes Obducite. With The Pit no longer dropping masterworking materials, Hordes is one of the top bulk-Obducite sources.
Why does my Infernal Hordes loot feel bad?
Almost always low Aether. Slow wave clears or wasted revives mean little Aether banked and thin Spoils. Raise your clear speed, take Aether-generation Offers, destroy every Soulspire, and run the highest Torment you can clear comfortably.
Can I farm Infernal Hordes in a group?
Yes. Burning Aether is earned and spent independently in multiplayer, so each player picks their own Spoils with no loot competition. Grouping speeds up wave clears, which raises everyone's Aether.
What is the best difficulty for farming Hordes?
The highest Torment you can clear fast without burning revives. Aether comes from kills, so a tier where you clear waves quickly earns more total Aether than a higher tier that slows you down.
