What are Nightmare Dungeons

Once you finish the Capstone Dungeon and make your way into World Tier III, you will be able to find keys that are called ‘Nightmare Dungeon Sigils.’ These will modify a specific dungeon and add modifiers to make the run more difficult. There are also modifiers that can benefit your character as well. Nightmare dungeons are going to be a large part of the endgame grind, similar to Greater Rifts in D3, Mythic+ in WoW, and mapping in PoE and Torchlight Infinite. This is where fans of the ARPG genre will most likely enjoy spending the majority of their time grinding. High Tier Nightmare Dungeons are going to most likely be some of the most difficult in the game. To put this into perspective, a Tier 100 Nightmare Dungeon contains monsters that will be Level 150, which is 50 levels higher than we can achieve. The penalty to our armor and damage reduction will be significant and this content will be very difficult to accomplish.

How do I get Nightmare Sigils?

When you finish the Capstone Dungeon, you will gain access to the Tree of Whispers. By completing objectives marked on the map, you will fill up your Grim Favors. When you have 10 favors, you can return to the Tree and claim a reward. This is where you will find your first Nightmare Sigils. Upon completing other Nightmare Dungeons, you can find additional Sigils. You can also dismantle sigils that have difficult modifiers and craft new ones at the Occultist.

What Rewards do you get from Nightmare Dungeons?

Nightmare dungeons may be harder than regular dungeons, but this is because they have much better rewards. If you’re doing a Nightmare Dungeon that is a higher level than you, you can expect to level up much, much quicker. On top of that, there is a higher chance of finding higher-rarity loot, such as legendaries, uniques, sacred or ancestral items. You can also find Glyphs in Nightmare Dungeons. Upon completion, you are rewarded with XP to level up these glyphs, increasing their power as well as increasing their range on the Paragon Board. For more information on Glyphs, check out our ‘Understanding Paragon’ guide.

Nightmare Dungeon Affixes

Depending on the Tier of Nightmare Dungeon, you can have up to 5 Afflictions at any time. When you activate a Sigil, you can hover over the Dungeon on the map for a more detailed explanation of these Afflictions. You want to be mindful of these, since some Afflictions may make the run extremely difficult for your build. This is more important in Hardcore, so keep an eye out on these since you can dismantle and craft new ones at the Occultist.