29 December 2025

This Diablo 4 Feature is Only 2 Seasons Old, But Already Feels Irrelevant

By newsgame

Season 11 of Diablo 4 looks very different from what the game looked like even 2 seasons ago. With the changes made to Diablo 4‘s gameplay loop with improved combat difficulty, gear upgrade progression, and the Lesser Evil invasions of Season 11, players are likely spending most of their time doing a few key activities. As a result, one of the marquee features only a couple of seasons ago has become all but irrelevant in the current Diablo 4 gameplay loop.

While the new Paladin class has been the star of Diablo 4 Season 11, the reworked gameplay mechanics like Tempering and Masterworking, along with new additions like Lesser Evil invasions, Divine Gifts, and Sanctification, have contributed to the season feeling far different from any previous one. Part of this feeling comes from the shift in activity priority in Diablo 4‘s endgame, with the Kurast Undercity, World Bosses, Helltides, and the Pit being the most important for players looking to level up their Divine Gifts and advance their reputation with Hadriel. As a result, certain activities are getting less attention this season, including Escalating Nightmares, which have become a shell of what they were just 2 seasons ago.

Diablo 4 Season 11 Seems to Have Forgotten About Escalating Nightmares

diablo 4 season 9 sins of the horadrim astaroth amalgam of hatred

A recent trend with Diablo 4‘s seasons has been giving attention to features and mechanics that need to be refreshed. While the current season overhauled gear upgrading mechanics, last season introduced new elements to Infernal Hordes, including Chaos Waves and Bartuc as a new boss. The season before that gave Nightmare Dungeons a new coat of paint with the introduction of Escalating Nightmares and the return of Astaroth as the boss governing them, but the utility of this activity has dropped off significantly in the seasons since.

Escalating Nightmares Made a Huge Splash in Diablo 4 Season 9

When Escalating Nightmares were introduced in Diablo 4 Season 9, there was a strong incentive for players to tackle them as much as possible. Escalating Nightmares could yield valuable resources if players could tackle all three consecutive Nightmare Dungeons and defeat Astaroth at the end. These resources include:

Obducite
Legendary and Ancestral Gear
Obols
Horadric Jewels

Additionally, Escalating Nightmares were a fantastic way to encounter Horadric Strongrooms and unlock new Horadric Spells for that season’s mechanic. However, with this seasonal mechanic no longer around, Horadric Strongrooms are not as useful as they once were. Even during Diablo 4 Season 10, Escalating Nightmares could spawn Chaos Rifts, making them more desirable than they are in Season 11.

Players Have Little Reason to Farm Escalating Nightmares in Diablo 4 Season 11

Compared to the other activities in Diablo 4 Season 11, Escalating Nightmares should be pretty low on players’ priority list. While these dungeons are still a good source of Obducite, they don’t necessarily offer better rewards than a standard Nightmare Dungeon or another activity like Infernal Hordes or Helltides. Defeating Astaroth doesn’t carry the weight it did when Horadric Jewels were a potential drop in Season 9, and the potential Escalating Nightmare affixes can be farmed on standard Nightmare Sigils as well.

D4 Mythic Prankster drops — Diablo 4 Mythic Prankster drops

The biggest reason to attempt an Escalating Nightmare in Diablo 4 Season 11 is to try and get a Mythic Prankster affix on one of the dungeons. However, Escalation Sigils only show the affixes for the first dungeon of the three in the run, meaning players will have to gamble for this affix blind. The Mythic Prankster affix is a fantastic way to get Mythic gear, since it guarantees that the Nightmare Dungeon will spawn the Treasure Goblin Fancy Old Fedric, who drops 5 Mythics when defeated. However, it’s more efficient to craft standard Nightmare Sigils to find one with the Mythic Prankster affix, and simply scrap the unwanted ones for Sigil Powder, than to gamble on an Escalating Nightmare potential spawning a Mythic Prankster after the first dungeon.