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Season 4 Loot Reborn ushers in an entirely new facet to Helltides, revamping the way players can approach the event in Diablo 4. By mixing elements of the fan-favorite Blood Harvest event from Season of Blood into Helltides, it’s arguably the best way to grind experience and level up. If you’re looking for a way to fast track the leveling experience and hit up endgame content as quickly as possible, you’ll need to know how Helltides work in Diablo 4.
Diablo 4: How to Join a Helltides Event in Season 4 Loot Reborn
First things first, to join a Helltide event in Diablo 4, you need to have at least finished the campaign. However, if you’ve already done that and have the option to skip the campaign during character creation, that’s also totally fine, too. There’s no level requirement to join, either.
Once you’re in, open your map and look for an ongoing Helltide event. It’s represented by a sword and fire icon, as well as a portion of the map being highlighted red. Helltide events last for 55 minutes, end, then start again in a different region 5 minutes later.
One last thing to note: Helltides appear on any World Tier now, even WT1. I’d start at World Tier 2, though. The two aren’t all that different in difficulty and you gain a 50% increase in experience.
Helltides Event Explained: Complete Guide
Aberrant Cinders and Tortured Gifts
When Helltides are active, monster density is drastically increased and your job is to kill demons. In doing so, demons will often drop Aberrant Cinders. You’ll use those to unlock Tortured Gifts chests for loot, which is a solid way to keep gear up-to-date as you level. While you’re slaying and looting, keep these points in mind:
- Aberrant Cinders are only collected within Helltides
- Tortured Gifts appear within the Helltides (and are marked on your map)
- Aberrant Cinders disappear after a Helltide event ends
- When you die, you drop half of your Aberrant Cinders
By the way, if for whatever reason you need to teleport back to town while a Helltide event is still active, you can safely do so. In fact, you can leave the game, join a different World Tier, and still have your Aberrant Cinders.
Helltide Threat Meter
Helltides now feature a Threat Meter, located next to your minimap. As you kill demons and open Tortured Gifts chests, you’ll gain Threat. It’s split into three tiers, and upon reaching the next tier, you’ll notice demons ambush you more frequently.
More importantly, reaching the final tier will summon a Hellborn enemy, which can take on the form of any class in Diablo 4. If you manage to kill a Hellborn, you can get a Baneful Heart. With three Baneful Hearts in hand, you can summon a powerful boss: the Blood Maiden.
How to Summon the Blood Maiden Boss
Defeating Hellborns isn’t the only way to earn Baneful Hearts, though. There’s a chance you’ll get them from opening Tortured Gifts chests and Doomsayers. Either way, you’ll need three to initiate the Accursed Ritual and summon the Blood Maiden.
On your map, within the area of the Helltide, look for an icon that resembles a demon with horns. That’s where the Accursed Ritual is taking place. There are three altars, each of which require one Baneful Heart. If you have some friends joining you, they can contribute Baneful Hearts, too; in fact, they’ll earn bonus loot.
At first, you’ll have to deal with waves of demons, only to cap off the ritual with the Blood Maiden. If you can manage to defeat her—she’ll give you a run for your money—you’ll earn loot and Exquisite Blood. You’ll save those for later when you’re ready to face off against Lord Zir!
