Although 2.3.0 PTR has ended, it is certain that all the new content that will be launched in Diablo 4 Season 9 must include two new dungeons, namely Escalating Nightmares and Horadric Strongrooms.
Among them, Escalating Nightmares can be regarded as an upgraded version of Nightmare Dungeon, one of the inherent Diablo 4 dungeons, while Horadric Strongrooms is a seasonal dungeon launched specifically for Season 9, just like S7’s Rootholds.
However, although these two new dungeons do not completely belong to the same system, they can not only all bring you a lot of Diablo 4 gold to farm, but also have connections with each other. Next, we will introduce them to you one by one.
What Are Escalating Nightmares?
As a new endgame event, this new dungeon actually connects 3 separate traditional Nightmare Dungeons in series, providing you with the opportunity to get more rewards by expanding the difficulty and scope of exploration.
How To Enter?
To enter Escalating Nightmares, you first need to obtain Escalation Sigils that unlock the first dungeon, and the second two dungeons require you to carry the affix of the previous dungeon to enter.
After you obtain Escalation Sigils, it will tell you which Escalating Nightmares dungeon you should enter first, and show you all the negative and positive affixes you will encounter.
Because just like the normal Nightmare Dungeons, all three dungeons in Escalating Nightmares have their own positive and negative dungeon affixes, and the affixes you have will stack as you progress through the clearing process.
Later, when you defeat the final boss to complete the current dungeon, a special pillar will appear on the screen, which will teleport you to the next dungeon in Escalating Nightmares.
How To Complete?
As you know, Escalating Nightmares is actually a combined advanced version of the regular nightmare dungeons, so the specific gameplay differences are not very big.
In general, you will still trigger random events or encounter various bosses in Escalating Nightmares, and defeating them will get rewards, including gear of varying quality, gold, and Obols.
How To Get Escalation Sigils?
As the key item to unlock Escalating Nightmares, the acquisition of Escalation Sigils is actually related to another new dungeon in Season 9, Horadric Strongrooms.
In fact, this is why we say that there is a connection between Escalating Nightmares and Horadric Strongrooms. You can only get this item by completing Strongrooms in Torment difficulty and opening Horadric caches.
What Is Horadric Strongroom?
As a Season 9 limited dungeon, Horadric Strongrooms is actually a small treasure room hidden in Escalating Nightmares and ordinary nightmare dungeons, bringing you new rewards and fun with additional adventures.
How To Enter?
Since the entrances to Strongrooms are randomly hidden in Escalating Nightmares and normal Nightmares, and Strongrooms must be completed to open the former, the first thing you need to do is to collect Nightmare Sigils to enter Nightmare Dungeon.
You can then utilize Wayfinder to look out for unique sounds and flashes while exploring Nightmare Dungeon, and where they are located will be Horadric Gateways.
Although the appearance of gateways is random, you can increase the probability of them appearing in other ways, including:
- Choosing a higher difficulty: The higher the difficulty of your game, the greater the chance of encountering a gateway.
- Clearing the entire dungeon: You will always encounter several gateways after searching the entire Nightmare Dungeon.
- Upgrading Wayfinder: This can be done with Season 9 exclusive currency Horadric Phials. After upgrading, Wayfinder will locate the gateway faster and more accurately.
- Farm Nightmare Sigils with the “guaranteed Horadric Strongroom” affix: This affix guarantees that Strongrooms will appear in the corresponding location.
How To Play?
After activating the gateway, you will encounter a wave of ambushed enemies. Kill them to open the gateway and enter the dungeon. Next, you need to activate Horadric Artifact Pillar and kill the enemies that appear to complete the initial ritual. Then continue to interact with the pillar to change the conditions of the final rituals.
Next, please kill new enemies according to the requirements of these conditions to summon the final boss of the current Horadric Strongroom. After killing it and confirming that all enemies in the dungeon have been cleared, the new gateway will take you back to where you were before entering Strongroom.
It is worth noting that the higher the game difficulty when entering Strongroom, the more artifact pillars you need to choose. Some of these pillars will provide buffs, while others will increase rewards and bring additional dangers due to the corruption caused by the boss Astaroth.
What Rewards Are There?
After completing Horadric Strongrooms, the first thing you get is Horadric Attunement and a cache. You can think of the former as a kind of points, because the number of rewards you get after opening the cache depends on your Attunement.
In addition to regular rewards and Escalation Sigils, if your Attunement count exceeds 2000, you may also get a rare elixir through cache.
The above is the connection between the two new dungeons in Season 9 and their respective gameplay. I hope it will be helpful for your future battles in the new season!
