Horadric Strongrooms - Micro-Dungeons with a Timed Twist

Another major addition is Horadric Strongrooms, which are micro-dungeons embedded within the larger Nightmare Dungeons. These Strongrooms introduce a timed challenge where players must retrieve lost Horadric knowledge and escape before the timer runs out. Failure to Diablo 4 Items complete the Strongroom in time means missing out on valuable rewards.

Completing Strongrooms grants Horadric Attunement, a currency that can be exchanged for various rewards. The likelihood of Strongrooms spawning increases with your Torment difficulty level, and players can also use the new seasonal currency, Horadric Phials, to boost their chances of encountering these Strongrooms further. Some Nightmare Dungeon Sigils even guarantee a Strongroom spawn.

Strongrooms themselves have an interactive element - you choose your challenge by selecting one of several Horadric Pillars to "feed" through a ritual. Completing this grants Horadric Attunement and culminates in a boss fight. Finishing these Strongrooms rewards you with Horadric caches containing loot and resources.

Escalating Nightmares - Stacking Affixes and an Endgame Boss
The flagship endgame activity for Season 9 is Escalating Nightmares - essentially a chain of three Nightmare Dungeons where affixes progressively stack. This means the third dungeon will include affixes from all three runs, creating a tough, layered challenge.

Completing all three dungeons allows you to Diablo IV Items for sale challenge an Exalted version of Astaroth, a boss many players have eagerly awaited since Diablo 4's launch. The fight is more complex this time - Astaroth dismounts and forces you to fight both him and his companion, Amalgam, simultaneously. Amalgam's unique mechanic is that if you kill it too soon, it enters a resurrection state and comes back to the fight later, forcing you to manage two powerful foes at once.

To start an Escalating Nightmare, you need an Escalation Sigil, which you can find inside Horadric caches obtained from Strongrooms (starting from Torment 1 and higher).

Dungeon Improvements and Quality of Life Changes

Season 9 puts a heavy focus on dungeons overall, aiming to improve both the Seasonal and Eternal Realms experience. One quality of life upgrade is the ability to activate a Nightmare Sigil from within the Nightmare Dungeon itself once it's completed. This means players won't have to exit and re-enter the dungeon to start a new run - a small but welcome convenience.

Additionally, the pool of Nightmare Dungeon affixes is expanding with fresh options that will appear across both Seasonal and Eternal Realms, bringing more variety and challenge to dungeon runs.