Helltide Timer, Time Schedule and Event Guide

Helltide is an endgame mode in Diablo 4 (D4) that occurs for 55 minutes every hour where players collect Aberrant Cinders and open loot-filled Tortured Caches. Learn what time Helltide starts with a timer and full time schedule, what the Helltide Threat is, how to unlock Helltide, as well as tips and rewards for Helltide!

All Diablo Event Timers
World Boss	Helltide	Legion Event

Helltide Threat Explained

Heads-up!	Info on Helltide Threat is based on the Public Test Realm (PTR) and has not been added to the live version of the game.

Take On Enemies to Earn Threat

Taking on enemies during Helltides generates Threat. The amount of Threat you earn will depend on the difficulty of the monster you're fighting as well as how often you obtain Tortured Gifts from Mystery Chests.

Do note that everytime you die, your Threat will be reset as well.

Helltide Mystery Chest Locations and Map

Three Helltide Threat Tiers

There are three tiers to the Helltide Threat which increases the danger you can encounter as well as how frequent monsters will ambush you. Reaching Tier 3 renders you Hell-Marked, which then spawns enemies to ambush you. Activating the Hellborn ambush will also reset your Threat.

The ambush ends when the final Hellborne is spawned. Hellbornes are enemies that come from the tortured souls of powerful champions in Sanctuary and have five variations, with each one representing a Class in the game.

Accursed Rituals

When you open Tortured Gift chests, you can obtain Baneful Hearts. These can be deposited at Accursed Ritual locations and doing so unleashes an ambush upon you. Players within the same area will be alerted when this happens and can opt to join you in combat.

Blood Maiden Spawns After Ambush

After defeating the horde of enemies, a mini boss in the form of a Blood Maiden will spawn. There will also be Hellborne Disciples that spawn alongside this miniboss which you will also need to defeat. Players that defeat these enemies can expect to receive great rewards.

Helltide Timer and Time Schedule

Occurs Every Hour for a Duration of 55 Minutes

Season 3 brings about new changes to the Helltide event, making it active almost 99% of the time starting at WT3. Now, Helltides will occur every hour, with each Helltide lasting a total of 55 minutes per hour. Once a Helltide ends, only 5 minutes will pass before a new Helltide spawns again.

Helltide Map

Mystery and Living Steel Chests are Now Visible on the Map

Season 3 also brings about some new quality-of-life (QoL) updates to Helltide. While not detailed in the patch notes of Update 1.3.0, Mystery Chests and Living Steel Chests will now be visibile on your World Map after entering a subregion that has Helltide active.

Prior to Patch 1.3.0, Mystery and Living Steel Chests would only show up on your World Map if you were near enough. Now, these chests will be visible on your world map regardless of your distance to them.

What Is the Helltide Event?

Regional Endgame Events

Helltides are regional endgame events where players have to kill tougher-than-average monsters and complete various World Events to obtain Aberrant Cinders. These Cinders are then used to open Tortured Gifts, which reward high-level and high-rarity gear targeted toward a specific gear slot.

Indicated by Red Sword Icon on Map

You can locate active Helltides on the World Map by looking for a region with a red sword icon and a scarlet stain covering a large portion of the map. The red sword icon's tooltip also indicates how long it takes before the Helltide ends.

Only Lasts For 55 Minutes

Helltides only last for 55 minutes, meaning players have to kill monsters and complete events quickly to reap as many rewards as possible. You can check the current Helltide duration by looking at the timer next to the minimap.

How to Unlock Helltide Events

Reach World Tier 3: Nightmare

In order to access Helltide events, players first have to reach World Tier 3 (Nightmare difficulty). You can reach this World Tier by finishing Diablo 4's main campaign and completing the Cathedral of Light Capstone Dungeon at Kyovashad.

Difficulty Settings Guide | How to Change World Tier

Complete The Helltide Rises

After unlocking and entering World Tier 3, you can find Doomsayer Pira beside the World Tier Statue in Kyovashad. Talk to her to start and complete The Helltide Rises quest, which allows the event to start appearing in your world.

The Helltide Rises Quest Location and Walkthrough

Helltide Rewards

All Helltide Loot and Rewards
Aberrant Cinders from Monsters and Events Legendary and Unique Loot from Tortured Gifts Fiend Roses from Gifts, Elites, and Nodes Forgotten Souls from Tortured Gifts

Aberrant Cinders from Monsters and Events

While killing monsters and completing World Events during Helltide, players receive plenty of Aberrant Cinders. Collecting enough of this currency is the only way to open Tortured Gifts, so gather as many of them as possible during the event.

However, note that you lose half of your Aberrant Cinders on death, and all earned Cinders will disappear from your inventory when the current Helltide ends. Ensure that you spend all of your Cinders before you lose them!

How to Farm Aberrant Cinders

Living Steel from Unique Helltide Chests

Introduced in Season 2, Helltides now also have a brand new chest called Living Steel Chests. When opened, players are granted Living Steel - a special boss material used to summon and fight the uberboss named Grigoire the Galvanic Saint.

Living Steel Chest Locations and Map

Legendary and Unique Loot from Tortured Gifts

Tortured Gifts are unique caches dotted across the Helltide area, indicated by their chest-like icon on the map. They often contain Fiend Roses, Forgotten Souls, and high-level Legendaries and Uniques. In addition, the gear they drop is often targeted toward specific gear slots.

All Tortured Gift Types

Fiend Roses from Gifts, Elites, and Nodes

Fiend Roses are rare Plant Upgrade Materials exclusively earned during Helltide. You can get Fiend Roses guaranteed from gathering nodes around the Helltide area or as a random drop from Tortured Gifts and Elite monsters.

How to Get Fiend Roses

Forgotten Souls from Tortured Gifts

Like Fiend Roses, Forgotten Souls are rare Upgrade Materials exclusively earned during Helltide. They have a chance of dropping whenever you open a Tortured Gift, so aim to open as many as you can during Helltide if you need to farm Forgotten Souls.

How to Get Forgotten Souls

Helltide Tips and Strategies

Helltide Farming Guide
Party Up With Other Players Prioritize Completing World Events Spend Cinders as Soon as Possible Look for Glowing Red Souls Stay Alert for Fiend Rose Nodes

Party Up With Other Players

We highly recommend partying up with friends or other players during a Helltide event, as taking down World Events and Elite mobs with other players will drastically speed up the Aberrant Cinder grind. If there are players nearby, don't hesitate to ask in chat if they'd like to group up!

Prioritize Completing World Events

Instead of recklessly killing groups of enemies around the Helltide zone, we recommend completing World Events. These events provide hordes of mobs to kill in an easy-to-manage area and reward players with plenty of Aberrant Cinders on completion.

Spend Cinders as Soon as Possible

We also recommend spending your Aberrant Cinders whenever you have enough to open a Tortured Gift of your choice. Spending your Cinders as soon as possible prevents accidental deaths from halving your current reserves and reduces the likelihood of you wasting Cinders by the time Helltide ends.

Look for Glowing Red Souls

While roaming around the Helltide area, stay alert for interactable Souls with a red glow. Wretched, Damned, and Tortured Souls that glow red reward the player with additional Aberrant Cinders when interacted with.

Stay Alert for Fiend Rose Nodes

The easiest way to get guaranteed Fiend Roses during Helltide is by finding and gathering their resource nodes. Keep an eye out for Fiend Rose nodes while moving around the Helltide area to maximize the number you get during the event.

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