Diablo IV: Complete Guide (Season 15: Hell's Legacy)

A full Diablo IV guide for the Lord of Hatred era: picking a class, leveling fast, the Season 15 "Hell's Legacy" mechanics, the endgame (War Plans, Torment tiers, lair bosses, the Horadric Cube), crafting order, and current top builds.

Researched September 2026 — current as of Season 15 "Season of Hell's Legacy" (launched September 15, 2026) on the Lord of Hatred expansion. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

• Make a Seasonal character. Season 15 is live. Seasonal characters get the season questline, Season Ranks, the battle pass, and the Splinters of Evil powers. Eternal characters do not.
• Skip the campaign on alts. Once you have finished it on your account, you can skip straight to the open world.
• There are eight classes: Barbarian, Druid, Necromancer, Rogue, Sorcerer, Spiritborn (Vessel of Hatred), and Paladin and Warlock (Lord of Hatred, April 28, 2026).
• Finish the Lord of Hatred campaign to unlock War Plans and the Horadric Cube, both in Temis on Skovos. They are the backbone of the endgame now.
• Follow the crafting order S.T.E.A.M.: Socket, Temper, Enchant, Aspect, Masterwork.
• Push Torment tiers gradually. Lair bosses need Torment 1+, Greater Lair Bosses need Torment 6+, and endgame guides treat Torment 12 as the benchmark.
• Store gear before using Rebirth. Maxroll recommends moving everything to the Eternal stash first.
• War Plans progress is shared across characters in the same partition (Eternal or Seasonal, Hardcore or Non-Hardcore, Normal or Solo Self Found) as of Season 15.
• Around 15% of Season Rank objectives require Lord of Hatred. Base-game owners can still play the season, but they miss those.

What Is Current

Item | Status

Expansion | Lord of Hatred (April 28, 2026). Includes Vessel of Hatred.

Season | Season 15: Hell's Legacy (September 15, 2026), celebrating Diablo's 30th anniversary

Previous seasons | S12 Season of Slaughter (March 2026), S14 Season of Death Awakening (June 30, 2026)

New region | Skovos Isles, hub city Temis

Recent systems | Mythic Uniques rework (S14), the Tower (official launch in S14), Party War Plans, Solo Self Found, higher currency caps

Classes at a Glance

Class | Fantasy | Good first pick?

Barbarian | Weapon swapping, shouts, Whirlwind | Yes. Tanky and simple.

Druid | Shapeshifting, storms, companions | Medium

Necromancer | Minions, blood, bone | Yes, especially minion builds

Rogue | Fast ranged or melee, poison and traps | Medium

Sorcerer | Elemental casting | Yes, but fragile

Spiritborn | Jungle spirits, counters | Yes. Currently has top-tier builds.

Paladin | Holy shield-and-weapon warrior | Yes

Warlock | Demonic caster | Yes. Holds two of the top endgame builds this season.

Season 15: Hell's Legacy Explained

The seasonal questline

The lost soul of Deckard Cain returns. You defeat echoes of the Prime Evils in reimagined locations:

• Diablo beneath Tristram Cathedral
• Baal at Arreat Summit
• Mephisto within the Durance of Hate

Each fight grants a Splinter of Evil. You bear one at a time, and switching happens at the largest Waking Nightmares.

Splinters of Evil and Iconic Powers

Splinter | Iconic Power | What it does | Activities it modifies

Diablo's Splinter of Terror | Flames of Metus | Periodically unleashes lines of Fire, with damage over time | Helltide, Infernal Hordes

Baal's Splinter of Destruction | Ice of Excidium | Periodically bursts ice, plus smaller Cold projectiles | Kurast Undercity, Lair Bosses

Mephisto's Splinter of Hatred | Ghosts of Odium | Periodically releases Physical-damage ghosts | The Pit, Nightmare Dungeons

Each splinter has its own reputation track, with eight activity modifiers and six Iconic Power upgrades. All three modify Tree of Whispers activities. While bearing a splinter, you are vulnerable to that Prime Evil.

How to choose: Pick the splinter whose activities you farm most. Undercity and boss farmers want Baal. Pit pushers want Mephisto. Helltide and Infernal Hordes grinders want Diablo.

Waking Nightmares

• Capstone dungeons recreate the historic Prime Evil fights (Tristram Cathedral, Arreat Summit, Durance of Hate). They are replayable on Torment levels, and pinnacle versions are available at Torment 10+.
• Standard dungeons are fixed-location encounters such as the Den of Evil.
• Open-world encounters are one-room fights with past bosses like Queen Araneae, or monster waves like Flayers.

Soul Splinters

A seasonal gem-like item family tied to demons and artifacts: Andariel, Azmodan, Belial, the Black Soulstone, Duriel, Lilith, Na-Krul, and Skarn. They offer big boons with a liability attached. You can equip up to three across your jewelry slots. They drop at Magic, Rare, Legendary, and Unique rarity, and they upgrade through Amalgamation in the Horadric Cube.

Season Ranks

Nine ranks with 125 objectives. Total rewards: 14 Skill Points, 42 Paragon Points, 10 Resplendent Sparks, 5 Mythic Unique caches, the Dark Wanderbear pet, a Banner of the Three mount trophy, and materials.

Leveling Fast

• Leveling builds Maxroll currently features: Frenzy Throw Barbarian, Dread Claws Warlock, Shield of Retribution Paladin, Heartseeker Rogue.
• Do the seasonal questline early. The Iconic Power is a big free damage boost while leveling.
• Raise the difficulty as soon as you clear comfortably. Higher difficulty gives much more XP.
• Helltides and Kurast Undercity runs are strong XP once your build works.
• Grab Renown in new regions. Skovos alone has 8 waypoints, 3 strongholds, 30 side quests, 12 dungeons, and 30 Chronicles of Creation, which are hidden minipuzzles that give XP and Obols.

The Endgame Loop

Difficulty ladder

Normal, Hard, Expert, and Penitent come before the Torment tiers. Current endgame guides reference tiers up to Torment 12. Higher Torment raises monster power and loot quality, and activity experience in War Plans scales from 25 on Normal to 150 on Torment 12.

War Plans (Lord of Hatred)

Unlocked after the Lord of Hatred campaign by talking to Tyrael in Temis. You build a playlist of up to five activities from:

• Tree of Whispers
• Nightmare Dungeons (including the Escalating Nightmares variant)
• Helltides (with a Greater Helltide option)
• Kurast Undercity
• Lair Bosses (Greater Lair Bosses need Torment 6+)
• Infernal Hordes
• The Pit (its skill tree requires completing Season Rank 2)

Each activity has a seven-level skill tree fed by Activity Experience, and the trees add modifiers to that activity. War Plan ranks run from 0 to 10, and higher ranks give better loot rarity: Magic, Rare, Legendary, and Mythic. Party War Plans, added in Season 14, extend the system to groups.

Practical setup: Put your farming target (for example Helltide for keys) in the plan with modifiers that boost it. Maxroll's farming guide lists "Helltide with Writhe and Rot War Plans" as the top Boss Lair Key method, and "Nightmare Dungeon (Nemesis + Fearless Conviction War Plans)" for Horadric Cube materials.

Lair bosses

All need Torment 1+.

Tier | Bosses | Summon cost

Initiate | Echo of Varshan, Grigoire the Galvanic Saint, The Beast in the Ice, Lord Zir, Urivar | 1 Lair Key

Greater | Duriel King of Maggots, Andariel, Harbinger of Hatred, The Butcher | 1 Greater Lair Key (from Initiate kills)

Special | Astaroth (Escalation Sigil), Bartuc (Infernal Hordes Compass), Belial Lord of Lies (Superior Lair Key) | Varies

Iconic Mythics like Andariel's Visage, Harlequin Crest, and Tyrael's Might can drop from any of them.

Farming cheat sheet (Maxroll)

You need | Best source

Boss Lair Keys | Helltide with key-focused War Plans. Then Key Spoils, then Bartering.

Obducite | Horadric Strongrooms (tier 6 rewards at Torment 12), or Kurast Undercity with Greater Tribute of Refinement

Iron Chunk, Rawhide, Veiled Crystal | Greater Material Cache from Tree of Whispers, Legion events, the Pit

Baleful Fragment, Forgotten Soul | Tree of Whispers caches. Salvage Ancestral Legendaries.

Cube materials | Nightmare Dungeons with Elite-heavy War Plans

Gem fragments | Escalating Nightmare Dungeons with Gem Reserve

Crafting and Gear Progression

S.T.E.A.M. order

• Socket the item.
• Temper at the Blacksmith. This adds a fifth stat to Rare or higher items.
• Enchant at the Occultist. This rerolls one affix, and each reroll costs more.
• Aspect: Imprint a Legendary aspect at the Occultist. Ancestral items cost 25 Forgotten Souls plus 1,000,000 Gold. Non-Ancestral items cost 15 Baleful Fragments plus 250,000 Gold.
• Masterwork at the Blacksmith. Each rank adds quality, with a capstone bonus to a random affix.

Horadric Cube (Lord of Hatred)

Found in Temis after the campaign. Its main recipe families:

• Affix work: Add Affix, Chaotic Reroll, Focused Reroll, Remove Affix, Affix Value Reroll, Horadric Reroll
• Item upgrades: Transfigure Item, Unique Power Reroll, 3 to 1 Transmutation, Recycle Uniques, Craft Unique, Upgrade to Legendary, Upgrade to Mythic
• Charms: Reroll Set Charm, Craft Unique Charm
• Other: Amalgamation, Rune Crafting

It runs on Primordial Dust variants and Tuning Prisms. Upgrade to Mythic converts a 900 Item Power Ancestral Unique into a Mythic, keeping its stats and Greater Affixes, for 5 Resplendent Sparks. Season 15 adds "Upgrade Direct Item to Mythic". It gives the item a "Crafted" tag, and you can only equip one Crafted item.

Talisman

Lord of Hatred's Talisman holds charms that unlock set bonuses. The Horadric Reroll recipe can fully randomize a Talisman's base affixes while keeping its charm bonuses and mythic powers. Aim for set bonuses that support your core skill, and reroll charms with the Cube.

Current Top Builds (Maxroll, updated Sept 26, 2026)

S tier (endgame):

Class | Build

Warlock | Blazing Scream

Spiritborn | Counterswarm

Necromancer | Blood Wave

Warlock | Apocalypse

Spiritborn | Stinger

Barbarian | Whirlwind

Rogue | Poison Penetrating Shot

Paladin | Shield of Retribution

Sorcerer | Firewall

Rogue | Dance of Knives

A tier highlights: Paladin Divine Lance, Druid Lacerate, Barbarian Rend, Paladin Shield Charge, Druid Storm Strike, Barbarian Flame Charge, Warlock Lunatic, Necromancer Bone Spirit.

Choosing: Every class has an S-tier build this season except Druid, whose best builds sit in A tier. Pick the class you enjoy. Blazing Scream Warlock and Counterswarm Spiritborn are the safest "top of the list" picks.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Playing Eternal and missing the season. Seasonal characters get all the new rewards.
• Masterworking or tempering gear you will replace. Save expensive steps for items with Greater Affixes.
• Ignoring War Plans. Running activities outside a plan throws away skill-tree progress and loot.
• Pushing Torment too early. If elites take ages to kill, drop a tier and farm gear.
• Carrying the wrong splinter for your farming activity.
• Forgetting the Eternal stash before Rebirth.
• Hoarding Resplendent Sparks instead of turning your best Ancestral Unique into a Mythic.

Advanced Tips

• Greater Affixes plus Masterworking capstones are where endgame damage comes from. Only fully invest in GA items.
• Use Affix Value Reroll and Focused Reroll to finish near-perfect items instead of farming new ones.
• Stack activity modifiers. A splinter track and War Plan trees that both modify the same activity multiply its value.
• Push leaderboards (Pit and the Tower) with a push build from Maxroll's Push Builds tier list. Speedfarm builds and push builds are often different.
• Play Solo Self Found if you want a trade-free challenge. It has its own partition, including War Plans reputation.
• Group for Greater Lair Bosses and Belial. Shared keys and higher kill speed make farming Mythics much faster.

FAQ

What season is Diablo IV in? Season 15, "Season of Hell's Legacy", which launched on September 15, 2026.

Do I need Lord of Hatred? Not to play the season, but Paladin, Warlock, Skovos, War Plans, the Horadric Cube, and about 15% of Season Rank objectives need it. Lord of Hatred includes Vessel of Hatred.

What is the best class right now? Warlock (Blazing Scream, Apocalypse) and Spiritborn (Counterswarm, Stinger) lead Maxroll's list, but every class except Druid has at least one S-tier build.

How do I get Mythic Uniques? From Greater and special lair bosses, Season Rank Mythic caches, War Plan high-rank rewards, and the Cube's "Upgrade to Mythic" recipe (5 Resplendent Sparks plus a 900 IP Ancestral Unique).

Which Splinter of Evil should I use? Match it to your farming: Baal for Undercity and bosses, Mephisto for the Pit and Nightmare Dungeons, Diablo for Helltides and Infernal Hordes.

Was Diablo IV free to play? Only temporarily. A free trial of the base game, up to level 30, ran on Steam until September 21, 2026.

Sources

• Steam store page: Diablo IV
• Steam news: Diablo IV (Season of Hell's Legacy, Season 14, Lord of Hatred)
• Maxroll: Season 15 Hell's Legacy guide
• Maxroll: Endgame tier list
• Maxroll: War Plans
• Maxroll: Horadric Cube
• Maxroll: Item crafting
• Maxroll: Optimal farming guide
• Maxroll: Boss loot table cheat sheet
• Maxroll: Skovos region guide
• Wikipedia: Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred