If you’re in World Tier Three in Diablo 4, you could find some ominous messages pointing to a Helltide. Maybe you’re strolling through Kyovashad when the game tells you “a Helltide has risen in multiple territories,” or maybe you’re looking for Altars of Lilith when you spot a large, red area on your minimap with a message saying “The Helltide Rises.”
Helltides will be a core part of the post-campaign gameplay in Diablo 4 since they’re a good opportunity to get gear and the only way to find specific, rare resources. They’re on a timer, and once one is active, you have an hour to make the most of it. If you’re here for the loot, want to know how long you have to wait until the next Helltide, or just feel like mowing down hordes of demons, here’s what you need to know about Helltides in Diablo 4.
What is a Helltide in Diablo 4?
Helltides are special, timed events that start periodically after World Tier Three and come with their own rewards. Each Helltide sees the invasion of hordes of demons in one of the five main areas (Fractured Peaks, Dry Steppes, Scosglen, Hawezar, and Khejistan), and lasts for an hour, with the game displaying how much time you have on the top-right side of your screen. During that time, killed enemies will drop Aberrant Cinders, which you can use to open specific chests during the Helltide. You can spot a Helltide by the blood-red glow on the map and the Helltide icon over a zone.
Tortured Gifts of Mystery are the crown jewel of Helltide hunting. These chests carry the highest price tag of the bunch (175 Aberrant Cinders), but drop you a handful of Legendary items once opened. Their name stems from the fact that you don’t know exactly what you’ll get and you can’t see them on your map unless you’re close to them, but Mystery Chests have set spawn locations in each of the five areas. In addition to the Mystery Chests, players can also spend their Aberrant Cinders on other chests with set drops, which can award armor, weapons, and jewelry.
Helltides can take place in the same area as missions from the Tree of Whispers, making it easy for you to kill two demons with one Core Skill. Since you’ll likely be farming Helltides anyway, you could put a dent in the Whispers you need to silence at the same time. Random events will also appear throughout Helltides, which grant you more enemy density and rewards than just running around looking for demons to kill. You may also spot higher-level bosses and Elites in a Helltide.
You should also look out for the elusive crafting materials exclusive to the Helltide. Finding Forgotten Souls will be vital for upgrading and enchanting items, while farming for Fiend Roses will make it easier to upgrade your items and even craft some Alchemy items.
If you die in a Helltide, though, you’ll lose around half your Aberrant Cinders (even if a friendly Wanderer revives you), so be careful when diving into enemy mobs. You can leave the Helltide at any time and you’ll keep your Cinders if you come back. Your unused Aberrant Cinders will disappear after the Helltide ends, though, so make sure you spend as many as you can before the end of the event. Fortunately for players, though, the wait between Helltides isn’t terribly long.
How long do you have to wait between Helltides?
The wait between Helltides is a little longer than a Helltide itself. There’s usually a 75-minute interval between Helltides, which means you have one hour and 15 minutes to farm whatever you want to before the demons rise again. Helltides take place every two hours and 15 minutes, though one hour of that interval is taken up by the event itself. If a Helltide started at 10am, for instance, the next one should be at 12:15pm—or 75 minutes after it ends at 11am.
Diablo 4 Helltide schedule and timer
If you’re looking to keep track of the timer and schedule for Helltides, we recommend using helltides.com. This website shows a timer for the next Helltide, as well as how much time is left in the current Helltide. Since there are 75 minutes between the end of a Helltide and the start of the next, you can use the website to calculate the start time for the next Helltide even if an event is already active.
All Helltide chest types, resources, and rewards
Here are all the chests and the two unique resources you can get specifically from Helltide. Each of these chests is guaranteed to give you something for that slot, while the Mystery Chest will give you multiple items in random slots.
All Helltide chest types and prices
- One-Handed weapons: 75 Aberrant Cinders
- Helmet, chest armor, leg armor, gauntlets, waist, and boots: 75 Aberrant Cinders
- Rings: 75 Aberrant Cinders
- Amulets: 125 Aberrant Cinders
- Two-Handed Weapons: 150 Aberrant Cinders
- Tortured Gift of Mysteries: 175 Aberrant Cinders
Helltide resources
- Fiend Rose: Found in some chests and as unique nodes in the ground. Used to upgrade gear and craft Alchemy items. We’ve found some from Mystery Chests and their unique nodes.
- Forgotten Souls: Used to upgrade your items on the Blacksmith or swap out Affixes with the Occultist. We’ve had it drop from Mystery Chests and Elites in Helltides.
