Diablo 4: How to Find and Farm Nightmare Sigils and Sigil Powder

Diablo 4‘s robust endgame is filled with World Bosses, special events, and the absolute best gear. However, the stars of the endgame show (at least for the moment) are the Nightmare Dungeons. Before you start running these dungeons, though, you’re going to have to know a little bit about Nightmare Sigils and Sigil Powder.

While Diablo 4 does a decent job of explaining the basics of Nightmare Sigils and Nightmare Powder, the game throws you in the dark when it comes to the finer details. That being the case, let’s take a look at what Nightmare Sigils and Sigil Powder do and how you can acquire as much of both as possible.

Diablo 4: What Are Nightmare Sigils and Nightmare Dungeons?

Nightmare Sigils are special items that allow you to convert a regular dungeon into a Nightmare Dungeon. They can be found in the consumables tab of your inventory. Each Nightmare Sigil has a name that corresponds to the dungeon it affects. So, if you have a Gale Valley Nightmare Sigil, it will turn the Gale Valley dungeon into a Nightmare Dungeon after you use it. Just know that you can only have one Nightmare Sigil active at a time. If you use a Nightmare Sigil while a Nightmare Sigil is already active, the active Nightmare Dungeon will be replaced with the new one you just created.

In their simplest forms, Nightmare Dungeons are more difficult versions of base dungeons. How much more difficult they are depends on the modifiers associated with your Sigil.

At a minimum, every Nightmare Sigil will limit the number of times you can respawn in a Nightmare Dungeon to 12. From there, each Sigil applies a random player benefit and various enemy modifiers. The benefit will be displayed in green text and applies to you. Though it always grants you some kind of buff, that buff may not always be beneficial to your build. For instance, a Sigil may grant you additional Poison damage even if you don’t have a Poison ability equipped. Navigating Nightmare Dungeons can often require you to change your playstyle and make the most of what you are given.

Enemy modifiers can be even more chaotic. There’s no limit to what combination of effects you can roll. Some may cause the ground to randomly explode while others will increase the enemy’s critical strike damage. Mind you, those modifiers affect already stronger enemies, and Nightmare Dungeons typically feature more enemies than normal. in other words, everything is working against you at mas efficiency in Nightmare Dungeons.

Diablo 4: What Are Nightmare Sigil Tiers?

Nightmare Sigil Tiers basically tell you how difficult a Nightmare Dungeon is going to be. They also affect the number of negative modifiers you have to contend with as well as the number of revives you’re allowed inside of the Nightmare Dungeon.

The difference between Nightmare Tiers can be relatively minor or shockingly significant. So, there might not be that much of a difference between a Tier 9 Sigil and a Tier 10 Sigil. However, a Tier 50 Sigil will be significantly more difficult than a Tier 10 Sigil.

From Tier 11 to Tier 20, Nightmare Sigils have 4 negative modifiers associated with them rather than 3. From Tier 21-100, Nightmare Sigils have 5 negative modifiers associated with them and only allow you 4 revives instead of 12.

Tier 100 Sigils are something to see. Every enemy inside of them is Level 154. Mind you, the highest level you can reach is 100. The power difference is staggering. Only those who have optimized their builds, gear, Paragon boards, and strategies will stand a chance of surviving one of these dungeons.

So why would you possibly want to run a dungeon that is nearly impossible to beat? Well, besides the pleasure of the experience, Nightmare Dungeons offers fortunes that favor the bold.

Diablo 4: Do Nightmare Dungeons Offer Better and More Gear?

The short answer is, “Yes.” Nightmare Dungeons do offer better gear and more of it compared to regular dungeons. It should also be noted that higher tiers of Nightmare Dungeons offer greater rewards than lower-tier Nightmare Dungeons.

Just note that you won’t necessarily find items unique to Nightmare Dungeons in Nightmare Dungeons (though you can find “Unique” quality items inside of them). It’s just that there is a much greater chance of every enemy in Nightmare Dungeons dropping better-quality gear and more of it. You also receive some generally powerful rewards for completing Nightmare Dungeons, though most of your best loot will come from the Elites found within as well as the boss.

One thing that is unique to Nightmare Dungeons is Glyph XP. This resource allows you to upgrade your Paragon Board Glyphs. You’ll be able to upgrade your Glyph XP via a special object that spawns at the end of the Nightmare Dungeon, and those upgrades are often the source of the power level you’ll need to complete the hardest Nightmare Dungeons.

In other words, grinding Nightmare Dungeons is often the best way to beat subsequent Nightmare Dungeons. That brings us to our next point.

Diablo 4: How Do You Find and Farm Nightmare Sigils?

Your first Nightmare Sigil will likely come from the Whispering Tree. To unlock the Whispering Tree’s quest, you’ll need to do the following:

• Beat the Diablo 4 Campaign

• Beat the Capstone Dungeon in Kyovashad

• Activate World Tier 3 in Kyovashad

• Go to the Whispering Tree

• Collect 10 Grim Favors for the Whispering Tree by Completing Assignments

At that point, head back to the Whispering Tree to receive a reward. If you’re lucky, a Nightmare Sigil will be included in your rewards. If you’re not lucky, you may have to repeat this process until you get a Sigil.

Once you have your first Nightmare Sigil, farming for Nightmare Sigils should be easy. After all, Nightmare Sigils are a fairly common drop in Nightmare Dungeons, so unlocking one Nightmare Dungeon tends to be the key to acquiring more. There’s a chance that you’ll need to continue completing the Whispering Tree quest for your first Nightmare Sigils, though the process of earning them tends to be fairly common once you’re actually running Nightmare Dungeons.

I’ve also heard that you can acquire Nightmare Dungeons from any enemy on World Tier 3 or 4, but I’ve never personally seen that happen. If it is possible, it certainly doesn’t seem to be consistent.

As far as farming Nightmare Sigils go, your options are fairly limited at first. Some Dungeons do contain slightly higher enemy density, but because Nightmare Sigils apply to a specific dungeon, you don’t have much of a choice regarding which ones you actually run. Your best bet is to keep running Nightmare Dungeons until you get more Sigils that you can actually use.

At a certain point, you will actually have a ton of excess Nightmare Sigils that may no longer be of value to you. That’s where Sigil Powder comes in.

Diablo 4: How to Find and Farm Sigil Powder

Sigil Powder is a crafting resource used to create Nightmare Sigils. You can either earn Nightmare Sigil Powder in Nightmare Dungeons or by scrapping Nightmare Sigils at the Occultist. The Occultist is also where you’ll craft Nightmare Sigils.

This is where the farming process gets more interesting. Because you can now craft Sigils within a rough Tier range at the Occultist, the basic strategy is to keep farming the highest level Nightmare Dungeon you can reasonably expect to complete. You won’t be able to control the modifiers or the location of the Dungeon itself, but you can now increase the general quality and quantity of the drops you receive by running higher Tier dungeons. As long as you’re doing that, you should be earning a steady supply of Sigils and Powder.

Just know that you should never go too far in over your head in Nightmare Dungeons. If you fail to complete a Nightmare Dungeon, you only leave with the materials you gathered before your revival limit was reached. That’s why it’s better to stick to Dungeon Tears that you feel more comfortable running. Your time in them will be quicker, more efficient, and that will all lead to more Sigils and Powder.