Diablo 4 Season 9: Are the new Nightmare Dungeon affixes enough to make them worthwhile?

Diablo 4’s endgame has always been a tightrope walk between challenge and reward, a delicate balance of risk and payoff that defines the grind. With Season 9's Sins of the Horadrim, Blizzard is doubling down on this philosophy, introducing a significant overhaul to Nightmare Dungeons with the new Escalation Nightmares and a suite of refreshed affixes. But are these additions truly enough to make Nightmare Dungeons the go-to activity they’re clearly being positioned as?

Let’s break down what’s changed and, more importantly, whether it’s worth your time.

Also Read: Diablo 4 Season 9: Escalating Nightmares mechanic, explained

Escalation Nightmares: The triple threat

Once you’re locked into a run, you're at the mercy of the escalating affix list (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Escalation Nightmares are the centerpiece of the new endgame loop in Season 9 of Diablo 4. These are essentially a chained gauntlet of three Nightmare Dungeons where each run ramps up the pressure on the next — both mechanically and in terms of affix stacking. Each dungeon in the chain inherits the affixes of the previous one, meaning your build’s weaknesses can quickly become a glaring liability if you're not prepared to adapt on the go.

That particular stacking mechanic is the most interesting part of the update. Previously, most players were accustomed to min-maxing Nightmare Sigils, favoring the most efficient layouts and affixes while skipping the more punishing ones. Escalation flips that on its head. Once you’re locked into a run, you're at the mercy of the escalating affix list — and unless you're sporting an extremely flexible build, you’ll have to brute force your way through increasingly harsh modifiers.

In theory, this heavily promotes a higher build diversity and forces you towards a more strategic gameplay. But in practice, it walks a very fine line. Some classes, like the Druids or Rogues, have versatile enough skill sets to handle multiple affix types — while others, like the Sorcerers, can feel punished depending on how the RNG factor plays out. The tension is real, and so is the frustration when that one affix — say, Suppressor or Drifting Shade — completely dismantles your setup, making it feel like a drag.

But Blizzard knows this, and they've sweetened the pot. Beat all three dungeons, and you face an Exalted version of Astaroth — a reimagined boss fight that splits the mount from the master, turning a familiar foe into a brutal tag-team event. It’s a memorable encounter and a high-skill requirement event, rewarding those who survive the journey with substantial loot and bragging rights.

For players seeking a meaningful challenge, this is arguably one of the best additions the game has seen.

New positive affixes: A step in the right direction in Diablo 4

These affixes are not just fluff material — they noticeably impact the pace (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Outside of Escalation, Blizzard has reworked the Nightmare Sigil system to include positive affixes — finally giving players a reason to get excited about dungeon modifiers.

We’re talking actual beneficial mechanics like:

Horadric Reserves, which spawn loot chests with gold, Obols, and crafting materials.
Equipment Delves, where collectibles boost equipment caches.
Power Shrines, which spawn high-impact buffs like Channeling or Artillery shrines.
Forgotten Wisdom, which increases experience gains and spawns XP wells.
Treasure Breaches, which send packs of gilded gremlins your way (think Loot Goblins, but nastier).

These affixes are not just fluff material — they noticeably impact the pace and feel of a dungeon. You now have more reasons to explore every corner, hunt down bonus objectives, and clear offshoot rooms rather than beelining straight to the boss. The added loot, experience, and buff opportunities help mitigate some of the frustration from the harsher negative affixes, especially in higher-tier dungeons.

The problem is, the impact of these positive affixes is still largely inconsistent. Sometimes, the payoff from an Equipment Delve or Horadric Reserve feels great — other times, you’re left wondering if it was worth the added time investment. The random nature of affix distribution means you can’t really strategize around them either. This is especially apparent in groups, where one player may benefit significantly more than others, depending on who opens the caches or triggers the events.

Still, this direction is quite promising. For the first time in a while, Nightmare Dungeons feel like more than just XP pools.

So, are they worth it?

The new affixes add new flavor and rewards, but they don’t always hit consistently (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

If you’re a player who lives for endgame content, Escalation Nightmares are absolutely worth running, at least a few times. The stacked affix challenge and revamped Astaroth fight are genuinely compelling. They will test your build, your patience, and your ability to adapt under heavy pressure. If you thrive on that kind of intensity, this mode is definitely going to feel like home.

But if your interest lies more in farming materials or pushing high-tier dungeon clears with minimal risk, the value proposition becomes murkier. The new affixes add new flavor and rewards, but they don’t always hit consistently. The fact that you now have to run three dungeons in a row to earn top-tier loot also increases the time commitment significantly, which won’t appeal to the more casual players or those with limited time.

Another consideration is overall build viability. The new dungeon meta heavily favors flexible, all-rounder builds. Glass cannons or niche setups may find themselves quickly overwhelmed in higher Escalation chains, even with the added boons from positive affixes. That’s not necessarily a bad thing — it encourages experimentation — but it does make the content less accessible for players who haven’t optimized their loadouts or don’t have their characters at a high level.

Blizzard is clearly putting effort into reinvigorating the endgame dungeon experience in Diablo 4, and Season 9 marks a substantial improvement in that direction.

Are Nightmare Dungeons now a must-do activity every time you log in? Not quite. But they are no longer the chore they once were. With some tuning, better affix weighting, and maybe a few quality-of-life adjustments, they could evolve into the backbone of Diablo 4’s endgame experience.

For now, they’re a solid reason to dust off your best build, pop an Escalation Sigil, and test your mettle — just don’t expect a cakewalk.

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About the author

Jagaran is an MMO and ARPG writer at Sportskeeda. His involvement in the gaming industry also includes working as a concept artist and as a narrative designer.
At age of nine, Halo: Combat Evolved kicked off his love for the medium. He looks back fondly on the times he visited cyber cafes, watching the older boys playing the game and shouting, "Master Chief!"
If given a chance to inhabit a game world, he would eagerly jump into the breathtaking world of Halo.
He admires Ben "CohhCarnage" Cassell for his engaging dialogue and gameplay as well as his critical thinking regardless of how much he loves the game, which encouraged him to spend countless hours in games and technically analyze them.
In his free time, he enjoys writing books, cooking, sketching, and the occasional game of football.

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Edited by Ashmita Bhatt