War Plans have completely changed the way Diablo 4's endgame is played. Introduced with the Lord of Hatred expansion and continuing into Season 13, this system gives players a structured command table where they choose a sequence of five endgame activities to complete in order — earning upgraded loot, XP, boss materials, Horadric Cube crafting materials, and gold along the way. Each activity has its own skill tree that levels from 1 to 7, and the nodes you invest in dramatically affect what drops, what spawns, and how rewarding each run becomes. However, with respec costs reaching upwards of 50 million gold at higher ranks, you want to invest your points wisely from the start.

This guide goes over how the War Plans system works, how to access it, how co-op functions (and its current limitations), and then ranks every War Plans skill tree from best to worst with full setup recommendations for both party and solo play.

Diablo 4 War Plans Guide (Lord of Hatred & Season 13)

How Does The War Plans Endgame Activity Work?

War Plans operate through a command table located in Tyrial, the new expansion city. At this table, you select a path of five endgame activities to complete in a specific order from top to bottom.

• Choosing Your Path

Each time you approach the table, you're presented with a branching path. You pick your route based on two factors: the activities themselves and the rewards attached to each node. Rewards come in different rarities — magic (blue), rare, and legendary (orange). Orange rewards are the rarest and most valuable, so prioritize those whenever they appear.

• Activity Experience & Skill Tree Leveling

As you complete war plans, you earn activity experience toward each activity's skill tree. These trees level from 1 to 7, and each level gives you points to spend on nodes that add mechanics, loot, and difficulty to that activity. Leveling these trees outside of war plans is nearly impossible — for example, going from zero to the first threshold on Layer Bosses would require roughly 125 boss kills done independently, versus a single war plan completion granting equivalent progress.

• Rerolling Plans

You get three free rerolls per plan if you don't like your options. After those three, you must complete whatever plan you have. Once you commit and hit start, a new icon appears on your map, and you can teleport directly to each activity in sequence.

• The General Routing Strategy

The rule of thumb is to pick activities that take the least amount of time but offer the greatest reward, both from the base activity and from the war plan completion bonuses. Avoid Infernal Hordes when possible (they can take as long as an entire war plan by themselves). The Pit is fast. Nightmare Dungeons are low-investment. Undercity runs take about a minute. Hell Tides are slightly longer but offer enormous XP returns with the right nodes.

When choosing path rewards, prioritize dungeon keys, obols, experience, and Horadric Cube upgrade materials. Everything else you pick up between those is a nice bonus.

• War Plans Activities
  

Every major endgame activity is part of the War Plans system. The activities you can include in your War Plan are:

• Nightmare Dungeons

• Helltides

• The Pit

• Lair Bosses

• Kurast Undercity

• Infernal Hordes

• Tree of Whispers

The one exception is Echoing Hatred, a new horde mode that functions as a rare ticket-based reward from doing other content and sits outside the War Plans framework.

How To Unlock War Plans?

War Plans are only available if you own the Lord of Hatred expansion. They become accessible after you complete the expansion campaign. Once you finish the final campaign quest, you can head to Tyrial and interact with the War Plans command table to begin.

When you first approach the table, your options will be limited, only a few activity choices with basic rewards. As you complete more plans and level your skill trees, the branching paths grow larger, more activities become available, and the rewards improve substantially. The system starts small but scales into a massive progression framework over time.

How Does War Plans Co-Op (Party Play) Work in Diablo 4 Season 13 LoH?

Current State of Co-Op

Each player has their own individual War Plans progression and their own randomized playlist. If you're in a party, you can complete activities together, but only the party leader's war plan advances through their specific sequence. Other party members get some rewards for participating:

• They receive loot at the end of each completed activity

• They earn some XP toward their various War Plans skill trees

• If they happen to have the same activity as their next task, it counts for their plan too

However, party members who don't share the same next activity in their own plan will not make progress toward their personal War Plan sequence.

The Current Frustration

Because war plan paths are randomized independently for each player, they almost never line up between friends. When you're not the party leader, it feels like wasted time since your own plan isn't advancing. When you are the leader, you feel guilty that your friends aren't progressing. This effectively disincentivizes co-op play for war plans, since running your own playlist solo is more efficient.

The Workaround for Now

The best approach currently is to rotate who is party leader. Some players have reported that after completing initial plans, subsequent war plan paths sometimes generate similar activity layouts for party members, though the rewards may differ. You can also coordinate around shared activities like Undercity runs, where everyone brings one tribute and gets four runs total, walking out with significantly more loot than solo.

Confirmed Fix Coming in Season 14

Blizzard has announced that War Plans updates for co-op/party play are planned for Season 14. Details are still being sorted out, but the general direction involves making it so party members can share or align their war plan paths more easily. This is not a hotfix, it requires deeper system changes that won't arrive until next season.

War Plans Co-Op (Party Play) or Solo (Single-Play)?

When to Play Solo

Solo is currently the most efficient way to progress your own War Plans board. You move through your five activities at your own pace, every completion counts, and you never waste time on someone else's tasks. If your primary goal is leveling skill trees and earning war plan completion rewards, solo is the optimal choice right now.

When to Play in a Party

Party play shines in specific activities where group scaling makes the content dramatically more rewarding. Undercity runs in particular are far better with friends — each player brings one tribute, giving the group four runs total. Players report walking out with 15+ mythics across those runs compared to 3-4 solo. Layer Boss Nemesis portals also benefit from calling friends in (though everyone needs the relevant node to receive loot).

For Infernal Hordes, an interesting duo interaction exists: if one player specs into the Method of Madness/Black Pact line and another player specs into the Infernal Horde chest line, both effects can apply simultaneously. This only works reliably with two players — adding a third reportedly causes bugs.

The Practical Strategy

Most experienced players use a hybrid method. They run their war plans solo for maximum progression efficiency, then group up specifically for Undercity mythic tribute runs and Nemesis portal fights. This gives you the best of both worlds until the Season 14 co-op improvements arrive.

Important Party Node Interaction

For Layer Boss Nemesis portals: call your friends before entering the red portal. Everyone in the party must have the Nemesis node in their own skill tree or they will not receive loot from the encounter. This is a hard requirement, not a suggestion.

Diablo 4 Best War Plans Skill Tree Builds & Upgrades for Each Activity

Now that you know how the system works and how co-op fits in, let's rank every War Plans skill tree from the strongest to the weakest and cover exactly how to set each one up for maximum returns.

1. Undercity War Plans Skill Tree Setup & Upgrade (Best for Mythic Farming & Forgotten Souls)

The Undercity tree is the single most powerful war plan investment in Season 13. The left-side path centered around Portal Pranksters has become the primary method for reliably farming mythic items in the game. When running mythic tributes at Torment 8 or above, players consistently report getting multiple mythics per run — sometimes up to four from a single Undercity completion. The activity itself takes about one minute to complete, giving it an unmatched time-to-reward ratio.

Party & Solo Viability

This tree is strong both solo and in groups. Solo players can farm tributes, use the 5:1 amalgamation recipe at the Horadric Cube to upgrade legendary armament tributes into mythic ones, and run them independently. In groups, the payoff is even larger — each player brings one tribute, giving the party four runs. Groups regularly walk out with 15+ mythics across those four runs.

How to Set Up the Skill Tree

Rush the left-side path to reach the Portal Prankster nodes as quickly as possible. You need four skill points invested before this setup reaches full effectiveness.

• Invasion Portals — Appear in the Undercity. Enemies that emerge grant atunement when killed, pushing your atunement rank forward faster.

• Unfortunate Souls (Wisps) — Wisps attach to you and vanish if you die. Each one you keep alive rewards forgotten souls and other crafting materials at the end.

• Gutterfilth — When you activate any beacon in the Undercity (the spots where you kill monsters for a chunk of atunement), there is a chance to summon a Portal Prankster. This is the goblin-type enemy that drives the entire strategy.

• Trials and Tributes — For each Portal Prankster you kill, an additional tribute chest appears after killing the district boss. At Torment 8 and above with a mythic tribute, you are nearly guaranteed a mythic from each chest. The extra chests from pranksters often just open automatically, giving you additional mythics per prankster killed.

After securing the left path, pick up the experience orbs node (Jade Epiphany) on the right side. XP orbs in the Undercity are underrated — they provide massive paragon experience and the bonus applies across all your characters.

Rewards & Loot

Mythic items (2-4 per run with pranksters at T8+), forgotten souls from wisps (very hard to farm elsewhere), runes, Horadric Cube materials, and whatever your selected tribute type provides. You can also upgrade 5 lesser tributes into 1 higher-rarity tribute through the cube.

Best Builds for This Tree

Any fast-clearing build works here since Undercity runs take about a minute. Sorcerer builds with high mobility (like Ball Lightning) or Spiritborn speed builds are ideal. The key is activating every beacon on every floor to maximize Portal Prankster spawn chances — don't skip any, even if you're trying to rush.

Tips

You need to actually kill the Portal Pranksters that emerge from portals near beacons. It's annoying to backtrack for them, but you absolutely need to do it for the extra chest spawns. Also, the "final floor shortcut" node that makes an exit portal appear when you reach max atunement doesn't synergize well with this setup — you still want to go through all floors and activate all beacons to spawn as many pranksters as possible.

2. Helltides War Plans Skill Tree Setup & Upgrade (Best for XP & Boss Trophies)

Hell Tides are likely the single best activity for gaining paragon experience in Season 13. The middle path focused on Hellmouth maggots provides an absurd amount of XP orbs — players report gaining 20-30 million XP from a single hellworm spawn at Torment 12, which can translate to 20-30% of a paragon level even at high levels. On top of that, the maggot line generates massive quantities of boss trophies, layer boss keys, and cinders simultaneously.

Party & Solo Viability

Hell Tides work well both solo and in groups. In a group, threat levels rise faster, meaning hellworms spawn sooner and more frequently. Solo players can still reach the second threat level reliably — it just takes slightly longer. The XP gains are personal, so grouping doesn't dilute the experience rewards. One full Hell Tide with Profane Mine Cages active can yield three to five paragon levels for players in the 230-250 range.

How to Set Up the Skill Tree

Go straight down the middle path first, then branch left for threat mechanics.

• Hellmouth — When a hellworm emerges, it now produces one of several options. Pick the maggots branch.

• Maggots — They gain monster power, and there's a chance for a Pang of Dural to spawn. Selecting maggots appears to block the other hellworm options (rifts and blood seekers), so you'll only ever see worm spawns going forward.

• Bursting Brood — Maggots and the Pangs of Dural now explode and drop boss trophies. This single node generates enormous amounts of trophies — players report accumulating nearly a thousand exquisite blood just from collecting these passively.

• Wretched Vermin — Take this alongside Hellmouth as your first two picks. These rats attack frequently and drop insane amounts of cinders. Combined with hellworms also spitting out cinders, you'll never run out of currency to open chests.

• After securing the middle path, move to the left for threat level and Hellborn mechanics.

• Hellborn Butchers — At maximum threat level, two butchers spawn and drop Profane Mine Cages. These cages increase monster power of all overworld monsters until you die, stacking up to three times. This multiplies your XP and loot from the entire Hell Tide session.

Rewards & Loot

Enormous XP (best paragon farm in the game), boss trophies in massive quantities, layer keys and greater layer keys from Pang of Dural, cinders for opening all types of chests, and Profane Mine Cages for further difficulty scaling. With three mine cages stacked, players at level 240-250 report gaining three to five full paragon levels in a single Hell Tide session.

Best Builds for This Tree

Builds with strong AoE and good survivability thrive here. You need to reach the second threat level for hellworms to start appearing consistently, and you need to handle Hellborn enemies and butchers at increased monster power. Any build running Torment 10+ comfortably will benefit enormously.

Tips

The Hell's Prize chest (666 cinders) has been tested and drops very little compared to standard 250-cinder chests — skip it for now unless it gets buffed. Focus instead on reaching threat level 2 as fast as possible, then farm the worm spawns. Note that dying removes your stacked Profane Mine Cages, so play carefully once you have them active.

3. The Pit War Plans Skill Tree Setup & Upgrade (Best for Glyph Upgrades & Consistent XP)

The Pit remains the premier activity for leveling glyphs in Season 13, and with the right war plan nodes, you can earn up to four additional glyph upgrade chances beyond the base reward every single run. Once your glyphs are maxed at 150, the Pit also converts into a solid XP dump. Fast builds can clear in two to three minutes, which makes this one of the most time-efficient war plan activities to select repeatedly.

Party & Solo Viability

The Pit is primarily a solo activity in Season 13's war plan context. You complete it on your own board, and the speed makes it ideal for solo progression. There's no meaningful party benefit for pit runs within the war plan structure, though the glyph upgrades you earn benefit your character regardless of how you play afterward.

How to Set Up the Skill Tree

Start with the middle path and grab Chronos' Haste immediately, then move to Heart of Stone.

• Chronos' Haste — When you kill a guardian, you gain +1 glyph upgrade chance for every 5 minutes remaining on the timer. If you clear in under 5 minutes (easy for most farming builds), that's +2 additional upgrades per run. Combined with the base upgrade, this gives you three extra chances.

• Heart of Stone — At the start of the pit, you pick up an item. If you take too many hits in a short period, it drops on the ground (but you can pick it back up as many times as needed). While carrying it, monsters drop progress orbs that speed up your run by 20-30 seconds. At the end, you deposit it in a Chrono Pedestal for +1 glyph upgrade chance — totaling up to four additional chances per run.

• Chronos' Blessing / Shant Soul — All progress orbs in the pit now grant experience. This includes orbs from Heart of Stone. Once your glyphs are maxed, you can sacrifice all upgrade chances for XP — netting around 10 million XP per run just from converting upgrades.

• Pit Butcher — There's a chance for the Butcher to spawn. If you kill him, the run ends immediately and you get your glyph upgrades. If he kills you, the run fails. The spawn rate feels like roughly one in 30 pits, so this node mainly serves as a travel node to reach Chronos' Favor below it.

• Chronos' Favor — Special events and encounters become more common at higher difficulties.

Rewards & Loot

Glyph upgrades (up to +4 additional per run), 5+ million XP per run from clearing, another 10 million XP from converting upgrades when glyphs are maxed, and faster pit tier progression from Heart of Stone orbs.

Best Builds for This Tree

Speed-focused builds that can clear Pit 110+ in under 5 minutes are ideal. Ball Lightning Sorcerer, Spiritborn speed builds, and any class with strong mobility and AoE clear speed work well. The key is fast, consistent clears rather than pushing maximum difficulty. Note that highly mobile builds (like perma-teleport Sorcerer) may skip over progress orbs from Heart of Stone, making the node slightly less effective for them.

Tips

The right side of the Pit tree (Chaon's Wager, cursed rituals, artificer stones, cursed merchant) has been tested by multiple players and feels like absolute trash. Events spawn extremely rarely, they're hard to notice while speed-clearing, and the loot doesn't justify the investment. Stick to the middle and left paths. Orb Thieves (another right-side option) are annoying to kill and leave irritating trap trails — most players who tried them regretted the investment.

4. Layer Bosses (Best for Massive Loot Explosions & Bonus Mythic Chances)

The Layer Bosses tree's middle path, the Nemesis portal chain,  produces some of the largest single loot explosions in the entire game. When a Nemesis portal procs, you fight two layer bosses simultaneously for free (no materials spent), and they drop roughly 30 bosses' worth of loot. Players report getting mythics from Nemesis layers nine out of ten times, sometimes multiple. The downside is that procs have a low chance, so this tree rewards patience and high-volume boss farming.

Party & Solo Viability

This tree works in both contexts but has a specific party requirement. When a Nemesis portal spawns after opening a boss chest, you can call friends in before entering. However, every player who wants loot from the encounter must have the Nemesis node in their own skill tree — this is mandatory, not optional. In groups where everyone has the node, Nemesis portals become shared jackpots. Solo players benefit equally from the proc itself; they just can't share the encounter.

How to Set Up the Skill Tree

Rush straight down the middle path for the Nemesis chain.

• Nemesis Layer (2x2) — After opening a horde chest while fighting a layer boss, there is a low chance for a red portal to appear (usually spawns slightly north of your character on screen). Enter it to fight two initiate layer bosses (Lord Zir, Baron, Beast in the Ice, Ivar, or Gregoire). The loot is enormous.

• Greater Nemesis — Upon completing a Nemesis layer, there is a small chance for another portal leading to a Greater Nemesis layer. Here you fight two greater layer bosses (Duriel, Balile, etc.). Even more loot.

• Ultimate Nemesis Layer — After defeating bosses in the Greater Nemesis, a book appears that accepts five Betrayer Husks (material from killing Balile, who spawns randomly when you open boss chests). Multiple players report this node may be bugged — the loot from Ultimate Nemesis is currently less than regular Nemesis for some reason. Consider skipping this until it gets patched or confirmed fixed.

For remaining points, customize which bosses spawn in other activities based on your build's loot needs. Check the community loot table to see which bosses drop items you want, then spec accordingly. For example, Asteroth drops both Winter Glass and Tyrant's Grasp, so Sorcerer players often target him through Nightmare Dungeon spawns.

Pro tip: Asteroth's normal access method is through Escalation Nightmare Dungeons or Infernal Hordes (which takes nearly 10 minutes). But you can get his loot table drops from Balile encounters instead — Balile can drop loot from Asteroth or BK, saving you enormous time.

Rewards & Loot

Massive loot explosions (roughly 30 bosses' worth from a single Nemesis proc), mythic items (9/10 proc rate reported), unique items, runes from the Layer Runes node, boss-specific target drops, and gold. The outer path also offers a node that converts all non-unique/non-mythic equipment from horde chests into gold.

Best Builds for This Tree

You need to handle two layer bosses simultaneously, so builds with strong single-target damage and survivability work best. If you struggle, consider dropping one torment level specifically for Nemesis encounters. Builds that farm bosses quickly get more proc chances over time through sheer volume.

Tips

Always keep five Betrayer Husks on you in case the Ultimate Nemesis book appears (even if the node is currently underperforming). The Layer of Plenty node (two chests at bosses) is debated — the second chest reportedly doesn't proc Nemesis portals or Balile spawns, so many players skip it and only open one chest for the proc chance. Don't waste keys on the second chest unless you don't care about triggering Nemesis.

5. Nightmare Dungeons (Best for Gold, Escalation Sigils & Primordial Dust)

Nightmare Dungeons offer several viable paths with different strengths. The middle path provides Escalation sigils for farming Asteroth (who drops 10,000 Obdessite on Torment 12 along with massive loot). The right path chases treasure goblins and the extremely rare Goblin's Retreat portal. The left path provides Attuned Primordial Dust, one of the rarest materials in the game used for rerolling unique item powers — and this tree is one of the only sources for it.

Party & Solo Viability

Nightmare Dungeons are fast both solo and in groups. In war plans specifically, they're a low time-investment activity that helps you power through your plan quickly. The escalation sigil path benefits from group play since escalation dungeons scale well with parties. Solo players still clear them rapidly. If you stack multiple nightmare dungeon tasks in a row on your war plan, you can complete two or three within a single escalation run.

How to Set Up the Skill Tree

Most players go down the middle path first, then branch right for goblins or left for Primordial Dust depending on their needs.

Middle Path:

• Boss Revive — Bosses have a chance to revive when slain, giving you a second round of loot. This procs fairly often and dumps tons of gold and items.

• Monster Power — Nightmare Dungeon bosses gain +1 monster power, meaning harder fights but more experience and loot drops.

• Escalation Sigils — Bosses have a chance to drop Escalation Nightmare Dungeon sigils. Note: you can also convert 5 regular nightmare sigils into 1 escalation sigil at the Horadric Cube (5:1 recipe), which makes this node slightly less impactful than it first appears.

• Branching Pathways — When advancing in escalation dungeons, two additional Horadric portals appear. You can hover these to see their affixes (Vile Splendor, Gold Reserve, Gem Reserve, Material Reserve, Horadric Cube Reserve). The gold and Vile Splendor options produce hundreds of millions of gold from a single escalation run. The material options drop tons of unique tuning prisms. When fighting Asteroth at the end, you get to choose between portals offering more layer keys, more uniques, or more legendaries.

Right Path (Goblins):

• Goblin Fall — Treasure goblins can drop Treasure Breach nightmare dungeon sigils.

• Greed is Good — After killing 30 elites across all dungeons, you trigger a random event (summon goblins, summon the butcher, gain riches, or terrible misfortune).

• Goblin's Retreat — Killing goblins in a nightmare dungeon has a small chance to spawn a portal to a room overflowing with treasure. Extremely rare but incredibly rewarding when it happens.

• Left Path:

• Soul Shrine — Taking a specific shrine stores the souls of monsters you kill throughout the dungeon, then releases them all at the end for a massive bonus kill wave.

• Primordial Dust Chest — A green chest appears at the end with roughly a 50% chance to drop Attuned Primordial Dust. This is one of the only farmable sources in the game for this material, which lets you reroll unique item powers.

• War Bounty Chest — Gives you an extra chest of loot at the end of every dungeon on top of the standard completion reward.

Rewards & Loot

Escalation sigils, gold (hundreds of millions from Vile Splendor escalation runs), 10,000 Obdessite from Asteroth on T12, Attuned Primordial Dust (extremely rare reroll material), Treasure Breach sigils, and general loot from boss revives.

Best Builds for This Tree

Speed-clear builds work best since nightmare dungeons are a low time investment in war plans. Rush to the boss, collect loot, move on. Ball Lightning Sorcerer handles both clear speed and Asteroth's boss fight effectively. If you're specifically farming escalations, single-target damage matters for the final encounter.

Tips

When doing nightmare dungeons in your war plan, rush straight to the boss unless you see the soul-storing shrine, in which case, kill as many monsters as possible on the way for a bigger payoff at the end. Also, the Branching Pathways node is considered by many players to be the single best node on the entire Nightmare Dungeon tree because of how many options it opens up during escalation runs.

6. Tree of Whispers War Plans Skill Tree Setup & Upgrade (Best for Passive Gains & Early Sparks)

The Tree of Whispers levels naturally as you complete other war plan activities, since whispers overlap with hell tides, dungeons, and most other content. This makes it the tree most players max out first without even trying. The big prize at the bottom of either path is a chance at Resplendent Sparks from whisper caches — helpful for crafting your first mythic. However, late-season players with abundant mythics from Undercity farming may find the spark node less relevant.

Party & Solo Viability

Whispers complete passively regardless of play mode. They happen naturally during hell tides, nightmare dungeons, and general open-world play. There's no meaningful difference between solo and party for this tree, you'll progress it at roughly the same rate either way.

How to Set Up the Skill Tree

There's no single "correct" path here. Your choice depends on whether you want materials, XP, or ambush loot.

Middle Path (Fourth Cache Option):

• Spin and Spark - Whisper caches show a fourth option, increasing your chances of finding ancestral or greater collection caches.

• Wisdom of Whispers - More experience orbs appear in whisper chests. Multiple players report this node alone accounts for a surprising number of paragon levels over time. Do not sleep on this one.

• Chaotic Favor - Completed whispers have a chance to award a Collection of Chaos (free chaos cache with random valuable contents).

• Resplendent Spark - At the bottom, whisper caches have a small chance to drop a spark. Confirmed working by multiple players.

• Left Path (Ambushes):

• Whisper Ambushes - Adds ambush events when completing whispers. Ambush enemies can drop Collections of Chaos.

• Greater Collection Chaos - Ambush enemies are stronger and drop better loot.

• Baron Ambush - Whispers can trigger a Baron ambush. Baron drops an ancestral collection with greater affixes, incredibly valuable in lower torment tiers where greater affixes are scarce.

Right Path (Materials):

The material cache option gives forgotten souls, gold, and various crafting mats. More useful late-season when you care less about random item drops and more about crafting resources.

Rewards & Loot

Resplendent Sparks (early game value), greater affix items from Baron ambushes, Collections of Chaos, experience orbs, forgotten souls (material path), and general cache rewards that improve with the fourth option node.

Best Builds for This Tree

Any build works, whispers complete passively. Pair with Hell Tide farming for maximum overlap, as hell tides frequently count toward whisper progress.

Tips

If you're late season with abundant sparks (players running Undercity prankster builds report having 70+ sparks with nothing to spend them on), consider stopping at the XP orb node (Wisdom of Whispers) and skipping the spark entirely. The ambush line provides more consistent value through frequent Baron drops with greater affixes. Early-season players should still rush the spark path to craft their first mythic.

7. Infernal Hordes War Plans Skill Tree Setup & Upgrade

Infernal Hordes are widely considered the weakest war plan activity in Season 13. A single 10-wave horde can take 6-10 minutes — longer than completing an entire war plan of other activities. The default 6-wave version from war plans is faster but still less efficient than any other option. Most players recommend avoiding Infernal Hordes whenever the war plan path allows it. That said, the skill tree does contain some strong nodes if you must engage with this content.

Party & Solo Viability

Infernal Hordes function in both party and solo, but the party interaction with skill tree nodes is inconsistent and possibly bugged. An interesting duo interaction exists: if one player specs into Method of Madness/Black Pact and another player specs into the Infernal Horde thousand-cost chest line, both effects can apply simultaneously when there are only two players. Adding a third player reportedly causes this interaction to break. Nobody fully understands how party trees interact with Infernal Hordes yet — sometimes the game seems to use everyone's tree, and sometimes it uses only one person's and removes mechanics that others don't have.

How to Set Up the Skill Tree

If you're just doing the default 6-wave runs to clear your war plan quickly, grab Devil's Steel for a guaranteed 200 Aether and move on. If you're doing full 10-wave runs, invest in the middle path.

• Method of Madness - Your choices are more likely to share a category with your previous choice. This is the strongest node in the Infernal Horde tree. It lets you reliably juice a single strategy (Soulspire, Aether Lords, Masses, Hellborn) by giving more weighting to your previous selections.

• Black Pact - Similar to Method of Madness, this gives you additional options within categories you've already chosen. It often provides rare variants like Puffing Masses, actual Hellborne summons, or enhanced Aether Lord versions with higher Aether output.

• Impending Doom - In the last 10 seconds of a wave, all spawn slots fill up. If you camp one spot and blast continuously, the same mechanic keeps spawning over and over. Combined with juiced mechanics (Masses, Hellborn, Aether Lords), this generates hundreds of extra Aether. Players report massive Aether gains from this single node.

• Chaos Wave Options - You can make chaos waves more frequent (but lose one option per wave, dropping to two choices), or suppress them entirely (gaining a fourth option per wave). Suppressing gives you more control over your strategy, but chaos waves with juiced mechanics like Aether Lords can produce enormous Aether. If you have Layer Boss nodes that spawn bosses during chaos waves (like Van), you might want to leave them enabled.

Rewards & Loot

Aether (for end-of-horde cache choices), gem fragments (highly sought after this season), Obdessite, boss materials from chaos wave bosses, talisman chests, and general loot. The thousand-cost chest that spawns with certain nodes reportedly drops nice loot in duo party setups.

Best Builds for This Tree

Builds with strong AoE and fast kill speed handle Infernal Hordes best. You want to clear waves instantly to keep Aether flowing and maximize Impending Doom's final-seconds mechanic. Speed-focused builds that can one-shot packs are ideal.

Tips

If your only goal is clearing the war plan task as fast as possible, use the map teleport option to get the 6-wave version instead of using an Infernal Hordes compass (which gives 10 waves). You could complete an entire war plan in the time it takes to finish a single 10-wave horde. The activity is simply not time-efficient compared to everything else available. Level this tree last unless you genuinely enjoy the content.

Recommended Overall War Plan Route

With all trees ranked and explained, here's the optimal approach when selecting your five activities:

• Always include The Pit - Fast (2-3 minutes), universal glyph value, efficient for war plan progression.

• Take Hell Tides when available - Slightly longer but the maggot XP and layer keys from your skill tree investment justify the time.

• Nightmare Dungeons as quick filler - Fast to clear, provide obols (especially valuable since you're skipping hordes), and feed your escalation pipeline.

• Undercity whenever possible - The strongest single path for loot. About one minute per run with customizable rewards from tributes.

• Avoid Infernal Hordes - They take as long as an entire war plan by themselves. Skip them on every path that allows it.

• Layer Bosses - Good value when they appear as options, especially with the Nemesis middle path generating free boss encounters over time.

This routing philosophy - minimum time, maximum reward - is what separates efficient war plan farmers from players who spend hours without meaningful progress. Apply it consistently, invest in the right skill tree nodes, and you'll see your character's power and wealth grow rapidly throughout Season 13.