Season 15, the Season of Hell's Legacy, has changed how War Plans works in Diablo 4. With account-wide shared finally live, a brand new Prime Evil Splinter system layered on top of every tree, and Undercity dethroning Helltides as the top XP farm, players need a fresh routing plan to keep up. In this guide, we are going to breaking down every War Plan tree, the correct node priority for each activity, how the three Prime Evil Splinters (Baal, Mephisto, and Diablo) modify your tree bonuses, and the exact leveling order to follow so you hit the biggest power spikes without wasting points. Whether you are pushing paragon on a main, leveling glyphs to 150, or gearing up an alt in record time, the routes below cover the fastest path to endgame in Season 15.
Diablo 4 Season 15 Best War Plans Skill Tree Builds for Each Activity
War Plans remain one of the most broken endgame farm in Diablo 4 Season 15, and the 3.2 patch brings meaningful adjustments to how players should approach this system. Introduced originally with the Lord of Hatred expansion, War Plans give players a structured command table where they select a sequence of five endgame activities to complete in order, earning upgraded loot, XP, boss materials, Horadric Cube crafting components, and gold along the way. Each activity has its own skill tree that levels from 1 to 7, and the nodes you invest in directly affect what drops, what spawns, and how rewarding each run becomes.
With Season 15 introducing account-wide shared War Plans, adjusted Helltide maggot XP, reworked mythic drop sources, and a brand new Prime Evil Splinter system that plugs directly into your War Plan trees, knowing the right priority order matters more than ever. This Season 15 War Plans guide covers how the system works, the seasonal splinter interactions, and the correct priority order for leveling each tree.
What's New for War Plans in Season 15
Before jumping into individual trees, here are the biggest Season 15 adjustments that affect War Plans routing:
War Plans are now account-wide. Alt characters no longer need to grind their trees from scratch, which makes early-season planning much smoother.
Helltide maggot XP was nerfed. Writhe and Rot still produces excellent XP, but the gap between it and other farms is smaller. Maggots are no longer target-farmed but picked up naturally when a Helltide appears on your plan.
Undercity is now the top XP farm thanks to a buff to Jade Epiphany. Combined with the Bale Splinter of Destruction, it produces the fastest paragon leveling in the game.
Echo of Mephisto now guarantees a mythic drop regardless of torment difficulty. Group rotations become extremely efficient for mythic farming.
Legendary drop rates in early torment tiers went up, which helps early aspect farming during leveling.
Mythic drop rates from Lair Bosses and Mephisto increased overall, avoiding another dry-start situation.
Tree of Whispers Resplendent Spark node now actually works after being bugged the previous season.
Prime Evil Splinter powers now modify War Plan tree nodes, adding a seasonal layer on top of the base trees.
How Do the War Plans Work in Diablo 4 Season 15?
The War Plans command table sits in Tyrial, the expansion city. Approaching it presents you with branching paths of multiple rows, and you pick one node per row to build a sequence of five endgame activities to complete in order. Rewards come in magic (blue), rare, and legendary (orange) rarities. Orange rewards are the rarest and worth pathing toward, since players occasionally spot rewards as large as 5 billion gold or extra mythics on certain routes. A useful tip is to pick paths where the same activity repeats two or three times in a row. Three Helltide nodes in sequence lets you stay in one tide for around 10 minutes and open every chest, while three Nightmare Dungeons back-to-back can be chained into a single Escalation run.
You get three free rerolls per plan, and after those, you must commit to whatever plan you have. Once you hit start, a new icon appears on your map for teleporting between activities. You are not forced to complete all five nodes, so you can skip past Infernal Hordes or anything else that wastes time. War Plan completions grant activity experience toward each tree, and trees range from Level 1 to 7. Leveling them outside War Plans is nearly impossible. Reaching the first Lair Boss threshold would take around 125 solo boss kills versus a single War Plan completion granting the same amount.
For co-op, Season 15 introduces account-wide progression but the shared party path issue is not fully resolved. Each player still generates their own randomized playlist. If you are in a party, only the leader's plan advances through their sequence. Party members earn some loot at the end of activities, gain some XP toward their trees, and if their next task happens to match, they get credit toward their own plan too. The best hybrid approach is to run solo for pure War Plan progression and group up for Undercity mythic tribute runs and Nemesis portal fights. Important note: for Lair Boss Nemesis portals, everyone in the party must have the Nemesis node in their own tree, otherwise they receive no loot from the encounter.
How Prime Evil Splinters Work on War Plans Activities
Season 15 introduces the very first seasonal-based War Plans mechanic. Your active Prime Evil Splinter (Destruction from Baal, Hatred from Mephisto, or Terror from Diablo) activates extra effects on specific War Plan nodes based on your seasonal reputation rank.
How Splinter Ranks Work
Splinter ranks match your seasonal reputation board (Rank 4, Rank 8, Rank 12, Rank 14, Rank 18, Rank 20, Rank 22).
Each Prime Evil is tied to certain activities: Baal covers Undercity and Lair Bosses, Mephisto covers Nightmare Dungeons and Pit, and Diablo covers Helltide and Infernal Hordes.
The Tree of Whispers is shared, with all three splinters granting different nodes there.
Only your active splinter's node effects trigger. Switching splinters requires the corresponding splinter item, so pick with intent.
Which Splinter to Pick and When
Early season Bale (Splinter of Destruction): Best for paragon leveling. Buffs Jade Epiphany in Undercity for 50% more XP orbs and +1 monster power, turning Undercity into the fastest XP farm in the game.
Mid season Mephisto (Splinter of Hatred): Best for glyph leveling. At Rank 20, Chronos' Blessing treats your Pit as if you cleared 10 tiers higher, taking a glyph from 71 in just two runs.
Late season Diablo (Splinter of Terror): Best for Helltide farming, root farming, and Infernal Hordes routes. Also feeds into the Uber Tristram trio combo when paired with the other two splinters.
Where Splinters Drop
Splinters can drop from almost anywhere. Killing Baal gives Destruction, Mephisto gives Hatred, and Diablo gives Terror, though Baal has been confirmed to drop all three at a lower rate. Nightmare Dungeon Escalation end-chests, Waking Spoils War Bounty chests, and Whisper caches all have a chance to contain them. You can only hold one of each splinter at a time, so putting all three into the Cube produces Wirt's Lucky Coins for the Uber Tristram fight.
Farming Splinters Loadout Recommendation
Before you jump into any activity, one setup matters most. Slot your Leoric's Crown with Splinter of Lies + Splinter of Damnation:
Splinter of Lies grants +89% increased gold and materials plus +25% experience.
Splinter of Damnation raises monster power by 1 and grants bonus experience. Monster power stacks, boosting monster life, damage, XP, and rewards.
This combo has produced 230 paragon points in just 25 hours of play. Use these two splinters for Helltides, Lair Bosses, Nightmare Dungeon Escalations, and Undercity. Only swap them out when rushing Pit runs, where damage splinters replace them.
Season 15 War Plans Leveling Priority Order
Early in the season, War Plans should be pushed hard since they accelerate your gameplay dramatically by boosting rewards, XP, and material income. However, there is a ceiling. Overdoing War Plans slows your character down because you fall behind in raw activity spam, while underdoing them means you miss the biggest power spikes. Since you get a randomized War Plan every time, you cannot always level trees in the perfect order, so treat the priority list below as a target rather than a rigid script.
The recommended progression order for Season 15 is:
Undercity to Level 3 for Jade Epiphany and Endless Swarm. This is now the top XP farm in the game with the Bale Splinter equipped.
Pits to Level 2 for Chronos' Haste and Heart of Stone.
Helltides to Level 2 for Writhe and Rot and Lair Boss keys.
Lair Bosses to Level 3 for Two by Two bossing efficiency.
Helltides to Level 3 for free unique items via Bursting Blood.
Nightmare Dungeons to Level 3 for Branching Pathways material selection.
Lair Bosses to Level 5 to spam superior keys for Greater and Ultimate Nemesis.
Undercity to Level 6+ for Gutter Filth and Initiative.
Pits to Level 3 for Chronos' Blessing extra glyph upgrade.
Beyond these thresholds, most leveling is optional and should be done passively as random War Plans allow.
Best War Plans Activity Skill Trees & Build Setup Guide
Not every War Plan tree is created equal, and Season 15's changes have shuffled the rankings significantly compared to previous seasons. Some trees deliver massive power spikes within their first two or three levels, while others exist mainly for niche loot or seasonal splinter interactions. To help you decide where to invest your War Plan completions first, the section below ranks every activity skill tree from strongest to weakest based on XP throughput, loot value, splinter synergy, and overall convenience. For each tree, you'll find a quick overview, the exact node routing to follow, the loot payoff you should expect, and a breakdown of how it performs in both solo and party play so you can plan your season around what actually matters.
1. Undercity War Plans Skill Tree (Best XP Farm in Season 15)
Undercity has jumped to the top of the priority list this season thanks to buffs to Jade Epiphany and the Bale Splinter of Destruction. It is now the fastest paragon farm in the game.
Priority Node Order
Endless Swarm on the way to Jade Epiphany. Faster clears and more density.
Unfortunate Souls on the way to Gutter Filth for Portal Prankster spawns.
Jade Epiphany grants XP orbs at each attunement tier (2, 4, 6, and 8 orbs), and with the Splinter of Destruction active, you get 50% more orbs plus another +1 monster power.
Finely Tuned and Pathfinder speed up beacon clears.
Gutter Filth doubles to quadruples loot per run by spawning Portal Prankster goblins that add extra tribute chests.
Initiative extends the max reward bar from 4 to 6, roughly 50% more loot per run.
Why the Bale Splinter Changes Everything
With Jade Epiphany plus the Splinter of Destruction, a full Undercity run finishes on the second floor. The attunement bar fills faster than ever, a teleport portal to the boss opens once you cap out, and you skip the third floor entirely. Each run produces roughly half a paragon level. Do not forget to collect the XP orbs before clicking the boss portal.
How Gutter Filth Actually Works
When you activate the blue attunement pillars, you have a chance to spawn a Portal Prankster goblin. Each goblin killed adds an additional tribute chest at the end. At Torment 8+ with Mythic Tributes, each of these chests is nearly guaranteed to drop a mythic item.
Solo vs Party
Undercity is one of the strongest party activities. Each player brings one tribute, giving the group four runs total. Groups regularly walk out with 15+ mythics across those four runs.
2. Helltides War Plans Skill Tree (Best for Lair Keys, Cinders, and Passive Uniques)
Even after the Season 15 nerf, Helltides remain strong. The middle path built around Writhe and Rot still produces XP globes, boss trophies, and Lair Boss keys at the same time.
Priority Node Order
Hellmouth on the way to Writhe and Rot.
Hated Foe on the way to Writhe and Rot.
Writhe and Rot spawns maggots and Pangs of Duriel for XP globes and Lair Boss keys.
Bursting Blood turns maggots and Pangs into Lair Boss loot drops. Passive unique farming while you play.
Red Vermin speeds up threat by boosting demonic rat spawns and cinder drops.
Ashes to Ashes on the right side gives more cinders around the map.
Harbinger paths deep into the tree for the seasonal Diablo, Mephisto, or Baal Harbingers.
Night Terrors makes Hellborne spawn inside Escalating Nightmare Dungeons.
The Modern Helltide Flow
Push threat to two-thirds full using chaos portals, ride around killing maggots for Lair keys and cinders, then decide between two routes. The left side (Meat Brothers) replaces Hellborne with Butchers for extra XP and Profane Mine Cages. The right side lets you hit the 666-cinder chest, which is now worth taking since maggot spawns give you far more cinders than you need. Skip the Meat Brothers if you already have monster power from the Splinter of Damnation.
Warning About Meat Brothers
Meat Brothers appears buggy this season, particularly on Hardcore. The flaming chain effect can one-shot any build regardless of defenses. Play carefully or path around it entirely.
Party and Solo Viability
Threat levels rise faster in groups, spawning hellworms sooner and more frequently. Solo players still reach threat level two reliably. XP is personal, so grouping does not dilute rewards.
3. The Pit War Plans Skill Tree (Best for Glyph Upgrades)
The Pit remains the premier activity for leveling glyphs. Correct nodes give you multiple extra glyph upgrade chances per run and speed up runs so much that clear time nearly halves.
Priority Node Order
Chronos' Haste gives +2 glyph upgrades per run. Take this first on every character.
Heart of Stone grants +1 glyph upgrade and drops progress orbs that shave 20 to 30 seconds off runs.
Chronos' Blessing adds another +1 glyph upgrade per run. Combined with the Splinter of Hatred at Rank 20, it treats runs as if you cleared 10 tiers higher.
Damned Thieves adds goblins that drop progress orbs.
Pit Butcher and Chronos' Favor improve butcher and goblin spawn rates.
Chronos' Soul converts progress orbs into experience once glyphs are maxed. Excellent for alt leveling now that War Plans are account-wide.
Swap to Damage Splinters for Pit
Do not run Pit with your farming splinters equipped. Swap to your damage splinters for faster clears, then swap back for other activities. The Splinter of Hatred pairs best here for the glyph upgrade boost and the extra progress orbs.
Best Use Case
Speed builds capable of finishing Pit 110+ under five minutes get maximum value. Ball Lightning Sorcerer, Spiritborn speed builds, and any class with strong AoE clear all work. Highly mobile builds like perma-teleport Sorcerer may skip over progress orbs, making Heart of Stone slightly less efficient.
Solo vs Party
The Pit is primarily a solo activity in the War Plans context. There is no meaningful party benefit for Pit runs.
4. Nightmare Dungeons War Plans Skill Tree (Best for Materials and Splinter Farming)
The middle Escalating path is the reason to level this tree. Escalating NMDs are the second-best source of Lair keys and now the best source of Soul Splinters outside of direct Prime Evil kills.
Priority Node Order
Dread Revival on the way to Branching Pathways. With the Splinter of Hatred, bosses have a chance to revive multiple times, sometimes four or five back-to-back for extra loot each time.
Recurring Nightmares on the way to Branching Pathways.
Branching Pathways lets you pick which materials you want from Escalating NMDs (gold, Vile Splendor, gem, material, or Horadric Cube reserves). This is arguably the best node in all of War Plans since material reserves feed directly into Attuned Primordial Dust for Cube crafting.
Waking Spoils adds an extra War Bounty chest, which often contains Soul Splinters that can be amalgamated into legendary and unique versions.
Gauntlet (Soul Shrine) synergizes with Fearless Conviction by supplying more elites.
Fearless Conviction grants loot based on elites killed at the end of the dungeon.
The Splinter Amalgamation Route
Waking Spoils chests regularly contain lower-rarity Soul Splinters. Collect enough of the same type and use the Horadric Cube 5-to-1 amalgamation recipe to upgrade them into legendary and then unique versions. Legendary Black Soulstone splinters and Legendary Hellfire splinters slotted into helms are among the top damage boosts in the game right now.
Skip and Alternate Options
Treasure goblin nodes on the right side are lower priority. Goblin's Retreat is extremely rare and not worth prioritizing over the middle path.
5. Lair Bosses War Plans Skill Tree (Best for Bossing and Mythic Explosions)
Level 3 gets you your first Nemesis portal, and Level 5 is the real spam breakpoint for Greater and Ultimate Nemesis.
Priority Node Order
Two by Two (Nemesis Lair) opens a red portal after killing a boss for a free double-boss fight.
Lair of Runes buffs loot through +1 monster power and grants extra rune drops.
Lair of Plenty adds a second chest and another +1 monster power, cutting bossing time in half.
Greater Nemesis adds another Nemesis Lair portal. Requires superior keys.
Ultimate Nemesis is the final Nemesis portal in the chain. Requires superior keys.
Grigoire's Gambit grants free legendary loot from Helltide chests, including occasional uniques and mythics.
Golden Horde for extra gold conversion, though gold is not a bottleneck this season.
Den of Asteroth and Exotic Armory on the right side let you drop three additional class-agnostic uniques per Horde Chest (Rank 20 with Splinter of Destruction) and route Asteroth and Beast in the Ice loot into Nightmare Dungeons.
Baal Farming Is the Top Mythic Route
Baal in the Worldstone Keep drops a mythic roughly every second kill and can be cleared in under two minutes. The path is deterministic: if the entrance is bottom-left, the next area is top-right. If entrance is bottom-right, next area is top-left. Move to the Arreat Summit, mount up, activate the ancients (with auto-cast enabled), continue to the abaddon, then take the first-left or first-right corridor and hug that side. Kill Baal's Guard, then Baal. Simple loop, huge mythic returns.
Balile as a Bonus Target
Balile can drop from Asteroth's or Beast in the Ice's loot tables, so spawning Balile via Lair Boss keys is far faster than farming Escalation NMDs for those uniques. With Splinter of Destruction at Rank 18, mythic drop rates from Balile are noticeably higher.
6. Tree of Whispers War Plans Skill Tree (Passive Progression, Splinter Access, and Sparks)
The Tree of Whispers levels naturally as you complete other War Plan activities. It is the only tree you can reasonably max without dedicated War Plan focus. In Season 15, all three Prime Evil Splinters modify this tree, so your active splinter matters.
Priority Node Order
Grim Retribution on the right side. At Rank 5 with the Splinter of Destruction, whisper ambushes trigger more often and drop superior Lair Keys at Rank 22 plus greater collections of chaos.
Wisdom of Whispers in the middle for more choices and XP.
Grim Mysteries upgrades chaos caches into mystery caches, which are notably better.
Resplendent Favor grants Resplendent Sparks. Fixed and working in Season 15, and doubled to 2 sparks per proc at Rank 22 with the Splinter of Hatred.
Corrupted Roots and Roots of Power for root farming, though this is now optional since roots are less rewarding compared to sparks.
Splinter Effects on the Whispers Tree
Splinter of Destruction (Baal): Whisper ambushes drop superior Lair Keys at Rank 22.
Splinter of Hatred (Mephisto): 50% more XP orbs in whisper caches, double Resplendent Sparks at Rank 22.
Splinter of Terror (Diablo): More roots appear in whisper caches, +1 monster power on planted roots at Rank 22.
Sparks Are Now Functional
The Resplendent Favor node rewards sparks reliably in Season 15. Since sparks can be used to craft any Mythic Unique from the pool (not just iconic ones), stockpiling them is one of the top passive goals of the season.
7. Infernal Hordes War Plans Skill Tree (Skip This)
Infernal Hordes remain the weakest activity for War Plan progression. A 10-wave run takes 6 to 10 minutes, longer than an entire War Plan of other activities. Skip it whenever possible.
Priority Node Order (If You Insist)
Method and Madness weights offering choices toward your previous picks for strategy locking.
Exalted Council grants more loot.
Council Coffers provides a Talisman chest for only 100 aether at Rank 20 with the Splinter of Terror.
Infernal Hoard grants a Greater Equipment chest.
Reign in Hell locks strategy at the cost of no chaos waves.
Pulse of Aether gives 50 aether when a chaos wave would have spawned.
Practical Strategy
If your only goal is clearing the War Plan task, use the map teleport for the 6-wave version and leave quickly. You could complete an entire War Plan in the time a single 10-wave Infernal Horde takes. Level this tree last, and skip the Splinter of Terror Infernal Hordes nodes unless you actively enjoy horde runs.
Recommended Overall War Plan Routing for Season 15
Once your trees are leveled, this is the ideal way to pick your five activities in order:
Always include Undercity with Bale Splinter for paragon XP. Roughly one-minute effective runs and the top mythic farm in the game via Mythic Tributes plus Gutter Filth.
Always include The Pit for glyph upgrades. Two to three minute runs with the Splinter of Hatred once you are past paragon farming.
Take Helltides when available for Lair keys, cinders, and passive uniques via Bursting Blood.
Nightmare Dungeons as filler for Branching Pathways material control and Soul Splinter farming.
Lair Bosses for build-specific loot through spawn routing. Chain Baal runs outside of War Plans for pure mythic farming.
Tree of Whispers passively. Levels itself, and the working Spark node makes it worth passive investment.
Skip Infernal Hordes unless you specifically want Talisman Chests.
Season 15 Alt Character Strategy:
Account-wide War Plans plus Chronos' Soul (Pit Level 7) converting progress orbs into XP means alt leveling is faster than ever. A combined route of Undercity (Bale Splinter for the XP orb multiplier) plus Pit runs can take an alt from 1 to 70 in roughly 30 minutes. If you plan on running multiple characters this season, front-load Undercity and Pit progression on your main to unlock the account-wide bonuses early.
