Halloween has arrived in Sanctuary, and Blizzard has rolled out not one but two overlapping events for Season 15. The fan favorite Treasure Goblin event returns with increased spawns, bonus loot, and a fresh reputation board, while a brand new Meat or Treat event introduces a spooky Burning Butcher encounter tied to dungeon shrines. This guide walks you through dates, mechanics, rewards, and the fastest farming routes so you can squeeze every drop of loot out of the week.
Butcher Meets Goblin March in Diablo 4 Season 15
Season 15 pairs two activities that complement each other beautifully. The March of the Goblins boosts Treasure Goblin density across the open world and gives you a new reputation board in Kyovashad to progress through. At the same time, the Meat or Treat event sends the Burning Butcher wandering out of the Infernal Hordes and into Sanctuary's dungeons, where he can now pop out of shrines when you least expect it. Players chasing Mythic items, Resplendent Sparks, high level runes, and stackable Prime Evil Splinters finally have a week designed around raw loot acquisition.
With that quick snapshot out of the way, here is everything you need to know about the schedule, mechanics, rewards, and farming routes.
Diablo 4 March of the Goblins & Meat or Treat Event Start & End Date
Both events run simultaneously during the same window:
Start Date: October 28, 2026 (Wednesday)
End Date: November 4, 2026
That gives you roughly one week to work through the reputation board, farm Butchers, and stockpile seasonal materials before the double event wraps up.
Now that the window is clear, let's go over how the Goblin side of things actually functions.
How Does the March of the Goblins Event Run in D4 S15?
The event centers around a brand new Goblin Altar located in western Kyovashad, right next to the Waypoint in the Fractured Peaks region. Interacting with the giant goblin statue opens the March of the Goblins reputation board.
Core Loop
The flow is straightforward:
Travel to Kyovashad and activate the Altar.
Kill Treasure Goblins anywhere in Sanctuary to earn reputation.
Hit ranks 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 to earn permanent event buffs that improve loot bag drops from goblins.
Claim your cosmetics, caches, Sparks, and runes along the way.
Permanent Buffs That Stack
Each even numbered rank grants a passive bonus that persists for the rest of the event. These buffs raise the odds of goblins dropping standard treasure bags, yellow (Rare) bags, Legendary bags, and finally Mythic bags once you reach the top tier. The longer you progress, the more generous your loot bag chances become.
Once you hit rank 10, the board does not stop giving rewards. A repeatable chest appears that you can continue to claim as you keep killing goblins, which keeps the farming meaningful even after the main track is finished.
Anything New in the Season 15 Goblin Event?
A few quality of life updates and surprises arrive with this patch.
Splinters Are Finally Stackable
The biggest change in the live game is that Prime Evil Splinters (Destruction, Hatred, and Terror) now stack up to 99 in your inventory. Players who hoarded reputation caches from earlier in the season can now claim all of them at once and walk away with dozens of splinters in a single sitting. The one catch is that splinters still cannot be placed in the stash, so you need to stay on the same character to keep them.
Goblin Caches Dropping Seasonal Runes on Eternal
A quirky bug surfaced right after launch where Goblin Caches dropped Seasonal runes even on Eternal characters. Players reported pulling three Seasonal runes per cache. Blizzard typically hotfixes player friendly bugs quickly, so if it is still live when you log in, it is worth cracking caches early.
The Burning Butcher Spreads
The Butcher's influence is leaking out of the Infernal Hordes and into open world dungeons. More on that in the Meat or Treat section below.
Goblin Retreat Portals
Thanks to the War Plans node called Greed is Good, slaying Treasure Goblins now has a chance to open a portal to a goblin retreat area, which contains a mysterious cow statue hinting at a possible future secret.
What To Farm from S15 March of the Goblins Event (Rewards & Loot)
The payout here is one of the richest a goblin event has produced. Here is what you can expect to walk away with.
Reputation Board Rewards
Resplendent Spark at a milestone rank.
Mother's Chosen Raiment horse armor cosmetic.
Fedric's Cache with runes and extra items.
Mythic gift at the end of the reputation line.
High tier runes including Ber and other rare runewords ingredients.
Goblin Drops in the World
Thanks to the stacking buffs from the board, goblins pour out:
Primordial Dust and other seasonal materials.
Gem Fragments.
Obducite.
Socketable splinters and runes.
Treasure bags that upgrade to Rare, Legendary, and Mythic variants as your rank climbs.
Ambush encounters that can roll into Uber Boss summons when paired with stackable splinters.
Occasional Whimsyshire portals.
Treasure Breach Nightmare Dungeon Sigils
Through the War Plans Goblin Fall node, Treasure Goblins have a small chance to drop Nightmare Dungeon Sigils with the Treasure Breach affix. These dungeons are packed with goblins, and killing them inside has a chance to spawn more Treasure Breach sigils, letting you self sustain the loop almost indefinitely.
March of the Goblins Best Farm Route & Method
There are three proven strategies to clear the board and keep goblins flowing:
Strategy 1: Infernal Hordes Chaos Wave (Fastest)
The quickest way to max your Goblin March reputation is not actually chasing goblins in the open world. Instead:
Open an Infernal Hordes compass.
Pray for a Goblin Chaos Wave to appear.
Clearing a single Goblin Chaos Wave is enough to carry you from rank 1 all the way to rank 10.
Grab the Total Chaos node on the Infernal Hordes War Board to boost the frequency of chaos waves. Note that compasses have been bugged lately, sometimes giving a 6 wave run when you opened a 10 wave compass, so expect some QA jank.
Strategy 2: Open World Farming
Preparation steps:
Go to the character selection menu, open Options then Social, and disable cross network play. Fewer players means fewer stolen goblins.
Hire Subo as your mercenary. His passive marks enemies on the minimap, which includes goblins.
Stay mounted and keep opening your full map. Goblins appear on the full map at a much greater range than they do on the minimap.
Top farming regions:
Scosglen (Celestia and Akarat's Bulwark): Highest goblin density during testing, often spawning multiple goblins at once.
Nahantu (Vessel of Hatred): Start at Samael and work south through the Five Hills, then east into the Restless Canopy. Alternatively, farm the Tirel camp or the southern area below Kurast Bazaar.
Ked Bardu (Dry Steppes): Great base game option without the expansion.
North Shore of Scosglen: Another strong base game pick thanks to high monster density.
Helltides: Any active Helltide works well, since density scales goblin spawn chances.
Strategy 3: Nightmare Dungeons with War Plans Nodes
For long term sustain and bonus loot, enable these three War Plans nodes:
Goblin Fall: Treasure Goblins gain a chance to drop Treasure Breach Nightmare Dungeon Sigils.
Altar of Avarice: Replaces Horadric Altars with Goblin Altars, which spawn goblins.
Horadric Hunter: Summons a Horadric Altar after every 25 elite kills in a Nightmare Dungeon.
Greed is Good: Grants a chance to open a portal to the goblin retreat when killing Treasure Goblins.
Treasure Hoard: Pick it up if you have the points.
Pair these with Nemesis Bracers (or the unique amulet version) so every shrine activation spawns a pack of elites, which feeds Horadric Hunter faster. Equipping the Splinter of Hatred at rank 12 adds another chance for any elite kill to reveal a Horadric Altar.
Pro Shrine Tip
If you find a second shrine while another is still active, do not pick it up. Stay near it, wait for the first shrine's effect to wear off so stored elite and goblin souls release, then grab the second shrine to capture that fresh wave plus the new one. This chains massive combos.
Greed Shrine Tip
Always activate Greed Shrines before killing surrounding monsters. The shrine spawns goblins based on how many monsters you kill while it is active, so clearing the room first wastes the buff.
With the goblin side handled, let's turn to the fresh new Butcher activity.
How Does the Meat or Treat Event Run?
Meat or Treat is the brand new Halloween event layered on top of the Goblin March. The Burning Butcher's influence is spreading out of the Infernal Hordes and into Sanctuary's dungeons.
Two Places to Hunt the Butcher
Infernal Hordes: The hordes now have a boosted Butcher spawn rate. If you still need to grind to Paragon 300, the Burning Butcher gives insane amounts of XP per kill, so this doubles as a leveling activity.
Nightmare Dungeons: Interacting with certain shrines inside Nightmare Dungeons can trigger a Burning Butcher encounter. During testing, Greed Shrines reliably spawned Burning Butchers, while Channeling Shrines spawned goblins with event runes floating around them. The developer blurb reads "be careful what shrines you interact with right now," suggesting every shrine type may have some event twist attached.
What To Watch For
Shrines connected to the event often have a subtle red glow or event runes rotating around them. Approach with caution if you are undergeared, because the Burning Butcher hits hard.
Anything New in the Season 15 Halloween Event?
Meat or Treat is itself the new addition. Nothing like it has appeared in Sanctuary before. A few points worth noting:
The event is more of a loot bonus layer than a full featured Halloween celebration. There are no new cosmetics tied specifically to Meat or Treat beyond what the Goblin board already offers.
The Burning Butcher now appears outside of Infernal Hordes for the very first time.
Combined with stackable splinters, Butcher farming pairs beautifully with Uber Boss summoning, since the ambushes rolled from goblin encounters can also push you toward Uber Boss attempts.
Hell Tide lag issues that plagued earlier patches appear to have been reduced in this update.
What To Farm from S15 Meat or Treat Event (Rewards & Loot)
The Burning Butcher is the main reward engine of Meat or Treat. Expected drops include:
Massive XP gains, perfect for pushing Paragon 300.
Legendary and Unique gear with high Greater Affix potential.
Mythic Uniques from the loot pool, since several players reported Mythics dropping during Nightmare Dungeon Butcher encounters.
Chances at Uber Boss summoning materials through goblin ambushes and splinter farming.
Seasonal materials like Obducite in bulk from Infernal Hordes runs.
High tier runes when combined with reputation cache openings.
Meat or Treat Best Farm Route & Method
Route 1: Infernal Hordes Spam
Open compasses, run full 10 wave hordes, and let Burning Butchers appear naturally. Picking the Total Chaos node also increases chaos waves, which pairs with goblin farming for double duty.
Route 2: Nightmare Dungeons with Greed Shrines
Pick Nightmare Dungeon Sigils that contain shrines, then:
Enter the dungeon and scout for a Greed Shrine.
Clear surrounding mobs first to position yourself.
Activate the shrine and expect a Burning Butcher spawn alongside goblin spawns.
If the Butcher does not appear, continue to the next shrine. Try Channeling and Artillery Shrines as well since the event may touch all shrine types.
Route 3: Pair with Nemesis Bracers
Nemesis Bracers trigger an elite ambush every time you activate a shrine. Combined with War Plans nodes, each shrine activation becomes a potential Butcher spawn surrounded by elite packs, which boosts both reputation and loot per interaction.
Now for the final piece: tying both events together into one streamlined farming session.
How To Farm Both Events Together (Combined Farming Route)
Rather than running them separately, you can stack rewards from both events with the right loop.
The Optimal Weekly Plan
Step 1: Blast Infernal Hordes First
Open Infernal Hordes compasses with the Total Chaos node active. You accomplish three things at once:
Chance at a Goblin Chaos Wave that completes the entire March of the Goblins reputation board in one run.
Boosted Burning Butcher spawns for Meat or Treat.
Paragon XP and seasonal materials.
Step 2: Claim All Reputation Caches
After maxing the Goblin board, head to Teisas and claim every reputation cache you have saved. Thanks to stackable splinters, you can walk away with 60+ splinters in one sitting, feeding your Lucky Coins and Hellfire runs.
Step 3: Nightmare Dungeon Loop
Run Nightmare Dungeon Sigils with shrines (Treasure Breach sigils are ideal) using the War Plans setup:
Goblin Fall
Altar of Avarice
Horadric Hunter
Greed is Good
Treasure Hoard
Use Nemesis Bracers and the Splinter of Hatred at rank 12 to maximize elite spawns, Horadric Altars, and Butcher chances.
Step 4: Open World Rotation
When sigils run dry, rotate through Nahantu (Samael south to Restless Canopy), Scosglen (Celestia and Akarat's Bulwark), and Ked Bardu with cross network play disabled. Keep Subo as your mercenary, stay mounted, and open your full map constantly to catch goblins at longer range.
Step 5: Helltide Mop Up
Jump into active Helltides for backup goblin spawns and seasonal cache rewards. Helltides reward reputation that feeds the archetype and seasonal cache cycle, which drops splinters at a high rate.
Loop Priority
The ideal weekly priority order looks like this:
Infernal Hordes for Goblin Chaos Wave board completion.
Reputation cache claim for stackable splinters.
Nightmare Dungeons with War Plans nodes for Treasure Breach sigils and Butcher spawns.
Open world Nahantu or Scosglen rotation for raw goblin volume.
Helltides for extra caches and splinter farming.
Final Tips
Season 15 is one of the strongest material farming windows the game has produced, so stockpile Obducite, runes, and Spark fragments before November 4.
Goblin Caches may still drop Seasonal runes on Eternal characters until Blizzard hotfixes the bug, so crack them early.
Mythic drops have been reported from open world Nightmare Dungeon chests during the Butcher event, so do not skip chests on your way through dungeons.
If you own Vessel of Hatred, Nahantu remains the undisputed top goblin density zone. Without the expansion, the north shore of Scosglen and Ked Bardu are your best bets.
The combination of stacking splinters, double events, and refreshed reputation rewards makes this one of the richest loot weeks the game has seen. Log in, let the goblins march, hunt down the Burning Butcher, and fill your inventory before the clock runs out on November 4, 2026.