In Lord of Hatred, Diablo 4 introduced a new endgame system called War Plans. This system is located on War Plans table in the major city and unlocks after completing the expansion's major campaign.
War Plans are essentially a progressive skill tree. Players accumulate experience by completing different activities, gradually unlocking greater reward paths. Its core value lies in significantly increasing the drop rate of Mythics.
The following will break down the optimization strategies for each activity branch to help players quickly accumulate equipment and materials in the mid-to-late game of the expansion.
Basic Mechanics
War Plans consist of two crucial dimensions: the actual active War Plans talent tree and the experience bar level corresponding to each activity. Each activity can be upgraded from level 1 to level 7; the higher the level, the stronger the monsters and the better the rewards.
Players do not need to follow a fixed path and can choose talent branches according to their preferences. However, War Plans only affect single-player progress. In a party, only the party leader can advance their plan, but teammates can still participate in combat and receive the ultimate rewards.
Tree of Whispers
The Tree of Whispers route is suitable for early-game exploration and consistent resource accumulation. Prioritize unlocking Whisper Cache, which has a chance to drop Resplendent Spark.
It's also recommended choosing Whisper Cache, which allows you to select only material chests or large collection chests, and includes the added fourth chest option to increase the total number of chests opened.
Wisper quests on the right-hand branch, including the ambush and Baron encounter within the ambush, are worth investing in.
Barons have a chance to drop Ancestral collection items, which include gear that always includes Greater Affixes. At lower Torment Tiers, Greater Affix gear is extremely scarce, so any source of guaranteed Greater Affix should be unlocked first.
Nightmare Dungeon
Unlocking Treasure Goblin on the right-hand branch has a chance to drop Treasure Breach Nightmare Dungeon Sigil.
Nightmare Dungeon opened with this Sigil will generate many Goblins, and the new Goblin rooms offer significantly more rewards than before. Further, it's pointed out that defeating Goblin in Nightmare Dungeon has a chance to trigger a Portal, leading to Goblin's Retreat.
The middle branch is the most powerful route. First, after Nightmare Dungeon boss is defeated, there's a chance it will revive, granting +1 Monster Strength. Monster Strength directly increases experience and loot drop rates.
Defeating the enhanced boss has a chance to drop an Escalating Nightmare Dungeon Sigil. Using this Sigil on Torment 12 difficulty will result in the last boss, Astaroth, dropping 10,000 Obducite.
Subsequent branches leading to the next Escalating dungeon will spawn two additional Horadric Portals that lead to Horadric Strongroom, further increasing the probability of continuously farming Sigils. This continuous farming route is the best way to obtain Greater materials.
Helltides
Helltides recommends going straight to the middle point. Exploding the hellish fissures erupting from the ground will generate additional Maggots. Maggots drop a large amount of experience and Boss Trophy upon defeat.
Continue to explore; Maggots and Pangs of Duriel explode upon death, dropping numerous Boss Trophys. This combination can spawn dozens of Boss Trophys in a single Helltides run, while simultaneously boosting character experience rapidly.
Pick up Shrine at the right branch point to increase the threat bar. A full bar summons a Hellborne, further enhancing monster strength. The ultimate goal is Profane Mindcage, an item from past seasons that permanently increases the strength of all monsters in the wild.
Kurast Undercity Area
Kurast Undercity is the most crucial area for obtaining Mythic gear. Prioritize unlocking the Invading Portal, which appears in Kurast Undercity. Defeating enemies swarming from Portal grants Attunement.
Subsequently, unlock Portal; it sometimes summons Wisp that attach to the player. Each Wisp successfully saved grants Forgotten Soul and other crafting materials. Forgotten Souls are extremely scarce in later Masterworking stages, and this branch effectively alleviates resource pressure.
The core talent is: Activating any Beacon in Kurast Undercity has a chance to summon a Portal Prankster. This is a rare Treasure Goblin; defeating it will spawn an additional Tribute Chest when District Boss dies.
However, players must have a Tribute equipped beforehand to unlock the chest. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to activate every pillar in Kurast Undercity to summon as many Portal Pranksters as possible, and then unlock multiple Tribute Chests at once after defeating District Boss.
Lair Boss and Ultimate Nemesis
In Lair Boss route, clicking on the boss chest has a low chance of spawning a Portal, leading to Nemesis Layer.
On this layer, you will face two low-level bosses simultaneously. After completing them, there is a chance to spawn a Portal leading to Greater Nemesis Layer, which contains two more powerful bosses.
Finally, after defeating all the bosses in Greater Nemesis Layer, Altar will appear. Consuming 5 Betrayer Husks will unlock Ultimate Nemesis. All monsters in the ultimate layer are +5 strength, and defeating the last boss will drop the equivalent of opening 10 boss chests' worth of equipment. This route highly condenses boss farming time and has a high chance of dropping Mythic gear each time.
The Pit and Infernal Hordes
The Pit route is ideal for players who haven't yet reached the maximum Glyph level. Combined with the additional opportunity gained from killing Guardian every 5 minutes remaining, a maximum of 8 level-ups can be achieved per run.
These extra level-ups are extremely valuable when aiming for Glyph level 150 later in the game. If all Glyphs are maxed, excess level-ups can be exchanged for extra equipment or experience. In Infernal Hordes route, adjustments can be made flexibly based on needs: if Gem Fragments are needed, the option to drop Obducite can be changed to drop Gem Fragments; if Aether is needed, the frequency and difficulty of Chaos Waves can be increased, or you can choose to suppress Chaos Waves to directly obtain 50 Aether.
This War Plans speedrun route is highly efficient. By taking turns being the party leader, everyone can benefit. The efficiency of obtaining Mythic gear far surpasses traditional methods, making it worthwhile to fully invest in during the late game.











