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One of the major end-game systems inDiablo 4is the leveling of your Glyphs via Nightmare Dungeons.These powerful, gem-esque consumables can be socketed into certain Glyph slots in your Paragon Board. Unlocking powerful benefits, these Glyphs increase in both their effectiveness and Paragon Board radius as they level, making them a high-priority target for maximizing your character’s power.
This guide will reveal which Nightmare Dungeons are the best ones for quickly leveling up your Glyphs, based not in terms of enemy experience, but on their layout and clear speed.
Updated June 11, 2025, by Sean Murray:If you’re still looking for the fastest Nightmare Dungeons to farm in Diablo 4, then you’ve come to the right place. We’ve refreshed this guide with improved formatting and more breakout tips to make leveling those Glyphs that much easier.
Best Dungeons For Glyph Leveling
To level your Glyphs,you must complete anyNightmare Dungeon. The amount of experience earned corresponds to the level of the dungeon, meaning that in terms of raw experience, you’ll want to try andcomplete the highest level your character is capable of. However, this can come at the cost of a quick clear, as theenemy level will increase with the level of the Nightmare Sigil.
attempt to find a happy medium betweenefficiently killing enemiesandcompleting higher-level Sigils, as this will provide you with a strong platform to work on your end-game progression. You should always be aiming tokill enemies that are at least three levels higher than youfor character experience, so use this as a baseline difficulty and work up from there.
Glyphs can be empowered up to amaximum level of 21, with aspecial bonus being received at level 15. This will increase theradiusof the socketed Glyph on your Paragon Board, allowing them to reach more stat nodes and further empower their effects.
Glyphs also come in two different rarities;Magic and Rare. This system is somewhat obsolete asyou will very quickly acquire all Glyphs, regardless of rarity, once you begin to grind Nightmare Dungeons, so don’t worry about not having your best in slot Glyphs right from the start.You can always save up Glyph Experienceto spend it on the ones you want, so focus on gaining the raw experience rather than spending it immediately.
Glyphswillonly grant you their effects whenthey aresocketed into your Paragon Board, activating their secondary effect onceenough primary stat has been allocatedwithin their node radius.
Guulrahn Canals
The clear stand out when it comes tospeed-running Nightmare Dungeons is theGuulrahn Canals. The quickest clear speed you can find in Diablo 4, thelow mob density and limited objectivesmake the Canals the perfect choice for Glyph Experience.
you’re able to find the entrance to the Guulrahn Canals in theNorthern section of the Jakha Basin in the Dry Steppes. It is a relatively short run West from theHidden Overlook Waypoint. The enemies you’ll be facing will mostly beSpiders and Zombies, so watch out forRotting Corpse explosions!
The dungeon consists oftwo objectives:
Due to only caring about completing the dungeon, instead of how many enemies you are killing, the Canals work out to be thebest choice for purely Glyph farming, although you may want to try other options if you’re after a combination of Glyph and Player experience,owing to its low enemy count.
Aldurwood
Despite the Guulrahn Canals being the clear winner in terms of clear speed, other dungeons are only a bit longer to complete and come jam-packed with enemies to slaughter.Scosglenhas a strong selection of these types of instances, with bothAldurwoodand theRaethwind Wildsbeing quick and efficient to run.
The entrance to Aldurwood lies in theShrouded Moors section of Scosglen, which is only ashort ride from the Tirmair waypoint.
Aldurwood containstwo objectives:
This dungeon contains a variety of enemies, but most of them will fall under theBeast or Werewolfcategories.They can deal some high damage if you are unprepared for their charge attacks, so try to stay on the move andfocus on clearing out the packs of enemies before taking on the Aldurkin.
The Den Mother boss is one of the easiest available, as you only need to watch out for someobvious red poolsandher slash attacks. Her wolf minions should be no problem and depending on your single target damage you might be able to rival the Guulrahn Canals in terms of your clear speed.
Maulwood
Despite sounding as if it would be a Scosglen dungeon, thesnowy forest of Maulwoodcan be found in theDobrev Taiga section of the Fractured Peaks. It is a very short ride East from theMargrave Waypoint.
Although Maulwood hasthree objectives, they are all quick and easy to complete:
You’ll primarily be facing off againstBandit and Werewolfenemies, both of which are decent enemies to fight, asthey won’t have explosive death effects as standard. There isno bossto contend with either, with the only slow moment coming whenyou need to activate the two levers to gain access to the Skeletal Rise.
Witchwater
Hawezar’s first offering to the world of Glyph speed runs is Witchwater, which you’ll find at theSouthern end of the Blightmarsh section.The closest Waypoint will be Vyresz to the South, which is a fairly short ride away. It has avery linear layout, meaning you won’t waste much time running around to find your next objective.
The instance is crawling withSnake and Spiderenemies, who can be dangerous foesdue to their crowd control abilities. Try not to pull too much at a time, asbecoming stunned or webbed can easily lead to a wipe. Both enemy types will also usepoison attacksextensively, so keepchugging your health potionsto maintain a quick clear speed.
Witcherwater may havefour objectivesto complete, but its compact layout still makes it one of the fastest clears you have access to:
Slither is a large serpentine boss, who is fairly straightforward except for itsGlare ability. This quick green conal attack willDaze you if it connects, and due to its fast wind-up, it can bepretty tough to dodge.Try to save your mobility skill for this attack, as you shouldn’t need it to avoid Slither’s other attacks.
Stay out of the green puddlesandkeep circling the bossand it should die quickly.
Blind Burrows
The Blind Burrows is fairly interchangeable with the Raethwind Wilds, with both dungeons offering ahigh enemy count alongside a quick clear time. Also located in theSouthern part of Hawezar, the entrance to the Burrows can be accessed in theFethis Wetlands, only a short ride East away from the capital ofZarbinzet.
The major enemies you’ll find inside will beSpiders and Insects,the most dangerous of which will be the Spider Hosts. Theirdeath explosionscan be fatal, sotry to keep on the move as you kill your enemies, as it may take a short time to complete the first objective.
The Blind Burrows only hastwo objectivesto complete:
The Broodguard is a giant spider, who, while not particularly dangerous,can take a little while to killowing to the fact she enjoys running away from you.Shewill cover the arena in webbing, which you should attempt to avoid, as it willImmobilizeyou on contact.
However, she does not deal much damage sothere is no need to play cautiously. Simply continue tochase after herto claim your Glyph experience.
