Diablo 4 Season 15 Splinters of Evil Guide: Which Prime Evil to Pick

Quick summary

• In Season 15 (Season of Hell's Legacy, live since September 15, 2026), you bear one Splinter of Evil at a time. The Splinter of Terror (Diablo), Destruction (Baal) or Hatred (Mephisto) each fires an Iconic Power on its own during combat (Blizzard's text via PureDiablo, D4Guides.gg).
• Pick by activity: Terror boosts Helltide and Infernal Hordes. Destruction boosts the Undercity and Lair Bosses. Hatred boosts the Pit and Nightmare Dungeons (Blizzard via PureDiablo).
• Each Splinter has one power plus six upgrades, unlocked at reputation ranks 1, 2, 6, 10, 16, 21 and 24. The last upgrade takes 20,000 reputation, and you earn reputation from Waking Nightmares and by slaying remnants (D4Guides.gg).
• Switching: Splinters are consumables that replace your active one and stack to 1. Reputation is tracked per Splinter. You get another Splinter by replaying the largest Waking Nightmares (Blizzard via PureDiablo).
• Patch 3.2.3 (October 14, 2026): fixes a bug where using a Splinter before finishing the seasonal questline blocked the questline, so the character never got Prime Evil Powers.

Collect all three Splinters first

1. Start the seasonal questline. It begins with the return of Deckard Cain's lost soul (D4Guides.gg).
2. Defeat the three Prime Evil echoes: Diablo beneath Tristram Cathedral, Baal at Arreat Summit and Mephisto in the Durance of Hate. Each victory gives you that Splinter (Blizzard via PureDiablo).
3. Don't use a Splinter until the questline is done. Before 3.2.3, using one early meant the character could never finish the questline and never got Prime Evil Powers.
4. Choose one to bear. ConsolePulse recommends finishing all three Prime Evil Waking Nightmares before you settle on a path.

Each is a large Waking Nightmare: Baal's runs from Ancients' Way to Worldstone Keep, Mephisto's from Travincal through the Durance of Hate, and Diablo's from the Cathedral down to Hell.

Already bugged? (D4Guides.gg workaround)

Blizzard doesn't reset characters that already hit the bug. D4Guides.gg's workaround:

1. Make a new character in the same partition (Normal or Hardcore, and Normal or Solo Self-Found).
2. Finish the seasonal questline on that new character.
3. That unlocks Prime Evil Powers for every character in the partition, including the bugged one.

Compare the three Prime Evil powers

Splinter	Power	Damage type	Activities it boosts	Reference damage (D4Guides.gg)
Terror (Diablo)	Flames of Metus: periodic lines of Fire	Fire	Helltide, Infernal Hordes	20,720 plus 165,758 over 4 seconds
Destruction (Baal)	Ice of Excidium: an ice blast plus smaller projectiles	Cold	Undercity, Lair Bosses	69,066 blast; 13,813 per projectile
Hatred (Mephisto)	Ghosts of Odium	Physical	The Pit, Nightmare Dungeons	34,533

D4Guides.gg's reference values assume level 70, Paragon 200 and item power 900, and they scale with your weapon damage. Bearing a Splinter makes you a "dark wanderer" and more vulnerable to its own Prime Evil (Blizzard via PureDiablo).

Learn all 18 upgrades

Upgrade names and effects come from Blizzard's text on PureDiablo. D4Guides.gg confirms that the resource upgrade unlocks at rank 6, Vulnerable at 16, the Maximum Life damage at 21 and the kill frenzy at 24. The two activity upgrades take the remaining slots at ranks 2 and 10. D4Guides.gg doesn't say which of the two comes first.

Rank (D4Guides.gg)	Terror (Diablo)	Destruction (Baal)	Hatred (Mephisto)
2 / 10 (activity)	Flaring Cinders: spawn Aberrant Cinders in Helltide	Siege Engine: chance to grant Attunement in the Undercity	Undying Rage: in Nightmare Dungeons, triggers 50% more often for 200% more damage
2 / 10 (activity)	Primeval Essence: spawn Aether in Infernal Hordes	Grisly Trophies: bosses have a 30% chance at an extra Boss Trophy	Death Collector: in the Pit, a chance for Progress Orbs on kill
6	Pounding Heart: +50 Primary Resource	Cold Blood: +50 Primary Resource	Flush of Bile: +50 Primary Resource
16	Dread Presence: 30% Slow plus Vulnerable	Seizing Frost: 10% Chill plus Vulnerable for 5 seconds	Strangling Grip: Vulnerable for 5 seconds; 15% chance to Immobilize for 2 seconds
21	Consuming Blaze: 20% of Maximum Life over 4 seconds on first hit (can't be increased)	Shattered Flesh: same	Vengeful Soul: same
24	Rapture of Fear: kills can greatly increase Flames for 5 seconds	Thrill of Ruin: kills can greatly increase blasts for 5 seconds	Fever of Malice: kills can greatly increase Ghosts for 5 seconds

The seasonal tab has seven slots: one for the power and six for upgrades. At rank 24, all six are active at once.

Choose your Splinter by goal

Your goal	Pick	Why	Source
Helltide materials, Infernal Hordes Aether	Terror	Both activity upgrades feed Helltide and Hordes	Blizzard via PureDiablo
Boss farming for Mythics and trophies	Destruction	Grisly Trophies gives extra Boss Trophies; Undercity Attunement	Blizzard via PureDiablo
Pit pushing and glyph leveling	Hatred	Pit Progress Orbs; Nightmare Dungeon damage	Blizzard via PureDiablo
A flat damage boost everywhere	Any, at rank 21	All three share the 20% Maximum Life effect	D4Guides.gg

ConsolePulse sums it up: "Pick by activity, not by favorite demon." It also says to switch when your bottleneck changes, for example from Mephisto to Baal once your glyphs are done and you want targeted boss farming. For more on that choice, see our Nightmare Dungeons vs the Pit guide.

Build reputation

• Sources: Waking Nightmares and slaying remnants of your Prime Evil (D4Guides.gg). PureDiablo's page says each upgrade is earned "by choosing the Splinter of Terror and slaying Remnants of Terror," and the same pattern holds for the other two.
• Total: the last upgrade, at rank 24, needs 20,000 reputation.
• Per Splinter: reputation is tracked separately for each Splinter, and the game warns that you're bound to your Prime Evil for some time after you choose.
• War Plans: each track also has eight activity modifiers, unlocked through War Plans (Blizzard via PureDiablo).

Pinnacle Capstone versions of the largest Waking Nightmares open at Torment 10 and above, with bigger loot for higher risk (Blizzard via PureDiablo).

Switch Splinters without losing progress

1. Replay one of the largest Waking Nightmares to get another Splinter (Blizzard via PureDiablo).
2. Using a Splinter consumes it and replaces your active one. Each Splinter stacks to 1, even when a reputation cache gives you duplicates (D4Guides.gg on 3.2.3).
3. Your old Splinter's reputation stays on its own track (D4Guides.gg).
4. D4Guides.gg suggests crafting Wirt's Lucky Coins as soon as you hold all three Splinters, since they don't stack. Its Hellfire Torch guide covers the Uber Tristram route that uses them.

Use War Plan sharing for alts

Starting in Season 15, War Plan reputation is shared across characters on your account in the same partition: Seasonal or Eternal, Hardcore or non-Hardcore, and Normal or Solo Self-Found. Each character still gets its own planner (Blizzard via PureDiablo, ConsolePulse). A Seasonal SSF character doesn't share progress with a Seasonal non-SSF one.

Compare paths across a season

Plan	Strength	Weakness	Basis
One Splinter all season	Fastest to rank 24 on that track	Its activity upgrades only help two activities	D4Guides.gg rank structure
Hatred early, Destruction later	Pit and glyph push first, then boss and Mythic farming	Two reputation tracks to level	ConsolePulse example
Terror for Helltide material phases	Cinders and Aether bonuses	Weaker for bosses	Blizzard via PureDiablo

For the Paragon side of a season push, see our Paragon 300 guide.

Watch patch 3.2.3

Change	Before 3.2.3	After 3.2.3 (Oct 14)	Source
Using a Splinter before finishing the questline	Possible, and it broke the questline	Blocked	D4Guides.gg
Already-bugged characters	—	Not reset; use the same-partition workaround	D4Guides.gg
Splinter stacking	Stacks to 1	Still stacks to 1	D4Guides.gg
Balance	3.2.1 values	No balance changes	D4Guides.gg

Player reports (not in the patch notes, per D4Guides.gg): finishing a Waking Nightmare entered from Helltide sends you to town instead of back to the portal.

Alts and returning players

• Returning players: Season 15 also adds eight Soul Splinters, which are jewelry gems with a boon and a drawback (up to three equipped). These are separate from your one Prime Evil Splinter (ConsolePulse, Blizzard via PureDiablo).
• Eternal characters using Rebirth: ConsolePulse recommends moving every item into the Eternal stash before confirming Rebirth.
• Alts: War Plans are shared, but each character has to finish its own questline for powers, unless you're fixing the bug through the partition workaround above.

Need a faster start? See our Diablo 4 powerleveling page on the Diablo 4 hub.

Want a hand with this?

If you would rather not grind this part yourself, Diablo 4 character boosting services are listed on FullBoosts. Read Blizzard's End User License Agreement before you buy any service from anyone, FullBoosts included — a marketplace listing isn't publisher permission.

FAQ

Which Splinter of Evil is best in Season 15? It depends on what you farm. Terror suits Helltide and Infernal Hordes, Destruction suits the Undercity and bosses, and Hatred suits the Pit and Nightmare Dungeons.

How do I switch Splinters? Replay the largest Waking Nightmares for another Splinter. Using it replaces your current one, and each Splinter keeps its own reputation.

How much reputation do the upgrades take? D4Guides.gg lists unlocks at ranks 1, 2, 6, 10, 16, 21 and 24, with 20,000 reputation for the last one.

Can I bear more than one Prime Evil Splinter? No. You bear one at a time. You can still equip up to three Soul Splinter gems in jewelry slots.

My character never got Prime Evil Powers. How do I fix it? Make a new character in the same partition and finish the seasonal questline. Per D4Guides.gg, that unlocks the powers for every character in the partition.

Does patch 3.2.3 change Splinter balance? No. It's a bug-fix patch with no balance changes.

Is War Plan reputation shared? Yes, between characters in the same partition (Seasonal or Eternal, Hardcore or not, SSF or not). Each character keeps its own planner.