Diablo 4 Kurast Undercity Guide: Unlock, Tributes and Rewards
The Kurast Undercity is a race against the clock under the streets of Kurast. You fight through a short dungeon while a timer runs down, power up your loot along the way and finish with a boss. Before you go in, you decide what kind of reward the run should pay out.
Below you'll find how to unlock it, how a run works, which Tribute gives which reward, when a Bargain is worth paying for and what the three district bosses do.
Kurast Undercity at a glance
- What it is: a timed dungeon from the Vessel of Hatred expansion, open all year, not just in one season.
- Your goal: reach the boss room before the time is up. Once you are in there, the clock no longer matters.
- Two bars to watch: time keeps you alive, Attunement makes your loot better.
- Every finished run: at least one Legendary item and at least one Rune, plus gear and gold.
- Your choice: a Tribute picks the kind of reward, an optional Bargain narrows it further.
How to unlock the Kurast Undercity
You need the Vessel of Hatred expansion. The Undercity opens through a short quest chain in Kurast, the jungle city of Nahantu. On the campaign route it starts after the Vessel of Hatred quest Reunion: talk to Ormus in the Council Chambers and he hands you the priority quest The Kurast Undercity.
The chain opens the Undercity in steps: each district gets its own introduction with its boss, and the last step unlocks Tributes:
| Quest | What you do |
|---|---|
| Undercity: Wail of the Forgotten | Sihek sends you to check the Abandoned Home. You then put down the Zakarum ghosts at a shrine. |
| Undercity: The Specter of Travincal | Use the Spirit Brazier to enter the Ziggurat District, fight down through its floors and beat Alia. |
| Undercity: The Promise | Gather 10 Golden Snake Blood first, then head into Ennead's Folly. The quest ends in the Temple District with Yoche, the Golden. |
| Undercity: Starving Pride | Before the Caves District, track down the Infected Lacuni Scout and gather 10 Insect Husks. Beat Longtooth there, then report to Ormus. Tributes are now open. |
Guides list different level requirements for the first quest, some say 15 and some say 20. Your quest log settles it, because the quest appears once your character can take it. Guides also report that other characters on your account can use the Undercity once one character has unlocked it. We haven't checked that on a fresh alt ourselves.
Starting a run at the Spirit Brazier
Every run begins at the Spirit Brazier in Kurast. Look for the Undercity marker on the map. At the Brazier you set up your run in three steps:
- Pick a Tribute, or none. Without one you still get a normal run with normal loot.
- Pick a Bargain if the Tribute offers one. It costs the resources shown in the menu.
- Start the run. You land in a safe spot, and the timer only starts once you step out of it.
While you're still in the circle, check the map, find the nearest beacon and plan your first moves.
Time and Attunement: the two bars of a run
Inside, two things count, and they are easy to mix up. One keeps your run going, the other decides how good the boss loot is:
| Bar | What fills it | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Timer | Killing Afflicted enemies, the marked elites, and the time objectives of the Undercity | If it hits zero before you reach the boss room, the run fails |
| Attunement | Killing monsters, Afflicted enemies included, and clearing Spirit Beacons: light one and beat the wave it calls | Each rank, from I up to IV, makes the boss loot better. Tribute rewards need at least the rank written on the Tribute. |
So a beacon doesn't buy you time by itself, and an Afflicted elite is your main way to stretch the clock. A good run grabs both: hit every beacon on the way and never walk past an Afflicted enemy.
Once you take the portal to the boss, the clock no longer matters, so you can play the fight safe.
Tributes: choose your reward
A Tribute works like a key that changes the run. Its tooltip tells you three things: which reward it focuses on, how hard the run becomes and which Attunement rank you need. You offer one Tribute per run. The better the Tribute, the more it pays, and the harder the run it makes.
The table shows what the common Tribute families aim at, as community databases list them for Season 15. The version you hold can differ, so trust the tooltip in your inventory.
| Tribute | Reward focus | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Tribute of Harmony | Runes | Your pick when you collect Runes for Runewords |
| Tribute of Refinement | Crafting materials | In Season 15 also Forgotten Souls, including the Greater version |
| Tribute of Ingenuity | Horadric Cube materials | The Cube needs the Lord of Hatred expansion |
| Tribute of Horadrim | Talisman items: Charms and Seals | The Talisman is part of Lord of Hatred too |
| Tribute of Armaments | Gear | The tooltip names the gear type and the difficulty |
None of them promises a Mythic. Old tips about a sure Mythic from high Armaments Tributes came from a bug that Blizzard has since fixed, so treat a Mythic from the Undercity as a lucky extra.
Who gets the reward
If you farm with friends, read one word on the Tribute before you offer it. A Resolute Tribute pays its reward only to the player who offered it. A United Tribute shares the reward with the whole group.
Where Tributes come from
Tributes drop from all over the endgame: Nightmare Dungeons, Whisper Caches, Lair Bosses, Infernal Hordes, World Bosses and random loot. Which activity drops which Tribute varies, so if you need a particular one, check where your last few came from and farm that.
Bargains: narrow it down further
Once you have picked a Tribute, the Brazier may offer a Bargain. You pay resources, and in return the reward leans toward something specific, for example a certain gear slot or a certain type of affix. Which Bargains you see depends on the Tribute, and the menu shows the cost before you confirm.
Pay only when the Bargain matches what your build needs right now. A Bargain also shapes the extra chest you get from a Portal Prankster, so pick it with care.
Portal Pranksters: a goblin worth chasing?
Now and then a Portal Prankster shows up. It is a treasure goblin that lives only in the Undercity, and it doesn't stand still: when you get close it jumps into a portal and pops out somewhere else, again and again.
Kill it and finish the run, and an extra chest waits for you at the end. It can hold Tributes, Runes and other loot, though not every chest has all of them. The chase costs seconds, so go for it when your timer is healthy and let it run when you are already short.
The district bosses
Every run ends in a boss room, and the quests above introduce three district bosses. Blizzard doesn't publish boss guides, and most write-ups about these fights are old and contradict each other on the details, so this is only what holds up:
| District | Boss | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Temple District | Yoche, the Golden | When she moves to the middle of the room and it floods with golden light, hide behind one of the stone snake statues. The cover saves you from the blast. |
| Caves District | Longtooth, the Wretched | Older guides describe poison closing in around the arena. Keep moving and don't fight from inside the cloud. |
| Ziggurat District | Alia, Kurast's End | Walkthroughs describe colored shields and matching zones on the floor, but they disagree on how it works. Watch the colors for a cycle before you commit. |
Farm smarter
- Pick the goal first. Runes, materials, Talisman items or gear: choose the Tribute that matches, not just the rarest one you have.
- Rank before speed. A fast run that misses the Tribute's Attunement rank loses the reward you came for.
- Build for the route. Movement skills and area damage get you through floors and beacon waves before the clock runs out.
- Start on an easy setting. Learn the floors on a difficulty you clear easily, then raise it once you hit rank IV every time.
- Hoard Tributes for good runs. Spend a high Tribute when you know you can finish, because a failed run loses it.
The Undercity in War Plans and Season 15
With Lord of Hatred, the Undercity is one of the activities you can put into your War Plans, so your runs count toward a plan as well.
In the Season of Hell's Legacy, Baal's Splinter of Destruction strengthens the Undercity and Lair Bosses. You carry one Splinter at a time, so if the Undercity is your main farm this season, Baal's is the one to hold. The bonus ends with the season; the Undercity itself stays.
Season 15: the best Forgotten Souls farm
Forgotten Souls run out fast this season, because you spend them on gems and runes as well as on crafting. The Undercity is the best place to fill them back up.
- Offer a Greater Tribute of Refinement. In Season 15 it adds Forgotten Souls to the reward, and players report about 1,400 to 1,700 Souls per run. Treat it as a rough range, since every run rolls differently.
- Take the Gutter Filth node in your Undercity War Plan. It gives every beacon you activate a small chance to call a Portal Prankster, and each Prankster you kill adds an extra chest at the end.
Tributes of Refinement drop all over the endgame, and players also pick up Greater ones in Moophisto's arena. How to get there is in our Moophisto guide.
Out of Tributes? Go to Fayira, the bartering vendor in the Mercenary Den. Your mercenaries keep earning rapport after Paragon 300, so you can keep claiming their repeatable rewards and spend them on Salvage Material Caches. A full inventory of caches gave players about 700 Forgotten Souls. That's less than a good Undercity run, but it's quick. Legion Events and salvaging gear at the Blacksmith give Souls too, just far fewer.
Quick plan for an Undercity session
- Unlock it through Ormus and finish all four Undercity quests, so Tributes are open.
- Sort your Tributes by what they give and how hard they are.
- Pick one goal for the session and offer the matching Tribute at the Spirit Brazier. Add a Bargain only if it fits.
- Plan the route from the safe circle, then run: beacons for Attunement, Afflicted elites for time.
- Chase a Prankster only with time to spare.
- Take the boss calmly, there's no clock in that room, then check your loot and repeat.
Conclusion
In the Undercity a plan pays more than raw speed. Unlock it once, keep an eye on both bars and let the Tribute decide what you farm: Runes, materials, Talisman items or gear. Add a Bargain when it fits your build and grab Pranksters when the clock allows. Every finished run pays out at least a Legendary item and a Rune.
If you want a strong partner for your runs, book a booster by the hour with Diablo 4 Hourly Driving and choose what you play together.
FAQ
You need Vessel of Hatred. On the campaign route, talk to Ormus in the Council Chambers after the quest Reunion. He starts the priority quest The Kurast Undercity. Finish the four Undercity quests and Tributes unlock as well.
Guides name level 15 or level 20, and we haven't confirmed which applies today. Your quest log shows the Undercity quest as soon as your character can take it.
You raise it by killing monsters, Afflicted enemies included, and by clearing Spirit Beacons. It has four ranks, I to IV. A higher rank means better loot from the boss, and a Tribute pays out only if you reach the rank written on it.
If it hits zero before you reach the boss room, the run fails. Afflicted enemies add time. Once you are in the boss room, the timer no longer matters.
The Tribute of Harmony focuses the reward on Runes. Every finished Undercity run also gives at least one Rune, with or without a Tribute.
It depends on the Tribute. A Resolute Tribute rewards only the player who offered it. A United Tribute shares its reward with the group. The word is on the Tribute's tooltip.
An optional extra you choose at the Spirit Brazier after the Tribute. You pay resources, and the reward leans toward something specific, such as a gear slot or a type of affix. Which Bargains you see depends on the Tribute.
When your timer is healthy, yes. Kill the goblin and finish the run, and an extra chest waits at the end with a chance at Tributes, Runes and more loot. When time is short, let it go.
Run the Undercity with a Greater Tribute of Refinement. Players report about 1,400 to 1,700 Souls per run, and the Gutter Filth node in your Undercity War Plan adds more Portal Pranksters with extra chests. Salvage Material Caches from Fayira in the Mercenary Den are a quicker, smaller source.