Season 12 is here, and if you’re wondering where to get the star materials you need to masterwork your gear and optimize your farming, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s break down the most efficient ways to farm Opticide, Fresh Meat, reputation, and Legendary Runes. While some players choose to buy Diablo 4 Gold to speed up certain upgrades, understanding the best farming methods will help you progress efficiently throughout the season.
OPTICIDE: MASTERWORK MATERIAL
Your first instinct for opticide might be Infernal Hordes, but let’s do the math first.
Infernal Hordes: The Trap
· 1,000 ether spent on the chest gives you only 200 opticide
· Bloodied Infernal Hordes don’t increase this amount
· Only the 6-wave compass is worth it (blue one)
· 6 waves = 200 opticide, every time
The Better Alternative: Undercity + Tribute of Refinement
This is way faster and comes with bonus aspect upgrades.
· Use a Tribute of Refinement in the Undercity
· Choose the bargain for offensive/defensive/utility legendaries (helps upgrade your current aspects)
· In Torment 4: ~350 opticide per run
· Takes fraction of the time compared to Hordes
How to Get Tributes of Refinement
Drop from:
· Boss kills
· Nightmare Dungeon completion
· Pit completion
· Helltide chests
· Pretty much any endgame activity
Nightmare Dungeons: Only These Two Are Worth It
Regular Nightmare Dungeons: ~20 opticide. Skip unless you have to.
Horrific Strong Rooms:
· Look for NM dungeons with “Horrific Strong Room” modifier
· 800 opticide in Torment 4
· Rare: roughly 1 in 20-30 dungeons
· Treasure Breach Nightmare Dungeons:
· Extremely rare (1 in 100-150)
· But gives 6,000+ opticide instantly
· Even more if goblins spawn with opticide drops
Sigil Powder Warning
Don’t finish NM dungeons for powder (~19 powder is worthless). Instead:
Farm powder in Helltides:
· Tree of Whispers
· Local events
· Elite monsters
· Helltide is currently the best place for all materials that enable other content.
Crafting Bonus: Vile Splendor
When crafting sigils, watch for Vile Splendor modifier. The gilded minions drop millions of gold—absolutely worth running.
FRESH MEAT: GAMBLING MATERIAL
1 Stop: The Butcher’s Lair
This is your best source for fresh meat by far.
Normal Butcher (no sigil):
· ~1,000 fresh meat from his horde (Torment 4)
· Bloodied Butcher Lair Sigil:
· 4,400+ fresh meat from a single kill
· Meat keeps piling up after death—wait for all of it
Slaughterhouse Alternative
· Only 500 fresh meat
· Takes much longer than killing Butcher with sigils
How to Get Boss Lair Sigils
· Helltides: Queen of the Helltide, altars, 250- chests
· Best method: Reputation caches
· Open Greater Bloodied Caches from reputation track and you’ll always get:
1. Nightmare sigil
2. Slaughterhouse key
3. 1 boss lair key
4. Bloodied items + pound of flesh
THE BLOOD SOAKED PROBLEM
Understanding Tiers
· Blood Stained = manageable
· Blood Soaked = pseudo Tier 7 difficulty
· Reality check: I can clear Pit 110 and still cannot do a Blood Soaked boss. You need trillions of damage, which only Barb and Paladin are hitting right now.
How to unlock Blood Soaked:
Clear Pit 100 on a character. Once you do, all your items will drop Blood Soaked.
Workaround
Create an alt character to farm sigils, then use them on your main. Blizzard will likely balance this soon so more classes can actually clear Blood Soaked content.
REPUTATION FARMING: MAXIMUM CACHES
Infernal Hordes = Best Reputation
· Every elite kill = reputation
· Kill streak finishers = reputation
· Easiest place to finish kill streaks: after every wave in Hordes
Recommendation
· Run 6-wave or 8-wave Infernal Hordes (never do 10-wave for materials)
· Best combo: opticide + reputation grind for continuous cache income
For Experience Only
If you just want paragon levels:
· Use 10-wave Bloodied Infernal Compasses
· Kill the Butcher repeatedly
· Skip if you need materials
LEGENDARY RUNES
Undercity + Rune Tributes
· Decent farm
· But legendary rune drops are rare here
Best Method: Boss Spamming
· Bloodied bosses or normal bosses with summoning materials
· Legendary runes drop much more frequently
Pro tip: Bloodied bosses are shareable between friends now, so running them with a group is one of the most efficient farming strategies. If you’re looking to speed up your build progression, some players also choose to buy cheap Diablo 4 Items from trusted marketplaces like MMOEXP, which offers resources that can help you strengthen your character while continuing the grind.
FARMING EFFICIENCY TRICK: GOD SLAYER CROWN
This is absolutely game-changing for Season 12.
What It Does
“When you attempt to crowd control an enemy, you mark them and pull everyone in” – essentially gravitates all enemies to your position
How to Proc It
· Paladin: Wild Bolt aspect boots
· Any class: Penitent Greaves (frost trail)
· Necromancer: Cursed Aura aspect
Why It’s Perfection
· Stand in the middle of Helltides
· Summon the Queen
· Everything from every corner gets pulled to you
· Infernal Hordes become trivial for farming
Where to Get It
Drops from Duriel, Harbinger of Hatred. Don’t sleep on this helmet—it transforms your farming speed completely.
TL;DR: SEASON 12 MATERIALS CHEAT SHEET
| Material | Best Farm | Notes |
| Opticide | Undercity + Tribute of Refinement | 350 in Torment 4, fast runs |
| Opticide (if you get lucky) | Treasure Breach NM Dungeon | 6,000+ but super rare |
| Fresh Meat | Bloodied Butcher Lair | 4,400+ per kill |
| Reputation | 6-8 wave Infernal Hordes | Kill streaks after waves |
| Legendary Runes | Boss spamming | Share bloodied bosses with friends |
| Sigil Powder | Helltide events/elites | Not from finishing dungeons |
| Gold | Vile Splendor sigils | Millions from gilded minions |