If you have spent any serious time in Diablo 4, you already know how fast Forgotten Souls disappear once you start tinkering with gear. That is why a lot of players keep a close eye on efficient routes, better drops, and even the right D4 items to round out a build before the grind gets ugly. The method I keep coming back to is Nightmare Dungeon farming with the War Plan tree pushed far enough to matter. It is not flashy, but it does pay off. You move faster, fight more Elite packs, and stop wasting time on runs that barely move the needle.

Why the War Plan setup matters

The first thing to unlock is Nemesis. Once that node is active, a shrine can turn into a messy Elite ambush, and that is exactly what you want. More targets means more drops, plain and simple. After that, Branching Pathways does a lot of the heavy lifting. In Nightmare Escalations, it adds extra Horadric Portals, which means you are getting pushed into the good rooms more often and with less downtime. A lot of players skip these nodes because they look small on paper. In practice, they speed everything up in a way you feel right away.

The run itself feels faster than it looks

The loop is pretty straightforward. Craft Escalation Sigils at the Occultist, jump into high-tier Nightmare Dungeons, and keep your pace tight. You will run into things like The Butcher, random boss pairs, and some ugly surprise encounters that can shred an unprepared build. That is part of the appeal, though. The fights are messy, but the rewards are better. In a short standard run, you can pull in close to a thousand Forgotten Souls. If you stay with the longer Escalation version, the total climbs a lot higher, and the extra Uniques and boss drops make the whole thing feel worth the time.

Staying efficient between drops

The real trick is not getting dragged into town every few minutes. If you are sorting loot too often, the whole farm falls apart. A simple in-game loot filter helps more than people admit. Hide the junk. Highlight anything that is worth checking for upgrades. That way, you can glance at the ground, grab the good stuff, and keep moving. While you are building out your stash, you will also end up with a pile of Rawhide, Iron Chunks, Veiled Crystals, and other mats that make later upgrades easier. If you want to stay ahead of the curve, you need that kind of pace, and sometimes it helps to check D4 items buy options after a run so you are not stuck waiting on one missing piece before the next push.