Whispers of the Dead in Diablo 4

End-game routine bounty system

At the end of the Diablo 4 2023 release date announcement, Blizzard teased a new end-game system: the Whispers of the Dead [1], which joins the Paragon Board system and Nightmare Dungeons as other end-game activities.

The system offers routine tasks to complete around Sanctuary:

We suspect the system is a way to encourage further exploration of Diablo 4's vast, open world, which is 10-20 times larger than in past Diablo games. Missions might be in the form of: "Kill these monsters in this region."

New Whispers appear multiple time a day

Blizzard says players can expect multiple Whispers per day [2], which will pop up on the map. These are optional, but, given the rewards, probably worth the effort.

Whispers of the Dead rewards

Once an objective is satisfied, players are rewarded with:

• Experience
• Gold
• Grim Favors

Grim Favors are a form of currency that can be exchanged at the Tree of Whispers. More difficult bounties reward more Grim Favors, and when a player acquires 10 of them, the favors can be traded for items. Blizzard previously mentioned the ones below, although this list could change before launch:

• Crafting materials
• Legendary items
• Nightmare Sigils (used for Nightmare Dungeons)

Unlocked via a main storyline quest

As Whispers of the Dead is an end-game system, it won't be available early in the game. It's unlocked via a (currently unknown) quest while playing the campaign:

Penalty for unfulfilled whispers

If you accept a whisper (i.e., contract) with the Tree of Whispers, but fail to complete it, there will be repercussions [3]:

The negative consequences aren't known yet, but one could imagine lost gold or experience, or hitmen-style monsters sent after you.

Tree of Whispers screenshots

One of the only glimpses we have of the Tree of Whispers is a screenshot Blizzard provided at the end of a Developer Update blogpost. In it, we see what appears to be a Rogue character in front of an ancient, gnarled tree. At the base of the tree's trunk are candles and small baskets. Hanging from the tree's branches, void of any leaves, are freshly decapitated heads. A raven is perched on one of the branches, perhaps a nod to Norse mythology.

In a later blogpost, announcing the start of the end-game closed beta, Blizzard shared another screenshot of the Tree of Whispers. The tree looks largely the same, sans a few of the larger heads hanging in the middleground, but now has an eerie purple mist around it:

Tree of Whispers artwork

We think the below artwork, added to Blizzard's Press Center in September 2020, is of the Tree of Whispers [4]. Its above-ground roots, swamp-like setting, and corpse match with the tree seen in June 2022's in-game screenshot.