Splinters of Evil are one of the new mechanics in Diablo 4 Season 15. After completing the seasonal questline, players can choose between the Splinter of Hatred, Destruction, or Terror, corresponding to Mephisto, Baal, and Diablo, respectively.
Each choice unlocks its own Reputation board, which grants various rewards and eventually unlocks Prime Evil Powers. These powers enhance the ground effects that periodically erupt from your character. While their basic effects are broadly similar—helping with resource generation or making enemies Vulnerable, for example—each Splinter also improves different endgame activities.
The Splinter of Terror provides bonuses for Helltides and Infernal Hordes, while the Splinter of Destruction enhances Undercity runs and Lair Bosses. The Splinter of Hatred, meanwhile, improves Nightmare Dungeons and the Pit. You can find a full breakdown of the effects in our previous article.
The biggest problem with Splinters in Season 15 has been a seasonal quest bug that allowed players to obtain one before completing the full questline. Doing so prevented that character from completing the questline and gaining access to Prime Evil Powers.
The upcoming 3.2.3 patch, scheduled to release on October 14, fixes the issue and prevents it from happening again. However, it will not reset quest progress for characters that are already affected.
In other words, players who encountered the bug will need to create a new character in the same partition—Normal, Hardcore, Normal SSF, or Hardcore SSF—and complete the seasonal questline there. Once they do, Prime Evil Powers will be unlocked for all characters in that partition.
This is not the first source of frustration surrounding Splinters. Some players have found it difficult to obtain a different Splinter when they want to switch Prime Evils and take advantage of bonuses in another activity. To make matters worse, Splinters do not stack, meaning duplicate drops cannot be picked up and are effectively wasted.
While Patch 3.2.3 will prevent players from locking themselves out of Prime Evil Powers in the future, those already affected will still need to start a new character to resolve the issue.
