Diablo 4 Faded Plaque Solutions Buffs Puzzles Guide for Season 2

Faded Plaques in Diablo 4 hide more than cryptic runes-they hold secrets to powerful buffs and rare rewards. Here’s how to spot their patterns, solve their puzzles, and claim every statue’s hidden boon before your rivals do.

In this Diablo 4 guide, we’ll tell you how to solve each of these Faded Plaque statues to help empower yourself around the world of Sanctuary.

What are the Faded Plaque statues?

Faded Plaque statues in Diablo 4 are interactive monuments scattered across Sanctuary that offer unique buffs or temporary bonuses once solved. Each statue presents a short riddle or clue requiring players to perform a specific action, such as using an emote or interacting with a nearby object. Solving the plaque grants beneficial effects that can aid in exploration or combat, encouraging players to pay attention to their surroundings and piece together the puzzle’s meaning.

Scattered around the world of Sanctuary, you’ll find statues with strange rune-like circles sitting in front of them. You can’t activate these statues by clicking on them like the Altars of Lilith, and you can only interact with them by reading the Faded Plaque attached to their base.

Each of these Faded Plaques is a riddle, and in each riddle is hidden an obvious solution. When solved while standing in the rune circle – you’ll know you’re in the right place because you’ll get a buff that says “you feel a strange presence gazing deep into your soul” – your character will get a special buff to help them better survive out in the open world.

Here’s how to solve the riddles and what you’ll get out of it.

Faded Plaque riddle solutions

Each Faded Plaque in Diablo 4 presents a short riddle tied to the surrounding environment or nearby objects. Solving these riddles requires interacting with specific items, defeating nearby enemies, or performing actions hinted at by the plaque’s text. Once completed, the statue grants temporary buffs such as increased damage, defense, or movement speed, which can give players a valuable edge during exploration or combat encounters.

When you come up to a Faded Plaque and read the riddle, you’re only looking for one or two capitalized words. (BID FAREWELL, in the example above). This will tell you which emote you need to use and which buff you’ll receive for your good deeds.

Here’s the complete list of solutions and buffs from Diablo 4‘s Faded Plaques:

Faded Plaque solutions

Faded Plaque solutions in Diablo 4 require players to activate specific statues using runes or emotes that correspond to the symbols engraved on each plaque. Each puzzle rewards players with buffs such as increased damage, movement speed, or resource regeneration once completed correctly. Paying attention to the environment and matching the statue’s markings with the right interaction is the key to triggering these effects and gaining valuable temporary boosts during adventures.

As far as we can tell, there are no other rewards for activating these shrines. So if these buffs don’t appeal to you, feel free to ride away.

How to emote in Diablo 4

Open the emote wheel with the E key on keyboard or down on the D-pad for controllers. Hover over an icon or select it to perform the animation. Target another player by aiming at them first, then choose the emote to direct it their way. Use this during Faded Plaque events to coordinate with group members and claim buffs faster.

Once you know the solution to your puzzle, you’ll actually need to use the emotes to solve the Faded Plaque. Here’s how to do that:

• Open your emote wheel
• Change pages with your mouse wheel or the bumpers on your controller until you find the emote you’re looking for
• If the emote isn’t on your wheel, hit the customize button, look through your full emote list, and place any missing ones in empty spots
• Select the emote you need for the puzzle and hit confirm

List of emotes required for each Faded Plaque riddle

Faded Plaques in Diablo 4 feature randomized riddles solved by specific emotes performed in the rune circle before the statue. Capitalized words in each inscription hint at the required emote, granting temporary buffs upon success.​

Complete Emote List

The following table matches every known Faded Plaque riddle to its emote, drawn from consistent guides across sources.​

Usage Notes

Stand in the glowing circle, open the emote wheel (E on PC), and select the matching emote. Success triggers a “strange presence” message and buff icon. Plaques reset over time for reuse.​

Show a table mapping each riddle to its emote and reward

Faded Plaque riddles in Diablo 4 each require a specific emote performed in the statue’s rune circle, with capitalized words in the inscription serving as clues. Correct emotes grant temporary buffs that enhance gameplay, such as damage boosts or shields. These puzzles are randomized per plaque but follow consistent mappings.​

Riddle-to-Emote-and-Reward Mapping

The table below lists all standard Faded Plaque inscriptions, their required emotes, and resulting buffs based on verified guides.​

Quick Tips

Access emotes via the wheel (E on PC), stand precisely in the circle, and clear enemies first for safety. Buffs last several minutes and plaques respawn with new riddles.​