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Nephalem Rift

A Nephalem Rift

For other uses of Rift, see Rift (Disambiguation).

Nephalem Rifts are a gameplay feature of Diablo III: Reaper of Souls. They are available in the game's Adventure Mode and use a randomized dungeon system.

Nephalem Rifts are alternate realities to Sanctuary, accessible from the mortal realm, where nephalem test their strength, in order to prove their worth.[1]

Gameplay

228px-Rift Portal

Nephalem Rift portal

Rift runs last 10-20 minutes (on adequate difficulty) and consist of random areas and monsters. Unique monsters cannot spawn in the Rifts, but Treasure Goblins can. Monsters that can normally ambush or flee from the player will not do so, or will do so much less often, in the Rifts.

The layouts stem from taking the tilesets and dungeons of the game and re-organizing/shuffling them. Monsters are likewise re-shuffled, found in combinations otherwise not present. The rifts have 1-10 levels. Each level is effectively a different dungeon, with a different monster combination (completely independent from the normal monster type set for that zone). 

The Rift is accessed via any of the Nephalem Obelisks, and can be opened at any time, at no cost. As of patch 2.3, Keystones are no longer required for it.

NewGRP

Nephalem Rift progress bar

During the event, a progress bar will appear just beneath the game's mini-map, starting at 0%. To fill it to 100%, player needs to kill enemies; until patch 2.1, exactly 999 kills were needed, each enemy regardless of type counted as just one, but as of 2.1, more powerful foes count as more than one kill, and least potent foes can count as a portion of a kill, or even not count towards it at all (see the full list for details). As of patch 2.3, Progress Globes drop from Elite Monsters, adding extra progress for killing Champion and Rares. Each elite pack drops 3, and each orb adds 1% to the progress bar.

Once the bar reaches 100%, a random Rift Guardian boss will spawn near the player. Once the Rift Guardian has spawned, the monster density for the remaining dungeon is greatly decreased, but after the boss's death, player can speak to Orek to receive a substantial gold and experience reward. After receiving the reward, the Rift will be forcibly closed in 30 seconds, so picking up all loot before turning in the 'quest' is advised. Any players still in the Rift when it is closed will be teleported back to town.

Pylons appear only in Nephalem Rifts and provide a huge 30-second buff to the party.

Legendary drop rates are increased by 100% in Nephalem Rifts, which is multiplicative with the increased legendary drop chance in the Torment difficulties.

Greater Rifts

Newgraphics

Greater Rift portal

Greater Rifts (previously named Tiered Rifts)[2] provide a way for players to test their mettle beyond Torment X difficulty. To access a Greater Rift, players must get the Greater Rift Key from any normal Rift Guardian.

Greater rift progress bar

Greater Rift progress bar

As of patch 2.3, players may access any rank of Greater Rifts equal to or lower than those they already have unlocked. See below for details. Difficulty must be chosen from the list before the rift starts.

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Choosing a desired Rift rank

Greater Rifts differ from Nephalem Rifts in the following ways:

  • In multiplayer games, each player will need to have a Greater Rift Key in order to participate.
  • Before the Rift starts, all positive and negative effects will be cleared, and all cooldowns will be reset.
  • The clock is raced against killing monsters. Each Rift has a 15 minute timer.
  • Champion/Rare monsters, upon death, will drop special, purple-colored Progress Globes (as opposed to orange globes in normal Rifts). Added progress rate is same: 1% per globe, 3% per elite pack.
  • The Rift Guardian spawns when the bar is filled, even if the 15 minute timer has already expired.
  • Most monsters do not drop loot. All loot is moved to the Rift Guardian.
  • Once the Rift Guardian spawns, all other monsters within 100 yards die and despawn.
  • Treasure Goblins may not spawn in Greater Rifts.
  • To beat the rift on time, players must kill (not just summon) the Guardian before the time is up.
  • There are no interactable or breakable objects except Pylons. Even if they spawn (bug), they contain no loot.
  • Conduit Pylons do not gain extra elemental skill damage bonus against Rift Guardians (just in case). Also their damage scales with the rift rank (higher rank means more damage).
  • Players cannot resurrect in town while in a Greater Rift — only at the checkpoint, or at the corpse (note that if a player dies in a Greater Rift on a Hardcore character, that death will be permanent). With each death, the time between corpse resurrections increases, from the initial 5 seconds, and 5 seconds per death per run, up to 30, reset when the Rift is over.
  • Players cannot use player banners or the Teleport option if the target player is in a Greater Rift before the Rift Guardian is defeated. Once the Rift Guardian is defeated, players may teleport.
  • Higher Greater Rifts levels are progressively more difficult (this difficulty is separate from the standard difficulty settings like Master, Torment etc.). Rank 10 is roughly analogous to Torment I, rank 25 is roughly equivalent to Torment VI, 30 to VII, etc., and the maximum difficulty level is unlimited. Reward for killing the Rift Guardian increases accordingly with the Rift rank.
  • Other players may not enter the Greater Rift once it has started.
  • While inside the Greater Rift, players may not change skills or equipment until the Rift Guardian has been defeated. In particular, this means that players won't be able to switch to the five elemental damage immunity amulets for the final fight.
  • Defeating Rift Guardians inside a Greater Rift is the only way to obtain Legendary Gems (except Boon of the Hoarder, which can also drop in Treasure Realm).
  • Torment-exclusive items drop in Greater Rifts, regardless of rank.
  • Successfully beating a solo Greater Rift will increase the maximum amount of Blood Shards player can keep, 10 per rank above the initial 500, for all characters of the same type on account.
  • Successfully beating a Greater Rift will increase the maximum rank of the Rifts that a player may access based on their progress (provided they are not running a rift way weaker than they already have unlocked).
  • When Rift is complete, Orek closes it at once, without waiting 30 seconds.

In the end, players can speak to Urshi, who will upgrade their Legendary Gems (success chance depends on difference between gem rank and rift rank). Urshi only offers her services if the Guardian is defeated in time.

New Completion Rift

Patch 2.2.0 Rift completion screen, with detailed statistics

Regardless of whether or not the player completes the Rift on time, the Greater Rift Key is lost, and must be obtained anew in normal Nephalem Rifts. If one completes a Greater Rift before the time expires, they may unlock a higher difficulty. Should their time be exceptionally good, they might even skip up to 9 levels. If time instead expires, the player may still complete the current Greater Rift, but will not get the upgrades for gems in the end. Their best results are posted to the appropriate Leaderboards.

Greater Rift Keystone Level upgrade Times

This chart shows how much spare time player(s) must have still remaining (out of the 15 minutes total timer) after the Rift Guardian is dead in order to unlock multiple ranks increase for their Greater Rifts.

  1. 4:30 or less
  2. 4:31 to 6:00
  3. 6:01 to 7:00
  4. 7:01 to 8:00
  5. 8:01 to 9:00
  6. 9:01 to 9:50
  7. 9:51 to 11:00
  8. 11:01 to 11:30
  9. 11:30 to 12:00
  10. 12:01 or more

Obviously, higher difficulty is only unlocked if current rank is high enough. That is, for example, a current rank of 25 (T6) completed in 10 minutes sharp (5 minutes remaining) will unlock ranks up to 27 (25 + 2). After that, getting same result will not unlock any new ranks, and player will need either better time or higher rank completed to advance further.

Empowered Rifts

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This article contains information that has not yet been released. The subject matter may not be accurate and/or may change before release.

Empowered Rifts will be made available in patch 2.4.

Before starting a Greater Rift, the player can empower it by spending gold. The amount of gold a player needs to spend to empower a rift scales with Rift rank.

An empowered Rift grants +1 attempt to upgrade Legendary Gems in the end (to a total of 4).[3]

Development

Tome This page contains obsolete content
This article contains information that is no longer relevant to gameplay, but is kept here for informational purposes.

During development, Nephalem Rifts were originally called "Loot Runs."[4] In the beta of Reaper of Souls, completion of the rift rewarded the player a Greater Horadric Cache.[5] RNG in Rifts is going to be tweaked to make times more comparable. More similar density levels is expected. Rift-only zones are also being looked at.[6]

During the PTR, the maximum rank of a Greater Rift used to be 100. In the released game, there is no cap.[7]

The idea of Nephalem Rifts is based on the community-proposed idea of endless dungeons with ever-increasing difficulty.[8]

Prior to patch 2.3, players had to choose either upgrading gems or increasing rift rank in the end. Upgrading gems would conclude the run.

Realm of Trials

Realm-of-trials2

Prior to patch 2.3, the Realm of Trials used to be the next step in the Rift journey, in which players could fend off increasingly difficult waves of monsters.

To access a Realm of Trials, players had to complete a regular Nephalem Rift in Torment difficulty. When the Rift Guardian was defeated, they'd have a chance to drop a Key of Trials which opened the Realm of Trials. This chance was high enough to get a Key on nearly every run, however, it was greatly reduced if the player already had it, or a Greater Rift Keystone, in their inventory or stash.

The player could then use this new key at the Nephalem Obelisk, similar to other Rift Fragments. Upon doing so, all ongoing effects were be cleared, and all cooldowns were reset. The player(s) would be teleported instantly and irreversibly into the Realm of Trials (similar to the Realm of Terror, but with 3 Healing Wells around), and after a brief preparation time, the waves would start to pour through. Each wave was 10-20 random monsters from any Act, due to be killed in 20 seconds. Their difficulty settings were matching those of the corresponding Rift rank. If the player killed a wave in time, the ranking will be raised by up to 6, depending on remaining amount of time. Waves spawned immediately one after another (as soon as the last monster of the previous wave dies), giving no pause to the character.

As of patch 2.1.1, each monster group was guaranteed to include at least one monster of each class: low-Life creatures that die quickly, mid-ranged enemies, tanky damage-soakers, and more consistent damage-dealers.

Difficulty of the resulting Rift would match the current wave reached minus three (four for 2 players, five for 3 players, six for 4 players). Dying within the Realm would not reset it, and would not cause the player to lose a Key (although for Hardcore characters, this death was real). Player could even revive and finish the wave on time, if they managed to do it quickly enough. Once the time ran out, all remaining monsters died, and a Key was obtained. After that, a Town Portal opened, and Orek would even award some gold and experience, reward based on the rank beaten.

As of patch 2.3.0, the Realm of Trials was removed from the game. Nephalem Rift Guardians now drop Greater Rift Keystones outright.

Media

File:Adventure main Quest Nephalem Rift

References

  1. Diablo III, Rift Keystone Fragment, Greater Rift Keystone
  2. 2014-04-24, Chatty Q&A: Blizzard talks Reaper of Souls and the future of Diablo 3. Shack News, accessed on 2014-04-2014
  3. 2015-11-06, NEW GOLD SINK: EMPOWERED RIFTS. Blizzpro, accessed on 2015-11-15
  4. 2013-11-09, BlizzCon 2013 – Diablo III: Reaper of Souls – FAQ. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2013-12-20
  5. 2013-12-05, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls – Bounty: Rewards Change. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2014-01-20
  6. 2014-05-19, More Info From The Anniversary Dev Stream. Diablo Fans.com, accessed on 2014-05-20
  7. Official Forums Bluepost
  8. 2014-04-03, Endless Dungeons are Coming to Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls. Gameranx, accessed on 2015-03-28
Locations in the Diablo universe

Astral RealmBurning HellsEtherFractured PlaneHigh HeavensLimboMirrored WorldNephalem RiftsObliterated RealmPandemoniumRealm of the BanishedRealm of the DeadRealm of ShadowRealms of FateVoidWastelands

SanctuaryAncients' CradleAranochBakuli JungleBilefen (Valostre, defunct) • Cold IslesDreadlandsDry SteppesEastern SteppesFractured PeaksGreyhollow IslandHawezarIvgorod (defunct) • Kehjistan (defunct) • MarshlandNahantuSamauren Empire (defunct) • ScosglenSharval WildsShassar Sea (Fahiran Empire, defunct) • Skovos IslesStormpointUieWestern Kingdoms (EntsteigKhandurasWestmarch) • WojahnXiansaiZeleny Lowlands
Related — Towns

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