Challenge Rifts

Challenge Rifts are another alternative to gearing up through Open World Farming or Dungeons — instead of a fixed dungeon layout, you clear a randomly generated, infinitely-scaling rift for currency, materials, and a real gear-upgrade service.

Getting your first Rift Key

There is no starting key handed to you — you forge your first one yourself. Use your Magic Stone, pick “Challenge Rifts”, then “Key Forge Gauntlet” to teleport into a dedicated arena. A Key Forge interface appears there — press Begin to start (the whole group needs to be present on the arena map first). This begins a 2-minute survival trial — mobs spawn continuously and speed up the more you kill, scaled with the same difficulty curve as a real rift. Every 5 kills (times your current in-trial level) raises your trial level by 1. The trial ends the moment the timer runs out or you die, and everyone present walks away with a Rift Key set to whatever level you reached (minimum level 1). You can only hold one Rift Key at a time — if you already have one, forging again will refuse until you use or drop your current key. The arena resets only after everyone leaves and re-enters.

Running a rift

Right-click your Rift Key to open it with your group (5 players max). Inside, killing enemies fills a shared Progress bar — once it hits 100%, a random Rift Guardian boss spawns; killing it completes the rift. Portals to the next floor are always open, so you can move on early to reroll enemy types or hunt for Pylon buffs instead of waiting to fully clear a floor — Progress carries over between floors, nothing is lost by moving on. You have 15 minutes on the clock, at every key level. Rift level always equals your key’s level exactly, and everything scales off it — enemy health, enemy damage, and your rewards.

What happens to your key

• Complete the rift before the timer runs out: your key is automatically upgraded, anywhere from +1 to +5 levels depending on how much time you had left (more time left banked = bigger jump).
• Complete it after the timer expired: the rift still finishes and you still get to loot, but the key does not go up in level and you do not earn Rift Tokens.
• Leave or abandon a run early: your key is preserved exactly as it was — walking away never destroys or downgrades it.

There is currently no way to lose your key by failing a rift — the worst case is simply a smaller reward.

The Rift Warden — your gearing alternative

Completing a rift spawns the Rift Warden next to the reward chest. Talk to them for:

• Upgrade Equipment — spend “upgrade attempts” (earned per player, 5 per run with zero deaths or 4 with at least one death, 0 if the timer expired) to push one of your equipped items up an item level tier, up to 20 tiers total. Each attempt is consumed whether it succeeds or fails, and your success chance depends on both the tier you are attempting and your current key level — pushing a high key level makes every attempt noticeably more reliable. Tiers 11-20 additionally require a key of level 50 or higher just to attempt.
• Browse Wares — a vendor that takes Rift Tokens. Two full 6-piece Legendary cloth armor sets, Riftwalker’s Demise and Critical Overkill (200-250 per piece, a great early endgame upgrade). Memory Fragment 750. Rift Fortune 400. Rift Cache 2,500. Goblin Lure 500. Holy Key 250. Orb of Doom 500. Omen of Absolute Corruption 3,000. Soul of Dragonwrath 100. Gems of Strength, Agility, Intellect and Stamina in 3 tiers (300, 1,000 and 3,000). Scrolls of Vitality (max health) and Warding (Corruption Resistance), 40 to 600. Enchants of Vitality and Warding, 100 to 2,000.
• Upgrade Rift Key — spend 50 Rift Tokens per level to buy +1 to +10 levels directly (capped at level 800 total).
• Reduce Rift Key Level — lower your key 1-10 levels, completely free, useful if you want to intentionally farm an easier level for materials.
• Lock/Unlock Key Level — locking stops both the automatic post-rift upgrade and the Warden’s manual level changes, at the cost of a flat 10% penalty to your Rift Token and material rewards while locked.

General rewards, every run

• Rift Tokens, scaling with your key level and how much time you had left on the clock — the main currency for the Warden’s vendor and key upgrades.
• A steady supply of Anima, Ashen Remains, Red Anima, and the core farming materials (Rum, Depleted Crystal, Special Carrot, Pointless Dagger, Legendary Talisman, Cursed Eye) — more of these unlock as your key level climbs, and several scale forever at higher levels rather than capping out.
• Level 50+: a small, climbing chance at random Orb Boss items (the same Orbs used in Zereth Mortis) — a prestige perk for pushing high levels.
• Level 75+: a rare chance at Goblin Lure.

Cache drops from the reward chest, by key level

• Levels 1-74: a modest chance (roughly your level divided by 5, capped at 20%) at Death Cache Tier 2.
• Levels 75-99: that same chance instead rolls a 50/50 between Death Cache Tier 3 and Uber Cache Tier 2.
• Level 100+: Death Cache Tier 3 is guaranteed, with quantity climbing the higher your level goes, plus a bonus 20% chance at an extra Death Cache Tier 3 or Uber Cache Tier 2 on top.

Practical takeaway: Challenge Rifts work well as a genuine second gearing track — the Rift Warden’s Upgrade Equipment service lets you push your existing gear’s item level directly, no drop luck required, and clean runs (zero deaths, plenty of time left) give you the most attempts and the biggest key-level jump. Push your key as high as you reasonably can between runs; nearly everything about this system rewards a higher level, and there is no risk of losing your key by falling short.

High-level tips

• Pylons give buffs, so look for them if you are stuck.
• You can often afford a Goblin Lure (500 Rift Tokens) nearly every run.