Cesspools

Twisty level layout.

Cesspools are a dank, sewer-themed dungeon tile set added to Reaper of Souls in Patch 2.1 This dungeon look was something Blizzard was working on pre-RoS, but that they didn't get finished in time to include in the game. They worked on them more once they had the time though, and felt the Cesspools were nice enough to add in post-release.

Cesspools appear exclusively in Nephalem Rifts, and they do not have new monster types associated with them. They are just another randomized tile set to spice up the play experience.

In graphics they are a bit reminiscent of a nighttime version of the Diablo 2 Act Three town, with rotting wooden piers connected to huge stone ruins.

PTR Playtest

A report on the Cesspools from PTR testing.

They are a sort of nighttime docks area, kind of reminiscent of parts of the Act Three Kurast docks and jungle huts from Diablo 2, but also with the rotting bamboo elements of the Bogan caves you get in parts of Act Five. It’s a great area for a ranged attacker since there are very few walls (just a few ramshackle buildings here and there) and you can constantly blow things away on adjoining piers and stone wharfs before they can reach you.

The tilesets are mostly narrow, short walkways that change directions constantly, always at right angles. There was no elevation other than a few short stairs up into the rotting huts, and if it used the same level generation grid as any other area, (the way the Passage and Ruins of Corvus in A5 are reskinned A3 Keep levels) it wasn’t apparent to me from one level of it.

The level I got was quite large with no major dead ends and I never went more than half a screen without the pathway branching off multiple times. It’s basically a big maze, but outdoors and without walls, so it feels open and easy to navigate.

My spawn had some zombies, but was mostly blue Fallen of all type except hounds, and the density was pretty thick. Maybe a 6 or 7 out of 10 on density, and it took me quickly from about 30% to 100% complete on the Rift. (I got this as level 3 in the Rift.)

Cesspools Preview

Rotting wooden hut.

Cesspools were first mentioned in Blizzard's Patch 2.1 preview, in June 2014.

Originally designed as the sewers of Westmarch, we weren't quite able to include the Cesspools in the list of playable environments in Reaper of Souls by the time the expansion launched. Still, we loved the look and feel of this festering, dank underworld and we’ve spent some time polishing it up for use in Nephalem Rifts and Greater Rifts. You’ll have a chance to spawn Cesspool levels while in a Rift, and we hope you enjoy this new randomized landscape!

Further Clarification came a few days later:

The Cesspools are an additional environment that will begin spawning exclusively in Nephalem Rifts (including Greater Rifts). They aren’t a new zone, however, so there aren’t new monsters or bosses associated specifically with them. That would also run somewhat counterintuitive to one of the qualities of Nephalem Rifts in that they are always randomized. It’d be a bit odd to introduce a new environment to Rifts and then have them produce static results.
Adding the Cesspools in was an opportunity for us to toss in a sort of “bonus” for Patch 2.1, as well as feature the awesome artwork and animations that didn’t make it into the launch version of Reaper of Souls that our environment team worked on.

Gallery

Screenshots showing the dark and dank cesspools tileset.

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  PTR testing.

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  PTR testing.

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  PTR testing.

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  PTR testing.

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  PTR testing.

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  PTR testing.

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  Twisty level layout.

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  Preview image #1.

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  Preview image #2.

Cesspools in History

Cesspools or cesspits are real things, and they're pretty nasty. They don't have shambling zombies in real life, but they're very much "do not enter" all the same. Quote from the wikipedia article:

""A cesspit, or cesspool, is a pit, conservancy tank, or covered cistern which can be used to dispose of urine and feces, and more generally of all sewage and refuse. It is a more antiquated solution than a sewer system. Traditionally, it was a deep cylindrical chamber dug into the earth, having approximate dimensions of 1 metre diameter and 2–3 metres depth. Their appearance was similar to that of a hand-dug water well.