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Greater Rifts (GRs or GRifts), initially known as '''Tiered Rifts''') are a higher level special timed type of [[Nephalem Rift]], added in [[Patch 2.1]]and modified repeatedly since then. Grifts are designed to provide an [[end game]] play mode with progressively increasing difficultly, and plus rewards to match. They are Diablo 3's ladder challenge, with Realm-wide rankings recording the best times for every class and 2-4 player parties.

Each Like normal Nephalem Rifts, Greater Rift is equivalent to a Nephalem Rift in sizeRifts have randomly generated tilesets, layoutlayouts, and monsters. Grifts however have higher monster density, and there are no item or gold drops, no chests, and very few destructibles. The difference is that Greater Rifts must be completed within 15 minutes (are all about killing speed and tactics, without item drops or gold to advance)distract players. Elite enemies do not drop items, and but do drop several purple Progress Orbs, which are scaled to their own worth about 1-100 levels of difficulty (GR 25 is roughly equivalent to % completion when picked up. All the item rewards come from the Greater Rift [[Torment 6Guardian]]). When who spawns once players complete each Greater Rift by moving the progress bar kill enough enemies to reach 100% and then killing completion. At that point all other monsters vanish from the Guardian that appears, before level. Patch 2.5 made it so Guardians will teleport to the 15m timer runs player if they move more than 2 or 3 screens out, they receive a token of sight. This is helpful for a higher level Greater Rift. (Faster clears earn bigger jumps up in players trying to finish the Grift key levelquickly for a record time, but can be deadly for players who are low on health and need some space for safety.)

Other Greater Rifts offer far more incremental difficulty levels than the normal game aspects tied to . Greater Rifts include [[Legendary Gems]]start at Rank 1, equivalent to Easy mode, and increase infinitely, with the monster hit points, damage, experience value, etc, scaling up by a set amount per GR level. Torment 1 = GR10, Torment 6 = GR25, which are only found and upgraded Torment 10 = GR45. (via [[Urshi]]Full equivalency list below) in . While Greater Riftsmaxed out at 100 in their initial patch testing, there is no upper limit since GRs scale up infinitely, and the [[Realm parties of Trials]] which exists as a way for players were first able to earn higher level exceed GR100 in [[Greater Rift KeystonesPatch 2.5]]. (Saving them time over clearing multiple lower level Grifts as they work their way up.)

Quick notesGreater Rift facts:* Greater Rifts require Rift Keys to enter, which can only be dropped by Guardians in regular Rifts.* [[Legendary Gems]] are only dropped by Greater Rift Guardians, and can only be upgraded via [[Urshi]] when a Grift is finished in under 15 minutes.* There are very few no regular [[shrines]] in Grifts and , just [[Pylons]] which are more powerful than Shrines, but only last only 15 for 30 seconds. Only one, at most, of each type of Pylon can be found per Grift. * [[Treasure Goblins]] are not found in Grifts. (Early on the PTR they were present, and would drop [[Progress Orbs]] when killed.)

* There is no maximum level Grift, as the monster hit points, damage, etc, scale up infinitely with higher GRs. Monster exp also increases with the GRift, and farming high level grifts is worth vastly more experience than playing on even Torment 10. (Especially in multiplayer parties.)* Respecs and gear changes are not permitted during a Grift, though Paragon Points can be reallocated. (In early PTR testing players could return to town and change gear, but this is no longer permitted.)* Greater Rifts are found only in [[Adventure Mode]] and as such are only in [[Reaper of Souls]] or the console [[Ultimate Evil Edition]].

Greater Rifts do not use usual the standard Diablo 3 [[difficulty]] systemand the difficulty of a game has no effect on the difficulty of the Grift. GRs are numbered from 1-100 in ascending difficulty, and as players clear rifts they will Characters earn Greater Rift Keys (GRKs) the right to enter higher level Greater Riftsby completing Rifts within fifteen minutes -- faster clears will allow players to select a Grift of more than one level higher.

It's impossible to directly compare difficulty levels<ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blizzard-tracker/devthread/us/13271628029 Greater Rift Difficulty] - Blizzard CM, 04/06/14</ref> due to vagaries in monster spawn and density, but the approximate levels agreed upon were initially estimated by PTR testers are:<ref>[http://www.reddit.com/r/Diablo/comments/2942zw/ptr_early_greater_rift_tips/ Greater Rift early feedback] - Sidereel via Reddit, 27/06/2014</ref> <ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoN3B3T7ES4 Greater Rift playthrough video] - ZiggyD gaming stream, 27/06/2014</ref>and later confirmed by the developers and displayed on the GR selection screen.

Approximate Greater Rift Level = [[Difficulty]]

* Greater Rift Level 2530 = [[Torment 7]] (Torment 7-10 added in [[Patch 2.4]].)* Greater Rift Level 35 = [[Torment 8]]* Greater Rift Level 40 = [[Torment 9]]* Greater Rift Level 45 = [[Torment 10]]* Greater Rift Level 46+ = Harder higher than Torment 10. ** Presumably the same rate of scaling continues, and harderthus if there were Torments higher than 10, they would be roughly GR50 = Torment 11, GR55 = Torment 12, etc, with GR100 = Torment 21.

GR30 was about the limit for a very well-equipped (softcore) character entering the Patch 2.1 testing on the PTR. Shortly after Patch 2.1 players with improved gear began to clear up through GR35 routinely, with the first groups into the low 40s. As gear and strategy improvesimproved, higher and higher levels are were reached, with 54 being the maximum as of November 21st 2014in each subsequent patch.  Early in Patch 2.1, Demon Hunters were considerably stronger than other classes thanks 5 in early 2016 brought the first groups to their Sentries acting as the best "pets" and dealing non-stop damage. A fan-tabulated survey of the average clear times for the top 1000 ranked players showed approximately:<ref name=preview>GR100[http://diablowww.incgamersdiabloii.comnet/blog/comments/greaterplayers-riftsmashing-leaderboardspast-show-diablo-3-clagreatergreater-rift-leaderboards100-showin-diablopatch-32-class-imbalance Greater Rift top 1000 best times averaged4] - Diablo(Some players had hit GR100 in early Patch 2.IncGamers1 PTR testing, but only by using various item exploits that were soon patched out.com, 09/09/2014</ref> * Demon Hunters: GR 38* Wizards: GR 36* Barbs/Monks/Crusaders/Witch Doctors: GR 33)

The series of steps to enter Greater Rifts:has been greatly simplified in patches since the feature launched. Patch 2.4 removed the deeply unpopular [[Realm of Trials]] and the ranks on Greater Rift keys. As of Patch 2.5, characters need merely find a Greater Rift Key from a Rift Guardian and they can use it to enter a Greater Rift, selecting a GR level based on their highest GRift previously cleared.

# Find This is a [[Keystone of Trials]]much easier system than the initial one, which can be dropped by any Nephalem Rift Guardian.# Use the Keystone of Trials at the Nephalem Obelisk but it makes gearing up and Legendary Gem acquisition slower early in town to enter the [[Realm of Trials]].## In the Trial fight waves of enemiesa season, killing as many as possible since players have to earn find a higher level [[Greater Rift Key]].# Use your Greater Rift Key to open a Greater Rift of that level.# Clear the for each Grift , rather than just finding one and kill the Guardian within 15m to earn a higher level GRK.# GRKs are upgraded then running 10 or more Grifts with that one key, via "[[Urshislow rolling]], and a higher level GRK will be created based on how fast the rift was cleared.# Use the new GRK to enter a Grift of that level, and repeat until you can not finish a Grift in time".

The progress bar in a Greater Rift is electric purple in color, and adds with the progress compared to an extra hourglass icon showing how far above (or below ) the bar, showing the progression of player is compared to the 15m timer15 minute time limit. The initial design did not incorporate the bright purple coloration, and can be seen in the images here.

When players are battling through a Rift that's just at the limit of their killing power, they will often see their progress dropping drop behind, or moving slightly ahead of the timer barwhen killing trash mobs, depending on and then jump ahead when they kill the monster density more valuable Elites and claim their relative speedProgress Orbs. Since the Rift Guardian appears last and has very high hit points, players must be some distance ahead of the end time on the progress bar to have time to finish the Guardian as well, and most Rifts "fail" while players are locked in fevered battle with the GRG. (Guardian hit points were greatly reduced in Patch 2.4, since players without good single target damage were often spending as long fighting the Guardian as clearing the entire rest of the Grift.) As of Patch 2.4, players must complete the Rift and kill the Guardian within 15m in order for [[Urshi]] to give them the option of upgrading their Legendary Gems. Completions at 15m or longer do not offer any reward from Urshi, though the Greater Rift Guardian still drops items and materials as normal.  ==Rewards== [[File:Grg-drop1-lrg.jpg|thumb|350px|Typical Guardian drop.]]All gold and item rewards in Greater Rifts are granted by the [[Greater Rift Guardian]] who does not spawn until the progress bar reaches 100%. (Even if players run well past the 15 minute timer, the Grift must still be cleared to 100% before the Guardian will appear.) Greater Rift Guardians drop the best quality loot in the game, and players moving into higher Grifts ("higher" varies between patches and continually increases due to power creep) will generally see 3-6 legendary items per Guardian, plus stacks of materials and gold. Grift Guardians are always good kills though, and even the lowest level Greater Rift Guardians have good odds to drop at least 1 or 2 legendary items. Also, even GR1 Guardians can drop the special class set items that normally do not spawn below Torment 1 (equivalent to GR10.) No gold or items drop from normal monsters or Elites in Grifts, and there are no chests or clickables (loose floor tiles, dead bodies, armor/weapon racks, etc) and very few destructibles in Grifts. (This functions to present the Grift as a fast killing challenge, and also removes the powerful buffs from some items that trigger from gold pickup, opening chests, etc.) Monster award Progress on the Bar, and Elites drop purple Progress Orbs worth about 1% Progress. The item rewards come only from the Greater Rift Guardian. The real reward most players play Greater Rifts for, aside from huge experience gains, is the opportunity to upgrade Legendary Gems via [[Urshi]], who appears only after the Greater Rift Guardian has been defeated.    ===Experience=== Greater Rifts are potentially a huge source of experience. Monsters killed on GR46 are worth more experience than kills on Torment 10 (equivalent to GR45) and monster experience value skyrockets as players move up into much higher Grifts.  Orek awards a substantial experience and gold reward for players who complete a Rift within 15 minutes. This value is shown in a pop up window that appears after completing the Grift.       ==Grift Evolution== The initial Greater Rift system made it cumbersome to play up to the appropriate difficulty of Greater Rift. In those days all Greater Rift keys had a GR#, and players needed a Grift key of the correct number to enter that level of GRift. However, players could only find GR1 keys from Rift Guardians, and thus had to enter Greater Rift level 1, which was equivalent to Easy. Any player with decent equipment would thus zoom through the entire GR1 in just a couple of minutes, upgrade the key the maximum possible 10 levels, to GR11, and repeat. Well-geared players were soon progressing something like GR1 > GR11 > GR21 > GR28 > GR34, etc, before they reached a Grift level that would challenge them at their highest level of performance. This could be very frustrating for players who wanted to push their best score, but had to play through numerous very easy, and then a series of slightly higher GRifts just to get back to a chance at their new high score.  ===Realm of Trials=== To fix the annoying requirement that players work each GRK up from rank 1, Blizzard introduced the Realm of Trials in Patch 2.3. At that point the overall sequence of events went something like this: # Find a [[Keystone of Trials]], which can be dropped by any Nephalem Rift Guardian on Torment 1 or higher.# Use the Keystone of Trials at the Nephalem Obelisk in town to enter the [[Realm of Trials]].## In the Trial fight waves of enemies, killing as many as possible to earn a higher level [[Greater Rift Key]].# Use your Greater Rift Key to open a Greater Rift of that level.# Clear the Grift and kill the Guardian within 15m to earn the option of upgrading to a higher level Grift Key.# GRKs are upgraded via [[Urshi]], and a higher level GRK will be created based on how fast the rift was cleared. ## If players chose not to upgrade their Grift Key, they could instead take 3 chances to upgrade a Legendary Gem.# Use the new GRK to enter a Grift of that level, and repeat until you can not finish a Grift in time. The new addition in Patch 2.3 was the Realm of Trails. This was a sort of "tower defense" style mini-game where players entered a small static area and fought off endless "waves" of enemies, of increasing difficulty/hit points, until they failed by not entirely clearing a wave within the 20 second time limit.

Since the speed will vary quite a bit depending on the monster spawn, players can get unlucky and fail to complete a Rift due to poor enemy density. The opposite can be true as well, and highest wave completed earned players are advised not to beat a Rift too quickly if they're approaching the limit GRift key of their abilitya level slightly lower than that wave. For exampleinstance, if you get the highest Wave cleared in a very easy spawn on a level 20 riftparticular Realm of Trials was 35:* Wave 35, you might want to stall for a few minutes before beating the Rift Guardian1 player: GRK31* Wave 35, so your rift key will only upgrade to 21 or 222 players: GRK30* Wave 35, instead of jumping all the way up to say level 253 players: GRK29* Wave 35, where you'd be over your head and unable to complete in time. (Or in danger of death if you're playing [[Hardcore]].)4 players: GRK28

Players can judge their speed Waves increased in a rift difficult, and know if players jumped up more waves based on how fast they need to go faster or slower depending on the progress bardefeated each wave. Characters who are well ahead The biggest increase possible was 6 waves, so a player with a maximum capability of about GR45 would often see a progression of the time but coming close something like: Wave 1, 7, 13, 19, 25, 33, 37, 40, 42, 43, 44... which they failed to death should look to improve their Toughness and defensive properties/skillskill. Characters who are having no trouble surviving but are not killing fast enough to keep up with They'd thus earn a Greater Rift key based on the timer should look to raise their DPSlast wave they did clear, perhaps by trading off some Toughness or defensive buffs. (These changes can not be made in any given rift, and must be made between games43.)

When characters fail to complete a rift in time Once players had the key, they can still earn the item and gold rewards for killing the Greater Rift Guardian. They just fail had to earn more [[enter a Greater Rift Keystones]] and thus can not progress to a higher of that level, which was seldom their highest level Riftof GRift. If they have no more GRKs they must restart at Thus the entire sequence went something like this, for a hypothetical solo player with a level one GR (or go GR50 best clear normal Rifts until they find a GRK) and work their way back up.:

No gold or items are meant A common technique prior to drop (early in the PTR Patch testing some 2.3, when ranks were still removed from destructibles) from normal or Elite enemies in a Greater Rift, there are keys and Urshi could no chests or clickables (loose floor tileslonger up-rank keys, dead bodies, armor/weapon racks, etc) and very few destructibles. Monster kills do grant experience as well as Rift Progress, but the gold and item and material rewards come entirely from the Greater Rift Guardianwas to "slow roll" Rifts.

Greater Rifts require Since the low level GRs were very easy, players would usually get to 95% or higher within a few minutes, and would then portal out and run a balance of gearfew Bounties while keeping an eye on the clock, since they must be defeated within had to get back to the 15m time limitGrift, complete it, and since dying means no restart from corpse option. Players thus can't die much (spawn the Guardian later than 11:30 but not past 15:00, or at all solo)else upgrading their Grift Key would not be possible, but players also can't be too conservative with lots of toughness but not enough killing powerthus ending their slow roll.

Each Rift Guardian is guaranteed to drop a Legendary Gem, if your character + stash does not have that typeThis trick was ended by the Patch 2. LGems equipped on other characters on your account3 system changes, or just in their inventories, will be dropped by Guardians. Players who want more than one of and now players must find a given Legendary Gem, so they can level up GRK from a second one Rift Guardian for another character every Grift they wish to create or to have a spare (a wise precaution in Hardcore) must stick their first LGem on another character, to get a second one of that type to dropenter.

The top characters and teams 2-4 player parties during each [[Season]] will be (and non-seasonal characters in the "Era" leaderboards) are ranked on realm-wide Leaderboards, giving bragging rights and [[epeen]] to the most dedicated players.<ref name=Blizzard's initial preview/>described Leaderboards as such: