Urshi

Urshi in a Patch 2.5 Empowered Rift.

Urshi is an NPC merchant/artisan found only in Reaper of Souls or the console Ultimate Evil Edition. She was added to the game in Patch 2.1 as part of the Greater Rifts feature, and is the only source in the game to upgrade Legendary Gems.

Urshi appears every time a Greater Rift Guardian is defeated within the 15 minute time limit, and offers players three chances to upgrade a Legendary Gem (4 chances in an Empowered Rift), with the odds depending on the level of the Rift vs. the level of the LGem.

Prior to Patch 2.3, Urshi appeared every time a Greater Rift Guardian was defeated, whether within 15 minutes or not. At that point players could choose to upgrade the rank of the Greater Rift Key (If they finished within the 15 minute time limit), or else get 3 tries to upgrade Legendary Gems (whether they were within 15m or not).

Development Changes

Urshi's function has been refined during patches since her introduction in Patch 2.1.

Original Description

• Urshi will appear every time a Greater Rift Guardian is defeated and will allow you to upgrade either your Greater Rift Keystone or a Legendary Gem
  • Upgrading a Greater Rift Keystone will allow you to continue on to a more challenging Greater Rift
  • In order to upgrade your Rift Keystone, you must complete the current Greater Rift level within the designated time limit
    • You can earn additional attempts to upgrade your Legendary gems by reaching higher tier Greater Rifts

Patch 2.1 PTR

Urshi interface in Patch 2.1.

A PTR fix on August 5th, 2014 during Patch 2.1 testing made Urshi easier to use. Prior to that patch she only appeared after the GRG was killed, but only when players failed to do so within the 15 minute time frame. After the patch Urshi appears after every GRG kill, and using her is optional. [1]

Patch 2.3

Patch 2.3 removed ranks (levels) from Greater Rift Keys along with removing the Realm of Trials, and switched Urshi's function to only allow LGem upgrades when the Guardian was defeated within the 15m time limit.

Prior to this patch, Urshi would always allow LGem upgrades no matter how long a player took to finish the Grift and kill the Guardian, but she would only allow Rift Key upgrades if players defeated within 15 minutes.

Patch 2.5

Prior to Patch 2.3, Urshi appeared every time a Greater Rift Guardian was defeated, whether within 15 minutes or not. At that point players could choose to upgrade the rank of the Greater Rift Key (If they finished within the 15 minute time limit), or else get 3 tries to upgrade Legendary Gems (whether they were within 15m or not).

Surrender a Greater Rift?

In her original function, Urshi could only be accessed by failing to finish a Grift within 15 minutes. Players objected to this system, and Blizzard agreed with the complaint.[2]

The purpose of the greater rifts are to push your toon as far as you can go, right? I find myself as an hc player, as i approach my Grift limit (usually 23-25, depending on the luck of the draw) that i need to -pause- and wait for the timer to expire just before the rift boss spawns, so I have a shot at the vendor to upgrade a leg gem.

I completed 25 today, and was doing 26. It was way over my toons ability to complete. I wish there was a ‘i give up’ button, spawn the vendor, and have the shot an a gem upgrade.
Grimiku: I can definitely see a need for a feature like this in the current state of of the PTR. I’d be happy to bring it up at our next meeting, too. Thanks for posting your feedback!

Hell, I’d like an “I give up” button for SC, too.

Grimiku: Part of what makes me want to bring this up is the fact that it’s arguably good for both modes, but there are other suggestions in this thread, too. I’ve made a note of them to talk about in addition to the original suggestion.

This request was granted (more or less) with the changes made in the August 5th patch, enabling Urshi to appear after every GRG kill, rather than just when kills were made after the 15 minute time limit.

Gallery

Screens showing Urshi and related Greater Rift activities. The graphics and function evolved during the PTR testing of Patch 2.1, so some pics show early, less-shiny graphics.

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  Urshi and GRift reward.

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  Greater Rift Guardian drop.

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  Urshi waits in ghostly patience.

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  Urshi's original Legendary Gem upgrade interface.

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  Original Urshi interface, from early in the Patch 2.1 PTR.