Changes

[[File:Greater-rift-completion27.jpg|left|thumb|300ps|Greater Rift Complete banner.]][[File:Greater-rift-death1.jpg|thumb|350px|Death in a Rift = no restart at corpse.]]

'''Difficulty: '''Greater Rifts are numbered as a measure of their difficulty. A level 1 Greater Rift is very easy, equivalent to [[Normal]] difficulty (or less.) Greater Rifts scale up quickly though, and will become challenging for any player ability. Level 8 is equivalent to about Torment 1, Level 15 is equivalent to about [[Torment 3]], and Level 25 is approximately the same as [[Torment 6]]. There should be an infinite number or Greater Rift levels since each one merely increases the hit points and damage of the monsters by some percentage

'''No Respecs:''' Characters can reallocate their Paragon Points while in a Rift, but can not access their inventory or skill menus ([[respec]]) while in a Greater Rift. It is possible to return to town mid-GR, and players can respec and make repairs then, though it's not recommended since the GR is a timed race. This is a feature designed to limit exploits via equipment or skill changes, so players can't change gear or skills to be more effective against a single target before they reach the [[Greater Rift Guardian]] for instance.

'''Rewards: '''Items and gold do not drop in Greater Rifts, and there are no chests or other clickables. All treasure comes from defeating the Greater Rift Guardian, who drops a huge amount of stuff, about double that of a normal Rift Guardian, and has a very high probability of dropping at least one legendary item. (Note that the lack of gold and chests hurts the effectiveness of legendary items such as [[Goldwrap]] and [[Harrington Waistguard]] that proc up in effectiveness via gold pickups or chest/clickables opening.)

'''Shrines:''' There are virtually no [[shrines]] or [[pylons]] in Greater Rifts. Pylons are seen occasionally, but their bonuses last only 15 seconds (instead of the usual 30) and Blizzard specifically said that [[Conduit]] Pylons would not be found in Greater Rifts since they are so powerful they would skew the entire rift [[Leaderboard]] system.

'''Progress Bar:'''The completion progress bar in a Greater Rift increases gradually from killing trash mobs, but jumps up by larger amounts for Elite kills. (Elites drop objects that look a bit like gooey health orbs, which count for big boosts in the progress bar when collected.) This is a feature designed to keep players from simply rushing past Elites to more quickly finish the rift by killing trash mobs, as can be done in normal Nephalem Rifts, and players will fill their progress bar more quickly by killing Elites than by skipping them, except in very rare long Elite battles.

==Greater Rift Difficulty==

[[File:Greater-rift-elite-globes.jpg|thumb|300px|Elites drop globby orange things that boost progress totals.]]Greater Rifts do not use usual Diablo 3 [[difficulty]] system. GRs are numbered and are easiest at #1, with a steady progression in difficulty above that. Early estimates of equivalent difficulty levels came from various sources, but tended to agree on the general difficulty range.<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>

<ref>Approximate Greater Rift Level = [[Difficulty]]* Greater Rift Level 1 = [[Normal]]* Greater Rift Level 3 = [[Hard]]* Greater Rift Level 4 = [[Expert]]* Greater Rift Level 6 = [[Master]]* Greater Rift Level 8 = [[Torment 1]]* Greater Rift Level 12 = [[Torment 2]]* Greater Rift Level 15 = [[Torment 3]]* Greater Rift Level 17 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v[Torment 4]]* Greater Rift Level 20 =BoN3B3T7ES4 [[Torment 5]]* Greater Rift playthrough videoLevel 25 = [[Torment 6]] - ZiggyD gaming stream, 27/06/2014</ref>

* As Greater Rift Level 1 = Normal* Greater Rift Level 4 = Expert* Greater Rift Level 8 = Torment 1* Greater Rift Level 12 = Torment 2* Greater Rift Level Rifts must be completed within the 15 = Torment 3* Greater Rift Level 17 = Torment 4* Greater Rift Level 20 = Torment 5* Greater Rift Level 25 = minute time limit, simply surviving them is not enough to progress. Characters must be balanced to succeed on higher level Rifts, or play in parties that create balance. A character with very high [[Toughness]] but not a lot of [[DPS]], who can grind out Torment 6in normal play, will not succeed on hihger level GRs since they won't be able to kill fast enough. Likewise, characters with very high DPS but a lack of survivability will die too often, and without a "restart at corpse" option they will waste too much time running back from the start of the level.

As Greater Rifts must be completed within Characters need high killing power and the time limitability to stay alive, simply surviving them is not enough to progress, thus characters built with very high Toughness but not a lot of DPS, who can grind out Torment 6 in normal play, are not well-suited be able to succeeding in finish higher level Greater Riftsrifts quickly enough to advance.

==Greater Rift Rewards== [[File:Greater-rift-guardian-drop1.JPG|thumb|350px|Typical Guardian drop.]]All gold and item rewards in Greater Rifts are granted by the [[Greater Rift Guardian]] at the end of the level, who pops with a massive shower of gold, items, and materials, including usually at least one legendary item.