Ancient Rift

**Ancient Rifts** are an endgame content mechanic in *Everspace 2* which was initially introduced in Early Access version 0.10.30110, the Ancient Rifts update.

## Initial Vision

Ancient Rifts were initially planned to be a series of procedurally generated areas, increasing in difficulty as the player progresses (similar to *Everspace'*s gameplay). Progressing through these rifts would reward the player with valuable and unique loot, potentially including Ancient artifacts which could be used to upgrade equipment. Loot would be kept on death, but there would be a bonus based on progression.

If pilots die, they are thrown out of the crack and wake up as if from a dream at their previous location. Despite their abrupt demise, they can still enjoy the loot they have collected and a hefty bonus, depending on how deep they ventured into the territory. Mysterious…

## Implementation

Ancient Rifts can be opened from any Spatial Bypass beacon once the player finished the story and reached the maximum possible level, with an option given at the start to set the overall difficulty and reward of the rift by adjusting its Lunacy (between 0 and 1,000 in increments of 50). Once Lunacy has been confirmed, the ship's equipment and consumables are locked (i.e. items cannot be added, removed or switched), and the player is thrown into the first zone and forced into combat against waves of Ancient-controlled enemy ships from all major hostile factions.

* The player's goal in the first three areas of an Ancient Rift is to meet a specific enemy kill quota (akin to that of High Risk Areas) while maintaining their Resolve.
	+ Resolve gradually drains over time from an initial value of 100%, but can also be lost by taking damage or regained by killing enemies.
	+ Losing all hull (with Close Call already used) or allowing Resolve to drain to 0% will not cause a game-over, but it will force the player out of the Ancient Rift early, forfeiting any possible equipment rewards.
	+ Enemies killed in these areas have a chance to drop Tears of the Mad, a rare resource which is not available anywhere else.
* When the enemy kill quota for the current area is met, all remaining enemies will retreat and 1-3 portals to the next area will appear.
	+ On first area completion, 3 portals will appear, each with a High Risk Area-style modifier. Going through a portal starts the second area with the portal's listed modifier.
	+ On second area completion, 2 portals will appear with a different selection of modifiers. As in the previous area, going through a portal starts the third area with the listed modifier.
	+ On third area completion, only one portal will appear which will always take the player to the final area without any modifiers.
* The player's goal in the final area is to slay a capital ship while under fire from its endlessly-regenerating fighter wing. Destroying this final boss completes the Ancient Rift, warping both the player and a generous cloud of loot back to the Spatial Bypass beacon used to open the rift.
	+ Depending on the Lunacy of the rift, the loot dropped from the boss may include one or more legendary items, extremely potent pieces of equipment with their own signature effects.
	+ When opening an Ancient Rift without a guaranteed legendary drop (450 or lower Lunacy), the player has the option to artificially increase the drop chance by investing Tears of the Mad, with a guaranteed drop requiring (500 - current Lunacy) units to be invested at once.
* Regardless of how the Ancient Rift ends, the ship's health, secondary weapon ammunition, consumables, and limited-use perks are restored to their pre-rift states upon the player's return to normal space.

## Notes and Trivia

* The universal weapon modifier "+20% increased damage if your ship is exposed to sunlight" does work while inside a rift.
* All enemies in rifts count as Ancients or Ancient-controlled units. This affects several modifiers:
	+ The universal weapon modifier "20% increased damage against Ancients and Ancient-controlled units" applies to all enemies inside rifts.
	+ Modifiers adding bonus damage against specific factions do not apply.
* The Ancient Rifts were the first and only unlocked stretch goal from the Kickstarter.
* Completing (either by completion or being forced out) the first rift during the story awards the "Still in One Piece" achievement.
* Successfully completing a rift at any lunacy awards the "Rift Runner" achievement.
* Successfully completing a rift at 500 lunacy or higher awards the "Legendary Lunatic" achievement.