Mythic Rift/Trials of the Rift

The **Trials of the Rift** is a weekly game mode taking place in the Mythic Rift, in which players traverse seven randomized Realms, defeating enemies and bosses. Each realm contains battles, decisions, and a Boss, and may contain locked doors and choices that grant access to traps or rewards.

The Trials come in two difficulties: **Normal** and **Expert**. Expert Rift is only unlocked once the player has completed "The Next Chapter" Side Story, which requires the following:

* Get to Level 50
* Defeat the Final Boss in the Rift
* Reach a threat level of 300 in the Rift

Once the player has started one of the difficulties, the other **cannot be started** until the next week.

The Trials reset every Monday at 8:00 UTC.

The Mythic Rift was released December 8, 2020, with the Expert Rift being added February 1, 2022.

## Gameplay

The Rift consists of 7 Realms, each Realm being a stage of islands in a randomized preset order. Each Realm contains 1-2 Boss islands, as well as a portal island that unlocks the next Realm. Not all islands are visible to the player at the beginning of the Realm and must be discovered through progression. Sometimes, the Boss may need to be defeated to access the portal island; other times, the Boss may be bypassed completely. This is useful in order to gain more Threat (and therefore earn more rewards) before coming back to defeat a Boss.

The player starts at a beginning island and must progress through the islands (through Battle, Choices, or Doors) one by one to unlock the next island. Battles require the use of a Map Fragment to attempt. Sometimes multiple paths will open up after a battle, and some paths loop around to each other.

Each regular island has its own Battle, with two randomized types of Monsters as the opponents. Completing a battle raises the Threat level and earns the player Gold.

* On **Normal** Difficulty, the player earns 500 Gold per victory.
* On **Expert** Difficulty, the player earns 1000 Gold per victory.

### Difficulty Scaling

In the **Expert Rift**, island battles are scaled to **Easy, Medium,** or **Hard** battles, as well as Boss battles. These battles scale based on the player's Knight level.

* **Easy** battles are more abundant in Realms 1-2 and become less common from 4 onward. They match the player's Knight Level, with a cap of Level 55.
* **Medium** battles are present in all Realms, but primarily Realms 3-5. They scale to +5 the player's Knight Level, with a cap of Level 60.
* **Hard** battles are most prominent in Realms 6-7, but can appear in any other Realm as well. They scale to +5 the player's Knight Level, with a cap of Level 65.
* **Boss** battles scale to +0 for Realms 1-6, and +5 for Realm 7.

## Threat

**Threat** is a value in the Trials of the Rift that determines the Rift Power of Monsters. In combat, the Threat level is measured against the player Knight's total Rift Power and determines the strength of the Monsters in that battle. The higher the Threat is above Rift Power, the stronger the enemies. Threat increases by 5 per victory and decreases by 15 per loss.

* On **Normal** Difficulty, Threat starts at 0 each week.
* On **Expert** Difficulty, Threat starts at 280 each week, with a minimum of 250.

### Raiding

If a player has 50 more Rift Power than the current Threat, they can **Raid** the current island (similar to Hunts) and complete it without going into battle. There are several caveats to Raiding:

* The player's Equipment and Heroes will not gain Mythic XP
* Any Minions cannot be captured using a Raid
* Boss Islands cannot be Raided

## Mythic XP

Mythic Equipment and any Epic or rarer Heroes gain Mythic Levels by obtaining Mythic XP. The base amount of XP earned per battle is **100**, and increases by **1% per Threat level**. For example, a battle at a Threat level of 150 would grant 100+(100x150%) = 250 Mythic XP.

## Traps

Traps alter the performance of the combatants in battle (player, heroes and enemies). At the start of each week, a random trap is activated, and more can be activated through Choices placed randomly in the Rift. Up to 3 traps may be activated

Traps alter the performance of the combatants in battle (player, heroes and enemies). At the start of each week, a random trap is activated, and more can be activated through Choices placed randomly in the Rift.

Up to 3 traps may be active at a time; if a player chooses to activate a trap when the trap bank is full, the oldest trap is deactivated

Traps do not stack, so having duplicate traps will not double or triple the specified value. Because of this, if the Player encounters a choice between two negative traps, it is advantageous to choose a trap that has already been activated, to avoid any new penalties. All traps except for Klaxon apply to **all combatants**.

List of traps:

* **Barrier**: decreases chances to inflict Weaken, Expose or Unfocus by 100%.
* **Catalyst**: increases damage taken from Burn, Acid and Poison by 200%.
* **Combust**: increases power damage by 100%.
* **Klaxon**: increases all Rage gained by 50%.
* **Lights Out**: decreases critical hit chance by 100%.
* **Shackles**: decreases chances to gain Fury, Protect and Focus by 100%.
* **Spores**: decreases healing from powers and Regenerate by 50%.
* **Thorns**: increases critical hit damage by 100%.
* **Time Warp**: increases power charging speed by 100%.

**Expert** Rift adds several more traps:

* **Blunted:** Axe Weapons deal 50% less damage
* **Clumsy:** Sword Weapons deal 50% less damage
* **Weightless:** Hammer Weapons deal 50% less damage
* **Rogue's Curse:** Rogue Hero Powers deal 50% less damage
* **Alchemist's Curse:** Alchemist Hero Powers deal 50% less damage
* **Warrior's Curse:** Warrior Hero Powers deal 50% less damage
* **Mage's Curse:** Mage Hero Powers deal 50% less damage
* **Hunter's Curse:** Hunter Hero Powers deal 50% less damage
* **Siren Song:** Decrease Rage gain by 50%

## Decisions

Each Decision in the Rift contains two choices, of which the player must choose one in order to finish the island and open up any further paths. The decisions can include:

* Traps
* Map Fragments
* Keys
* Hero Shards
* Gold
* Gauntlet Cores
* Tomes
* Upgrade Materials

## Locked Doors

Locked doors appear throughout the Rift, and are opened through one of two ways:

* **Time-locked** doors prevent the player from progressing further into the Rift until after a certain time has passed. There are two guaranteed time-locked doors:
	+ Beginning of Realm 4 (opens Wednesday at midnight)
	+ Beginning of Realm 6 (opens Friday at midnight)
* **Key-locked** doors require one of three Keys to open:
	+ **Old Key:** Leads to low-end loot (Map Fragments, Gold, etc) or an alternate path
	+ **Intricate Key:** Leads to good loot (Upgrade Materials, Legendary Shards, etc)
	+ **Mysterious Key:** Leads to high-end loot (Cores, Unique Shards, etc)

Keys can be obtained by exploring the Rift or through purchase in the Store. Keys stay in the player's inventory until used, so it is viable to save keys if there is no good use for them that week.

## Rift Bosses

Rift Bosses are high-end Boss Monsters that appear in each Realm of the Rift. They consist of bosses unique to the Rift, as well as more difficult versions of the Cave Monsters.

### List of Bosses

The following Monsters may appear as Rift Bosses each week, in any order:

### Drops

Upon defeat, Rift Bosses drop a variety of loot that includes Charms, Weapons, Armor, Cores Hero Shards, Upgrade Materials, and Customization items.

Each boss drops 3 of these items when defeated, and this number **increases by 1 for every 30 points of Threat Level** accumulated. For example, **at Threat Level 120, a Rift Boss will drop 3 + (120/30)= 7 items.**

* On **Normal** difficulty, a Boss can drop a **max of 13 drops at Threat Level 300**. After this, a higher Threat Level can still be reached, and Monster difficulty and Mythic XP will scale accordingly, but the player cannot receive more than 13 drops from a Boss.
* On **Expert** difficulty, a Boss can drop a **max of 16 drops at Threat Level 580**. After this, a higher Threat Level can still be reached, and Monster difficulty and Mythic XP will scale accordingly, but the player cannot receive more than 16 drops from a Boss.
* Depending on the week, a Rift Boss **may not need to be defeated** in order to progress to the next Realm. This gives players an opportunity to raise the Threat level and return to the boss for increased drops.

## Rift Shop

The Rift Shop, "Bones' Bazaar," appears twice in the Mythic Rift, in **Realm 3** and **Realm 7**. The Bazaar sells charm tools, keys, and special Skins in exchange for Mythic Essence.

Note: Items will be updated as they are cycled in.

## Gallery

Promo image for Expert Rift, featuring Despoiler of the Rift, Renegade of the Rift, and Breaker of the RiftSkelly, the NPC in who appears during Decisions