The new update is set to go live in the near future on PTR

Jun 18, 2014 16:11 GMT  ·  By

Diablo 3 update 2.1.0 brings a series of big changes to the role-playing dungeon crawler, including the addition of Greater Rifts, formerly known as Tiered Rifts, not to mention some tweaks to the current Nephalem Rift system.

Diablo 3 received through the Reaper of Souls expansion a series of major enhancements, including the new Nephalem Rift mechanic that's accessible via the Adventure Mode. This new system allows players to unlock special random levels filled with lots of enemies which, when defeated, summon a massive Rift Guardian.

Now, for those who are looking for an even greater challenge, Diablo 3 patch 2.1.0 will bring forth a new tier for the mechanic called Greater Rift, according to the official website.

Previously called Tiered Rift, the new mechanic allows regular Rift Guardians the chance to drop a Greater Rift key, which can be used at the regular Nephalem Obelisk to open a greater rift. Bear in mind that all players in a party need to have a greater rift key if they want to participate in that event.

In these greater rifts, players will have to race against the clock to fill a progress bar by killing monsters and most of them won't even drop loot, as Blizzard doesn't want to distract players from their timed goal. Elites or champions will fill the progress bar to a greater degree than regular monsters.

Bear in mind that you cannot resurrect at your corpse in town or in a rift, only at the last checkpoint, as you cannot teleport to a player if he's in a greater rift.

These rifts also have difficulty tiers independent of the game's one (Normal through Torment), and completing one unlocks the next difficulty level. If your time is really good, you might even skip a few difficulty levels, according to Blizzard.

In order to reward players in an even better way than through great loot, a special Legendary Gem system is going to be included in the greater rifts.

"Legendary Gems are still undergoing significant iteration at this time, so you won't see them available on the PTR right away. The gist is that these gems are infinitely upgradeable, and provide special Legendary powers when socketed into the appropriate gear slot," the studio said.

"They can only be socketed into Rings and Amulets, and can be upgraded by completing additional Greater Rifts. The higher you place in a Greater Rift, the more likely your gem will be successfully upgraded."

Diablo 3 patch 2.1.0 will also bring changes to regular Nephalem Rifts, as now the cost of opening one is reduced to one rift fragment but all players need to pay one. The new completion bar system that factors in monster level will also be added to these adventures.