Rifts are one of the best ways to progress your Drifter in Warborn: Above Ashes. These can be started fairly early on in the game, and can be done either by yourself or with a group. They’re an activity that can scale with you, and not only can you obtain a lot of loot, but they can also be a great source of experience. However, it can be unclear where to find the materials to enter a Rift, and which Rifts on a Verge you can even enter. In this guide, I will go over how to unlock and find Rifts, as well as how to ultimately clear them and what their benefits are.
1. How to Unlock Rifts
Before you can even look for Rifts, you must take a couple of steps in your Driftmark. Although it’s possible to see some out in the world, you cannot simply walk into these. However, it won’t take long to be able to unlock them.
- Upgrade your Driftmark to Rank III — this will cost 3600 Starfall Tokens and 90 Energy
- Once it’s upgraded, build a Rift Scanner for 1200 Starfall Tokens and 150 Energy
You can see how close you are to building the Rift Scanner
2. Choosing Your Rift
Once your Rift Scanner is built, you can interact with it to choose the Rift you’d like to tackle. There are a few things to consider to make sure that you pick the right Rift, and there is a resource you will need in order to open one up.
Rift Categories
- Solo Rifts – a standard Rift meant for single player
- 5-Person Rifts – a larger and more difficult Rift that’s designed to be done in a group
- Danger Rifts – harder versions of Solo Rifts, which grant better rewards
Progression & Difficulty
- Each category has a set of tiers — completing a tier will unlock a new one
- Higher Tier Rifts will also require you to Relocate your Driftmark to a higher tier Verge
- The game will show the recommended level for each tier, to help you know if you’re ready to tackle it
- Even if you’re below the recommended level, if your Drifter’s Power is high enough, the game may still say you’re ready for the tier
Clicking on a Tier will show you if you should tackle it and what the rewards are
Starting a Rift
Once you’ve chosen your Rift, a path will appear on the world map, showing you where it opened up. Only you (or your group) will be able to enter this Rift instance. Once you make it to where the Rift is, simply click on it to enter.
What Happens When You Open a Rift:
- A Path Appears: A path marked by arrows will appear, leading you to your Rift
- Exclusive Access: While the Rift is open, no one can enter it except for you or your party
Enemy Entrance & PvP
Opening a Rift will also create a second entrance that can be used by enemies to initiate a PvP encounter. The only time this will not happen is if you don’t expose a Solo Rift.
- Enemy Entrance Spawns: A second entrance will appear on the Verge when you open up a Rift
- Visible to Other Players: Enemy players will see this entrance as a flashing Rift icon on their map
- Enemy Invasion: Players from other factions can use this entrance to invade your Rift, to try to kill you and take it from you
- Counterplay: If you see a flashing icon on your Verge map, you can take advantage of this and try to take another player’s Rift
Echo-Shard Requirements
In order to open up a Rift, you will need to have enough Echo-Shards to gain access to it.
- Echo-Shards can only be dropped by enemies, so look out for enemy camps to farm them
- The required amount of Echo-Shards increases the higher the Rift tier
- Once you unlock a Rift, the required Echo-Shards will be consumed, whether you clear it or not
- Eventually, in higher tiers, you will need Advanced Echo-Shards instead
- Advanced Echo-Shards are obtained and used the same way, just at a higher level
3. Completing Rifts
Once you’re in a Rift, the goal is to clear out all of the enemies inside. There are a few things to consider and be on the lookout for. These can range from obstacles to make your runs more difficult to helpful items within the Rifts to give you an edge.
Invasions
As stated earlier, enemies can invade your Rift and try to take it from you. You will get an in-game warning if this happens.
- A player from an enemy faction could invade your Rift, adding extra risk to your run
- In a 5-Person Rift, up to 3 enemy players can enter
- In Solo Rifts, this is optional, and will only happen if you choose to expose your Rift
- Exposing your Rift will grant you more rewards on completion
Shrines
While exploring a Rift, you can find a Shrine to make it easier to clear out. It’s a good idea to grab these as soon as you can.
- Most Rifts will have a Shrine, indicated by a yellow icon on the map
- Picking these up will give you a random buff, making your Rift run easier
- The buff isn’t permanent, but it should last long enough for you to clear the whole Rift while it’s active
Other Information
There are a few other things to keep in mind while you’re in a Rift:
- There are two Elite enemies you need to defeat inside the Rift
- If you die in a Rift, you will lose a random piece of equipment and half of your inventory
- Barrels with blue tops will create a healing aura briefly when broken
4. Rewards
There are plenty of helpful rewards you can get from clearing out a Rift. These can change depending on the category and tier of Rift you chose, but the harder the one you cleared was, the better the rewards will be.
- You will get plenty of experience from all the enemies that you kill in it
- There will be 2-3 chests full of supplies — this includes a piece of gear, scraps for money, and books to give you extra experience
- If doing a Solo Rift and you chose to expose it, you will get an extra chest to open
- If you’re doing a Danger Rift, you can additionally get Equipment Blueprints and Tactical Items
- Occasionally, you will get a Lucky Supply Crate. This will give you twice the rewards from the normal crates
