Riftspinner forge, totems and special events

Everything that can appear on the map besides hosts, and what it pays.

Beyond waves of hosts, every run has a handful of map features and rare events. This page explains each one: what it does, when it appears and how to get the most from it.

Crates

Crates are breakable boxes that hold drops. Shoot or strike one to break it. They appear a few at a time and respawn, so you never need to hunt for them, but salvage-run missions scatter extra ones.

Shrines

A shrine is a glowing field on the map. Stand inside it for about six seconds to charge it and it pays out a weapon. Shrines start appearing after the first half-minute, never more than two exist at once, a new one forms every 35 to 55 seconds, and none appear during a boss fight. A finished shrine lingers briefly and an ignored one fades after about 100 seconds. Charging a shrine in the middle of a pack is how you lose a run, so clear the area first.

Barrels

Barrels are hazard-striped drums. Shoot or strike one and it bursts into a flash and shock ring, then burns as a field of flame that hurts hosts and you alike. They come in two sizes: roughly four in ten are large drums, visibly bigger, whose fire reaches about 138 pixels and lasts 4.6 seconds, against about 86 pixels and 3.4 seconds for a small drum. A faint ring on the ground shows how far the fire will reach. The fire is a damage-over-time area, so lure a pack past a barrel, back off, then fire.

Mission totems

About a minute into a run, and then every 70 to 100 seconds after a mission ends (50 to 75 after a failure), a mission totem appears 380 to 900 pixels from you: a gold-inlaid monolith with a turning diamond showing what it wants. A pointer at the screen edge and a minimap marker lead you to it. Walk into its field and press your Inspect key to accept. Only one totem exists at a time, none open during a boss fight, and an unaccepted totem fades after about 110 seconds.

Each totem offers one of eight missions at bronze, silver or gold tier. Higher tiers ask for more, give more time and pay far more. The table shows a typical offer at wave 10. Targets grow with the wave.

Rewards scale with tier (1x, 1.7x and 2.6x), the wave and the map. At wave 10 a bronze mission pays about 135 ash and 70 experience, silver about 230 ash and 120 experience, and gold about 350 ash and 180 experience. Every completed mission also drops a guaranteed item at the totem: uncommon or better for bronze, rare or better for silver and epic or better for gold, which is never scrapped automatically. Silver and gold missions also drop a power-up. Failing a mission costs you nothing but the reward.

The Forge

Very rarely, a forge lights somewhere on the map: a furnace and anvil with an orange glow, marked by an orange pointer at the screen edge and a marker on the minimap. It appears about once every nine minutes of play, never before wave 4 or during a boss, at most twice a run, and stays lit for about 80 seconds. Walk in and press your Inspect key to open the forge screen.

There you can spend ash to upgrade every weapon you carry, not only the one in your hands. Each of five levels adds about 10% damage and 2% fire rate, and melee weapons gain reach. The cost rises with each level, with the weapon's rarity and with how far into the run you are:

You spend the same ash you bank for the Ash Market, so it is a real choice. A well-rolled epic at +5 can outperform an unforged legendary. Upgrades belong to the weapon for the rest of the run, so a forged weapon you swap away keeps its levels.

The Goblin Cell

A glittering gold cell that never attacks. It is very rare, roughly one wave in twenty after wave 3 (a little more often on Rift II) and never on a Monarch wave. A toast, a gold pointer and a minimap marker tell you it has appeared. Until you hurt it, it just drifts. The moment it takes damage it bolts away at about 93% of your base speed (80% if you play a melee rig), and a gold ring around it drains as the clock runs. If it goes 10 seconds without being hit it dissolves with its treasure, and every hit resets the ring.

Catch it and it pays out far more than any normal host. At wave 10 a goblin cell pays about 200 to 290 ash and about 420 experience, against 1 ash and 14 experience for a basic host, plus a guaranteed item of rare quality or better: about 56% rare, 34% epic and 10% legendary. Dash to close the gap, push it toward a wall, and use fast or spread weapons. A goblin cell never holds a wave open, so you can ignore it and the wave still ends.

Daily task

The main screen shows one random task per day, the same for every player, such as defeating a number of hosts, reaching a wave in a single run or completing a mission. Progress carries across runs. Finishing it pays 150, 260 or 420 ash depending on how hard the day's goal is, with a small bonus for each consecutive day you complete it. A new task arrives at midnight UTC.

Looking for how to get started? Read the how to play guide, or see which enemies to prioritise in the strategy guide.