BDO Dark Rift Guide (Black Desert Online 2019)

This BDO Dark Rift Guide gives a quick summary and an in-depth look into a new way to obtain Enhancement items and accessories up to DUO Enhancement. Dark Rifts were added February 13th 2019 in Black Desert Online on the NA server. Dark Rifts randomly create solo bosses only visible by you. Spawn times are RNG, with some players reporting having to wait up to 7 days for one to spawn.

Dark Rift Boss Window

The Dark Rift Boss Window is accessible by pressing the Dark Rift icon at the bottom right of your screen. The number shows the number of bosses that have spawned.

Dark Rift Window Details:

• Navigate Arrow: Arrow button to draw a path to Dark Rift boss.
• Dark Rift Rewards: List of all reward items for defeating the boss.
• Boss Difficulty: Normal > Hard > Very Hard
• Boss Level: I to V levels. Level V means boss spawned within 24 hours and it’s at maximum level. Dark Rift Boss level decreases by 1 every 24 hours.

Dark Rift Loot Rewards

Do I Get All Loot Shown?
Besides Remnants of the Rift, you will get exactly all the items listed in the Dark Rift window for each Dark boss killed and looted. Quantity varies for Memory Fragments, Black Stones, and Spirit Dust, depending on the Dark Rift difficulty. Harder difficulty seems to reward a greater quantity of Black Stones. Players report getting mostly Cron Stones since they changed the Dark Rift chests. Expect a low chance to obtain any accessory.

Example Dark Rift Loot:

Giath Loot
Difficulty: Normal

Dim Tree Loot
Difficulty: Hard

Gehaku Loot
Difficulty: Hard

Ruins GT Loot
Difficulty: Hard

Ronin Loot
Difficulty: Hard

Ahib Griffon Loot
Difficulty: Very Hard

Ancient Puturum Loot
Difficulty: Very Hard

Dark Rift Loot Details:

• Remnants of the Rift (RNG drop)
  • Right Click to start the Blackstar Main Weapon quest.
  • For Level 56+. Requires Knowledge ‘The Three Legendary Blacksmiths of Mediah’, which can be obtained by completing the quest The Three Blacksmiths.
  • Also used to create Blackstar Enhancement material, Mass of Pure Magic. Remnants of the Rift x1 + Black Spirit’s Claw x1 = Mass of Pure Magic x5.
  • Read more about this rare item and the Blackstar Weapon in our Blackstar Weapon Guide.
• Chests:
• Difficulty: Very Hard Box of the Silent Dead:
  Box of the Silent Dead — 1 RNG item from chest loot list: Cron Stone, Laytenn’s Power Stone, Ogre Ring, Eye of the Ruins Ring, Narc Ear Accessory, Valtarra Eclipsed Belt, Orkinrad’s Belt, Basilisk’s Belt, Ring of Crescent Guardian
• Difficulty: Hard Box of the Distorted Dead:
  Box of the Distorted Dead — 1 RNG item from chest loot list: Cron Stone, Laytenn’s Power Stone, Ogre Ring, Eye of the Ruins Ring, Narc Ear Accessory, Valtarra Eclipsed Belt, Orkinrad’s Belt, Basilisk’s Belt, Ring of Crescent Guardian, Centaurus Belt, Ring of Cadry Guardian, Forest Ronaros Ring, Sicil’s Necklace, Serap’s Necklace
• Difficulty: Normal Box of the Desperate Dead:
  Box of the Desperate Dead — 1 RNG item from chest loot list: Cron Stone, Laytenn’s Power Stone, Ogre Ring, Eye of the Ruins Ring, Narc Ear Accessory, Valtarra Eclipsed Belt, Orkinrad’s Belt, Basilisk’s Belt, Ring of Crescent Guardian, Centaurus Belt, Ring of Cadry Guardian, Forest Ronaros Ring, Sicil’s Necklace, Serap’s Necklace, Tree Spirit Belt, Ancient Weapon Core, Ancient Guardian’s Seal, Witch’s Earring, Mark of Shadow
Black Stone (Weapon): Enhance attack gear
Black Stone (Armor): Enhance defense gear
Memory Fragment: Repair Max Durability on more expensive gear
Dark Spirit’s Greed: Exchange for a variety of valuable loot
Ancient Spirit Dust: combine Ancient Spirit Dust x5 and Black Stone (Weapon/Armor) x1 into Caphras Stone x1

Dark Spirit’s Greed Exchange for Loot

Dark Spirit’s Greed	Reward
2	Kzarka’s Latent Aura x1
2	Nouver’s Latent Aura x1
2	Kutum’s Latent Aura x1
3	Karanda’s Latent Aura x1
10	Item Collection Increase Scroll (60 min) x1
15	Supreme Alchemy Tool x1
15	Supreme Cooking Utensil x1
20	Advice of Valks (+20) x1
30	Magic Crystal of Infinity – Experience x1
40	Krogdalo’s Origin Stone x1
50	Advice of Valks (+35) x1
100	Advice of Valks (+50) x1

Dark Spirit’s Greed Exchange NPCs

Exchange Dark Spirit’s Greed for items with the following NPCs.

Location	NPC
Western Guard Camp	Cliff
Heidel	Cruhorn Wyrmsbane
Calpheon	Valks
Altinova	Sarma Anin
Valencia	Barhan Nesser
Grána	Hazel Azealia
Duvencrune	Odelphin

Dark Rift Combat Tactics

Dark Rift Bosses are challenging and are not meant to be easy and fast. Players report that sometimes iframes/blocks/SA doesn’t work against them. Don’t run in mindlessly, expecting the boss to fall in a few minutes. These fights take time and strategy. Study the boss’s movements and you will start to learn their patterns of attack. When you can anticipate their moves, you can dodge attacks to survive and win.

Dark Rifts are placed right in the middle of normal grinding areas. This means you have to consider how well you can fight mobs at that location. While fighting the boss, anticipate moving through mobs that chase you and block movement or even stun you.

Dark Rift Combat Tips:

• HP Pots: Bring lots of HP pots
• Boss Combat Basics: Learn your class skills that have blocking ability like Forward Guard, Superarmor, and Invincibility. Learn your evasive moves that will make your character side step out of danger. Without using these, you will die quickly. Learn which skills give Healing.
• Begin with Fast Attacks: Use fast attacks + evasive moves until you learn all of the boss movements. On the melee attacks, iFrame behind them and Back Attack them. On charges, dodge and iFrame behind for Back Attack. Always attack from behind. For AOE’s that bypass block and FG, learn to avoid.
• S-Block – Walking backwards for Forward Guard: Evade skills eat up Stamina and walking backwards may help while you recharge Stamina.
• Help from a Friend: Ask a friend to clear mobs around the boss, while you fight, if you are too low-geared to handle both at the same time.
• Time Debuff: Players report Dark Rift bosses weaken after 15 to 30 minutes of fighting. (Seperate from the de-leveling after 24 hours.)
• Reset Boss Location: When you run away too far, the boss will run back to his spawn point, but still keep the damage you dealt. This frees you to pick off boss adds that may have spawned and surrounding mobs. Or you can Back Attack him as he runs.
• Low-geared Players: Don’t give up if you die. It’s still doable. Boss health doesn’t reset. Just expect a longer fight, because you will have to run back to the spawn location on death. (unless you use Elion’s Tears)
• Food Rotation + Elixirs:
  • Damage modifiers like back attack and crit damage increase are better than AP.
  • Kamasylvia Meal for Back Attack +5%
  • King of the Jungle Hamburg for Critical Hit Damage +5%
  • Serendia Meal for AP +5 and Accuracy +10
  • Elixir of Lethal Assassin for Back Attack Damage +15%.
  • Elixir of Sharp Detection for Critical Hit Damage +15%
  • Giant’s draught is much better than beast’s draught due to the all special attack +10%.
• Quested Mediah Gear: You want to at least have the quested gear from Mediah and Asula Accessories.
  Quest Chain for Mediah Boots: Derek’s Light Leather Shoes
  Quest Chain for Mediah Helm: Mediah Merchants Union Helm
  Quest Chain for Mediah Gloves: Beia’s Black Magic Gloves
  Quest Chain for Abyssal Weapon: Black Abyssal Weapons
  

  To obtain the Dim Magical Sub-weapon and Dim Magical Armor, you must first complete the main story line that leads up to [Boss] Witch-Hunting and then While preparing for Mediah.

  To upgrade the Dim Magical Sub-weapon, you will need to complete all quests in the World of Enemies series and most quests in the Sharper Weapon series. While in Calpheon, you will be able to upgrade your sub-weapon twice to gain a sub-weapon of Sealed Magical Power.

  All Dim Armor upgrades and the rest of the Dim sub-weapon upgrades take place later on in Mediah.

Best Classes for Dark Rifts?
I have found the Archer to be my favorite class to use, until he runs out of HP pots… Ha! He is expert at strafing and leaping out of danger. Any class that has good movement and/or healing capability will help, such as Witch/Wizard, who have direct heals and Lahn, with many offensive HP regen skills. Classes with a summon can help take aggro off of you for a bit.

Ancient Puturum

Difficulty: Very Hard
Location: Valencia
Loot Box: Box of the Silent Dead:
Box of the Silent Dead — 1 RNG item from chest loot list: Cron Stone, Laytenn’s Power Stone, Ogre Ring, Eye of the Ruins Ring, Narc Ear Accessory, Valtarra Eclipsed Belt, Orkinrad’s Belt, Basilisk’s Belt, Ring of Crescent Guardian

Ancient Puturm Tactics:
Ancient Puturum can be difficult. Strafe when he swoops in for a flying charge. After his charge, get ready to Back Attack him. When he stops flying and sits, he’s charging a heavy hitting lightning attack. Get out of range. Look for the warning message before he deals a powerful attack. The biggest obstacles might be the mobs that naturally spawn there. If he spawns in Crescent Shrine, they will stun you and if you have low DP, it can get very ouchy. Bring a friend to clear if needed. He also spawns in Nagas or Bandits, which are much easier to handle.

Ahib Griffon

Difficulty: Very Hard
Location: Kamasylvia
Loot Box: Box of the Silent Dead:
Box of the Silent Dead — 1 RNG item from chest loot list: Cron Stone, Laytenn’s Power Stone, Ogre Ring, Eye of the Ruins Ring, Narc Ear Accessory, Valtarra Eclipsed Belt, Orkinrad’s Belt, Basilisk’s Belt, Ring of Crescent Guardian

Ahib Griffon Tactics:
Paints the ground red before his heavy hitting attack. Run out of the red area. He rears up and back before his very foul breath attack. Try not to wander out of the small cleared circle that he spawns in. If you accidently shoot the native mobs surrounding Ahib Griffon’s spawn point, it can be a real pain. Don’t forget you can run away from the mobs to reset them to their original spawn location.

Ronin

Difficulty: Hard
Location: Kamasylvia
Loot Box: Box of the Distorted Dead:
Box of the Distorted Dead — 1 RNG item from chest loot list: Cron Stone, Laytenn’s Power Stone, Ogre Ring, Eye of the Ruins Ring, Narc Ear Accessory, Valtarra Eclipsed Belt, Orkinrad’s Belt, Basilisk’s Belt, Ring of Crescent Guardian, Centaurus Belt, Ring of Cadry Guardian, Forest Ronaros Ring, Sicil’s Necklace, Serap’s Necklace

Ronin Tactics:
Straightforward fight. He charges then stops for about 4 seconds. Back Attack him.

Moghulis

Difficulty: Hard
Location: Mediah
Loot Box: Box of the Distorted Dead:
Box of the Distorted Dead — 1 RNG item from chest loot list: Cron Stone, Laytenn’s Power Stone, Ogre Ring, Eye of the Ruins Ring, Narc Ear Accessory, Valtarra Eclipsed Belt, Orkinrad’s Belt, Basilisk’s Belt, Ring of Crescent Guardian, Centaurus Belt, Ring of Cadry Guardian, Forest Ronaros Ring, Sicil’s Necklace, Serap’s Necklace

Ferrid

Difficulty: Hard
Location: Mediah (inside Omar Lava Cave)
Loot Box: Box of the Distorted Dead:
Box of the Distorted Dead — 1 RNG item from chest loot list: Cron Stone, Laytenn’s Power Stone, Ogre Ring, Eye of the Ruins Ring, Narc Ear Accessory, Valtarra Eclipsed Belt, Orkinrad’s Belt, Basilisk’s Belt, Ring of Crescent Guardian, Centaurus Belt, Ring of Cadry Guardian, Forest Ronaros Ring, Sicil’s Necklace, Serap’s Necklace

Dim Tree Spirit

Difficulty: Hard
Location: Calpheon
Loot Box: Box of the Distorted Dead:
Box of the Distorted Dead — 1 RNG item from chest loot list: Cron Stone, Laytenn’s Power Stone, Ogre Ring, Eye of the Ruins Ring, Narc Ear Accessory, Valtarra Eclipsed Belt, Orkinrad’s Belt, Basilisk’s Belt, Ring of Crescent Guardian, Centaurus Belt, Ring of Cadry Guardian, Forest Ronaros Ring, Sicil’s Necklace, Serap’s Necklace
Combat Tips: This boss spawns in some challenging environments with lots of boulders and/or trees. If you get too far from Dim Tree, he will long range attack, which hits 100%. This is a heavy hitting attack that you must invuln or block. Don’t get too close or his melee will Back Attack you and bypass your Block. He and his adds have rapid fire Knockdown, so you will need Block and/or quick strafing.

Ruins Guard Tower

Difficulty: Hard
Location: Calpheon
Loot Box: Box of the Distorted Dead:
Box of the Distorted Dead — 1 RNG item from chest loot list: Cron Stone, Laytenn’s Power Stone, Ogre Ring, Eye of the Ruins Ring, Narc Ear Accessory, Valtarra Eclipsed Belt, Orkinrad’s Belt, Basilisk’s Belt, Ring of Crescent Guardian, Centaurus Belt, Ring of Cadry Guardian, Forest Ronaros Ring, Sicil’s Necklace, Serap’s Necklace

Ruins Guard Tower Tips: Fairly easy. Stay out of the red patches on the ground that show his red laser beam area of effect. This boss stays stationary and his ads are extremely slow. Don’t waste allot of time on the high health ads, as they just keep respawning after you kill them. When he starts shooting white rockets, strafe.

Gehaku

Difficulty: Hard
Location: Calpheon
Loot Box: Box of the Distorted Dead:
Box of the Distorted Dead — 1 RNG item from chest loot list: Cron Stone, Laytenn’s Power Stone, Ogre Ring, Eye of the Ruins Ring, Narc Ear Accessory, Valtarra Eclipsed Belt, Orkinrad’s Belt, Basilisk’s Belt, Ring of Crescent Guardian, Centaurus Belt, Ring of Cadry Guardian, Forest Ronaros Ring, Sicil’s Necklace, Serap’s Necklace

Gehaku Tips: He has a frequent and very fast charge with CC. There is a very narrow window when you can hit him. When he roars, he will begin a range attack, get far away or block if possible. That stuff hurts bad!

Muskan

Difficulty: Normal
Location: Serendia
Loot Box: Box of the Desperate Dead:
Box of the Desperate Dead — 1 RNG item from chest loot list: Cron Stone, Laytenn’s Power Stone, Ogre Ring, Eye of the Ruins Ring, Narc Ear Accessory, Valtarra Eclipsed Belt, Orkinrad’s Belt, Basilisk’s Belt, Ring of Crescent Guardian, Centaurus Belt, Ring of Cadry Guardian, Forest Ronaros Ring, Sicil’s Necklace, Serap’s Necklace, Tree Spirit Belt, Ancient Weapon Core, Ancient Guardian’s Seal, Witch’s Earring, Mark of Shadow

Dastard Behg

Difficulty: Normal
Location: Serendia
Loot Box: Box of the Desperate Dead:
Box of the Desperate Dead — 1 RNG item from chest loot list: Cron Stone, Laytenn’s Power Stone, Ogre Ring, Eye of the Ruins Ring, Narc Ear Accessory, Valtarra Eclipsed Belt, Orkinrad’s Belt, Basilisk’s Belt, Ring of Crescent Guardian, Centaurus Belt, Ring of Cadry Guardian, Forest Ronaros Ring, Sicil’s Necklace, Serap’s Necklace, Tree Spirit Belt, Ancient Weapon Core, Ancient Guardian’s Seal, Witch’s Earring, Mark of Shadow

Giath

Difficulty: Normal
Location: Serendia
Loot Box: Box of the Desperate Dead:
Box of the Desperate Dead — 1 RNG item from chest loot list: Cron Stone, Laytenn’s Power Stone, Ogre Ring, Eye of the Ruins Ring, Narc Ear Accessory, Valtarra Eclipsed Belt, Orkinrad’s Belt, Basilisk’s Belt, Ring of Crescent Guardian, Centaurus Belt, Ring of Cadry Guardian, Forest Ronaros Ring, Sicil’s Necklace, Serap’s Necklace, Tree Spirit Belt, Ancient Weapon Core, Ancient Guardian’s Seal, Witch’s Earring, Mark of Shadow

Giath Tips: He does allot of Knockdown attacks and will do a flaming ranged attack that Knocks down as well. Forward Guard and Superarmor are your friend. Once in a while he’ll pause for a breather, but not very often. He’s a tough one. Keep strafing and use fast hits.

Red Nose

Difficulty: Normal
Location: Balenos
Loot Box: Box of the Desperate Dead:
Box of the Desperate Dead — 1 RNG item from chest loot list: Cron Stone, Laytenn’s Power Stone, Ogre Ring, Eye of the Ruins Ring, Narc Ear Accessory, Valtarra Eclipsed Belt, Orkinrad’s Belt, Basilisk’s Belt, Ring of Crescent Guardian, Centaurus Belt, Ring of Cadry Guardian, Forest Ronaros Ring, Sicil’s Necklace, Serap’s Necklace, Tree Spirit Belt, Ancient Weapon Core, Ancient Guardian’s Seal, Witch’s Earring, Mark of Shadow

[Event] Titium

Difficulty: Normal
Location: Calpheon
Loot Box: Box of the Desperate Dead:
Box of the Desperate Dead — 1 RNG item from chest loot list: Cron Stone, Laytenn’s Power Stone, Ogre Ring, Eye of the Ruins Ring, Narc Ear Accessory, Valtarra Eclipsed Belt, Orkinrad’s Belt, Basilisk’s Belt, Ring of Crescent Guardian, Centaurus Belt, Ring of Cadry Guardian, Forest Ronaros Ring, Sicil’s Necklace, Serap’s Necklace, Tree Spirit Belt, Ancient Weapon Core, Ancient Guardian’s Seal, Witch’s Earring, Mark of Shadow

[Event] Skeleton King

Difficulty: Hard
Location: Mediah
Loot Box: Box of the Distorted Dead:
Box of the Distorted Dead — 1 RNG item from chest loot list: Cron Stone, Laytenn’s Power Stone, Ogre Ring, Eye of the Ruins Ring, Narc Ear Accessory, Valtarra Eclipsed Belt, Orkinrad’s Belt, Basilisk’s Belt, Ring of Crescent Guardian, Centaurus Belt, Ring of Cadry Guardian, Forest Ronaros Ring, Sicil’s Necklace, Serap’s Necklace

[Event] Skeleton King Tips: This is a limited time event boss that spawns more frequently than normal Dark Rift bosses. Special event dark rifts have the same chance as standard Dark Rifts to drop Remnants of the Rift. Last event period: September 4 – September 25

[Event] Leebur

Difficulty: Very Hard
Location: Drieghan
Loot Box: Box of the Silent Dead:
Box of the Silent Dead — 1 RNG item from chest loot list: Cron Stone, Laytenn’s Power Stone, Ogre Ring, Eye of the Ruins Ring, Narc Ear Accessory, Valtarra Eclipsed Belt, Orkinrad’s Belt, Basilisk’s Belt, Ring of Crescent Guardian

[Event] Leebur Tactics:
This is a limited time event boss that spawns more frequently than normal Dark Rift bosses. Special event dark rifts have the same chance as standard Dark Rifts to drop Remnants of the Rift. Last event period: September 4 – September 25

BDO Developer’s Dark Rift Announcement Page

Copied from the article “Defeat the Bosses from the Dark Rift!” posted on 13 February 2019 12:00

Executive Producer’s Letter Concerning Dark Rift

Copied from an article “Working Towards a Comprehensive Black Desert Online”, published 13 February 2019 15:00.