BDO Dark Rift Guide: Loot Rewards, Gear, & Boss Strategy

Dark Rifts offer players the opportunity to obtain DUO accessories and enhancement items by defeating bosses.

Dark Rift Bosses are unique because they keep any damage you deal to them, without having their health reset and they never de-spawn.

Dark Rifts are solo only, being visible only to you.

How often Dark Rifts spawn is completely RNG. Surprise! 🙂 Some players report having to wait up to 7 days. If you have had to wait longer than this, be sure to brag about it in the comments below! 🙂

Dark Rifts were added February 13th 2019, on the NA server and have had several updates since.

Dark Rift Highlights:

Requirements: have at least 1 character within your account who is level 56+. Alts under level 55 must attack first before being attacked by a Dark Rift boss.
Complete Black Spirit quest: [Awakening Complete] Memories of the Past Was removed Patch 4-10-19
You can have all 12 Dark Rift bosses available at one time. You cannot have multiple of the same boss, however. (Dark Rift events have increased this number to 15 temporarily, in the past.)
Dark Rift bosses never de-spawn until you defeat them, even after maintenance.
There is no death penalty from Dark Rift bosses. (No XP or crystal loss)
Boss health doesn’t reset or regenerate even if you die.
The Dark Rift window shows which bosses are available, what the rewards are for that boss, the difficulty, boss level, and a button to navigate to their spawn location.
Bosses cannot be attacked during Conquest/Node War, so switch channels if this is the case.
After you initiate combat with a Dark Rift boss, other players will not be able to see or PVP you.
Dark Rift bosses that haven’t been killed in 24 hours will loose levels and AP/DP.

Level Ranges: I, II, III, IV, and V.
1 level is lost every 24 hours.
Lost levels do not lower or degrade obtainable loot.
You don’t have to stay logged in. Bosses loose levels regardless.

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 > Difficult > Very Difficult
Boss Level: I to V levels. Level V means the boss recently 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 and Rich Merchant’s Ring Piece, 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

BDO Dark Rift Loot from Giath Boss

Dim Tree Loot
Difficulty: Hard

BDO Dark Rift Loot from Dim Tree Spirit Boss

Gehaku Loot
Difficulty: Hard

BDO Dark Rift Loot from Gehaku Boss

Ruins GT Loot
Difficulty: Hard

BDO Dark Rift Loot from Ruins Guard Tower Boss

Ronin Loot
Difficulty: Hard

BDO Dark Rift Loot from Ronin Boss

Ahib Griffon Loot
Difficulty: Very Hard

BDO Dark Rift Loot from Ahib Griffon Boss

Ancient Puturum Loot
Difficulty: Very Hard

BDO Dark Rift Loot from Ancient Puturum Boss

Dark Rift Loot Details:

Remnants of the Rift (RNG drop)
- Right Click to start the Blackstar Main Weapon or Blackstar Armor quest lines.
- 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.
Rich Merchant’s Ring Piece rare drop used to create Rich Merchant’s Ring.
Chests: Box of Desperate/Distorted/Silent Dead. See details below.

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. See details below.
Ancient Spirit Dust: combine Ancient Spirit Dust x5 and Black Stone (Weapon/Armor) x1 into Caphras Stone x1

Dark Rift Chest Rewards

Almost every Dark Rift boss will drop a chest. The best chests drop from the bosses that are “VERY DIFFICULT.”

Ruuuun!! 🙂

NORMAL

Box of the Desperate Dead

1 RNG item from the following: 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

DIFFICULT

Box of the Distorted Dead

VERY DIFFICULT

Box of the Silent Dead

VERY DIFFICULT

Howling Dead Man’s Chest

1 RNG item from the following, enhanced up to DUO (II): Laytenn’s Power Stone, Ogre Ring, Eye of the Ruins Ring, Valtarra Eclipsed Belt, Basilisk’s Belt, Ring of Crescent Guardian

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

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 Gear & Combat Tips

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.
Recommended AP/DP Gear: You will want at least beginner Naru Gear that has been enhanced. See details below.
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%.

Minimum Dark Rift Gear Recommendation

I recommend at the very least a full set of Naru armor that is PRI level and Naru weapons of PEN level. (Gear Score: 240)

AP 97~103 (100)
Accuracy 192
DP 140
Max HP 200
Max Stamina 100
Weight Limit 10LT
Bonus AP 5

Defense

Damage Reduction 69
Evasion 71
Hidden Damage Reduction 10
Hidden Evasion 179

Effects

Attack Speed 4
Casting Speed 2
Movement Speed 2

View our Naru Gear guide.

Thank you to bdoplanner for image and data!

View the build there.

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.

Dark Rift Boss List & Strategies

Dark Rift bosses are separated into 3 categories of difficulty. Normal > Difficult > Very Difficult

Difficulty determines the type of chest obtained. Harder boss = better chest. (Boss level makes no difference.)

Tier 1 Difficulty: “Normal”

Muskan

Location: Serendia

STRATEGY: Muskan is fairly easy. Strafe away when he flies into the air and pounds the ground, because it will cause you to be knocked to the ground.

Tier 1 Loot Box: Box of the Desperate Dead:

Giath

Location: Serendia

STRATEGY: Giath does allot of knockdown attacks. He has a special 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.

Tier 1 Loot Box: Box of the Desperate Dead Box of the Desperate Dead:

Red Nose

Location: Balenos

STRATEGY: Red Nose likes to CC, so you have to keep strafing. Once in a while he will belly flop and lay on the ground for 4 seconds. If you avoid it, you can unload your slower, more heavy hitting Down Attack on him.

Tier 1 Loot Box: Box of the Desperate Dead Box of the Desperate Dead

Tier 2 Difficulty: “Difficult”

Gehaku

Location: Calpheon

STRATEGY: Gehaku 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! 🙁

Loot Box: Box of the Silent Dead Box of the Distorted Dead

Ruins Guard Tower

Location: Calpheon

STRATEGY: 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.

Loot Box: Box of the Silent Dead Box of the Distorted Dead

Dim Tree Spirit

Location: Calpheon

STRATEGY: Dim Tree Spirit 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.

Loot Box: Box of the Silent Dead Box of the Distorted Dead

Ferrid

Location: Mediah (inside Omar Lava Cave)

STRATEGY: Ferrid is challenging because he is inside and you are boxed in by the walls of a small pit. Ferrid will reach his hands into the air before his powerful attack.

Loot Box: Box of the Silent Dead Box of the Distorted Dead

Moghulis

Location: Mediah

STRATEGY: Moghulis frequently rolls into a ball and charges at you. Use your evasive sideways manuvers or block. If you get in front of one of the big boulders in the area and he traps you there with that rolling ball charge, you’re dead. Keep moving with fast attacks and you’ll be ok. Don’t get yourself pinned against a boulder, like I did. 🙂 Watch out for tough golem ads that stun you.

Loot Box: Box of the Silent Dead Box of the Distorted Dead

Ronin

Location: Kamasylvia

STRATEGY: Straight-forward fight. He charges then stops for about 4 seconds. Back Attack him.

Loot Box: Box of the Silent Dead Box of the Distorted Dead

Tier 3 Difficulty: “Very Difficult”

Dastard Bheg

Location: Serendia

STRATEGY: Dastard Behg is CC happy. His normal attack with that nasty grappling hook has an obscenely long ranged Knockdown! Ack, he can be a pain to say the least. Keep strafing and using quick attacks. Finding that narrow window when you can hit him is tricky.

Loot Box: Box of the Desperate Dead Box of the Silent Dead

Ahib Griffon

Location: Kamasylvia

STRATEGY: 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.

Loot Box: Box of the Desperate Dead Box of the Silent Dead

Ancient Puturum

Location: Valencia

STRATEGY: 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.

Loot Box: icon Howling Dead Man’s Chest

— also obtain Mass of Pure Magic x1

Tier 3 Difficulty: “Very Difficult” (No Chest Reward)

Saunil Siege Captain

Location: Calpheon

STRATEGY: wip!

Loot Box: none

Steel Nux

Location: Mediah

STRATEGY: wip!

Loot Box: none

Kavali

Location: Mediah

STRATEGY: wip!

Loot Box: none

[Event] Dark Rift Bosses

[Event] Titium

Location: Calpheon

Difficulty: Normal

STRATEGY: This was a limited time event boss that spawned 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.

Tier 1 Loot Box: Box of the Desperate Dead Box of the Desperate Dead: