Diablo 3 adding weekly runs with other players' builds
An unconventional form of weekly challenge run is coming to Diablo 3 [official site] with the introduction of Challenge Rifts in the next big patch, Blizzard have announced. Every week, Challenge Rift players will play through the exact same Greater Rift with the same character and item build - a character copied from an actual player's account. Challengers will take on the same Rift with the same build originally used to beat it. It's an interesting idea which might force players into some unconventional play styles. I dig that! And the reward for beating the original player's time? Loot, obvs, and bragging rights. Have a look:
Blizzard explain:
"Challenge Rifts are a weekly static version of a previously completed Greater Rift. To create a Challenge Rift, we pull a Greater Rift run directly from a player's account. Once we have that snapshot, we make that exact character, including their items, paragon levels, skills, and gear available for everyone to play.
"This also includes an exact copy of the Greater Rift they completed with that character. Enemies, pylons, and the dungeons you encounter will all be exactly as they appeared when the original player completed their run. If you beat the original runner's time, you'll be rewarded with a weekly satchel filled with bounty and crafting materials and some Blood Shards."
A new Challenge Rift will arrive every Monday.
I do hope that committed pranksters will start playing Greater Rifts with oddball builds in the hope that they'll become Challenge Rifts.
I play almost every daily run in The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth and do enjoy knowing that other players are facing the exact same problems as me - especially on days which use strange preset builds. Challenge Rifts sound a lark for that. These will be repeatable, rather than one-and-dones, so players can hone times to climb the leaderboards. That's not how I prefer my dailies but hey, grind and optimisation are big parts of Diablo.
Challenge Rifts are due to arrive as part of Patch 2.6.0, which doesn't have a firm release date yet. Folks on the test realm - which also includes the upcoming Necromancer DLC class - are getting to poke at these. Check the test realm patch notes to see what's coming.