Season 28 brought a brand new progression feature called the Altar of Rites granting great powers to your entire account in exchange for sacrifices. Season 30 finally made this feature permanent for every season in the future. Although this permanent feature is a watered-down version, it still brings a lot of quality of life (QoL) improvements to the game! It requires you to farm Bounties, kill the Ubers, craft the Staff of Herding, and more.
Completing all 26 of these tasks, along with sacrificing 6 Primal Ancients grants you unbelievable Damage, Defense, Quality of Life, Increased Drops, 3 Potion Super Powers. Also don't forget to check out the Altar of Rites Guide by Chewingnom to learn everything about Seal & Potions mechanics! This guide takes you through the optimal paths on unlocking everything easily. Let's jump in!
Unlocking Requirements
There are 26 nodes to unlock in the Altar, each requiring different sacrifices. The path you activate them in is up to you, but you must pay the sacrifices in a specific order. Below is a list of every sacrifice, including a description of how to complete it. Make sure you equip your Pet at the start of the season!
| Number | Sacrifice | Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 Reusable Parts | Steal then salvage your followers' weapons. |
| 2 | 1 Flawless Diamond (or greater), 15 Arcane Dust, 20 Reusable Parts | At level 18 do Boss Bounties on Normal to acquire 2 Diamonds, then upgrade them at the Jeweler. |
| 3 | 1 Greater Rift Keystone, 10 Death's Breaths | Complete a Nephalem Rift at level 70. Put Sage's Journey on your Follower for double Death's Breaths. |
| 4 | Any Class-Specific Helm | Gamble Helms at Kadala at level 70. |
| 5 | 20 Forgotten Souls, 10 of each Bounty Material | Do Bounties (higher difficulties earn more materials). |
| 6 | 1 of each Uber Drop | Kill the Keywardens in Acts 1-4, which are labeled with a key on your map and highlighted with a Purple Arrow. Then use the keys in the house on the right side of Act 1's Town to open portals to kill the Ubers. |
| 7 | Reaper's Wraps | Kill Malthael in Pandemonium Fortress Level 3 in Act 5 on any difficulty to drop the plan, then craft it at the Blacksmith. |
| 8 | 30 Forgotten Souls | Farm Greater Rifts and salvage Legendaries. |
| 9 | 1,100 Blood Shards | Clear Greater Rift 60 Solo. Use this Tier List for the strongest builds. Remember that you don't have to go GR by GR to unlock it. If you clear the GR equivalent in a Nephalem Rift, it unlocks the corresponding GR level. |
| 10 | 1 Flawless Royal Ruby, 20 Death's Breaths, Ring of Royal Grandeur | Do Act 1 Bounties to acquire Ring of Royal Grandeur. Buy Essences from Squirt in Act 2's Town to convert 9 gems into Rubies in the cube to craft a Flawless Royal Ruby at the Jeweler. |
| 11 | 1 Flawless Royal Emerald, 30 of each Bounty Material | Do Bounties (higher difficulties earn more materials). Buy Essences from Squirt in Act 2's Town to convert 9 gems into Emeralds in the cube to craft a Flawless Royal Emerald at the Jeweler. |
| 12 | 20 Greater Rift Keystones, 1 Ramaladni's Gift | Farm Nephalem Rifts. Use this Tier List for the strongest builds. |
| 13 | 1,300 Blood Shards | Clear Greater Rift 80 Solo. Use this Tier List for the strongest builds. |
| 14 | 1 Petrified Scream | Farm Greater Rifts. Use this Tier List for the strongest builds. |
| 15 | 1 Challenge Rift Cache | Do the weekly Challenge Rift. DO NOT RIGHT CLICK IT OR YOU'LL OPEN IT ACCIDENTALLY. |
| 16 | 250 Forgotten Souls | Farm Greater Rifts and salvage Legendaries. |
| 17 | 1,400 Blood Shards | Clear Greater Rift 90 Solo. Use this Tier List for the strongest builds. |
| 18 | 1 Ancient Hellfire Amulet | Kill the Keywardens in Acts 1-4, which are labeled with a key on your map and highlighted with a Purple Arrow. Then use the keys in the house on the right side of Act 1's town to open portals to kill the Ubers. Then buy the Hellfire Amulet recipe from Squirt in Act 2's town and craft them until you get an Ancient one. |
| 19 | 4 Set Dungeon Pages | Acquire 4 full unique 6 piece sets for different classes. You only need 5 pieces plus a Ring of Royal Grandeur for it to work. Go to Leoric's Manor in Act 1 and speak to the Tome while wearing them to acquire the 4 pages. Note: This only works for Sets that have a Set Dungeon. |
| 20 | Ancient Puzzle Ring, 50 of each Bounty Material | Use Cube Recipe 2 to reroll a Puzzle Ring to Ancient, and farm Bounties. |
| 21 | 500 Death's Breaths, 300 Forgotten Souls | Farm Nephalem Rifts. Put Sage's Journey on your Follower for double Death's Breaths. |
| 22 | 1,500 Blood Shards | Clear Greater Rift 100 Solo. Use this Tier List for the strongest builds. |
| 23 | Rank 125 Whisper of Atonement | Use a Petrified Scream to open an Echoing Nightmare and reach level 125. Watch this Video for an easy way to do it. |
| 24 | Any Augmented Weapon | Use Cube Recipe 10 on any Ancient Weapon to Augment it. Try to use a Whisper of Atonement from an Echoing Nightmare so you don't lose one of your Legendary Gems. |
| 25 | Staff of Herding | This one is tough and time consuming, so Watch this Video. For a written list of the items you need, Click Here! |
| 26 | 1,600 Blood Shards | Clear Greater Rift 110 Solo. Use this Tier List for the strongest builds. |
Optimal Paths
There are 3 primary ways to approach building your Altar shown below. Remember there is a recommended path for every Maxroll Build Guide in a tab below the Paragon Points!
Strategy 1: Balanced Path, Skipping Resource on Crit (Most Builds)
Node 2: Choose Anointed to gain a full set of 70 yellows from level 18-70!
Node 6: Rush to gain double Bounties to help unlock other Nodes in the Altar.
Nodes 7-14: These are the last Nodes you can gain until the Challenge Rift resets. Take at least 1 Node at the bottom of each path to unlock all 3 Potion Super Powers. Pick up the Mirror Node at the top for a colossal 41% extra XP all season. Remember to unlock Father once you clear GR70 solo and have your first Primal!
Nodes 15-26: Pick up the final Quality of Life, Damage, and Defense Nodes (in that order) to finish the Altar.
Potion Super Powers: Take Father first, then Mother, and finally Mortal.
Disclaimer: The Mortal and Mother Potions require you to salvage 2 and 3 Primals respectively. Unlock them as soon as you have those materials as they don't cost a point!
Strategy 2: Balanced Path, Taking Resource on Crit Early
Node 2: Choose Anointed to gain a full set of 70 yellows from level 18-70!
Node 6: Rush to gain double Bounties to help unlock other Nodes in the Altar.
Node 7: Take Vigor to help your build sustain its resources.
Nodes 8-14: These are the last Nodes you can gain until the Challenge Rift resets. Take at least 1 Node at the bottom of each path to unlock all 3 Potion Super Powers. Pick up the Mirror Node at the top for a colossal 41% extra XP all season. Remember to unlock Father once you clear GR70 solo and have your first Primal!
Nodes 15-26: Pick up the final Quality of Life, Damage, and Defense Nodes (in that order) to finish the Altar.
Potion Super Powers: Take Father first, then Mother, and finally Mortal.
Disclaimer: The Mortal and Mother Potions require you to salvage 2 and 3 Primals respectively. Unlock them as soon as you have those materials as they don't cost a point!
Strategy 3: Full Power Path, Low Quality of Life
We wouldn't be Maxroll if we didn't recommend a path that goes for full power with no regard for Quality of Life! This is how to get your character as strong as possible early on. Perfect for the Rank 1 clears on Day 1. See you on the leaderboards!
Note: If you're playing a build that needs the Vigor Node, like the Tal Rasha Wizard, take it in the 7th spot instead of 26th.
Disclaimer: The Mortal and Mother Potions require you to salvage 2 and 3 Primals respectively. Unlock them as soon as you have those materials as they don't cost a point!
Video Guide
Summary
- The Altar of Rites is a new progression system in Season 28.
- An adjusted version of the Altar of Rites became a permanent seasonal feature with Season 30.
- 26 sacrifices are required. Some are "free", while others take a lot of time.
- Strategies for completing all sacrifices are provided in the table above.
- The correct Altar Path is determined by the importance of the Vigor node to your build.
- Watch the video above to make the hardest sacrifice, the Staff of Herding, much easier to acquire.
Credits
Written by Raxxanterax.
Updated by Chewingnom.