Champions

Champions are a new enemy type introduced in 1.2. They are similar to Rare enemies but have an additional modifier that is specific to their enemy type, making them especially dangerous.

What Are Champions?

Champions are an enemy type that provides players with even more challenging encounters than Magic and Rare enemies provide, thanks to an additional pool of exclusive modifiers. This challenge is not without reward, as items they drop can have a Sealed special affix that doesn't drop anywhere else, making them a target farming priority for any player who needs one or more of these affixes.

Champions can be differentiated from other enemies by their distinctive red glow.

Locating Champions

There are few places where Champions cannot spawn. The first few maps of the campaign do not have any Champions, but it doesn't take long to encounter one. The majority of the campaign and endgame has the chance of spawning Champions on any map that isn't purely a boss fight. You can know when you're about to run into a Champion by watching out for their unique icon on the minimap.

Rewards

Just like Rare enemies, Champions can drop a wide variety of loot. However, they also drop at least one item with a special Sealed Affix. Which affix you get is determined by the exclusive modifier that particular Champion was given, so you can tell before defeating the Champion if it's what you're looking for.

Here is a list of all of the Champion Sealed Affixes:

• Abyssal Champion's
• Carnage Champion's
• Death Grip Champion's
• Infernal Champion's
• Meteor Champion's
• Mirage Champion's
• Portal Champion's
• Profane Champion's
• River Champion's
• Spark Champion's
• Storm Champion's
• Venomous Champion's
• Volcano Champion's
• Whirlpool Champion's

Because these affixes are always Sealed, they cannot be crafted on and they cannot be used to make Legendaries, so bear this in mind when planning out your build.

Farming Champions

Since Champions drop very valuable and exclusive loot, many players will want to farm them to get the items they need. Here are some tips:

• General Farming Strategies:
  • The Weaver Tree is a great way to juice both the Spawn rate and the loot of Champions. If you're already planning on targeting them, consider taking the relevant nodes in the Weaver Tree to make your efforts even more fruitful.
  • Once you reach Empowered Monoliths, farm at the highest Corruption you can efficiently.
  • The Pillar of Skulls Woven Echo allows you to fight a large number of Champions very quickly.
• If you're looking for items with high tiers of Champion special affixes:
  • Farm higher area level. These affixes can be Exalted, but only if the area level is high enough.

Following these strategies improves your chance of getting what you're looking for, but ultimately it's up to RNG, so good luck!

Summary

• Champions are an enemy type that's harder than Rare enemies, thanks to an additional modifier.
• They can be found throughout most of the campaign and endgame.
• On death, they drop at least one item with a special Sealed affix that is determined by the additional modifier they were given.
• To farm Champions, take advantage of the Weaver Tree and Pillar of Skulls Woven Echo.

Credits

Written by McFluffin.
Reviewed by VisionGL.