Trial of Chaos
Last Updated:January 9, 2025|Changelog
This Trial of Chaos Farming Guide covers the basics of farming Trial of Chaos, its rewards and how to challenge the pinnacle boss, The Trialmaster. During the campaign and early stages of the endgame, you mainly run the Trial of Chaos to unlock the extra Ascendancy Skill Tree points. However, it can also be a great source of extra currency, especially in the endgame.
Find Inscribed Ultimatums by killing monsters. Use it to gain access to the Trial of Chaos and complete the challenges presented to you by The Trialmaster to earn the rewards. Before every Round of challenges choose 1 out of the 3 negative modifiers which last until the end of the entire Trial run. Choose carefully making sure that your build can handle the additional difficulty. If you make it to the end of the run pick up the rewards gathered throughout the Trial but beware, if you fail any of the challenges on your way all of the gathered loot is lost. After every round, you get to decide if you want to continue the trial or leave with the rewards gathered so far.
The exclusive rewards from the Trial of Chaos are Soul Cores. These can be socketed into your items instead of Runes for powerful additional modifiers.
Completing Trial of Chaos is one of the ways to Ascend your character. To learn more about Ascending through trials check out our Trials of Ascendancy guide!
How to Run
Starting from Act 3 every monster in the game has a chance to drop an Inscribed Ultimatum which is used to access the Trial of Chaos. In higher level areas you can find more challenging Inscribed Ultimatums which grant access to more rounds of challenges within the Trial of Chaos.
- Area level 39 to 59 - 4 Rounds
- Area level 60 to 74 - 7 Rounds
- Area level 75+ - 10 Rounds
Trial of Chaos offers the challenges always in the same set order:
- Round 1 - Defeat all the Monsters.
- Round 2 - Survive until the Timer Expires.
- Round 3 - Escort the Statue or Collect all the Soul Cores.
- Round 4 - Defeat the Boss.
- Round 5 - Defeat all the Monsters or Survive until the Timer Expires.
- Round 6 - Sacrifice Monsters to the Altar by slaying them in the Blood Circles or Collect all the Soul Cores.
- Round 7 - Defeat the Boss.
- Round 8 - Defeat all the Monsters or Survive until the Timer Expires.
- Round 9 - Sacrifice Monsters to the Altar by slaying them in the Blood Circles or Escort the Statue.
- Round 10 - Defeat the Boss.
Rounds 4, 7 and 10 always contain one of the 3 bosses and always reward you with one of the Soul Cores. The round 10 boss always drops one of the Fates required to challenge the pinnacle encounter The Trialmaster. For this reason it is recommended to always farm the 10-round version to earn the biggest profits.
Modifiers
Before every round of challenges within the Trial of Chaos you have to choose 1 of the 3 negative modifiers that are going to affect the rest of the run. If all 3 modifiers are very risky and you obtained some precious loot during previous rounds, consider stopping the run at that point and keeping all of the rewards. Here is a list of all possible modifiers:
Stormcaller Runes- Rank 1: Runes will appear that will call deadly Lightning storms if you remain in them.
- Rank 2: Large runes will appear that will call deadly Lightning storms if you remain in them.
- Rank 3: Many large runes will appear that will call deadly Lightning storms if you remain in them.
- With 75% Lightning Resistance even rank 3 damage is very manageable.
Vaal Omnitect- Rank 1: An ancient Vaal machination will deploy attacks against nearby intruders.
- Rank 2: An ancient Vaal machination will deploy an array of attacks against nearby intruders.
- Rank 3: An ancient Vaal machination will deploy a powerful array of attacks against nearby intruders.
- Always appears in the middle of the arena making encounters with bosses especially dangerous.
Stalking Shade- Rank 1: An invulnerable shade stalks you, inflicting Ruin with its Melee hits. Fail the Trials on reaching 7 Ruin.
- Rank 2: An invulnerable shade stalks you, gaining speed and inflicting Ruin with Melee and Projectile hits. Fail the Trials on reaching 7 Ruin.
- Rank 3: An invulnerable shade stalks you, gaining further speed and inflicting Ruin with powerful Melee and Projectile hits. Fail the Trials on reaching 7 Ruin.
- Rank 1 is very easy to manage but rank 2 and 3 can end your run very fast because of the ranged projectiles. Remember that the Ruin stacks persist throughout the entire run!
Burning Turrets- Rank 1: Challenge area contains turrets that will periodically fire Fire Projectiles ahead.
- Rank 2: Challenge area contains turrets that will periodically fire barrages of Fire Projectiles ahead.
- With 75% Fire Resistance damage from the turrets is very manageable.
Shocking Turrets- Challenge area contains turrets that will periodically fire Lightning Projectiles ahead.
- Challenge area contains turrets that will periodically fire a wave of Lightning Projectiles ahead.
- With 75% Lightning Resistance damage from the turrets is very manageable.
Pyramid Beams- Rank 1: Pyramid objects appear, projecting four rotating lasers that inflict Corrupted Blood on Hit.
- Rank 2: Pyramid objects appear, projecting four fast rotating lasers that inflict Corrupted Blood on Hit.
- Dodge Roll through the lasers to avoid them.
Impending Doom- Rank 1: Rings of Doom appear on the ground which grow over time, exploding for Physical damage once they reach a maximum area.
- Rank 2: Rings and circles of Doom appear on the ground which grow over time, exploding for Physical damage once they reach a maximum area.
- Deals massive amounts of physical damage, avoid at all costs if you have low physical damage mitigation.
Heart Tethers- Rank 1: Bloody hearts appear that apply tethers, Slowing you. Breaking the tether will Stun you.
- Rank 2: Bloody hearts appear that apply tethers, Slowing you. Breaking the tether will Stun you and cause you to become vulnerable to damage for a duration.
- Getting Stunned can be annoying but in most circumstances, this is not very dangerous. However, becoming vulnerable from Heart Tethers Rank 2 can often get you killed so it's recommended you avoid upgrading it.
Reduced Recovery- Rank 1: 40% reduced Life, Mana, and Energy Shield Recovery Rate.
- Rank 2: 75% reduced Life, Mana, and Energy Shield Recovery Rate.
- Good recovery is a key part of every build's defense. For this reason, it is recommended to always avoid this modifier.
Petrification Statues- Rank 1: Challenge area contains several statues that Petrify you if you stand within their gaze for a duration.
- Rank 2: Challenge area contains several statues that Petrify you for a long duration if you stand within their gaze for a short duration.
- Do not face the statues to avoid getting petrified. This can be hard because usually there is multiple statues facing you from different directions. Getting petrified while surrounded by the monsters usually leads to a certain death, so for this reason it is recommended to avoid this modifier.
Damaged Defences- Rank 1: 40% less Defences.
- Rank 2: 75% less Defences.
- This modifier reduced your Energy Shield, Armour and Evasion. For characters that build up Energy Shield this modifier is devastating, especially at Rank 2. For characters that build up Armour and Evasions it's not as punishing if a character also has a high amount of Life.
Reduced Resistances- Rank 1: -15% to Elemental Resistances and -10% to Maximum Elemental Resistances.
- Rank 2: -30% to Elemental Resistances and -20% to Maximum Elemental Resistances.
- This modifier greatly increases your elemental damage taken. If your character has 75% all elemental resistances then reducing that number by 30% more than doubles your damage taken! With high amounts of Life, Energy Shield or other elemental damage mitigation Rank 1 is manageable but it is almost always recommended to avoid Rank 2.
Blood Globules- Rank 1: Globules of blood manifest nearby, tracking you. When above you they will fall, dealing Physical damage.
- Rank 2: Globules of blood manifest nearby, tracking you. When above you they will fall, dealing Physical damage and creating damaging blood ground.
- These Blood Globules are easy to avoid by using your dodge roll right before it falls down. Even if you get hit, these do not deal a deadly amount of damage which makes this modifier one of the easier ones.
Deadly Monsters- Rank 1: Monsters have 300% increased Critical Hit Chance.
- Rank 2: Monsters always deal Critical Hits.
- Make sure you have a character that can survive big hits or have some form of critical damage mitigation before taking this modifier.
Chaotic Monsters- Rank 1: Monsters gain 20% of damage added as extra Chaos damage.
- Rank 2: Monsters gain 50% of damage added as extra Chaos damage.
- Characters with allocated Chaos Inoculation completely ignore this modifier. Otherwise make sure you have a high amount of chaos resistance, preferably 75% before taking this modifier.
Toxic Monsters- Rank 1: Monster Hits always inflict Bleeding and Poison.
- Characters with Chaos Inoculation are immune to Bleeding and Poison. If you are not immune make sure you have a high amount of Life recovery. Try using Antidote Charm and Staunching Charm for occasional immunity to Poison and Bleeding.
- Rank 1: Monster Hits always inflict Bleeding and Poison.
Time Paradox- Rank 1: Buffs expire three times faster and Debuffs expire three times slower.
- If your build doesn't rely on buffs, this modifier is not very dangerous by itself but in combination with some other ones can be very deadly. For example, it increases the duration of Bleeding and Poison from Toxic Monsters, Stun and Vulnerability from Heart Tethers and Petrification from Petrification Statues.
- Rank 1: Buffs expire three times faster and Debuffs expire three times slower.
Resistant Monsters- Rank 1: Monsters have +40% to all Resistances.
- If your primary damage type is elemental or chaos this modifier greatly reduces your damage output. Any sources of damage penetration or enemy resistance reductions greatly negate this modifier. Characters with primary physical damage completely ignore this modifier.
- Rank 1: Monsters have +40% to all Resistances.
Unstoppable Monsters- Rank 1: Monsters cannot be Slowed or Stunned.
- Does not affect most of the builds. If your build greatly relies on Stunning or Slowing your enemies avoid this modifier.
- Rank 1: Monsters cannot be Slowed or Stunned.
Entangling Monsters- Rank 1: Monsters inflict Grasping Vines on Hit.
- Grasping Vines greatly reduce your character's movement speed. If you are good at avoiding taking damage this modifier does not increase the difficulty by that much. It is especially dangerous for melee builds that are more likely to take hits from enemies.
- Rank 1: Monsters inflict Grasping Vines on Hit.
Enraged Bosses- Rank 1: Bosses deal more damage and take less damage.
- Boss encounters are the most dangerous challenges in Trial of Chaos. This modifier makes them even more dangerous. For this reason, it is recommended to always avoid this modifier unless your character kills bosses within seconds.
- Rank 1: Bosses deal more damage and take less damage.
Lethal Rare Monsters- Rank 1: Rare Monsters have 2 additional Modifiers. 30% increased Rare Monsters.
- This makes Rare Monsters especially dangerous. If you can handle the additional difficulty this modifier is actually a positive one because more Rare Monsters means more loot!
- Rank 1: Rare Monsters have 2 additional Modifiers. 30% increased Rare Monsters.
Volatile Fiends- Rank 1: Monsters release deadly Volatiles on death. Rare monsters leave larger ones.
- Volatiles created by the monsters deal a massive amount of damage so make sure you avoid all of them utilizing the dodge roll. This is especially difficult when a lot of them spawn at the same time so you might want to consider staggering killing your enemies.
- Rank 1: Monsters release deadly Volatiles on death. Rare monsters leave larger ones.
Escalating Damage Taken- Rank 1: In each encounter room, damage taken will slowly increase by 1% per second, up to 50%.
- Most of the encounters in Trial of Chaos take a long time to complete which makes this modifier very dangerous especially, in combination with some of the other ones like Monster Speed or Lethal Rare Monsters.
- Rank 1: In each encounter room, damage taken will slowly increase by 1% per second, up to 50%.
Lessened Reach- Rank 1: 50% less Area of Effect and Projectile Speed.
- This modifier is not very dangerous even for most of the builds that use Area of Effect or Projectile abilities, however can make encounters take much longer.
- Rank 1: 50% less Area of Effect and Projectile Speed.
Drought- Rank 1: Monsters grant no Flask and Charm Charges on death.
- If your character relies on Flasks for Mana and Life recovery then it is one of the most difficult ones. Remember that right before every boss encounter there is a well that recovers all of your flasks charges to full even with this modifier being active.
- Rank 1: Monsters grant no Flask and Charm Charges on death.
Monster Speed- Rank 1: Monsters gain 20% increased Skill Speed.
- Makes monsters much faster making them more dangerous, especially Bosses. Take only if your character has strong defenses.
- Rank 1: Monsters gain 20% increased Skill Speed.
Modifiers and Bosses
Keep in mind that all of these modifiers affect the regular challenges as well as the bosses. This means that Vaal Omnitect and Impending Doom make boss fight especially difficult because these can overlap with some of the bosses deadly abilities. On the other hand Lethal Rare Monsters do not affect the boss fights at all because there is no Rare Monsters during these rounds.
Some of these modifiers are easy to deal with by themself but in combination with some of the other ones can be very deadly. For example Monster Speed, Enraged Bosses and Escalating Damage Taken together increase your damage taken significantly or being followed by the Stalking Shade might make avoiding Petrification Statues much more difficult.
The Trialmaster
At the end of 10 rounds of the Trial of Chaos you can decide to challenge The Trialmaster. To do that you need to use 3 Fates to unlock the doors to The Trialmaster's Tower. Each Fate drops from a different boss during the 10'th round of the Trial of Chaos.
- Cowardly Fate - Drops from Uxmal, The Beastlord during the 10th round.
- Deadly Fate - Drops from the Bahlak, The Sky Seer during the 10th round.
- Victorious Fate - Drops from Chetza, The Feathered Plague during the 10th round.
Defeating The Trialmaster for the first time unlocks your 4th ascendancy points. After that you can continue farming him for some precious rewards. Every time The Trialmaster is defeated he drops one of the unique items:
- Glimpse of Chaos
- Zerphi's Genesis
- Mahuxotl's Machination
- Hateforge
- The Adorned
The Trialmaster also has a chance to drop one of the special corrupted Inscribed Ultimatums which offer an additional challenge. These have random modifiers like Monsters Deal 100% Damage As Extra Fire and require you to make a sacrifice. For example sacrificing 10 Vaal Orbs will rewards you with 20 Vaal Orbs on a successful run.
During the fight The Trialmaster occassionaly stops time and slams the ground. This creates increasing in size damaging areas. Be ready do dodge them as soon as you can move again. The main difficulty of the fight is the small arena. The Trialmaster creates many damaging areas even outside of stopping time, so the key to defeating him is good positioning and and well timed dodge rolls.
To learn more about the boss fight check out our Trialmaster Boss Guide!
Loot
Corrupted Items
Soul Cores
Fates
The Trialmaster
Summary
- Use Inscribed Ultimatums to start the Trial of Chaos.
- Complete 10 Rounds of challenges to earn the rewards, but if you fail one of them you loose all collected loot.
- Choose between of the 3 negative modifiers before every Round which affect you until the end of the Trial of Chaos run.
- Defeat the bosses during Rounds 4, 7 and 10 to obtain precious Soul Cores.
- Obtain Fates from the 10th Round used to challenge The Trialmaster at the end of the run.
Credits
Written by: ZenM
Reviewed by: Tenkiei