Greater Rift Mechanics

Note that Westmarch and Sewer maps don't have numbers in this list as they simply cannot spawn in the first Greater Rift floor that is opened!

You can see by the data that you roughly have a 1 in 3 chance to get a playable "openish" map on the first floor.

Type
Melee, empowered Demonic Hellflyer, mostly Fire Damage, Beast, medium Hitbox

Abilities

• Fast & Mortar Affix
• Melee Attack: Single target Physical Damage attack
• Fireball: Fires a ranged single target fire ball that does Fire Damage
• Fire Volley: Spits out 3 slow, ranged fireballs that do Fire Damage
• Fire Nova: 30sec CD, ranged Fire Damage
  Release a 360 degrees Fire Nova when at 50% life or lower
• Fire Breath: Short range attack with knock back and Fire Damage
• Fire Ground Circle: Places a fire circle onto the ground that activates after 2 seconds. Lasts for around 30 seconds and deals Fire Damage

Strategy
You can fight this Rift Guardian anywhere. The supports can stand in front to tank abilities like the Fire Ball and the Melee attack.

Type
Melee, empowered Herald of Pestilence, mostly Poison Damage, Demon, medium Hitbox

Abilities

• Plagued & Knockback Affix
• Melee Attack: Standard single target physical attack
• Poison Bolts: Shoots bolts of poison in all directions. Deals single target Poison Damage
• Tentacle Attack: Sticks his arm into the ground spawning multiple tentacles out of the ground doing Poison Damage in a huge area of effect

Strategy
This is the best Rift Guardian by far for the Thorns Necromancer. You want to fight this boss in a narrow spot if you rely on thorns to reflect damage. With any other build it is best to fight this boss in an open spot to avoid the full damage being done by him not stacking the Tentacle Attack into one spot. Supports can also stand in front of the damage dealer to soak up some abilities like Poison Bolts.

Type
Melee, empowered Executioner, mostly Physical Damage, Undead, big Hitbox

Abilities

• Fast Affix
• Frenzy: +50% faster attack speed that scales up even faster when at lower hit points, Physical Damage
• Single Jump: Does a single leap that can be interrupted. Can only target Players outside of his melee range (around 15 yards), Physical Damage
• Multiple Jumps: Leaps around 3-9 times targeting Players for Physical Damage, cannot be interrupted

Strategy
Fight this Rift Guardian in a narrow spot it cannot leap out of, like close to an entrance or exit to another Greater Rift level, ideally you can get him completely stuck in one position. Even if it gets out, stay in the same position as the boss will always return to the same spot with his last jump.

Type
Ranged, empowered Skeletal Summoner, mostly Arcane Damage, Undead, small Hitbox

Abilities

• Wormhole Affix
• Summoning Affix CD: 15 sec
  Summons 3 Minions out of a set of 4 different types that give the Skeleton King a special ability.

• Arcane Bolts: Ranged Arcane Damage attack in 3 different variations:
  Single Shot: Fires slow moving single target high damage missile
  Triple Shot: Fires 3 faster moving projectiles
  Quad Shot: Fires 4 faster moving projectiles only if Mortar Bones is active

Strategy
Can fight this Rift Guardian anywhere. Open rooms work best to dodge the Arcane Bolts & the Wormhole Affix. In group play the zBarb usually pull the Minions away to maximize Bane of the Stricken gain for the RGK.

Type
Melee, empowered Izual, mostly Cold Damage, Demon, medium Hitbox

Abilities

• Frozen Pulse Affix: Cold Damage that does more damage and has a faster cooldown than a normal Frozen Pulse summons more frequently when at lower life
• Melee Attack: Melee, single target Physical Damage Mace attack
• Slam: Slams the ground with a melee, Physical Damage attack, has a channel time & can be avoided
• Charge: Charges towards a far away target doing Physical Damage
• Cold Nova: Releases a 360 degree cold nova that does Cold Damage in 100 yard range. Freezes Players for 4 seconds. The freeze ends as soon as the boss hits a Player with a melee attack
• Enhanced Frozen: AoE, cold attack
  While below 50% life releases ice crystals that explode doing Cold Damage and freeze the Player. Scales with multiple Players in the game. Does not do damage over time while building up.

Strategy
Pretty straightforward if you never leave the melee range this Rift Guardian will never charge and never move. Supports can try to tank the melee attacks. In solo you want to dodge the ice crystals.

Type
Melee, empowered Skeleton King Boss of Act I, Arcane & Physical Damage, Undead, medium Hitbox

Abilities

• Jailer Affix Arcane Damage
• Mace Attack: Melee, AoE, Physical Damage
• Teleport Attack: Melee, AoE, Physical Damage, teleports to a Player and swings his Mace
• Arcane Nova: Release a volley of Arcane Damage bolts
• Whirlwind: Melee, AoE, Physical Damage, laughs and spins like a Barbarian's Whirlwind
• Summon Skeletons: Summons multiple Minions twice in a row at 100% boss life, can be interrupted, maximum of 15 adds total

Strategy
You can fight this Rift Guardian pretty much anywhere and interrupt his summon and teleport attack to maximize Bane of the Stricken stack gain. In some situations you want to let the adds spawn in order to get Oculus Ring or AoE effects with Area Damage.

Type
Ranged, empowered Morlu Incinerator, mostly Fire Damage, Demon, small Hitbox

Abilities

• Teleport Affix
• Meteor: Casts a huge AoE meteor that comes down from the sky after 3 seconds causing AoE Fire Damage, base coolown is 10 seconds and is reduced by 50% all the way down to 5 seconds when the boss is below 50% hit points
• Summon Lunatics: Summons 2- 3 Lunatics that run towards Players and explode dealing a huge amount of Physical Damage when the boss is around 95% life. Cooldown is 10 seconds
• Summon Shamens: Summons 2 shamans starting at 60% of boss life that shoot fireballs dealing Fire Damage

Strategy
Comfortably dodge the meteor and avoid the Lunatics. In group the support usually drags the Minions away to avoid explosion damage and to stack Bane of the Stricken more efficiently.

Type
Ranged, empowered Corrupted Angel, mostly Posion Damage, Demon, small Hitbox

Abilities

• Missile dampening Affix: Removed!
• Poison Bolts: Shoots 3 single target ranged bolts that deal Poison Damage
• Poison Nova: Casts a poison nova that releases after 1.5 seconds and deals Poison Damage in a 30 yard AoE
• Poison Blast: Releases a blast also with a 1.5 second delay dealing Poison Damage in a 20 yard AoE
• Charge: Charges enemies that are more than 10 yards away for Physical Damage

Strategy
Get this Rift Guardian next to a wall or stay in melee range so it does not charge around. Supporters can tank the Poison Bolts for the damage dealing Players by staying in front of them.

Type
Melee, empowered Corpse Raiser, mostly Arcane Damage, Reaper, small Hitbox

Abilities

• Vortex, Teleport and Arcane Affix
• Melee attack: Hits for Physical Damage with the Vortex Affix
• Wave: Casts a Cold Damage wave that moves away from the boss
• Summoning: Summons up to 10 Skeletons at 100% boss life, Physical Damage

Strategy
A common strategy for groups is to force teleport this Rift Guardian after it has summoned the maximum amount of 10 Minions to have a single target boss fight. Dodge the arcane beams!

Type
Melee, empowered Rat King, mostly Poison Damage, Beast, big Hitbox

Abilities

• Melee Attack: Very fast Physical Damage melee attack
• Ratnado: Casts 2 10-yard radius tornadoes of rats dealing Poison Damage over time while moving around unpredictability. After 6 seconds the tornado explodes dealing poison damage in a 10 yard circle.
• Shield Area: Lasts for 10 seconds with a 15 second cooldown
  Creates a 45 yard circle around the boss that cannot be passed by Players unless they have the ability to ignore Hitboxes like from Illusionary boots or something similar
• Dig: Can dig into the ground every 30 seconds and emerges at a different location
• Summon: Frequently spawns Ratlings while at certain hit point thresholds from the holes of his back dealing Physical Damage. Can randomly spawns even at full hp.

Strategy
Very dangerous Rift Guardian for solo players - avoid the Ratnado! In groups you can pretty much face tank this boss. Furthermore this is one of the best bosses for AoE damage dealing build due to the crazy Hitbox size and the frequently added Minions proccing more Area Damage.

Type
Melee, empowered Maiden of Flame, mostly Fire Damage, Reaper, big Hitbox

Abilities

• Teleport Affix
• Melee Attack: Fire & Physical close range attack
• Whirlwind: Spins in place dealing Physical and Fire melee Damage
• Fire Whirlwind: Like whirlwind but also launches mortar projectiles around a wide cone in font of the boss dealing Fire Damage
• Fire Nova: While at under 50% life casts a fire nova in a 100-yard range every 30 seconds dealing Fire Damage. The further you are away from the Rift Guardian the easier it is to dodge this attack

Strategy
For melee classes you want to avoid a close range Nova combined with a physical hit as this can one shot you. This Rift Guardian's large Hitbox allows for some good kiting to avoid the melee abilities altogether.

Type
Melee, empowered Butcher, mostly Physical Damage, Demon, medium Hitbox

Abilities

• Waller Affix
• Melee Hit: Physical single target damage
• Melee Smash: Smashes the group with his axe for heavy physical damage in a small area of effect close to the Rift Guardian dealing Physical Damage
• Ancient Spear: Does Physical Damage in a cone in front of the boss.
• Hook: Uses a hook attack to pull a Player towards him usually followed by a melee smash dealing Physical Damage
• Charge: After channeling for 2 seconds charges in a straight line for Physical Damage. The cooldown is 20 seconds and the attack can be interrupted
• Mark of Fire: Creates an AoE dot effect on the ground that deals Fire Damage. Activates after 2 seconds and lasts for 30. Can stack multiple on the same location
• Teleport Can teleport multiple screens away to a Player that is out of engage range

Strategy
The Waller Affix can be annoying for ranged classes like the Impale Demon Hunter as it blocks your projectiles. Try to move around a lot and do not let the Rift Guardian stack the Mark of Fire on you and avoid the hooks.

Type
Melee, empowered Terror Demon, mostly Lightning Damage, Demon, small Hitbox

Abilities

• Teleport & Fast Affix
• Melee attack: Slashes single target in melee range for Physical Damage
• Beam Attack: Creates a beam that deals huge AoE Lightning Damage in a straight line, can be interrupted and also change direction if the targets are moving around
• Illusionist: Summons 3 clones of himself that can also cast Beam Attack but cannot change direction of their beams

Strategy
Dodge or interrupt the beams! Supports can attract the Illusion's beam attacks in other directions away from the damage dealers.

Type
Melee, empowered Rakanoth, mostly Physical Damage, Demon, medium Hitbox

Abilities

• Extra Fast Affix
• Melee Attack: Hits for Physical single target Damage, can be interrupted
• Blade Shuriken: Channels 2 seconds for to release AoE hitting blades that deal Physical Damage and can be interrupted
• Blink Strike: Teleports to a Player followed by by a physical AoE bash, can only target Players further than 20 yards away, can be interrupted and deals Physical Damage

Strategy
Only uses auto attacks if Players remain stationary and in melee range. All moving and followup attacks can be minimized if a Player stays inside this Rift Guardian's hit box. As a support you want to take melee hits and interrupt abilities like Blink Strike if needed.

Type
Melee, empowered Mallet Lord, mostly Physical Damage, Demon, tiny Hitbox for its size

Abilities

• Extra Fast, Teleporter & Vortex Affix
• Melee Attack: Swings into the ground dealing huge Physical Damage in small area of effect, can be interrupted
• Summoning: Spawns Armored Destroyers from the sky without limit. They do melee hit Physical Damage and also damage Players when landing from the sky
• Rocks: Casts rocks from the sky that hit the ground after 1.5 seconds dealing Physical Damage in a 15 yard area

Strategy
Interrupt the heavy melee attacks by stunning or by running around. Dodge the rocks falling from the sky. In groups the supports can pull away the Minions to a degree to maximize Bane of the Stricken stacking.

Type
Melee, empowered Exarch, mostly Lightning Damage, Reaper, tiny Hitbox

Abilities

• Electrified Affix
• Lightning Attack: Melee single target Lightning Damage attack
• Lightning Charge: Shots a volley of Construct projectiles as Holy Damage
• Lightning Orb: Area of effect Exarch attack dealing Lightning Damage

Strategy
You can fight this Rift Guardian pretty much anywhere but it can be difficult to hit due to the tiny Hitbox. Supports can stun during the damage dealers Convention of Elements rotation to guarantee full damage burst output.

Type
Ranged, empowered Key Warden of Act III, mostly Cold Damage, Demon, small Hitbox

Abilities

• Teleporter Affix
• Melee Attack: Physical single target attack
• Frost Bolt: Fires 3 Bolts dealing Cold Damage in a cone
• Frost Pool: Creates 4 small circles dealing Cold AoE Damage over time
• Frost Ring: Casts a large blue circle on the ground dealing Cold Damage

Strategy
This Rift Guardian is moving a lot due to the ranged and teleport abilities. Supporters can stun on damage burst rotation to guarantee damage output. Avoid the heavy AoE dot effects on the ground if you are playing a squishy build.

Type
Ranged, empowered Zolten Kulle, mostly Fire Damage, Human, small Hitbox

Abilities

• Teleport Affix
• Slow time: Similar to the Wizard ability. While in the area of effect the Players' attack speed is slowed by 30% and movement speed is slowed by 80%
• Fire Ball: Casts an small AoE hitting fire ball for Fire Damage
• Energy Twister: Again similar to the Wizard ability. Casts a randomly moving tornado dealing Arcane Damage
• Rocks: Cast rocks from the sky that hit the ground after 1.5 seconds dealing Physical Damage in a 15 yard AoE

Strategy
Supporters can tank the fireballs to optimize damage output when using squirts. Dodge the rocks when playing a squish class and avoid staying in the slow time bubble when playing an attack speed dependant build.

Type
Melee, empowered Copperfang Lurker, mostly Physical Damage, Demon, small Hitbox

Abilities

• Vortex Affix
• Melee Attack: Physical single target attack
• Energy Twister: Again similar to the Wizard ability. Casts a randomly moving tornado dealing Arcane Damage
• Summon: After the boss is below 75% life frequently summons 10-15 Swarms (Physical Damage) or 10-15 Electric Eels (Lightning Damage)

Strategy
One of the best Rift Guardian's for AoE damage dealing builds. You can stack your Bane of the Stricken first and then do crazy Area Damage due to frequently added Minions. As a supports try to take the boss aggro for the melee attacks. Trash killer builds can try to spawn Oculus Ring for the Rift Guardian killer by killing the bosses Minions.

Type
Melee, empowered Sand Dweller, mostly Physical Damage, Demon, biggest Rift Guardian Hitbox in the game

Abilities

• Knockback Affix
• Melee attack: Physical single target damage attack
• Summon: Creates a turret that fires the mortar fire Affix, can be interrupted
• Charge: Targets a Player that is outside of melee range to charge at him dealing Physical Damage to all Players in the line

Strategy
The Charge can be avoided by staying close to this Rift Guardian. You can interrupt the turret summoning by stunning him when he sicks his left arm into the ground to optimizes Bane of the Stricken gain.

Type
Melee, empowered Succubus, mostly Physical Damage, Demon, medium Hitbox

Abilities

• Teleporter & Knockback Affix
• Melee Attack: Single target physical melee attack
• Backward Dash: Glides away from the Player
• Cursed Ground: At 60% boss hp spawns Geysers onto the group

Strategy
Fight this Rift Guardian in a narrow spot ideally so it cannot backward dash all the time. Stun on damage burst rotations to guarantee damage output.

Type
Melee, empowered Cydaea, mostly Poison Damage, Demon, large Hitbox

Abilities

• Melee Attack: Standard single target physical melee attack
• Poison Balls: Creates 3 poison balls dealing high single target damage
• Poison Spit: Spits missiles and spray 30 yards in a 160 degree angle in front of the boss, does tremendous Poison Damage
• Summon Spiderlings: At 85% of boss life summons 5 Spiderlings that deal melee Poison Damage, summons two waves and summons again when the Spiderlings are killed

Strategy
One of the best Rift Guardian for AoE damage dealing builds. Stack your Bane of the Stricken first and then do crazy Area Damage due to frequently added Minions with a large boss Hitbox. As a support try to take the Rift Guardian's aggro for the melee attacks. Trash killer builds can try to spawn Oculus Ring for the Rift Guardian killer by killing the bosses Minions.

Type
Ranged, empowered Barbed Lurker, mostly Poison Damage, Beast, tiny Hitbox

Abilities

• Teleport Affix that always teleports to the furthest away Player. Can even teleport multiple screens away to a Player
• Summon: Creates up to 10 Slimes dealing ranged Poison Damage that are replaced if killed
• Backward Dash: Glides away from the Player
• Poison attack: Shoots three bolts that randomly move away from the boss dealing Poison Damage
• Poison Circle: At 75% boss hp spawns a 20 yard circle around the boss detonating dealing Poison Damage
• Poison Pools: At 75 % boss hp spawns pools of poison that deal huge AoE Poison Damage over time

Strategy
This is one of the worst Rift Guardians in the game for most build as it moves around so much. This can be minimized by luring or force teleporting him into a small area.
The supporters can try to lure the Slimes away for the damage dealers to get more Bane of the Stricken stacks. Be careful not to go to far away as the boss then teleports on the furthest away Player.

Type
Ranged, empowered Vidian, mostly Arcane Damage, Demon, tiny Hitbox

Abilities

• Wormhole & Frozen Pulse Affix
• Gateway: Disappears into a portal and reappearing somewhere else, can be interrupted
• Arcane bolts: Releases a spray of fast moving arcane bolts doing Arcane Damage in a small area of effect

Strategy
The newest Rift Guardian in the game and also the only boss that cant be force teleported. This boss usually keeps its distance from players.
Try to interrupt his gateway ability when he sinks into the floor to optimize damage output and Bane of the Stricken gain. Avoid being dragged into the Wormhole circle and dodge the arcane bolts if playing a squish build.

Type
Melee, empowered Ghom, mostly Poison Damage, Demon, big Hitbox

Abilities

• Melee Attack: Standard single target physical melee attack
• Poison Cloud: Frequently releases 2 gas clouds each cast that deal Poison Damage over time and stack with each other. Lasts for 75 seconds with a around 12 second cooldown.
• Bile Spew: Mid range spray attack that deals Poison Damage over 2 seconds in a small area of effect
• Summon: At 65% boss life summons 2 Slime Minions after a long range poison attack that he spits at Players that are more then 15 yards away, with a maximum of 4 at a time

Strategy
Try to snapshot the clouds with all toughness buffs you have available. Never move out afterwards if you can tank the incoming Damage over Time like this. If not move around and kite him. The Rift Guardian's huge hit box makes him easy to hit while kiting.