Rift Guardian

Rime goes enrage-mode when near death.

Rift Guardians are large Unique enemies, that appear only in Nephalem Rifts when the progress bar has reached 100%. (This requires about 500 kills.) There are a couple of dozen different Rift Guardians, all with preset names and Elite Affixes, plus some special unique boss talents.

Rift Guardians drop more items (including materials and gems) than any other single target in the game, and are the single best source for Blood Shards, dropping at least 40 on Normal difficulty and increasing 5-10 per difficulty level (up to 100~ on Torment 6). Their drop values have changed repeatedly; during the Reaper of Souls beta test Guardians dropped like any random Elite, with the main reward for clearing a rift coming in a Horadric Cache, but this drop was moved directly to the Guardian during testing.[1]

• Greater Rift Guardians were added to the game with Greater Rifts in Patch 2.1. These are identical to Rift Guardians in appearance and abilities, but they grow nastier on higher difficulty level Grifts, capable of dealing their attacks or summonings much more quickly.

Rift Guardian Types and Powers

Rift Guardians are randomly-assigned to each Rift, with one picked from the possible Guardians on a large list. (With one exception; the Lord of Bells only appears after the Easter Egg Infernal Bovine cow rifts.)[2]

Rift Guardians are all "purple" Unique monsters, with special powers and abilities that are pre-set, rather than randomly-spawned as the Modifiers are on random Elites. Most Guardians have some special abilities that do not appear in their normal, non-Guardian forms (including the Quest/Act Bosses).

• Enrage: All Rift Guardians have special attacks they may unleash when below 25% hit points.

Rift Guardian Roll Call

Rift Guardians Achievement listing.

The Rift Guardians are randomly-selected to appear at the end of the rift. They are entirely random and unweighted, with any able to appear in any type of Rift, with one exception. The Lord of Bells is the Easter Egg version of the Cow King and will only appear at the end of the ultra-rare Infernal Bovine rift.

• Greater Rift Guardians: All of these Guardians (save the Lord of Bells) can appear as Greater Rift Guardians, where they may have additional abilities or other upgrades.

Agnidox -- Upgraded Demonic Hellflyer. (Winged demons of Act three.)

• Fire-themed, can launch fireballs and create Desecrator pools.
  • Moderate difficulty.

Blighter -- Upgraded Herald of Pestilence. (Ground tickler finger attack. Act Three.)

• Poison-themed. Casts poison novas, Plagued style ground effects can cover almost the entire screen.
  • High difficulty.

Bloodmaw -- Upgraded Executioner. (Massive Act Five melee brawler.)

• Physical attacks with massive sword arms. Can stun. Very dangerous enraged mode with repeated leaping strikes.
  • Very high difficulty.

Bone Warlock -- Upgraded Skeleton Summoner.

• Summons skeletons and fires Arcane projectiles.
  • Low difficulty.

Cold Snap -- Upgraded Izual. (Act Four quest boss.)

• Cold-themed. Can cast Frozen and casts an Ice Nova that freezes everything on the screen.
  • Moderate difficulty. (Very very easy for characters with freezing immunity.)

Crusader King -- Upgraded Skeleton King. (Act One quest boss.)

• Same abilities as Leoric, with smite swinging, minion summoning, and teleport hitting.
  • Low difficulty.

Ember -- Upgraded Morlu Caster. (Act 4 meteor dropping mages.)

• Fire themed, drops meteors, shoots fireballs, and can teleport.
  • Moderate difficulty.

Erethon -- Upgraded Corrupted Angel. (Act Four winged dashing strikes.)

• Charging attacks and always has Missile Dampening modifier.
  • Moderate difficulty.

Eskandiel -- Upgraded Corpse Raiser. (Act Five angel summoners. Turn to bats when they die.)

• Arcane-themed. Casts Arcane Enchanted, uses Vortex, summons various skeletal minions.
  • High difficulty.

Infernal Maiden -- Upgraded Fire Maiden. (Act Five huge scythe angels.)

• Fire-themed, but also deals high physical damage. Flame attacks, whirling melee strikes.
  • Very high difficulty.

Lord of Bells -- Upgraded Infernal Bovine.

• Easter Egg only found in special Cow Rifts. Electrified, gains Illusionist when enraged.
  • High difficulty.

Man Carver -- Upgraded The Butcher. (Act One Act Boss.)

• Charging attack, Waller, can hook and pull targets in.
  • Moderate difficulty.

Orlash -- Upgraded Terror Demon. (Act 4 Diablo-looking invisible slashers.)

• Melee slashing attack. Vanishes periodically during fight. Does not summon minions as his type can normally.
  • Low difficulty.

Perdition -- Upgraded Rakanoth. (Act Four quest boss.)

• Charging slashing attack is dangerous. Ranged projectiles. Does not summon pets as normal Rakanoth does.
  • Low difficulty.

Perendi -- Upgraded Mallet Lord. (Act Four, four-legged melee bashers.)

• Slow moving but huge damage potential. Teleport and Vortex can make avoiding his huge smash attack tricky.
  • High difficulty.

Raiziel -- Upgraded Exarch. (Act Five angel mages.)

• Lightning-themed. Casts overhead lightning orbs that can deal huge damage.
  • High difficulty.

Rime -- Upgraded Xah'Rith the Keywarden (Act 3).

• Cold-themed, icy meteor-type attacks do major DoT stacking, teleporter.
  • High difficulty.

Sand Shaper -- Upgraded Zoltan Kulle. (Act 2 quest boss.)

• Tornado attacks, slow time bubbles, shoots projectiles. No golem guardians as has normal Zoltan Kulle.
  • Low difficulty.

Satrix -- Upgraded Deceiver. (Act 2 Serpent Mage.)

• Caster style combat, including tornadoes. Regularly spawns large crowds of very weak trash mob minions.
  • Moderate difficulty.

Stonesinger -- Upgraded Sand Dweller. (Act two burrowing rock golem.)

• Rock golem brawler, very slow movement speed. Can create duplicates when enraged, but their casting time is very slow (bugged?)
  • Very low difficulty.

Tethrys -- Upgraded Succubus.

• Flys around quickly, fires fast moving projectiles. Dangerous special attack where she creates missiles at a distance, then pulls them in with homing potential. Also ground DoT circles.
  • High difficulty.

The Binder -- Upgraded Cydaea. (Act Three spider queen act boss.)

• Projectile poison attacks, web ground coverage is slowing.
  • Very low difficulty.

The Choker -- Upgraded Barbed Lurker. (Tentacled levitating Act Five caster.)

• Poison missile attacks. Retreating movement can be annoying to melee fighters.
  • Low difficulty.

Voracity -- Upgraded Ghom. (Act Three quest boss.)

• Huge and slow, but damaging poison clouds fill the screen and persist after his death. Can be dangerous in close quarters.
  • Low difficulty, though melee characters without high poison resistance will find him dangerous.

Media

A selection of images of Rift Guardians. See many more screenshots, plus videos and more, on the individual Rift Guardian articles.

• 

  Typical Rift Guardian drop.

• 

  Rift Guardian achievement, from the Beta.

• 

  Rift Guardian Blighter with his special poison attack.

• 

  Rift Guardian Rime with his special cold attack.

• 

  60 Blood Shards dropped on Torment I.

• 

  After killing the guardian, the Rift can be ended.

Pre-Release Datamined Rift Guardians

A list of available loot runs bosses, from Reaper of Souls datamining in late 2013. As with the other datamined strings, these were not final and many of them changed before release.

Boss_Alcarnus_01_SkeletonKing_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Random Boss Fight

• Boss_Alcarnus_01_SkeletonKing_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Boss!

Boss_Keep_01_Gluttony_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Random Boss Fight

• Boss_Keep_01_Gluttony_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Boss!

ZoltunKulle_Encounter_Name - Boss: Random Boss Fight

• ZoltunKulle_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Boss!

Boss_Keep_01_Despair_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: The Library of Fate

• Boss_Keep_01_Despair_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the demon Despair!

Boss_Keep_01_Gluttony_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Gluttony

• Boss_Keep_01_Gluttony_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat Ghom, the Lord of Gluttony!

Boss_Keep_01_SpiderQueen_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: The Lair of the Spider Queen

• Boss_Keep_01_SpiderQueen_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Spider Queen!

Boss_Alcarnus_01_SkeletonKing_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: The Crypt of the Skeleton Monarch

• Boss_Alcarnus_01_SkeletonKing_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Skeleton Monarch!

FallenChampion_Summoner_Encounter_Name - Boss: Rokrak

• FallenChampion_Summoner_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Brutal Fallen Master

Boss_Belial_Encounter_Name - Boss: The Battle for Caldeum

• Boss_Belial_Taunt_Text - Defeat Belial, Lord of Lies!

Boss_SpiderQueen_Encounter_Name - Boss: The Lair of the Spider Queen

• Boss_SpiderQueen_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Spider Queen!

Boss_SkeletonKing_Encounter_Name - Boss: The Crypt of the Skeleton King

• Boss_SkeletonKing_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Skeleton King!

Boss_Siegebreaker_Encounter_Name - Boss: The Demon Gate

• Boss_Siegebreaker_Taunt_Text - Defeat the demon Siegebreaker!

Boss_MistressOfPain_Encounter_Name - Boss: The Maiden of Lust

• Boss_MistressOfPain_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Maiden and destroy the final Sin Heart!

Boss_Maghda_Encounter_Name - Boss: Maghda's Den

• Boss_Maghda_Taunt_Text - Defeat Maghda!

Boss_Gluttony_Encounter_Name - Boss: The Larder

• Boss_Gluttony_Taunt_Text - Defeat Ghom, the Lord of Gluttony!

Boss_Despair_Encounter_Name - Boss: The Library of Fate

• Boss_Despair_Taunt_Text - Defeat the demon Despair!

Boss_Butcher_Encounter_Name - Boss: The Butcher's Lair

• Boss_Butcher_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Butcher!

LittleBelial_Encounter_Name - Boss: The Crypt of the Skeleton King

• LittleBelial_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Skeleton King!

Boss_Keep_01_Maghda_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Malefique

• Boss_Keep_01_Maghda_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the cruel Malefique

Boss_Keep_01_Despair_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Despair

• Boss_Keep_01_Despair_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the vicious Despair

Alcarnus_01_Despair_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Despair

• Alcarnus_01_Despair_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the vicious Despair

Boss_Alcarnus_01_Warden_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Reformed Warden

• Boss_Alcarnus_01_Warden_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Reformed Warden

Boss_Keep_01_Warden_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Reformed Warden

• Boss_Keep_01_Warden_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Reformed Warden

Boss_Keep_01_MistressOfPain_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Mistress of Pain

• Boss_Keep_01_MistressOfPain_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the alluring Mistress of Pain

Boss_Alcarnus_01_MistressOfPain_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Mistress of Pain

• Boss_Alcarnus_01_MistressOfPain_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the alluring Mistress of Pain

Boss_Keep_01_SpiderQueen_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Spider Queen

• Boss_Keep_01_SpiderQueen_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Spider Queen

SpiderQueenB_Encounter_Name - Boss: Spider Queen

• SpiderQueenB_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Spider Queen

Boss_Alcarnus_01_SpiderQueen_01_Encounter_Name -Boss: Spider Queen

• Boss_Alcarnus_01_SpiderQueen_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Spider Queen

Boss_Spider_01_Warden_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Reformed Warden

• Boss_Spider_01_Warden_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Reformed Warden

Boss_Spider_01_Maghda_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Malefique

• Boss_Spider_01_Maghda_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the cruel Malefique

Boss_Spider_01_MistressOfPain_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Mistress of Pain

• Boss_Spider_01_MistressOfPain_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the alluring Mistress of Pain

Boss_Spider_01_SkeletonKing_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: The Crypt of the Skeleton Monarch

• Boss_Spider_01_SkeletonKing_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Skeleton Monarch!

Boss_Spider_01_Despair_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Despair

• Boss_Spider_01_Despair_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the vicious Despair

Spider_01_Gluttony_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Gluttony

• Spider_01_Gluttony_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat Ghom, the Lord of Gluttony!

Boss_Cath_01_Warden_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Reformed Warden

• Boss_Cath_01_Warden_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Reformed Warden

Boss_Cath_01_Despair_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Despair

• Boss_Cath_01_Despair_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the vicious Despair

Boss_Cath_01_SkeletonKing_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: The Crypt of the Skeleton Monarch

• Boss_Cath_01_SkeletonKing_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Skeleton Monarch!

Boss_Cath_01_Gluttony_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Gluttony

• Boss_Cath_01_Gluttony_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat Ghom, the Lord of Gluttony!

Boss_Cath_01_MistressOfPain_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Mistress of Pain

• Boss_Cath_01_MistressOfPain_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the alluring Mistress of Pain

Boss_Cath_01_SpiderQueen_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Spider Queen

• Boss_Cath_01_SpiderQueen_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Spider Queen

Boss_Crypt_01_Warden_01_Encounter_Name - Boss: Reformed Warden

• Boss_Crypt_01_Warden_01_Taunt_Text - Defeat the Reformed Warden