Abyss

3.28 Changes

• Introduced the Abyss Scarab of Descending, which guarantees an Abyssal Depths in an area.
• The Ancient Conflict Atlas Passive now grants Abyssal Troves and Stygian Spires a 10% chance to drop an Abyss Scarab (previously 3%).

Underwhelming updates for Abyss overall. Its success in 3.28 will likely depend on its usefulness in the Mirage and whether Astrolabes can add meaningful variations to the mechanic.

Basic Loop

1. Walk over an Abyss crack on the minimap (marked with a green icon) to activate it.
2. Follow the crack as it expands. Monsters spawn continuously as you move along it.
3. Each crack leads to a pit spawning large numbers of monsters including Rares.
4. After clearing the pit, another crack may open leading to the next pit. Up to 4 pits per Abyss.
5. At the final pit either an Abyssal Trove (guaranteed Abyss Jewels and loot) or a Stygian Spire spawns.
6. In zone level 78+ maps, a 4-pit Abyss may instead open a portal to the Abyssal Depths.

Abyssal Trove vs Stygian Spire

• Abyssal Trove: Always contains at least one Abyss Jewel plus general loot. The standard outcome.
• Stygian Spire: Spawns instead of the trove. Killing it drops a Stygian Vise (a belt with one Abyssal socket) along with normal trove loot. Only has a chance to appear from a 4-pit Abyss.

Abyssal Depths

A side zone that can open from a 4-pit Abyss in zone level 78+ maps. Contains dense Abyss monsters and Hoards that drop Abyss Jewels. The boss is one of two Abyssal Liches: Amanamu, Liege of the Lightless or Ulaman, Sovereign of the Well.

Lich Fight Mechanics

At 75%, 50%, and 25% health the Lich becomes invulnerable and you must enter a sub-arena to kill a Stygian Spire within 90 seconds. The timer does not reset between phases but pauses once each Spire is killed.

Lich Drops

• Guaranteed Stygian Vise.
• Chance at Unique Abyss Jewels.
• Chance at one of several Abyss socket-themed Unique items.

Abyss Jewels

Abyss Jewels function like regular jewels but with a different affix pool. They commonly roll modifiers normally found on gear slots, such as maximum life and added damage to attacks. They can be socketed in standard jewel slots on the Passive Skill Tree or Abyssal sockets on gear (Stygian Vise and certain Unique items).

• Murderous Eye: Melee attack modifiers.
• Ghastly Eye: Summoner and minion modifiers.
• Searching Eye: Ranged attack modifiers.
• Hypnotic Eye: Caster and spell modifiers.

Atlas Tree

Recommended

• Underground Kingdom (Abyss chance nodes): Core nodes to guarantee or increase Abyss spawns. Unlike other mechanics you can have multiple Abysses per map, so scaling encounter chance is important if you plan to juice Abyss.
• Trail of Destruction: If you are farming Abyss, take the entire trail.
• Abyssal Army: More monsters, more XP.

Situational

• Inspired Darkness / Awakened Depths: With the new Scarab of Descending, Awakened Depths feels redundant unless it's rare. Going to the Depths doesn't have massive value outside of potentially higher zone level for bases.

Skip

• Corrupted Gaze: Fun but underwhelming.
• Votive Hoard: Drops items with Abyss sockets. Not impactful enough.

Scaling note: Abyss scales well with IQ/IR on maps. The large number of monsters benefit from quantity multipliers.

Scarabs

• Abyss Scarab: Adds an additional Abyss encounter, up to 2 per map. Staple.
• Abyss Scarab of Multitudes: More monsters per Abyss. Staple if farming Abyss.
• Abyss Scarab of Profound Depth: Increases loot scaling with the number of pits. Pairs well with pit-maximising Atlas nodes.
• Abyss Scarab of Edifice: Nerfed in 3.27. Useful if farming Stygian Vises but no longer a core strategy the way it was with Hoards.
• Abyss Scarab of the Lich: Guarantees an Abyssal Depths portal. Good if targeting Lich drops specifically.
• Abyss Scarab of Descending (3.28): Guarantees an Abyssal Depths in the area. Viability to be determined.

Notable Rewards

• Abyss Jewels: Primary consistent drop. Ghastly Eye jewels for summoner builds often hold early league value.
• Stygian Vise: Useful belt base with an Abyssal socket. Value fluctuates league to league. With the new belt type that can be anointed in 3.28, Stygians may be lower value this league.
• Unique Abyss Jewels: Rare drops from the Lich. Value depends on the meta.
• Divination Cards and Scarabs: General map loot amplified by the high monster count.

Map Choice

Abyss can struggle in cramped or walled layouts as cracks cannot intersect. An Abyss in a confined space may end prematurely. Open layouts give cracks room to expand to their full 4-pit length.

Synergies

• Delirium: Adds extra monsters to Abyss encounters, increasing loot and jewel drops.