Ultimatum

Ultimatum is a risk-vs-reward mechanic where you activate an altar and fight increasingly difficult waves of monsters to earn rewards. After each round you choose: cash out everything you've earned so far, or risk it all to keep going for a bigger reward. If you die or fail, you lose everything. One of the more build-dependent mechanics in the game; not every build can efficiently push to round 10 (13 with the keystone).

3.28 Changes

• A new modifier has been added that prevents players from being able to Block during the encounter
• Inscribed Ultimatums for Ancient Orbs and Fracturing Orbs have been enabled
• Inscribed Ultimatums for Exalted Orbs now appear at higher stack sizes and at lower difficulty on average

These changes could add more value to Inscribed Ultimatums overall.

Basic Loop

1. Find the Trialmaster and his altar in your map
2. Select the reward for the round
3. Choose one of three negative modifiers to add before each round begins
4. Complete the objective to finish the round. Time freezes between rounds so you can decide to cash out or continue
5. Each round adds another modifier and monsters get progressively harder
6. Push as far as your build allows. If you die or fail, you lose all rewards

Objectives

Each Ultimatum has one objective type that applies to every round. Knowing your build's strengths helps determine which objective you want to prioritise.

• Defeat Waves: Kill enemies to fill a progress bar.
• Survive: Don't die until the 15-second timer runs out. Monsters enrage if left alive too long.
• Stand in Stone Circles: Stand in each circle until it activates. Requires mobility.
• Protect the Altar: Kill enemies without letting the altar be destroyed. Altar recovers health between rounds.

Ruin

Ruin is a debuff unique to Ultimatum. It has no direct effect but reaching 7 stacks instantly fails the encounter and you lose all rewards.

Ruin is inflicted primarily by Stalking Ruin, an invulnerable shade that follows you and applies Ruin on hit. It comes in four tiers, getting faster and more aggressive at higher ranks.

In 3.28: Block previously prevented Ruin from being applied. That interaction is now gone, which is a meaningful nerf to block-based builds running Ultimatum. Evasion, spell dodge, and spell suppression can still help mitigate sources of Ruin from other modifiers.

Atlas Tree

Recommended nodes

• Face the Ultimatum: Increased chance for an Ultimatum to appear. Mandatory.
• Prove Yourself Worthy: Chance to duplicate Ultimatum rewards. Strong.
• Worthy of the Past / Present / Future: Increases chance for rewards to be jewellery / currency / gems. Pick your preference.
• Brave the Tower: Increases chance for the final round to include the Trialmaster boss. Strong if targeting boss drops.
• Conquer / Survive / Slaughter / Protect: Prioritises specific objective types. Slaughter Them All is the fastest, avoid Stand in Circles. Pick whichever suits your build.

Situational or skip

• Stand Your Ground: Reduces the arena radius each round. Harder but better loot. Worth taking if your build can handle round 10 or 13.
• Gruelling Gauntlet (Keystone): Extends encounters to 13 rounds but disables the Trialmaster boss and modifier choice. Good for Catalyst or Inscribed Ultimatum scarab strategies, counterproductive if running Brave the Tower.
• Ruinous Wager: Not worth it. Skip.

Scarabs

• Ultimatum Scarab: Guarantees an Ultimatum encounter. Often redundant with full Atlas investment but useful early on.
• Ultimatum Scarab of Bribing: Rewards granted as though 2 additional rounds completed. Very strong for Catalyst farming and most Ultimatum strategies.
• Ultimatum Scarab of Inscription: Catalyst rewards replaced with Inscribed Ultimatums. Combine with Catalysing for maximum Inscribed output. Strong for Inscribed Ultimatum farming.
• Ultimatum Scarab of Catalysing: All rounds offer Catalyst rewards. Strong for raw Catalyst farming.
• Ultimatum Scarab of Dueling: Guarantees the Trialmaster boss fight if you reach round 10. Good for boss drops and Tainted Catalyst farming.

Inscribed Ultimatums

Inscribed Ultimatums are special items that take you to the Utzaal Arena, a larger dedicated area separate from the Atlas. Key differences from regular Ultimatums: a single long round instead of 10 shorter rounds, preset negative modifiers you cannot change, and the Atlas passive tree has no effect inside the Utzaal Arena. The reward is a fixed currency item shown on the Inscribed Ultimatum itself (e.g. Divines, Exalted Orbs, Ancient Orbs, Fracturing Orbs).

The Trialmaster Boss

The Trialmaster has approximately a 3% chance to appear in place of round 10 in Tier 14+ maps, or is guaranteed with the Scarab of Dueling. He drops:

• All rewards earned during the encounter
• A Unique item from his personal loot table
• A full stack of Catalysts (scales with IQ)
• Tainted Catalysts if the Brave the Tower atlas node is allocated

All negative modifiers accumulated during the run still apply during the Trialmaster fight. Be careful going in with heavy Ruin stacks or punishing modifiers.

Notable Rewards

• Catalysts: Primary consistent drop. Some are more valuable than others, check prices.
• Inscribed Ultimatums: Sell or run depending on difficulty and reward. Ancient Orb and Fracturing Orb variants are new in 3.28.
• Double Corrupted Unique items: Hard to price individually. Dump tab at 2+ Divines and let buyers find you.
• 21/20 Skill Gems: Common drop, sell frequently as they accumulate fast.

Map Choice

Ultimatum is not heavily map dependent compared to other mechanics. The priority is finding the altar quickly, so open layouts with easy navigation work best. Running lower difficulty maps is often preferred. Map mods scale the encounter difficulty more than the rewards.

Tips

• Learn which negative modifiers are dangerous for your build and avoid them. Some are genuinely build-breaking.
• Stalking Ruin is the most dangerous modifier for most builds. Prioritise dodging the shade over fighting monsters.
• Between rounds, time is frozen. Take your time evaluating modifiers before committing to the next round.
• If you're new to the mechanic, cash out early until you understand what your build can handle.