Tower of Trials Breakdown

This guide covers what to expect on every floor of each of the three levels of the Tower of Trials. This guide also features a list of many of the Boons and Banes and the criteria on how to decide what's worth taking.

Introduction

Hi there. This guide aims to cover as much as possible about the Tower of Trials including breakdowns, possible rewards, builds, tips, etc. This guide does not contain any story spoilers, but if you want to go in completely blind and figure things out on your own, don't read this.

All images are screenshots from the game and do not belong to us.

What is the Tower of Trials?

This is a game mode where your main goal is to climb the Tower's floors by defeating enemies as their levels and difficulty steadily increase. Each floor is referred to as a Trial in-game, and each one of these Trials has two challenges you must complete. You have three lives in total (even in co-op), and your rewards are based on the floor number, the door you pick, and how quickly you complete the floor.

The Gameplay Loop

This is how each floor plays out:

1. Interact with the elevator to begin the Elevator Trial.
   
2. Complete the Elevator Trial. Faster completion grants more rewards.
   
3. Choose a Reward Door.
   
4. Enter through the Reward Door to begin the Room Trial. Keys are obtained based on the Room's challenge.
   
5. Obtain your rewards, either by buying chests with keys or selecting Boons.
   
6. Interact with the elevator again to begin the next Elevator Trial (and obtain a Bane, if applicable).

Where do I find the Tower of Trials?

You unlock the first Tower of Trials upon reaching the Water Realm in the main story. There are three versions of the Tower of Trials, which can be found here on the map:
To enter, you need to spend Coins of Valor, which can be farmed in a variety of areas. Details are listed in the Accessing the Tower section below. The Ascended Tower is unlocked upon reaching level 50, and the Exalted Tower is unlocked upon completing all 30 floors of the Ascended Tower.

The Elevator Trial

These are Time Trials where you must kill everything as quickly as possible for keys. The enemies that spawn here vary depending on the Tower and Banes, but you always get keys as a reward if you kill everything before the top bar fully depletes. Once complete, you get to choose one out of up to four reward doors. These doors have symbols that display the type of reward and rarity, the latter of which will dictate the difficulty of the encounter ahead. The reward type depends on the Tower and floor you're currently on, and will be from one of two groups; Boons, or either Weapons, Items, or Augments. You can read more about each of their respective sections later in this guide.

The Room Trial

Once you choose a door, you enter to begin the Room Trial. The challenges within Room Trials vary on the Tower you're in and can vary between time trials, boss rooms, control points, etc. Complete the challenge and you're given chests as well as keys if you completed it quickly enough. As you enter a Room, there's a chance you might be forced to play under the effects of a Room Bane that slows Banner charge speed, Archon Fury charge speed, or some other passive debuff. Room Banes only affect you until the completion of that Room Trial.

Once you complete a Room Trial, you head back into the Elevator in order to progress to the next floor- and maybe get a permanent Bane along the way. Read more about them in the Rewards: Boons, Banes, and Effects section.

The next Elevator Trial starts once you interact with the elevator to start the next floor. Rinse and repeat.

Accessing the Tower

Once you've unlocked the Tower of Trials, that's only half the battle. Now, you need a resource called Coin of Valor to enter it. Each subsequent level of the Tower requires more to unlock:

• Tower of Trials: 5 Coins of Valor.
  
• Ascended Tower of Trials: 20 Coin of Valor.
  
• Exalted Tower of Trials: 40 Coin of Valor.

World Missions

It is not recommended to use the world's Story, Boss, and Hunt missions to farm Coin of Valor due to the small amount they give. These are here just for reference to compare to Dreamstones, which are the suggested method of obtaining Coin of Valor. Coin of Valor rewards do not change with difficulty. Regardless, here are the world missions that give Coin of Valor as a reward:

Realm	Mission	Coin of Valor Reward
Earth	Infiltrate Vargul Stronghold Ascend to Water	3 10
Water	The Black Tide Leviathan's Rest Sobeku Hunt Falcius Driach Hunt Thraex Hunt Up to the Azure Enclave The Tormentor's Asylum	3 3 3 3 3 3 5
Air	Sunflare Ravager Hunt Black Tide Enforcer Hunt Excelsious Hunt Nyak Summoner Hunt Floating Remnant The Final Ascent	3 3 3 3 3 5
Fire	Everything except Boss and Exploration quests.	3

Dreamstones

Dreamstones are probably the fastest way of farming Coin of Valor. However, since Dreamstones are only unlocked after you beat the game, they may not be accessible to you by the time you want to start doing the Tower of Trials. These Standard Dreamstones offer Coin of Valor as a reward from the start:

• Exalted Air Realm Gauntlet, Level 59: 20 Coin of Valor.
  
• Ascendant Air Realm Gauntlet, Level 46: 10 Coin of Valor.

For anyone who wants to farm Coin of Valor in Dreamstones, choose any (ideally one of the two mentioned above) and immediately check the Dreamstone Shaping tab. If it doesn't contain Coin of Valor, abandon and start the mission anew. If you have Coin of Valor in the shop, purchase it as soon as possible. Here's how many you'll earn each time you complete a mission if you buy Coin rewards from the shop, using the Exalted Air Realm Gauntlet as an example:

	No Purchase	1st Purchase (5 Lucidity)	2nd Purchase (7 Lucidity)	3rd Purchase (10 Lucidity)
Hunt Rewards	5	20	30	40
Boss Rewards (Exalted Air Realm Gauntlet)	20	25	30	40

Consider how many Hunts you'll be doing in the Dreamstone, and you can see how the numbers stack up. For some reason, Coin of Valor rewards improve the initial reward and then add a new one on top of that, both of which increase as you buy more. Buying the rewards early can net you somewhere around 200-230 Coin or Valor by round 8.

Volatile Dreamstones with additional Lucidity rewards and/or decreased item shaping cost can also help get you some quick Coin of Valor purchases.

Rewards: Weapons, Items, and Augments

Reward doors are based on the Tower and floor. For example, the 7th floor of the Ascended Tower will always feature Boon rewards and the Room Trial will always be a random challenge with basic enemies unless affected by a Bane. Floor 11 will always provide either Weapons, Items, Tools, Trinkets, or Augments as rewards.

Reward Chests

Item rewards must be bought using keys earned during Elevator and Room Trials. The rarity and number of chests spawned at the end of a Room Trial depends on the rarity of the door chosen, and the challenge completed (Control Point challenges offer up to three extra Rare chests at the end). All chests have a chance to drop Primal items, which are exclusive to the Tower of Trials.

Example: You pick a Legendary Greatsword door and beat the Room Trial in the Exalted Tower. In the end, you are rewarded with 1 Legendary, 1 Epic, 2 Rare, and 1 Uncommon chest. If you completed the same room in the Ascended Tower, you would have anywhere between 2-5 Rare chests based on Control Points defended.

Chest	Description
	A Legendary Longsword chest. Costs 10 keys to open.
	An Epic Dual Blades chest. Costs 7 keys to open.
	A Rare Warhammer chest. Costs 5 keys to open.
	An Uncommon Greatsword chest. There is always one free Uncommon chest at the end of a Room Trial, don't forget to grab it before you leave.

Item Reward Breakdown

Reward Door Rarity	Tower of Trials	Ascended Tower of Trials	Exalted Tower of Trials
Uncommon (Green)	Same as ->	1x Rare Chest 1x Uncommon Chest	N/A
Rare (Blue)	Same as ->	2x Rare Chest 1x Uncommon Chest	N/A
Epic (Purple)	Same as ->	1x Epic Chest 2x Rare Chest 1x Uncommon Chest	N/A
Legendary (Orange)	Same as ->	1x Legendary Chest 1x Epic Chest 2x Rare Chest 1x Uncommon Chest	1x Legendary Chest 1x Epic Chest 2x Rare Chest 1x Uncommon Chest

Weapons

Door Icon	Description
	Dual Blade: Chests guarantee 1+ Dual Blades of the chest's rarity.
	Greatsword: Chests guarantee 1+ Greatswords of the chest's rarity.
	Longsword: Chests guarantee 1+ Longswords of the chest's rarity.
	Polearm: Chests guarantee 1+ Polearms of the chest's rarity.
	Warhammer: Chests guarantee 1+ Warhammers of the chest's rarity.
	Weapon: Chests can be either specific (ie. Longsword chest), or contain any of the weapon types as drops.

Augments

Door Icon	Description
	Augment: The Unnamed Augment room will reward chests of both random and specific types of Augments.
	Might Augment: Chests guarantee 1+ Might Augments of the chest's rarity.
	Spirit Augment: Chests guarantee 1+ Spirit Augments of the chest's rarity.
	Vitality Augment: Chests guarantee 1+ Vitality Augments of the chest's rarity.

Tools

Door Icon	Description
	Tool: Contains a random assortment of Banner, Life Stone, and Utility chests.
	Banner: Chests guarantee 1+ Banners of the chest's rarity.
	Life Stone: Chests guarantee 1+ Life Stones of the chest's rarity.
(sorry, couldn't get a picture) :(	Utility Chest: (spawns in Tool rooms) Chests drop both Banners and Life Stones.

Trinkets

Door Icon	Description
	Amulet: Chests guarantee 1+ Amulets of the chest's rarity.
	Charm: Charm chests will drop both Amulets and Rings.
	Ring: Chests guarantee 1+ Rings of the chest's rarity.
	Trinket: The blanket symbol for the Room containing Amulet, Charm, and Ring chests. Unsure if Trinket chests themselves exist.

Exclusive to Exalted Tower

Door Icon	Description
	Cursed Item: Chests guarantee 1+ Cursed items of the chest's rarity. Outside of these chests, Cursed Items can only be found in Lightbringer. Cursed Items feature debuffs as secondary stats which can be flipped into powerful buffs through the completion of unique challenges listed on each weapon. Example of an Epic Cursed Item (right): Cursed Item drops can be identified by the thick cloud of black smoke emanating from them. They float slowly and have more vertical movement than other drops.
	Primal Item: Chests guarantee 1+ Primal items of the chest's rarity. While Primal Items are not exclusive to these chests, they are incredibly rare outside of them. These rooms are some of the best ways to farm them. Primal Items are desirable because of their heavily boosted Primary stat. Example of a Legendary Primal Item (left): Primal Item drops be identified by the much brighter and spiraling light trails. It moves around much more than other drops.

Rewards: Boons

In both the normal and Ascended Tower of Trials, you choose a door at the end of an Elevator Trial that will determine your rewards in the subsequent Room Trial. Certain floors will offer Boons instead of items, which are buffs that stay with you until the end of your run. Your Boon reward will be one of two groups- either you add a new Boon to your arsenal or upgrade an existing one.

Warning: Unlike items, you are not guaranteed a Boon of the rarity you selected. You may choose an Epic door only to get three Rare Boons to choose from.

Might, Spirit, and Vitality Boons

These Boons offer new buffs to your arsenal. These buffs include things such as making your attacks inflict Ailments, increasing damage, boosting elemental resistances, and so much more. The item you interact with in order to select a Boon is called a Boon Spring.

You can always proceed without selecting or upgrading a Boon. The game does not force you to take any, just like with item rewards.

If you're interested in seeing a long (and probably perpetually-incomplete) list of Boons and Banes, you're welcome to take a look at the one we compiled here[docs.google.com].

Boon Icon	Description
	An example of a Rare Might Boon symbol.
	An example of an Uncommon Spirit Boon symbol.
	An example of an Epic Might Boon symbol.

When selecting Boons, you choose one out of three (two out of six if you pick a Legendary door). Boon selection is ideally based on your build, but if you have difficulty choosing, consider the following:

• Are any of these Boons directly impacting my build? Prioritize Boons that actively play a role in your gameplay. Are you running a high-Crit build where you use Shield Throws and Parry a ton? Consider taking things that will boost the most-used aspects of how you play.
  
• Can any of these stack with any other Boons I have equipped? A critical hit chance Boon pairs very well with a critical damage one. Bonus Weapon Technique damage pairs well with increased charge speed.
  
• I'm in a rough spot, can anything help in this immediate situation? Are you on your last Life Stone and low on Health? Not sure you can survive the next encounter? Maybe an extra Life Stone can help you last long enough to recover.
  
• Do any of these Boons counter or work around a Bane? Some Boons can help alleviate the stress of a Bane by amplifying other aspects to try something new, or counteract the debuff.
  
• Am I having trouble staying alive? If you're going down consistently, it might be time to invest in anything that will boost survivability, like elemental resistances and overall damage reduction rather than taking the next high-damage Boon.

Be aware that Boons only affect YOU. In co-op, everyone gets random Boon choices. Pick whatever is best for you.

Boon Reward Breakdown

Reward Door Rarity	Tower of Trials	Ascended Tower of Trials	Exalted Tower of Trials
Uncommon (Green)	Same as ->	1x Uncommon Boon Spring: +1 Total Boons.	N/A
Rare (Blue)	Same as ->	1x Rare Boon Spring: +1 Total Boons.	N/A
Epic (Purple)	Same as ->	1x Epic Boon Spring: +1 Total Boons.	N/A
Legendary (Orange)	Same as ->	1x Epic Boon Spring, 1x Uncommon Boon Spring: +2 Total Boons.	N/A

Upgrade Boon

Upgrade Boons are the second group of Boons- selecting an Upgrade Boon door will not grant you any new Boons. It instead upgrades one of three existing Boons in your arsenal. As such, there is no reason to take an Upgrade Boon door if you do not have any, or maybe don't have any worth upgrading. Just like normal Boons, these are also exclusive to the normal and Ascended Tower of Trials.

Boon Icon	Description
	An example of a Legendary Upgrade Boon symbol.

Upgrade Boon Reward Breakdown

Reward Door Rarity	Tower of Trials	Ascended Tower of Trials	Exalted Tower of Trials
Uncommon (Green)	Same as ->	1x Uncommon Spring: 1 Total Upgrade.	N/A
Rare (Blue)	Same as ->	1x Uncommon Spring, 1x Rare Spring: 2 Total Upgrades.	N/A
Epic (Purple)	Same as ->	1x Epic Spring, 1x Rare Spring: 2 Total Upgrades.	N/A
Legendary (Orange)	Same as ->	1x Rare Spring, 2x Epic Spring: 3 Total Upgrades.	N/A

The rarity of the Upgrade Boon dictates how many levels your Boon will be upgraded by. Exact numbers cannot be recorded for each Boon due to the random nature.

• Uncommon Upgrade: +1 Level.
  
• Rare Upgrade: +2 Levels.
  
• Epic Upgrade: +3 Levels.
  
• Legendary Upgrade: ???

Rewards: Banes

Not much of a reward but oh well. There are two types of Banes.

Loot Bonus Banes

These particular Banes are only found in the normal and Ascended Tower of Trials. In the normal Tower, you are forced to take one Bane on Floor 5. In the Ascended Tower, you must take one Bane every three floors. You choose your Bane after the completion of the floor's Room Trial, once you interact with the elevator. You can tell that a Bane choice is coming by the elevator console having a dark purple energy emanating from it.

Banes are detrimental to your progression but provide an increasing Loot Bonus based on how difficult the Bane is to work with. Banes have no rarity scale, instead operating on a Loot Bonus percentage difficulty rating. There are four levels: 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%, with 20% being the most detrimental to you, being ones that should probably not be taken unless you have no better choice or really love a challenge.

In return for more difficult gameplay, your Loot Bonus increases with Bane acquisition. Reaching a Loot Bonus of 100%+ will make every future door you encounter offer Legendary chests.

You pick Banes based more on your goal rather than your build, as Banes may force you to drastically change your playstyle to suit their requirements. If you're just working toward completion with minimal desire for better loot, pick the easier Banes to work with. If you want a tougher experience with better loot at the cost of potentially losing the run rather quickly, consider taking tougher Banes.

Be aware that Banes affect the entire party, not just you. If you're playing co-op, it can help to discuss the choices with your partner(s), as something that doesn't hurt you can end up greatly hurting them.

Room Banes

The second type of Bane, Room Banes randomly apply to a Room Trial and disappear once you complete it. They are simple and do not affect your Loot Bonus, only making combat a little more difficult for you in the moment. Here they are:

• -50% Archon Fury Charge Speed
  
• -50% Banner Duration
  
• -50% Health Recovery

Note: This list may be incomplete.

Boon and Bane Effects

Boons have many effects that might seem confusing to new players. Remember that there is an in-game glossary for statuses and buffs, but here's a small rundown for some of them:

Blessings

Blessings are temporary buffs granted to your character upon performing certain actions. There are two levels of each- a normal Blessing and a Greater Blessing. According to outside sources, normal Blessings provide a ~20% buff while Greater Blessings provide a ~30-35% buff. Normal and Greater Blessings of the same type will not stack- the Greater Blessing overrides the lesser one.

Name	Effect
Blessing of Endurance	Take less damage.
Blessing of Infusion	Higher chance of inflicting Ailments.
Blessing of Luck	Increased Critical Hit chance.
Blessing of Power	Deal more damage.

Marks

Marks are temporary debuffs applied to enemies.

Name	Effect
Mark of Fragility	The target takes more damage.
Mark of Leeching	Hitting the target will restore your health.
Mark of Weakness	The target deals less damage.

Other Effects

These don't have any category besides being status effects you can apply with certain Boons.

Name	Effect
Blind	The target is stunned for a short time.
Enraged	The target becomes more aggressive and deals more damage.
Lifelink	Lifelinked enemies cannot die unless both are killed in quick succession. This effect only shows up as the result of a Bane.
Stasis	The target is completely frozen in place for some time, or until damaged.

Enemies

Every Trial will contain an Elevator Trial and a Room Trial, regardless of difficulty. Both will contain enemies to kill, but their completion requirements and rewards vary. Elevator Trials will always be Time Trials.

Basic Enemy Rundown

Elevator Trials have a variety of enemies, the difficulty of which depends entirely on the type of Tower you're in, the floor number, and active Banes. The enemies come from every faction in the game- Vargul, Flameblood, Abyssian, Crimson Wind, Black Tide, Nyak, Beast, Kraven, and Aberrants. Constructs and Corrupt Valorians are all Story and Mid-Bosses.

Tower of Trials	Ascended Tower of Trials	Exalted Tower of Trials
Mostly basic enemies. Special enemies appear only in later floors. Mid-Bosses on Floors 5 and 10. No Story Bosses.	Many basic enemies. Primes and Elites appear much sooner. Mid-Bosses every 3 floors up to Floor 12. Story Bosses every 3 floors starting from Floor 15.	Few or no basic enemies in fights. Mostly Elites, Primes, and Exalted. 1-2 Exalted Mid-Bosses in every fight. 1-2 Exalted Story Bosses in every Room Trial.

These are the enemies you'll see in the Tower. They tend to spawn with other enemies of the same faction, but some like Beasts and Kraven spawn with other factions. The enemies that accompany other factions are typically supports, such as Vargul Healers, Abyssian Corruptors, and Flameblood Incinerators/Warlocks.

Enemies in italics are supports, bolded are Mid-Bosses, and Story Bosses are both bold and underlined:

Flameblood	Vargul	Crimson Wind	Abyssian
Flameblood Grotesque Flameblood Gargoyle Flameblood Lasher Flameblood Devastator Flameblood Warbeast Flameblood Lavahound Flameblood Warlock Flameblood Incinerator Flameblood Abomination Kragani the Unstable	Trolloc Fighter Trolloc Hunter Vargul Deepstalker Vargul Ranger Vargul Shieldsworn Vargul Striker Vargul Shaman Vargul Sorcerer Vargul Summoner Vargul Enrager Vargul Healer Vargul Champion Zamora	Crimson Swordsworn Crimson Defender Crimson Judicator Crimson Honor Guard Crimson Marksman Crimson Protector High Lord Phalanxar Excelsious High Lord Makantor	Abyssian Builder Abyssian Spitter Abyssian Lancer Abyssian Bonecrusher Abyssian Corruptor Abyssian Medusa
Black Tide	Nyak	Beast	Kraven
Black Tide Trapper Black Tide Conscript Black Tide Reaver Black Tide Assassin Black Tide Mirror Black Tide Specter Black Tide Enforcer Black Tide Ghost Black Tide Brute	Nyak Adept Nyak Falconeer Nyak Fighter Nyak Shield Guardian Nyak Pulverizer Nyak Windcarver Nyak Summoner	Crystal Crawler Rancor Alpha Rancor Sobeku Sunflare Ravager Thraex	Volatile Kraven Earth Kraven Water Kraven Lightning Kraven Volatile Fire Kraven
Aberrants	Constructs	Corrupt Valorians
Earth Aberrant Water Aberrant Air Aberrant Fire Aberrant	Falcius Diarch Lunara Solaris	Wraith-Lord Decimus Gilden Commander Grieves Sunsteel Macros Guardian Kuriakos Moirax

Trials and Timers

Note: The times listed for Trials here only to the normal and Ascended Tower, as the two have identical timers but with different rewards. The Exalted Tower has a longer timer for its Elevator and Room Trials and the times for those are listed in the Exalted Tower of Trials section later in the guide.
Also, these times are only applicable if you are not under the effects of the Accelerated Doom or Imminent Doom Banes, which reduce Trial timers by 30% and 50%, respectively.

The Timer Itself

This is the timer that appears at the top of your HUD as a new Trial begins. The blue bar steadily depletes from right to left. Each segment dictates how many keys you'll earn if you complete the Trial before the bar passes each line. The bar above shows a nearly-full timer with two keys for the player to earn. The timer varies based on the amount of keys it rewards.

If you the bar run out, you'll get 0 keys but you still get to progress to the next Trial if you defeat the enemies.

The timer tables below will list "Part" times, which are the blue sections between the dashes that go from right to left, or from longest to shortest.

Elevator Trials

Elevator Trials are always Time Trials where your objective is to kill every enemy as quickly as possible, but they have a 2 minute timer. There is never any bonus objective or any reward beyond keys upon swift completion, and the amount of keys rewarded varies depending on the Tower difficulty and the floor.

Number of Sections	Part 4 Time	Part 3 Time	Part 2 Time	Part 1 Time	Total Time
Elevator Trial (2-Part Timer)			00:50:00	01:10:00	02:00:00
Elevator Trial (3-Part Timer)		00:25:00	00:25:00	01:10:00	02:00:00
Elevator Trial (4-Part Timer)	00:10:00	00:10:00	00:10:00	01:30:00	02:00:00

Room Trials

Room Trials are exclusive to the normal and Ascended Tower of Trials, as the Exalted Tower is essentially one big boss rush. Room Trials are where you get random challenges to complete within a specific time frame. For a more accurate rundown of when you can expect a random challenge or a Boss room, each one has a floor breakdown in its respective section later in the guide.

Time Trial

Time Trials ask you to defeat all enemies as quickly as possible. Elevator Trials are always counted as Time Trials, only they are shorter. This is one of the most common Trials in the normal and Ascended Tower.

	Part 3 Time	Part 2 Time	Part 1 Time	Total Time
Time Trial	01:00:00	01:00:00	03:00:00	05:00:00

Kill the Leaders

Three strong enemies spawn in the three corners of the room, surrounded by smaller fodder. You need to kill these leaders. Kill one and the remaining ones grow stronger. Once a leader dies, its smaller enemies die too. This Trial has the same time as the Time Trial.

	Part 3 Time	Part 2 Time	Part 1 Time	Total Time
Kill the Leaders	01:00:00	01:00:00	03:00:00	05:00:00

This Trial is also extremely bugged and can lead to a variety of funny outcomes such as:

• Every leader immediately dying as soon as you enter the room.
  
• Killing one leader immediately despawning the other two.
  
• Only one leader spawning in, with no smaller enemies.

Control Points

Three floating crystals spawn in the three far ends of the arena. Enemies will spawn in small waves and make their way toward the zone near each crystal to deplete its health. Your job is to kill enemies and prevent them from capturing the points, which is pretty easy considering your mere presence in that same zone prevents the enemies from capturing it. There are five total waves of enemies, but the fourth wave will spawn two groups of enemies that may or may not go for the same control point.

You have 30 seconds from when enemies first step into the control point's zone until they fully capture it. If enemies partially captured a point, you can stand in it for a few moments to replenish its health.

	Part 3 Time	Part 2 Time	Part 1 Time	Total Time
Control Points	01:40:00	01:40:00	04:40:00	08:00:00

Mid-Boss Room

Mid-Boss Rooms feature a mini-boss encounter with several smaller enemies. Their timers last as long as Time Trials. There are two of these in the normal Tower, several in the Ascended Tower, and none in the Exalted Tower.

	Part 3 Time	Part 2 Time	Part 1 Time	Total Time
Mid-Boss Room	01:00:00	01:00:00	03:00:00	05:00:00

Story Boss Room

These rooms feature Story Bosses, either alone or with a few supports. There are none in the normal Tower, several in the later parts of the Ascended Tower, and are exclusively featured in the Exalted Tower.

	Part 3 Time	Part 2 Time	Part 1 Time	Total Time
Story Boss Room	01:40:00	01:40:00	04:40:00	08:00:00

Survival Trial

This Trial doesn't have a timer. Kill enemies as slowly as you'd like- your only objective is to survive. Unfortunately, this is the one Trial that doesn't give you any keys.

Normal Tower of Trials

Floors: 10.
Entry Cost: 5 Valor Coins.
Unlock Criteria: Reaching the Water Realm.

• "Normal" rounds consist of a random challenge and enemies that are not Story or Mini-Bosses.
  
• Trial timers here are the same as in the Ascended Tower.

Floor Breakdown

Floor	Level	Room Challenge	Reward
1	48	Normal	Boon
2	48	Normal	Boon
3	49	Normal	Items
4	49	Normal	Items
5	49	Mid-Boss	Items + Bane
6	49	Normal	Items
7	49	Normal	Boon
8	49	Normal	Item
9	49	Normal	Items
10	49	Mid-Boss	Items

Ascended Tower of Trials

Total Floors: 30.
Entry Cost: 20 Valor Coins.
Unlock Criteria: Reach level 50.

• Story Boss encounters here only have one boss.
  
• "Normal" rounds consist of a random challenge and enemies that are not Story or Mini-Bosses.
  
• You may see Mid-Bosses outside of every 3rd floor as they become more common as enemies later on.
  
• This version of the Tower has two achievements tied to it; One for reaching floor 10, and then reaching floor 20.
  
• Trial timers here are the same as in the normal Tower of Trials.

Floor Breakdown

Floor	Level	Room Challenge	Reward
1	50	Normal	Boon
2	52	Normal	Boon
3	54	Mid-Boss	Items + Bane
4	56	Normal	Boon
5	58	Normal	Boon
6	60	Mid-Boss	Items + Bane
7	62	Normal	Boon
8	64	Normal	Item
9	66	Mid-Boss	Items + Bane
10	68	Normal	Boon
11	70	Normal	Items
12	72	Mid-Boss	Items + Bane
13	74	Normal	Boon
14	76	Normal	Items
15	78	Story Boss	Items + Bane
16	80	Normal	Items
17	82	Normal	Items
18	84	Story Boss	Items + Bane
19	86	Normal	Boon
20	88	Normal	Items
21	90	Story Boss	Items + Bane
22	92	Normal	Items
23	94	Normal	Items
24	96	Story Boss	Items
25	98	Normal	Boon
26	100	Normal	Items
27	102	Story Boss	Items + Bane
28	104	Normal	Items
29	106	Normal	Items
30	108	Story Boss	Items + Exalted Tower

Exalted Tower of Trials

Floors: 10
Entry Cost: 40 Valor Coins
Unlock Criteria: Reach level 30 in the Ascended Tower of Trials.

• All Room Trials are boss fights featuring 2+ Story Bosses and 1+ Mid-Boss. There are no more "normal" challenges like in the Ascended Tower.
  
  • Kragani and Moirax are the only Story Bosses that do not spawn with another Story Boss, but Mid-Bosses and Primes still spawn later.
• Most enemies are Primes and Elites, with only a handful of normal enemies sprinkled in.
  
• Elevator Trials now contain 1-3 Exalted Mid-Bosses.
  
• There are two new doors here not present in the other two Tower Trials:
  
  • Primal Item: Each Chest grants at least one guaranteed Primal Item in its respective rarity.
    
  • Cursed Item: Each Chest grants at least one guaranteed Cursed Item in its respective rarity. Outside of this gamemode, Cursed Items can only be found in Lightbringer.
• There are no Boons or Banes here, all rewards are items and all the doors are Legendary.
  
• If you somehow play this perfectly, you get more than enough keys to buy every single chest offered. There is no need to stockpile them like before unless you're doing poorly.

Timer Breakdown

Most Exalted Tower timers are double that of their normal and Ascended counterparts.

Number of Sections	Part 4 Time	Part 3 Time	Part 2 Time	Part 1 Time	Total Time
Elevator Trial (2-Part Timer)			01:40:00	02:20:00	04:00:00
Elevator Trial (3-Part Timer)		00:50:00	00:50:00	02:20:00	04:00:00
Elevator Trial (4-Part Timer)	00:20:00	00:20:00	00:20:00	03:00:00	04:00:00
Room Trial (Boss Timer)		02:00:00	02:00:00	06:00:00	08:00:00

Floor Breakdown

Floor	Level	Room Challenge	Reward
1	105	2x Exalted Story Boss, 1x Exalted Mid-Boss	Legendary Items
2	110	2x Exalted Story Boss, 1x Exalted Mid-Boss	Legendary Items
3	115	2x Exalted Story Boss, 1x Exalted Mid-Boss, extra Primes and Elites	Legendary Items
4	120	2x Exalted Story Boss, 2x Exalted Mid-Boss, extra Primes and Elites	Legendary Items
5	125	2x Exalted Story Boss, 2x Exalted Mid-Boss, extra Primes and Elites	Legendary Items
6	130	2x Exalted Story Boss, 2x Exalted Mid-Boss, extra Primes and Elites	Legendary Items
7	135	2x Exalted Story Boss, 2x Exalted Mid-Boss, extra Primes and Elites	Legendary Items
8	140	2x Exalted Story Boss, 2x Exalted Mid-Boss, extra Primes and Elites	Legendary Items
9	145	2x Exalted Story Boss, 2x Exalted Mid-Boss, extra Primes and Elites	Legendary Items
10	150	2x Exalted Story Boss, 2x Exalted Mid-Boss, extra Primes and Elites	Legendary Items

Recommended Solo Builds

Even though you can complete the Ascended Tower with an online partner, you might rather play on your own than with strangers. Fortunately, we have a few solo builds with accessible gear that should help you conquering the Tower.

You do not need a dedicated powerful build to take on the normal and Ascended Towers, as they can be completed with pretty casual builds that aren't heavily optimized and require little understanding of the game's deeper mechanics. When it comes to the Exalted Tower, you better know exactly what you're doing.

Godfall's Valorplates give you a ton of build variety, from an Ailment-Consuming build to a full Crit build. Although, here are some tips that are universally useful, regardless of the Valorplate you will be using:

• Weapon Techniques are extremely important and let you trigger a lot of effects upon hitting/defeating an enemy with them.
  
• Longsword and Warhammer are a pretty good weapon combination. Warhammers let you use two devastating Southern Weapon Techniques, and Longswords deal fast and generous damage overall, on top of having two very good Weapon Techniques.
  
• Dual Blades are some the most effective weapons in the entire game. They deal good damage and have a fantastic Weapon Technique which grants you even more damage when activating them. They might take a bit of time to get used to, as you have to be aggressive, yet nimble enough to evade enemies' attacks.
  
• When investing Skill Points, go for maximum Crit chance/damage, maximum Weapon Techniques, maximum Resistance, at least one point in Weakpoints, and at least the 3rd level of Ailments (for the +15% bonus damage for each ailment on an enemy – percentages are additive, so two different Ailments means +30% damage already).
  
• Overhealth acts as your second health bar but naturally decreases over time, so do not hesitate to pick up gear that gives you more Overhealth retention.
  
• Don't sleep on Resistances. You can very easily reach 50+% Resistance on every element, which will pretty much make it or break it in the later stages of your Tower runs.
  
• Enchant and upgrade your gear. Enchanting a piece of equipment increases its rarity and grants it a bonus secondary effect on top of also increasing its base stat. This effect is random, but it is always welcome.

Tips for the following builds:

• We are only focusing on the main effect. You might find way better secondary effects than the ones we are using and you're the best judge of your build.
  
• We assume that you know how to farm specific gear with Dreamstones and how to unlock Valorplate Shards.
  
• These builds are not 100% optimal. They are meant to be as accessible as possible, with gear that can be obtained outside the Tower of Trials.

Mesa Poison Consume Build

Being accessible quite early during the story, the Mesa Valorplate specializes in the Poison Ailment. The goal of this build is to inflict Poison in a large area and consume all of the Poison stacks to deal tons of damage (we're talking tens of thousands).

At the start of every room, gather as many enemies as you can around you, before performing a Petrifying Slam to create a cloud. Right after that, get some distance and charge a Sundering Slam to make almost all enemies disappear!

Secondary effects are random, but we recommend anything that amplifies damage versus Poisoned enemies.

But what's the black magic behind all of this? First of all, the Shards:

Dust of the Earth:

Creates a large Poison cloud after using a Petrifying Slam - all enemies contained in the cloud will be afflicted with Poison. The more enemies that are Poisoned, the more damage you will do.
You can do it every 30 seconds- conveniently at the start of every room.

Way of the Mountain:

Your main source of damage and room-cleaner - fully charge a Sundering Slam to consume all the enemies' Poison stacks- damage goes exponentially high if more enemies were Poisoned by the initial hit of your Petrifying Slam.

Then, the skills:

We put Shield Attacks at level 3 to unlock Petrifying Slam and Sundering Slam at level 4 to cut its maximum charge time by a hefty 25%. Now, onto the gear:

Equipment	Information
	Grants you two Greater Blessings for either of your Weapon Techniques. The Chill Ailment is a great crowd control tool thanks to the slow it inflicts on enemies.
	Any Warhammer works, we just happened to use this Earth element one to apply even more Poison. The Southern Technique is excellent on the Warhammer, and can be rapidly performed twice in a row.
	Mark of Weakness greatly reduces the enemy's defense, and it lets Petrifying Slam apply another Ailment in a decently-sized area. Pairs extremely well with our build.
	Universally useful Charm, basically grants more flat damage to Weakpoints.
	Automatic Ailments on Weapon Techniques and the Overhealth perks are just too good to pass up. One of the best Rings in the entire game.
	Grants you even more Overhealth when hitting a Weakpoint, simple and effective.
	Crits are incredibly valuable and can trigger some effects. Arguably the most versatile Lifestone in the entire game.
	This makes using a Lifestone in a Banner grant you almost-guaranteed crits. Another universally excellent piece of equipment.

Finally, when it comes to Augments, here is a pretty efficient way to make your Poison damage the most efficient possible:

Augment	Informations
	Cursed Augment - obtainable in Lightbringer. The huge upgrade to Poison duration makes up for the loss of damage per tick, as it increases your overall damage since enemies will be afflicted for longer. Just don't forget to remove the curse!
	The bonus damage against Poisoned enemies is optional, but the more, the better! Universally excellent Augment that's usable on pretty much every Valorplate.
	Rift on steroids, even though it is completely dependent on the way you can adjust your Augments. Obviously, doubling/tripling/even quadrupling your damage against afflicted is too good to pass up.
	Another universally good Augment, usable on any Valorplate. The more often you can use your Weapon Techniques, the better.
	Another Augment that is totally dependent on the Augment's placement. Weapon Techniques will help you a lot, so we better give them a generous damage boost!
	Yet another universally excellent Augment. Free Overhealth for killing an enemy? Yes please!
	This basically grants you a huge critical hit chance for evading melee attacks. Very underrated Augment, also great on any Valorplate.
	Another nice way to speed up your Weapon Technique charge rate.
	Mesa's Archon's Fury is pretty great when it comes to DPS, so why not using it as frequently as possible?

Moebius Cursed Stacks build

The Moebius Valorplate is all about cursing!
hum, let me phrase this a bit better...
The Moebius Valorplate is all about inflicting Curse onto your enemies!

The strategy behind this build resides in using Dual Blades and their Weapon Technique to inflict a ton of Curse stacks onto your enemies, significantly increasing your damage the more enemies you Curse. Thanks to its focus on Vitality Augments, the Moebius Valorplate is naturally quite tanky, which is very helpful to survive the later floors of the Towers.

As mentioned in the Solo Builds section, Dual Blades might take a bit longer to get familiar with, but when they work, they work.

The plan is very simple:
- Polarize your Dual Blades.
- Deal damage to charge your Weapon Technique.
- Use the Weapon Technique.
- Deal even more damage.

But how does all of this work? First of all, the Shards:

Nova Technique:

You don't have to Consume any Curse stacks to trigger the Void damage boost, which makes it a great opener for the room.

It can also be used as an extender to furthermore increase your Void damage in the middle of a fight.

Way of the Endless:

The "stack" part of this build, bonkers when paired with Polarized Dual Blades during the effect of their Weapon Technique, since even normal hits will inflict curse.

Max stacks will make Curse Ailment deal an absurd amount of damage per tick.

The Skills:

We need to invest 3 levels into Shield Throw to unlock Explosive Wave, and the rest is pretty straightforward.

This will be our gear:

Equipment	Information
	Your primary weapon. Conveniently always comes in Void element, ideal for applying Curse.
	A great weapon to help you Polarizing your Dual Blades and apply Chill on enemies.
	Pretty much applies a permanent debuff to enemies and a great damage upgrade to your Valorplate. Awesome crowd control element.
	Grants you a lightning fast Weapon Technique charge rate when paired with the Deflection Augment.
	This lets the Dual Blades' Weapon Technique inflict Ailments on every hit for its whole duration. An obvious choice to make your Dual Blades the cornerstone of the whole build.
	Obtainable in Lightbringer, found in Rare quality. A great utility Ring that gives a fantastic boost to many Resistances and pairs well with the previous Ring thanks to the Overhealth retention.
	Originally came in Rare quality. Even more Void damage. Simple yet so effective!
	More crits is more crits, right?

The Moebius Valorplate has tons of Vitality Augments slots, so we'll try to enhance their potential:

Augment	Informations
	Free Overhealth for defeating an enemy. Synergizes pretty well with the Eye of the Dragon Ring.
	Makes your Curse DOT skyrocket, especially under the effects of both of your Shards' abilities. An absolute monster of an Augment in any Curse build.
	Rift on steroids once again. Doubles your Curse and Void damage for any other Ailment you inflict- a very easy and free damage upgrade.
	Speeds up your Shield charge rate by simply playing the game. Very useful if you want to trigger the Nova Technique with an Explosive Wave.
	Remember that critical hits speed up your Weapon Technique charge rate, on top of doing a lot of damage! One of the best ways to boost critical hit chance.
	Increases every single Resistance the more Vitality you have on adjacent Augments. Don't forget to upgrade Deflection and Glamour to max out the effect of this Augment.
	Stacks with Glamour and the 3rd level of the Ailment skill. A universally excellent Augment that's usable on pretty much every Valorplate.
	Yet another very efficient way to boost your Weapon Technique charge rate, all thanks to our friend Deflection!

Cosmetic Unlocks

By going through the Tower of Trials, you can unlock character and weapon customization options. Every Valorplate has three cosmetics tied to the Ascended Tower of Trials. All of these cosmetics and their unlock requirements can be viewed within the Sanctum when looking at Valorplates, but they follow this basic pattern for every Valorplate Skin:

Unlock Requirement	Skin Appearance
Reach Floor 10 of the Ascended Tower of Trials	A gloomy, dark/light-themed skin. Lots of black.
Reach Floor 20 of the Ascended Tower of Trials	A bright, frost/crystal-covered skin. Big focus on bright whites and blues.
Reach Floor 30 of the Ascended Tower of Trials	A purple and gold skin. Mostly purple.

Valorplate Customization

• Aegishorn
  
  • Aegishorn, Defender of Darkness: Reach Floor 10 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Aegishorn.
    
  • Aegishorn, Winter King: Reach Floor 20 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Aegishorn.
    
  • Aegishorn, Cosmic Defender: Reach Floor 30 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Aegishorn.
• Armistice
  
  • Armistice, Servant of the Dark Lord: Reach Floor 10 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Armistice.
    
  • Armistice, Boreal Guardian: Reach Floor 20 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Armistice.
    
  • Armistice, Celestial Warlord: Reach Floor 30 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Armistice.
• Bulwark
  
  • Bulwark, Oathbreaker: Reach Floor 10 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Bulwark.
    
  • Bulwark, Frozen Force: Reach Floor 20 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Bulwark.
    
  • Bulwark, Sati's Prophecy: Reach Floor 30 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Bulwark.
• Greyhawk
  
  • Greyhawk, Ravenhawk: Reach Floor 10 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Greyhawk.
    
  • Greyhawk, Icehawk: Reach Floor 20 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Greyhawk.
    
  • Greyhawk, Voidhawk: Reach Floor 30 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Greyhawk.
• Hinterclaw
  
  • Hinterclaw, Betrayed Alpha: Reach Floor 10 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Hinterclaw.
    
  • Hinterclaw, Ice Wolf: Reach Floor 20 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Hinterclaw.
    
  • Hinterclaw, Lone Wolf: Reach Floor 30 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Hinterclaw.
• Illumina
  
  • Illumina, Light and Shadow: Reach Floor 10 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Illumina.
    
  • Illumina, Frigid Vision: Reach Floor 20 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Illumina.
    
  • Illumina, Abyssal Clarity: Reach Floor 30 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Illumina.
• Mesa
  
  • Mesa, Child of Darkness: Reach Floor 10 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Mesa.
    
  • Mesa, Frozen Guardian: Reach Floor 20 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Mesa.
    
  • Mesa, Lost Darkness: Reach Floor 30 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Mesa.
• Moebius
  
  • Moebius, Dark Heart: Reach Floor 10 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Moebius.
    
  • Moebius, Frozen Fractal: Reach Floor 20 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Moebius.
    
  • Moebius, Moloki's Voyage: Reach Floor 30 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Moebius.
• Pheonix
  
  • Pheonix, Volcanic Rebirth: Reach Floor 10 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Pheonix.
    
  • Pheonix, Frozen Fledgling: Reach Floor 20 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Pheonix.
    
  • Pheonix, Cosmic Ascension: Reach Floor 30 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Pheonix.
• Silvermane
  
  • Silvermane, Shadowmane: Reach Floor 10 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Silvermane.
    
  • Silvermane, Preserved Pride: Reach Floor 20 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Silvermane.
    
  • Silvermane, Stargazer: Reach Floor 30 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Silvermane.
• Typhon
  
  • Typhon, Essence of Madness: Reach Floor 10 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Typhon.
    
  • Typhon, Trap of the Tundra: Reach Floor 20 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Typhon.
    
  • Typhon, Chaosbringer: Reach Floor 30 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Typhon.
• Vertigo
  
  • Vertigo, Black Locust: Reach Floor 10 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Vertigo.
    
  • Vertigo, Crystal Wings: Reach Floor 20 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Vertigo.
    
  • Vertigo, Zwei's Darkness: Reach Floor 30 of the Ascended Tower of Trials with Vertigo.

Weapon Customization

• Dual Blades
  
  • Aetheric Nanoblades: Reach Floor 9 of the Exalted Tower of Trials.
    
  • Blades of Calamity: Complete the Ascended Tower of Trials without being defeated.
• Greatsword
  
  • Upheaval: Complete all 30 floors of the Ascended Tower of Trials.
    
  • Storm and Thunder: Reach Floor 7 of the Exalted Tower of Trials.
• Longsword
  
  • Serpent's Call: Reach Floor 10 of the Tower of Trials.
    
  • Kobu's Gambit: Complete all 10 floors of the Exalted Tower of Trials.
• Polearm
  
  • Shadowbreaker: Reach Floor 8 of the Exalted Tower of Trials.
• Warhammer
  
  • Rancor's Bite: Reach Floor 6 of the Exalted Tower of Trials.
    
  • Fist of the Wraithlord: Reach Floor 10 of the Exalted Tower of Trials.

Banner Customization

• Vasna's Glory: Defeat 500 enemies while within your Banner Aura in the Tower of Trials or Ascended Tower of Trials.
  
• Highlord's Lament: Defeat 500 enemies while within your Banner Aura in the Exalted Tower of Trials.

Shield Customization

Surprisingly, nothing here!

Tips

There are a few things you can do to make the Tower of Trials go by smoothly (or at least much smoother than normal) or just general advice on how to get the most out of it. These aren't in any particular order, and vary in terms of helpfulness.

General Tips

• The Tower is a great Electrum farm. Just sayin'.
  
• Grab good rooms early on, take weaker ones later. Get the best possible Rooms you can afford to fight near the start of the game, and consider getting weaker ones later on. Easier fights.
  
• Save your keys early on. Normal and Ascended Tower do not give you enough keys to buy every item chest you want to buy. If you buy every Rare chest you come across and constantly sit on a low amount of keys, you may not get enough for the Legendary chests. In the Exalted Tower, you get more than enough keys to buy every single chest, so go nuts- if you're good enough.
  
• You can safely quit the game after purchasing entry into a Tower and not actually entering. The game will not refund your points or eat them up, it remembers that you bought entry and will save it for whenever you wish to enter the Tower.
  
• Quitting the game in the middle of a run abandons the run. You don't get the Coin of Valor back, but you keep any drops you obtained.
  
• You can safely AFK between fights. Elevator Trials only begin once you interact with the gem in the center, and Room Trials only begin once you step far into the room. Need a breather? Take one.
  
• Unspent keys disappear at the end of a run. Spend them while you have them, because you can't stockpile them for next time. Also, if you're struggling so much you're not sure how much longer you can go, spend your keys on whatever you can. Use 'em or lose 'em.

Combat Tips

• If you're struggling, stop focusing on time and focus more on survival. If all you want is to get through the floors, learn to recognize when you start struggling and stop rushing. Yes, keys and loot are really good to have, but if you're struggling so much that you're making mistakes trying to get those extra keys, then you might want to slow down for a round or two and see how it goes. There's no shame in slowing down when things get rough.
  
• Don't blindly engage with enemies. Take a look around the room first. In large Room Trials, many enemies spawn so spread apart that they don't know you're there, allowing you to pick and choose your fights. Don't strafe around the entire arena, keep your fights localized so you can fight potentially more difficult enemies one on one.
  
• Defeat supports as quickly as possible. Flameblood Incinerators, Vargul Enragers, Abyssian Corruptors, Vargul Healers, etc. They aren't a big deal in the normal and Ascended Tower, but in the Exalted Tower they can easily end your run in moments.
  
• Save Banners and Archon Fury for difficult fights. Mid-Bosses and Story Bosses spawn on very specific floors. If you're breezing through the Tower but aren't doing so hot in Boss fights, save them for when you need them. As you play, you'll learn to manage Banner and Archon Fury usage.

Cooperative Tips

• Try to play co-op. You only have three revives between you, regardless of how many people are in your party, but splitting aggro between several people will make things a lot easier. Team reviving is a lot more generous when you have 1-2 other people with Life Stones to spare.
  
• Save an extra Life Stone for revives. Try not to spend all of your Life Stones, you need them to revive your teammate(s) if they go down.
  
• Boons are individual, Banes are team-wide. If you can, talk to your team when deciding what to pick.

Conclusion

Thanks for checking out our guide. It took us a while to make. Hopefully, someone out there gets some use out of this.

Any errors, concerns, or suggestions? Feel free to let us know by commenting below and we will do our best to address them. Additional tips are always appreciated!

Also, here's our list of Boons and Banes, compiled after countless games and research.[docs.google.com] Feel free to comment with any additions to the list, although it will probably never be complete. Mousing over some entries will show our comments, mainly personal opinions on what may be worth taking according to your build.