Rift Hunting is a new mechanic introduced in Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure. In the initial steps of the story, Zojja will give you a Heart of the Obscure which is an item that can open rifts and reveal the Kryptis invaders from within it.
How to hunt Rifts
To get started with Rift Hunting, press on the “Scan for Rift” button located on the bottom left corner of your skill bar, and it will direct you to the closest rift in the area. If there isn’t any, then a menu will pop open showing you the list of locations where you can find a rift.
Once you locate the first rift, defeat enough Kryptis invaders and then use the Heart of the Obscure to bring out the final boss lying within the rift.
After waiting for 15 seconds, a boss will come out based on the Tier of the Rift that is being closed. If you are attempting to close a tier 1, then an Elite Kryptis will show up. If you are attempting to close a tier 2 or 3, then a Champion will show up.
Obviously, tier 1 is the easiest to complete and can be done solo. The higher tiers will need at least two people to successfully defeat the champion and close the Rift.
How to unlock Tier 2 Rifts
To unlock Tier 2 Rifts, you have to activate the Astral Craft mastery which costs 
After that, go to any crafting station that you are ranked 400 with, and craft the Uncommon Kryptis Motivation using the following materials.
- 25 Essences of Despair
- Obtained from closing tier 1 Rifts
- 25 Large Claws
- Common Kryptis Motivation
- 5 Piles of Incandescent Dust
- 5 Large Bones
- 5 Globs of Ectoplasm
- 5 Research Notes
- 25 Research Notes
How to unlock Tier 3 Rifts
To unlock Tier 3 Rifts, follow the steps you would do to unlock Tier 2 rifts first, and then activate the Emotion Control mastery which costs
Then again, go to any level 400 crafting station and craft the Motivation using the following materials:
- 25 Essences of Greed
- Obtained from closing tier 2 Rifts
- 25 Vials of Potent Blood
- Uncommon Kryptis Motivation
- 50 Research Notes
To start rift hunting for tier 2 and tier 3 rewards, activate any of the Motivations that you crafted and just follow the normal steps that you would close a tier 1 rift. Make sure to bring some friends or people from around the map to help you though.
If you want to revert back to Tier 1, either complete the hunt or use a Common Kryptis Motivation to revert back t2 and t3 to t1.
Rift Hunting Achievements
There are multiple achievements that are tied to this system. Moreover, there is a title called “Master of the Rifts” that you can unlock after completing all the achievements.
To access the Rift Hunting achievements, open the Achievements panel > Secrets of the Obscure > Rift Hunting.
What are Essences used for
The Essences of Despair, Greed, and Triumph that you obtain from completing hunts allow you to purchase gifts that are used to craft the Obsidian Legendary Armor.
Moreover, those essences are also used to purchase Astral exotic armor that contributes to completing the following achievements:
- Astral Bearing
- Astral Footprints
- Astral Graps
- Astral Heartbeat
- Astral Stride
- Astral Thought
That’s everything you need to know about Rift Hunting. You can also check out the video on top of this guide if you prefer to listen to me talk about rifts in GW2.
