The Pit of the Artificers is an endgame system similar to Rifts in Diablo 3. The challenge increases in difficulty based on your success in meeting or surpassing the time requirements. Rewards from The Pit include the much-needed Masterworking materials.
What is The Pit?
The Pit is an endgame dungeon variant similar to the Greater Rifts (GRs) from Diablo 3 and is a tier-based endgame system that is only available in World Tier 4. Furthermore, with 200 levels of difficulty, it becomes increasingly challenging as you progress through each tier.
How to Unlock The Pit
After reaching World Tier 4, you will receive a priority quest to unlock The Pit. To complete this quest, you have to successfully clear a Tier 46 Nightmare Dungeon. Furthermore, completing the Nightmare Dungeon will allow you to collect 
Runeshard. This new material can be found throughout the world and various endgame activities such as Helltide, World Bosses, Legion Events, Nightmare Dungeons, and Whisper Bounties. The Runeshards can be gathered and used to activate the Artificer’s Obelisk in Cerrigar, the main town of Scosglen. It requires 3x Runeshard to open the portal and enter the depths of The Pit.
Your progression in The Pit is shared across all your characters in the same realm.
Tier System and Mechanics
The Pit offers a tiered system with 200 levels of difficulty. Completing a tier with plenty of time to spare can unlock up to +2 tiers for you to run next. If you finish a run with 4-6 minutes left, you skip one level and unlock an additional tier. Additionally, if you defeat the boss with 6+ minutes left on the timer, two additional Tiers will unlock. For example, successfully clearing Tier 1 unlocks up to Tier 3, or clearing Tier 4 unlocks up to Tier 6.
Tier 1 starts with monsters at Level 100, while the following tiers will have higher-level monsters. The level of enemies increases with each tier. The Pit Tier 150 will feel like Tier 25 of the Abattoir of Zir.
During The Pit challenge, you must slay enough monsters within 10 minutes. Artillery and Blast Wave shrines will not spawn inside The Pit.
Dying in The Pit results in a timer penalty! The first death removes 30 seconds, the second 60 seconds, and the third and subsequent deaths 90 seconds each. While in a party, the death of one player will increase the timer penalty for the whole party.
Upon slaying enough monsters within the 10-minutes timer, a portal to the boss’ arena appears. Defeating the boss before the timer runs out awards Masterworking materials, Stygian Stones, and unlocks the next tier.
- Defeating the boss with 4-6 minutes left unlocks 1 additional tier.
- Defeating the boss with 6+ minutes left unlocks 2 additional tiers.
- If the Mastery timer expires before completion, you can still finish to get some rewards, but you will not receive any Masterworking materials or unlock the next tier.
Rewards
Completing a run within The Pit will reward you with the following:
Stygian Stone: used to summon Level 200 (Tormented) versions of bosses.- Masterworking materials:
Obducite, 
Ingolith, and 
Neathiron. Running higher tiers will reward you with the rarer materials. - Ancestral Legendary Items
Murmuring Obols
When playing in a party, the player who opened The Pit portal in Cerrigar will receive 100% of the Masterworking materials reward and the Stygian Stones. The rest of the party will only receive 50% of the Masterworking materials and no Stygian Stones.
Masterworking GuideWhat to Look Out For
- To cancel The Pit run, teleport back to town, head back to The Pit entrance, and start a new run. It will subsequently close the previous portal and open a new one.
- Collect Runeshards! Since Runeshard are required to enter The Pit, make sure to gather them during your endgame activities and use them when you are fully prepared.
- Optimize your build: Choose skills and gear that increase your ability to defeat monsters quickly and deal with bosses effectively.
- Keep an eye on the timer and focus on defeating large groups of enemies to make sure you open the boss’ arena in time.
- Understand the death penalty: Remember that dying reduces your remaining time. In solo play, be cautious, and in group play, coordinate with your team to minimize deaths.
- Learn the boss mechanics to defeat them without losing too much time. The faster you defeat the boss, the more tiers you unlock.
- Collect Masterworking materials: These materials are important for upgrading your gear, so aim to complete higher-tier runs with mastery to obtain them.
- Keep upgrading your gear: As you progress through The Pit’s tiers, continually upgrade your gear to match the increasing difficulty.
- Know when to retreat: If a run is not going well, do not hesitate to teleport back to town and restart The Pit to save time.
