Rekindle, the Pantheon and Ascension

Why runs wall

Monster life climbs steeply with every area level. Gear and levels keep up for a while, then fall behind. The wall is not a failure. It is the signal to Rekindle.

Rekindle

Rekindling ends the run and pays Embers: more the deeper the run went, and the longer it farmed there. The heroes, the Sanctum's buildings and ordinary gear burn away. What you bought in the Pantheon, your collections and your bound Heirlooms carry on.

The Pantheon

Embers buy ranks in the Pantheon: lasting power for every run after, new callings to recruit, and the Decrees that automate the routine. The first runs are short; each Rekindle sends the next one further down.

The Ascension ladder

Beat the last act's master on Torment III or higher and the ladder opens: ten levels of Ascension. Each binds one Wake Omen to every run played at it. Every Omen gives the monsters more life and damage and pays more Embers, and each changes the fight its own way.

1. IThe Crowned Champions and unique monsters carry one more affix.
2. IIOpen Graves Some waves climb out of the ground beside your front row.
3. IIITyrants Every third wave is a champion pack, and every zone holds a unique pack.
4. IVCruel Masters Every master learns a new trick.
5. VHaste Monsters move, attack and cast 30% faster.
6. VICurses Each act carries a curse drawn for the run, and pays for it in gold and souls.
7. VIIThe Deep Bite Every hit tears deeper into your heroes, and they heal half as much between waves.
8. VIIIAsh Every monster family gains an immunity.
9. IXThe Restless Dead Champions and uniques rise once after they fall.
10. XThe Last Wake Every monster carries an affix, and the masters enrage sooner with their harder finishers.

Pick the level at each Rekindle, from zero up to the highest you have opened. You can also carry the next Omens early, in order, for a harder run and deeper loot.

Deeper loot

A run's grade forges its loot: at each grade, every item line rolls one tier deeper. From grade II, rare gear can carry an Ascendant line that answers a Wake Omen, and ten items drop only from their own level of the ladder up.

Marks and deeds

Trials leave a mark when finished at Ascension 0, V and X, and every level of the ladder has a deed of its own.