Abyss

Abysses are interactable objects in instances which spawns cracks and pits that spawn monsters. They can spawn from Act 6 onwards.

Overview
Abysses start spawning in acts Act 6 and onwards and in maps. They have a 10% chance to spawn in each of these instances. Abysses are marked on the minimap with a green icon.

Upon walking over an Abyss, a crack will form on the ground, and a small number of monsters will spawn out of it. The crack will expand as you follow it. The crack will eventually spawn a pit, which spawns many more monsters, including rare monsters. If the player takes too long to follow the crack into a pit or kill most of the enemies that spawn from the pit, it will close up. Otherwise, it will create another crack that leads to a different pit. An Abyss will normally create three or four pits, but since the cracks can't cross themselves or each other, the Abyss may end prematurely if it works itself into a corner.

Clearing the enemies out of the last pit will spawn an Abyssal Trove, which can be opened for loot. In addition to generic loot, an Abyssal Trove will always contain at least one Abyss jewel, possibly more.

In zone levels 70 and up, instead of an Abyssal Trove, it may open an entrance to the Abyssal Depths instead.

Rewards
Abyss jewels have the same functions as regular jewels, but with some differences. They offer different types of bonuses from regular jewels and most mods have tiers that depend on item level. They can be socketed in the jewel slot of the passive skill tree, but also in items with an abyss socket, such as a and unique Abyss items.
 * Abyss Jewels

Stygian Vise is a belt with an abyssal socket as an implicit, allowing it to equip abyss jewels. Stygian Vises can only be found in the Abyssal Depths, which are dropped from the area's boss.
 * Stygian Vise

Abyssal Depths is a side zone that can spawn in Abysses in zone levels 70 and up. It contain Abyss monsters. The boss in this area is either a Stygian Spire or an Abyssal Lich, the latter which drops unique items.
 * Abyssal Depths

Version history

 * Fixed a bug where Abysses sometimes did not spawn their chests.


 * The area transition to an Abyssal Depths area now becomes interactable more quickly after appearing.
 * Monsters, crystals and other boss encounter elements are now destroyed when is defeated.


 * Abyss has been rolled into the core game! You can now encounter Abysses in the world from Part II onwards. Each area has approximately a 10% chance to spawn an Abyss.
 * Abyssal Depths can no longer appear in areas below level 70.


 * With 3.1.0, there are Standard and Hardcore variations of the Abyss challenge league available, as well as solo self-found variants of both. They have the same core mechanics and items. In the Abyss League, players will encounter cracks in the ground. Get too close, and these cracks widen and spread, allowing the terrible monsters to climb from their inky depths. Pursue these cracks, and you may discover a massive chasm from which dangerous packs of monsters emerge. Once you defeat these monsters, the Abyss continues to propagate, creating more chasms. Take too long, and the Abyss will seal shut, but if you're quick and deadly enough, a chest filled with valuable rewards will emerge from below.
 * As players progress through the Abyss League, some pits may offer access to the Abyssal Depths below. These Abyssal Depths are packed with monstrous creatures and valuable rewards, and culminate in an exciting boss encounter.
 * Monsters and chests from the Abyss can drop Abyss Jewels. Like other Jewels, these can be placed in sockets in your passive tree to grant powerful bonuses. Unlike other Jewels, they have a set of exclusive new properties and can also be placed in Abyssal Sockets on your items! These sockets can be found on the new Abyss Uniques and a new base type of Abyss-socketed belt: the Stygian Vise.
 * }