Trial of Chaos — Stacking Trial Modifiers Across Rounds
The Trial of Chaos is, alongside the Trial of the Sekhemas, one of the two Ascension Trials that grant ascendancy points. Where the Sekhemas is about protecting Honour, this one is about stacking an unfavourable modifier every round and surviving without dying.
For the full ascendancy-point picture across both trials, see the Ascension Trials section of Pinnacle Bosses.
Getting in
At the Temple of Chaos near the Chimeral Wetlands in Act 3, insert an Inscribed Ultimatum into the Temple Offering to start.
The Inscribed Ultimatum reads:
Area Level: # Number of Trials: # Mortals spend their lives wondering which fate shall be theirs. Chaos takes amusement in knowing the answer: all of them. Take this item to The Temple of Chaos to participate in a Trial of Chaos.
During the campaign you get a quest key, the Chimeral Inscribed Ultimatum, dropped by Xyclucian, the Chimera in the Chimeral Wetlands. It’s returned to you if you fail — but this quest version cannot be ended before the fourth room.
The key’s level sets the round count
The most important rule. The Inscribed Ultimatum’s area level determines how many rounds you run.
| Area level | Rounds |
|---|---|
| 39–59 | 4 |
| 60–74 | 7 |
| 75–80 | 10 |
Area level 75–80 Ultimatums also display Deadly, Victorious, or Cowardly beneath the round count — that tells you the final boss and its corresponding Fate key.
Structure — rounds and the modifier choice
This is what defines the trial. Before each round, the Trialmaster appears and offers one item reward plus three modifiers.
- The modifier you pick applies to every subsequent round.
- Complete a round and the choice appears again. You continue with more dangerous modifiers, or end the run and take the accumulated rewards.
- Dying during a round ends the run automatically and forfeits everything you’ve banked.
So it’s a risk-reward loop you steer yourself. Modifiers accumulate each round, so the run ramps up sharply toward the end.
Round objectives include Defeat all, Survival (until the dais fills), Escort (a statue), Soul Cores (carry cores to an altar), Sacrifice (kill within blood circles), and Boss. Rounds 4, 7, and 10 are boss fights.
Trial modifiers
The trial’s downsides are called Trial modifiers. Each round you pick one of three offered and it accumulates. There are close to thirty, some going up to tier III — buffing monsters, empowering traps, cutting resistances or recovery, and more.
For example, Stalking Shade sends an invulnerable shade after you that inflicts Ruin on melee hits, and reaching 7 Ruin fails the trial. Many modifiers carry their own failure condition or threat like this.
Soul Cores and rewards
Soul Cores are the signature reward, and they come from the boss rounds (4, 7, 10) — one each.
| Round | Endgame reward |
|---|---|
| 1–3 | 1 corrupted rare/unique |
| 4 (boss) | 1 Soul Core |
| 5–6 | 1 rare currency |
| 7 (boss) | 1 Soul Core |
| 8–9 | 1–3 rare currency |
| 10 (boss) | 1 Soul Core |
Rewards accumulate. Complete or manually end the run and you collect each round’s reward at the altar; fail, and everything banked is lost. Vaal Orbs and corrupted items also appear.
Soul Cores are socketed into gear to grant power; their usage and Ancient Soul Cores are covered in Trial of Chaos Crafting.
Ascendancy points — round tiers
| Points | Requirement | Boss |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Area level 39+ · 4 rounds | Random trial boss |
| 4 | 60+ · 7 rounds | Random trial boss |
| 6 | 75+ · 10 rounds | Fixed trial boss |
| 8 | 75+ · 10 rounds + kill the Trialmaster | Fixed boss + Trialmaster |
There are 8 ascendancy points total, and repeating either this or the Trial of the Sekhemas alone can supply all eight.
“Key area level” and “character level” are different numbers. The 10-round tier needs an Ultimatum of area level 75+, but the character level requirement is 65 (55 for 7 rounds). These two get conflated constantly.
The Trialmaster — three Fate keys required
The Trialmaster is the Trial of Chaos’s final boss. Unlike the other ascension-trial boss, completing 10 rounds alone is not enough to reach him.
In the 10 rounds of an area level 75+ Ultimatum, each boss drops a Fate piece.
| Fate key | Kill |
|---|---|
| Deadly Fate | Bahlak, the Sky Seer |
| Victorious Fate | Chetza, the Feathered Plague |
| Cowardly Fate | Uxmal, the Beastlord |
Gather all three Fates and place them in the door in the final room to open the Trialmaster’s Tower. Fate keys can also be obtained by trade.
The Trialmaster drops his own uniques on death (a jewel, shield, mask, belt, gloves, and more). Item details are on the equipment pages.
Preparation
- Choosing modifiers is your difficulty dial. Each round, take the one that’s least lethal to your build — some (reduced recovery, reduced resistances) are far more dangerous depending on your setup.
- Decide in advance where you’ll stop. Dying forfeits everything banked, so ending right after a successful round is a valid call when the modifiers get out of hand.
- For defensive fundamentals, see The Basics.