Abyssal Gauntlet guide: solo roguelike runs, Abyssal Marks and permanent upgrades

The Abyssal Gauntlet is a solo roguelike dungeon from level 30: your gear and skills are set aside, you fight with Gauntlet weapons and Power Level, and you extract or full clear for Abyssal Marks and real loot. Star tiers, floors, weapons, gear, boons, Marks, rewards, upgrades and the Endless Abyss.

What the Abyssal Gauntlet is

The Abyssal Gauntlet is a solo roguelike dungeon mode that works completely separately from your normal character progression. Your outside build does not matter once the run starts: this is its own combat mode with its own rules and its own loot loop.

• You enter alone: no parties allowed.
• Your normal gear, skills and build are set aside for the run.
• The Gauntlet gives you temporary weapons, gear, consumables and Power Level bonuses.
• You either extract safely, full clear, or die for consolation rewards.
• Successful runs earn Abyssal Marks, unlock higher star tiers and feed the leaderboards.

How to enter

Talk to The Gatekeeper NPC. From there you can:

• Enter the Gauntlet (or the Endless Abyss)
• View the leaderboards
• Spend Abyssal Marks on permanent upgrades
• View your Gauntlet stats
• Buy from the rotating Abyssal shop

• Entry requirement | Rule
• Level | 30 or higher
• Party | You must not be in a party
• Active run | You must not already be in a Gauntlet run
• Star tier | The tier you choose must be unlocked (1-Star always is)
• Daily limit | 3 runs per day
• Household | Only one account per household can be inside at a time

The Gatekeeper's entry screen also notes that a failed run allows up to 3 tries before it uses your daily run, locked to the same character, household and star tier. A failed try that is refunded this way earns no Marks.

What happens when you enter

The moment your run starts, the Gauntlet:

• Saves your current map, skills, keybinds, HP/MP and equipped gear
• Dispels all your active buffs
• Normalizes you to 2,000 HP / 1,000 MP
• Removes your skills and equipment for the duration of the run
• Hands you Gauntlet-only combat tools
• Starts the run timer

Nothing is lost: Everything is restored exactly as it was when the run ends.

Every run begins at Power Level 1 with 3 HP potions, 0 Elixirs and the Starter Sword (or a random Common weapon if you own Starter Armory).

Controls and commands

The Gauntlet rewrites two keybinds while you are inside: Left Shift is your weapon's core attack and A is your weapon's utility skill (if it has one). Your normal keybinds are restored when the run ends. You can also swap reserve weapons by drag-equipping them from your inventory.

• @gauntlet status: View your current run info
• @gauntlet gear: View your equipped gear
• @gauntlet hp: Use 1 HP potion (heals 30% of max HP)
• @gauntlet elixir: Use 1 Elixir (restores HP and MP)
• @gauntlet pickup: Accept the current pending drop
• @gauntlet discard: Reject the current pending drop
• @gauntlet swap 1: Equip reserve weapon slot 1
• @gauntlet swap 2: Equip reserve weapon slot 2
• @gauntlet choose <n>: Answer the current choice (weapon, boon or extraction)
• @gauntlet extract: Extract while the extraction prompt is open
• @gauntlet codex: Your weapon's kit; @gauntlet codex all lists every weapon archetype
• @gauntlet stats: Your lifetime record and per-tier bests (works outside a run)
• @gauntlet fix: Restore your Gauntlet skills and keybinds if they look wrong
• @gauntlet quit: Forfeit the run
• @gauntlet help: Full command list (@gt works as a short form)

What you cannot do inside

• Use normal consumable items
• Leave the Gauntlet map normally
• Unequip the Gauntlet weapon
• Drop Gauntlet items
• Use your normal class skills

Dying inside: There is no EXP loss and no charm is used up. Death is handled entirely by the Gauntlet system.

Difficulty stars

• Star | Name | Floors | PL cap | Marks multiplier | Time limit
• 1 | The Shallows | 5 | 10 | x1 | 15 min
• 2 | The Depths | 7 | 14 | x2 | 20 min
• 3 | The Abyss | 10 | 18 | x3 | 30 min
• 4 | The Void | 12 | 21 | x5 | 40 min
• 5 | Oblivion | 15 | 25 | x8 | 45 min

Clearing a star tier unlocks the next one. The first full clear of each star also grants a one-time 50 Mark bonus. The 1-Star tier has no Elite floor, so it has no extraction: a 1-Star run ends in a full clear or a death.

Floor types

• Floor | What spawns | On clear
• Trash | A clear-all floor of regular monsters; most fragment farming happens here | +1 Power Level
• Weapon | 1 mini-boss plus 4 escorts | A guaranteed weapon reward, +1 Elixir, +2 Power Level
• Elite + Extraction | 1 elite plus escorts | A better guaranteed weapon reward, +2 HP potions, +1 Elixir, +2 Power Level, then the extraction prompt
• Boss | The final floor of the star tier | Counts as a full clear, +3 Power Level; the run ends right after the rewards (no extraction decision)

On the Elite floor, if you do nothing at the extraction prompt, the run continues. Every choice dialog (weapon, boon, extraction) resolves on its own if you leave it, and @gauntlet choose reopens one you closed by accident.

Floor twists

A floor can roll a twist that changes how it plays:

• Swarm: twice as many enemies, but each is frail.
• Fortified: enemies are hardened, but drop twice as often.
• Frenzied: enemies hit harder; +2 HP potions on clear.
• Bounty: one enemy carries a guaranteed weapon.
• Bloodmoon: enemies hit harder, but every kill heals you.
• Enraged: the floor boss enrages below 30% HP.

Power Level

Power Level (PL) is the temporary progression stat for your run. Your damage and survivability scale directly with it, up to the PL cap of your star tier. Every time you gain PL, your weapon stats are reapplied and you are fully healed.

• How to gain PL | PL
• Clear a Trash floor | +1
• Clear a Weapon floor | +2
• Clear an Elite floor | +2
• Clear the Boss floor | +3
• First weapon of each rarity above Common (Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary) | +1 each

• Each PL above 1 gives | Bonus
• Max HP | +75
• Max MP | +30
• All stats | +2
• WATK / MATK | +3 / +3
• WDEF / MDEF | +2 / +2
• Damage | +0.5%

Weapons

You can hold up to 3 weapons: 1 equipped and 2 reserves. Each weapon type is an archetype with its own core attack, a utility skill and a passive; @gauntlet codex all lists them all in game. Staves and wands are the magic weapons.

• Rarity | Attack | Skill level | Damage
• Common | 20-35 | 1-5 | x1.0
• Uncommon | 36-55 | 6-10 | x1.15
• Rare | 56-80 | 11-15 | x1.35
• Epic | 81-110 | 16-20 | x1.6
• Legendary | 111-150 | 21-30 | x2.0

How weapons are gained

Floor-clear weapons. Weapon floors, Elite floors and the Boss reward always give a weapon. On Weapon and Elite floors you pick it from a short list of offers.

Fragment forging. Every kill on a non-boss floor has a 5% chance to drop a fragment. At 5 fragments the run automatically forges a random weapon. If you already hold 3 weapons, the forged weapon replaces your worst reserve only when its rarity is better; otherwise it is discarded. If your first real weapon arrives while you still have the Starter Sword equipped, it is equipped automatically.

• Forge rarity | Chance
• Common | 65%
• Uncommon | 25%
• Rare | 8%
• Epic | 2%
• Legendary | 0%

Mob drops. Monsters can drop weapons too: 6% from regular monsters, 40% from the Weapon floor's mini-boss and 50% from the Elite floor's elite (escorts roll the regular rate). Nothing drops on the Boss floor. Drop rarity scales with floor depth: deeper floors give better weapons.

Gear

The Gauntlet has 6 gear slots: Hat, Top, Bottom, Shoes, Gloves and Cape. Gear gives random stats, defense and buff skills: 1 skill on Common gear, 2 on Uncommon and above. Gear is equipped automatically when you accept it, replacing whatever was in that slot.

• Monster | Gear drop chance
• Regular monster | 18% (10% on floors with more than 20 monsters)
• Weapon floor mini-boss | 60%
• Elite floor elite | 80%

Boons

From floor 2 on, clearing a floor other than the Boss floor offers three boons and you pick one. Boons last for the whole run and stack.

• Boon | Effect
• Sharpened | +6 WATK / MATK
• Vigor | +300 max HP
• Bulwark | +40 WDEF / MDEF
• Alchemist | +1 HP potion capacity and +1 potion now
• Second Skin | -8% damage taken
• Vampiric | Heal 2% of max HP on every kill
• Magnetism | +3% fragment chance
• Greed | +15% Abyssal Marks
• Focus | +4% critical chance
• Ascend | +1 Power Level immediately
• Fortune | +10% weapon and gear drop chance
• Overcharge | +10% damage, -10% max HP

Pending drops

When a monster rolls a Gauntlet drop, an item appears on the ground and a pending drop is queued.

• Use @gauntlet pickup to accept it or @gauntlet discard to reject it.
• Only 1 pending drop can exist at a time.
• An unresolved pending drop suppresses more drops, so deal with it quickly. Pending drops also expire if you leave them.
• Gear drops have priority over weapon drops on the same kill.

Potions and resources

• Item | HP potion | Elixir
• At run start | 3 | 0
• Effect | Heals 30% of max HP (8 second cooldown) | Restores HP and MP
• Gained from | 5% chance per kill, +2 on Elite floor clear | +1 on Weapon floor clear, +1 on Elite floor clear
• Max carry | 5 (more with Potion Master) | 2 (more with Potion Master)

MP is self-sustaining: every kill fully refills your missing MP. HP management is what actually matters.

Extraction, death and disconnects

Extraction is only available after clearing an Elite + Extraction floor. Choose extract at the prompt or use @gauntlet extract; if you do nothing, the run continues. Extraction grants your Marks and full rewards, then restores your character.

Death. With Second Wind the first fatal blow revives you once per run. Without it the run ends and you get consolation Marks only.

Disconnects. Your first disconnect in a run starts a grace window: reconnect within it and the run state is restored, with your floor, weapons, gear and pending rewards preserved. A second disconnect in the same run ends it in death.

Corruption: the timer pressure

Each star tier has a hard time limit. As time runs out, Corruption ramps up:

• Time used | Corruption
• 75% | Level 1: warning only
• 85% | Level 2: 1% of max HP as damage every 10 seconds
• 95% | Level 3: 3% of max HP as damage every 10 seconds
• 100% | The run ends in death

Abyssal Marks: how they are calculated

• Outcome | Marks
• Die without extracting | floors cleared x mark multiplier x 0.3
• Extract | floors cleared x mark multiplier, + 5 x mark multiplier (extraction bonus)
• Full clear | everything from extraction, + 15 x mark multiplier (full-clear bonus)

Example, 3-Star full clear: floors 10 x 3 = 30, extraction bonus 5 x 3 = 15, full-clear bonus 15 x 3 = 45, for a total of 90 Marks. Add 50 Marks the first time you full clear each star tier. Each Greed boon adds 15% on top.

Extraction rewards: real loot

On a successful extraction or full clear, your progress converts into real items you keep. Your equipped weapon converts by rarity (the Starter Sword gives nothing):

• Equipped weapon | Converts into
• Common | 1 random ore
• Uncommon | 1 crystal ore + 2 ores
• Rare | 1 random 60% scroll + 1 crystal ore
• Epic | 1 Chaos Scroll or 1 White Scroll
• Legendary | 1 Golden Leaf + 1 Chaos Scroll

• Floors cleared | Bonus reward
• 5 or more | 3 random ores
• 7 or more | 1 random 60% scroll
• 10 or more | 1 Clean Slate Scroll 20% and 5 crystal ores
• 12 or more | 2 Chaos Scrolls
• 15 | 1 Golden Leaf and 1 White Scroll

There is also a 12% chance for a bonus exit reward, matched to your job and level.

Inventory full protection: If a real reward cannot fit in your inventory, it is converted into Abyssal Marks instead of being lost.

Leaderboards and seasons

The Gatekeeper leaderboard tracks each star tier for the active season, with three boards: Fastest full clears, Deepest floors and Most kills. The fastest-clear board shows the character name, clear time, max Power Level reached and best weapon rarity reached.

Permanent upgrades

Spend Abyssal Marks at the Gatekeeper to unlock permanent run upgrades.

• Upgrade | Ranks and cost (Marks) | Effect
• Fortified Start | 3: 30 / 80 / 200 | +50 max HP at run start per rank
• Sharp Instinct | 3: 30 / 80 / 200 | +2 WATK / MATK at run start per rank
• Thick Skin | 3: 30 / 80 / 200 | +3 WDEF / MDEF at run start per rank
• Quick Learner | 3: 60 / 180 / 500 | +2 PL cap per rank
• Potion Master | 3: 40 / 120 / 350 | +1 max carry on all potion types per rank
• Fragment Magnet | 3: 50 / 150 / 400 | +2% fragment drop chance per rank
• Rarity Boost | 3: 80 / 250 / 700 | Better odds for fragment forging to bump rarity by 1 tier
• Second Wind | 1: 600 | One revive per run
• Abyssal Attunement | 1: 1000 | Better weapon-floor rewards: more weapons to choose from
• Starter Armory | 1: 800 | Start with a random Common weapon instead of the Starter Sword

Rotating shop

The Gatekeeper has a rotating shop that refreshes daily: 3 cosmetics, 2 progression items and 1 weapon, priced in Abyssal Marks. It only lists items your job and level can use, and stackable items can be bought in bulk.

The Endless Abyss

The Endless Abyss is a second way into the Gauntlet for players who want to keep fighting. Talk to the Gatekeeper, pick a star tier you have unlocked, and descend for as long as you like: the floors never end.

• Every 10 minutes of fighting pays the same Perfect Pitch that fishing pays at your level. A 10-minute stretch with no kill pays nothing.
• Every 10th floor, the tier's boss (the Warden) stands in your way. Beat it for potions, a weapon pick and a boon, and the descent continues.
• No time limit and no Corruption. Elite floors still open an exit, and quitting or dying sends you home with what you already earned.
• It pays nothing else: no Abyssal Marks, no loot, no records and no star unlocks. It never uses one of your 3 daily runs.
• Past the tier's normal floors, monsters keep getting tougher (+5% HP per floor).

Strategy tips

• Treat your first real weapon as your first build choice, not just a stat upgrade: the weapon type defines how you fight.
• Use Elite floors as your main decision points: that is where extraction lives.
• Pick up or discard pending drops quickly: unresolved drops suppress more drops.
• Do not worry about MP: it refills on kills. HP potion management matters far more.
• Quick Learner is stronger than it looks: rarity PL bonuses are wasted at the default cap.
• Abyssal Attunement is a major consistency upgrade for Weapon floors.

Read more

• Bossing guide: Expeditions, Perfect Pitch and every boss
• Boss Expedition system: Find and fill boss runs with the F9 widget
• Scrolls guide: What to do with the Chaos, White and Clean Slate Scrolls you bring home
• Player guide: Everything else about the server