RIFTSTORM: Complete Early Access Guide, Weaver Kits, Lythogram Builds, Extraction & Farming

Overview: What Kind of Game Is RIFTSTORM?

RIFTSTORM is a co-op PvE looter-shooter ARPG with a roguelite upgrade layer, developed by Confiction Labs with Indonesian studio Agate. It went live in Steam Early Access on August 11, 2026 after roughly five years of development and three public playtests. You play a Weaver, an elite operative of the Mythic Protocol, a secret organization that hunts, contains, and codifies mythic entities that leak into the world through rifts.

The pitch is power fantasy first, extraction second. Squads of up to three drop into unstable combat zones, fight escalating hordes, collect weapons and field upgrades, then decide how far to push before extracting. Fail to extract and your weapons come back scarred. Extract clean and the haul is yours.

The roguelite twist comes from Lythograms. Mid-mission you stack modifiers, trigger synergies, and reshape your build while the run is live. A clean loadout can turn ridiculous by the end of a deployment. The loop is: deploy, kill monsters, build momentum, push your luck, extract, rebuild.

The design history explains the feel. The developers spent a year dialing in mission structure after watching hours of gameplay and digging through user data. Their longer, more linear missions felt too much like moving from A to B to C. The response to Operation 1411's open-ended survival-meets-extraction mission cemented the direction: RIFTSTORM feels better when players have agency over how far to push, when to leave, and what risks to take. Internally, the team tested the new system by making their own devs do 20 push-ups for dying. They call the result extraction-lite: tension without wiping out progress.

What Changed Since Launch (Patches 0.6.1 to 0.6.2.1)

The game shipped on August 11 and the team has patched fast. Three updates landed in the first ten days, and they change how you should play today.

0.6.1 Solo-Offline Beta. The game was always-online at launch, which was the loudest complaint. This patch added a Solo-Offline Beta mode: your save transfers between online and offline, and you pick which mode to launch into. One limitation remains: even offline, opening menus does not pause the simulation.

0.6.2 Less Friction, More Shooting. Custom keybinding for keyboard and controller. Credit rewards increased: Threat 2 payouts up 1.5x, Threat 3 and 4 doubled. Tutorial directives trimmed for faster early progression. A new Nennothoid Aberration encounter was added to the Keystone Mission Op. Iron Faith to teach players how to deal with the latchy enemies before Threat 3 and 4. The Atomizer's infamous bug, which let it execute enemies at full HP, was fixed.

0.6.2.1 Scarred Weapon Repair Update. Weapon Repair is now available in the Armory, the most requested feature since launch. Op. Aegis Core difficulty reduced. Pickup radius increased. Purple Challenge Walls were temporarily removed from Rift Exposure Zones because players kept getting stuck inside them.

Performance remains the main technical caveat. On high-core-count CPUs, FPS can collapse to 5-9 after the tutorial. The official workaround: Options > Settings > Simulation Thread Count to 2. It restores stable frame pacing on most affected systems.

Getting Started: Your First Deployment

Pre-deploy checklist:

1. Install on an SSD. Zone loading, texture streaming, and lobby waits all punish HDD installs in an always-online title.
2. Set Simulation Thread Count to 2 before your first mission if you have a high-core CPU, or the moment the hub stutters.
3. Open Controls, pick QWERTY/AZERTY/QWERTZ to match your physical keyboard, and bind dodge somewhere your thumb lives.
4. Create a Steam Lobby and share the invite code with your squad. Host locks the Threat Level.
5. Start PADDOCK Contingency at Threat 1, even if you played the demo for hours. EA tuning differs from the demo, and the demo is now offline anyway.
6. Skim the Weapon Scarring rules before you bring your best crafted primary into a risky push.

The mission loop, lobby to extract: host creates a Steam Lobby, friends join by invite code, the host picks a PADDOCK mission and Threat Level at the mission table, you deploy from the gate, clear encounters and gather Lythogram choices, then stand in the extract zone for about 15 seconds to bank loot. Early exits bank what you secured but skip completion rewards. Back at HQ, spend resources at the Forge Center and Periapt between deployments.

The second Weaver unlocks after roughly 90 minutes to two hours of onboarding. Plan your first main accordingly.

Beginner Mistakes to Avoid

Core Mechanics Explained

Lythograms: the In-Mission Roguelite Layer

Lythograms are temporary upgrades offered mid-run when your squad clears objectives, touches shrines or rift-touched nodes in exposure zones, or kills elite enemies. Usually you choose between two or three options tailored to your Weaver or team. Nothing persists after the mission.

Most offerings fall into four buckets:

Some Lythogram picks are team votes, some are individual. Call "Lythogram up" on voice so nobody wanders into aggro while reading options. Pre-boss or pre-extract, defensive and mobility picks beat greedy damage when timers are tight.

Periapt: Meta Progression Between Runs

Periapt is the persistent layer. Materials you extract feed account-wide nodes that improve baseline stats, unlock crafting recipes, and open higher Threat Levels and exposure content. Failed extracts do not wipe Periapt progress. WIP at launch, so node costs can change, but the direction is stable.

Path Periapt investment by Weaver: Hertz wants max health and damage reduction, Starling wants attack, magazine, and crit nodes, Botsy wants deployable and shield buffs, Rook wants ability damage plus move speed. Avoid three players duplicating the same tree.

The Forge Center: Craft, Salvage, Repair

The Forge Center is the hub-side weapon factory. Two core functions: craft weapons and salvage unwanted ones.

Random craft spends materials and credits for an unpredictable weapon from the pool. Use it early for filler slots and archetype tests.

Dataseed blueprint craft targets a specific weapon pattern you earned from missions. This is the long-term efficiency path.

Two dials matter when crafting: CP potential (ceiling for how strong the weapon becomes, costs more at high settings) and rarity floor (guaranteed minimum rarity, sharply more expensive at high settings). Do not max both on every craft. Pick one flagship investment per main Weaver, then fill support slots cheaply.

0.6.2.1 added Weapon Repair in the Armory. Scarred weapons can now be repaired instead of salvaged. Repair a top-tier base when the negative mod ruins a specific synergy; salvage mid-tier bases whose negative is permanently bad for your build.

Crafting workflow:

extract materials + blueprints -> salvage duplicates -> check Dataseed
ownership -> set CP potential (match how long you keep the piece) ->
set rarity floor (long-term mains only) -> craft -> share results
with squad before high-Threat co-op

Combat Power (CP)

CP is a derived score from your equipped weapons: CP potential, mods and quality, plus the real output of Periapt and kit. Mission select shows recommended CP. A red CP highlight means harder enemies with better Mythic Resources and blueprint odds. Treat CP as a gear gate, not a skill rating.

Squad honesty rule: announce equipped CP, not vault best. Flag scarred weapons before queueing, since scars can quietly underperform the badge. If one player is far below recommendation, drop Threat or craft a backup before deploying.

Threat Levels

Threat Levels are the mission-wide difficulty dial: enemy stats, spawn budgets, loot tables, and objective pressure all scale. Launch ships Threat 1 and 2 as curated-plus-procedural content; Threat 3 is experimental, and 0.6.2 buffed rewards so Threat 2 pays 1.5x credits and Threat 3 and 4 pay 2x.

Only the host locks Threat in co-op. Raise exactly one tier when all of these are true:

1. Your last three runs at the current Threat ended in clean extracts with timer to spare.
2. Periapt unlocks for the next tier are satisfied.
3. The squad agreed on Lythogram and exposure detour limits at the new tier.
4. Backup weapons are stocked for each regular player.

If any line fails, farm another evening. Threat Levels reward patience more than ego.

Rift Exposure Zones

Exposure zones are dynamic high-intensity pockets inside missions: denser spawns, mutated elites, better loot rolls, and optional shrines or salvage caches. They migrate mid-mission on clocks, objective triggers, or squad actions, so the briefing map is a suggestion, not a contract.

Rules that keep exposure profitable:

• Clear the safe lane from spawn to extract before taking optional detours.
• Enter exposure deliberately with cooldowns ready and a hard time box: ninety seconds inside, then rotate out.
• Never fight deep in exposure while migration closes behind you toward extract. If both your position and exit are hot, extract early.
• One exposure detour per run for farm sessions. Three chained greed pushes is how primaries get scarred.
• After 0.6.2.1, purple Challenge Walls no longer spawn inside exposure zones, which removes the worst stuck-and-stranded failure mode.

The Weapon Scarring System

A failed extract, whether from death timers expiring, a disconnect, or aborting without securing loot, applies a scar to weapons you brought into the mission. One mod slot becomes a random negative modifier. Known launch-week negatives: increased spread, reduced damage, and a chance that shots deal no damage. Periapt nodes and blueprint unlocks are untouched. The weapon stays usable.

The economy around this changed with 0.6.2.1. Scarred weapons no longer need to be salvaged: repair them in the Armory. Repairs cost resources, so the decision is now: repair a top-tier primary, or salvage a mid-tier piece and roll the materials into a new craft. The old advice still holds where it matters: never bring your only scar-able weapon on an experimental run, and keep a backup in hub storage for learning runs.

Weaver Roster and Kits

Five Weavers ship in Early Access. Each fills a distinct combat role, and the squad wants complementary picks.

Rook: Protocol Generalist (Beginner All-Rounder)

The adaptable frontline disruptor. Best first main: he teaches spacing, stagger, and zone control without demanding perfect aim.

• Protocol-Grenade Mk.7: AoE burst. Break enemy clumps before a push, soften elites before extract.
• Protocol-Bolt No.87: Targeted energy bolt that staggers the strongest nearby enemy. Your hard CC for revives and channeling.
• Protocol-Mine Mk.3: Zone denial. Plant on chokepoints, extract paths, and behind cover before kiting a wave backward.
• Squad Synergy (passive): Attack and move speed increase near an ally. The passive quietly teaches you to stay in formation.

Rotate grenade for alpha, bolt for interrupts, mine for area control. Do not spam one button on cooldown.

Starling: Vanguard Weapons Specialist (Sustained DPS Backbone)

The highest pure DPS ceiling in the roster and the default damage anchor of any coordinated trio.

• Concussive Blast: Sonic cone that damages and staggers. Peel tool when elites push your lane.
• Kinetic Screen: Deploys a buff field: allied projectiles passing through get guaranteed crits and extra range. Put it between the frontline and your firing line.
• Sustained Salvo: Refills ammo; until you reload, shots gain piercing and homing. Use it when Momentum stacks are high and a wave is dense, not at the start of a fight.
• Preparation / Unyielding / Resourceful (passives): Larger magazines, Momentum stacks from consecutive shots without reloading, and bonus ammo refunded above the cap on reload.

Starling's skill floor is reload discipline. Track Momentum, never reload on empty, and treat Sustained Salvo as a burst window, not cooldown filler.

Hertz: Roseguard Frontline Disruptor (Tank)

The solo-friendly tank. Taunts, slows, and forgives mistakes, which makes him the safest pick when you queue alone.

• Stage Dive: Leap to a location dealing AoE scaled by max health. Engage, reposition, emergency interrupt.
• Tempo Shift: Damaging aura that inflicts Slow. Controls packs while ranged allies work.
• Freestyle Solo: Taunt surrounding enemies and reduce incoming damage for a window. The signature tank button.
• Encore / Ramp Up / Feedback (passives): Max health up per Lythogram obtained plus one temporary invulnerability at zero HP; Fury stacks on hitting debuffed enemies; chance to refill a Stage Dive charge on gaining Fury.

Chain Stage Dive into Tempo Shift when you land in a cluster, then Freestyle Solo when elites focus fire. Health-scaling means Periapt health nodes give double value to Stage Dive.

Botsy: Containment Technician (Turret Zone Control)

Botsy wins missions with geometry: hallways, doorways, extract funnels, and exposure lanes.

• Roll Call: Summons a rifle turret. Maximum two total deployables.
• Hideout: Protective turret emitting a projectile-blocking zone. Shares the two-deployable cap.
• Conductive Paint: Summoned units emit a damaging aura. Your burst window when waves commit to the kill box.
• Street Unity / Gifted Subs / Going Viral (passives): Shield regen on nearby turrets; turrets inherit Botsy's Lythograms; turrets copy your active weapon's element.

The two-deployable cap means choosing Hideout versus a second Roll Call every fight. Swap weapons before big waves so Going Viral matches enemy weaknesses. Botsy jumps to S-tier on corridor maps with a frontliner holding aggro, and drops hard in wide arenas with pug groups that never hold ground.

Caracal: Interregnum Marksman (Mobile Ops)

The agile fifth Weaver, a marksman supported by his Kestrel drone. Role fantasy: flanking, priority-target deletion, and repositioning instead of holding a lane. Kit details are still settling in EA patches, so expect numbers to move. Caracal is not the beginner pick: he needs voice comms, positioning discipline, and extract timing. Wait until your static runs clean extracts before graduating to him.

Tier Snapshot (Launch Meta)

Weaver tiers are team-context dependent. Botsy plus Hertz plus Rook can outrank a "higher-tier" comp on hallway-heavy PADDOCK layouts.

Trio Compositions

The Balanced Anchor (Recommended Starter)

Rook + Starling + Hertz. Frontline control, sustained DPS, and tanking. Rook creates breathing room and gathers enemies, Starling dominates groups, Hertz deletes bosses and holds aggro. Every player knows their job, which makes this the most reliable comp across nearly every mission type.

The Turret Lockdown

Hertz + Botsy + Starling. Hertz taunts, Botsy paints the lane with turrets, and Starling drops Kinetic Screen behind the turret line for a firing gallery. Conductive Paint bursts finish packs before they reach the front. Delivers the fastest room clears on corridor-heavy missions.

The Mobile Flank

Rook + Caracal + Hertz. Rook covers the main path with mines and stagger, Hertz anchors aggro, Caracal rotates to side spawns and off-angle elites. Requires positioning discipline and one player watching extract lanes.

Avoid the three-DPS glass cannon. Without anyone controlling the battlefield, chained elite abilities collapse the squad in Threat 3 and up.

Squad Role Split for Lythograms

Specialization creates much stronger scaling than three identical builds competing for the same stats. Trios also need at least two distinct weapon elements across deployed primaries so Botsy turrets and debuff chains stay online when one player scars a flex gun.

Extraction Strategy

Extraction is the moment every mission builds toward. In live EA the extract channel takes about 15 seconds. Most mission types require the squad to reach the pad together.

Set a Pre-Drop Exit Condition

Agree on the trigger before the mission loads: extract when the main objective is done and each member holds at least two Lythograms, or when anyone drops below half health. Name it out loud. Squads that decide the exit before the drop extract more often than squads that decide in the heat of a swarm.

Timing Rule: 70-80 Percent

Set a hard extract time at 70-80 percent of the mission timer or zone stability bar. If anyone is downed after that threshold, extract with whoever is alive instead of attempting a hero revive. Only extend when the remaining objective is one interact away and the path is clear.

The Extraction Run

When the call is made, the whole squad moves. One person covers the rear, one carries the best loot, one watches the timer. Staggered movement gets people picked off. Clear patrols near the pad before channeling so you are not extracting under fire.

Insurance Extracts

After securing a rare drop mid-mission, consider extracting early with just that item instead of pushing for 100 percent zone completion. A successful partial extract beats a wipe that scars three primaries.

The Greed Audit

Before pushing one more room, ask: is ammunition low? Are healing resources nearly gone? Are elites taking much longer to kill than expected? If any answer is yes, extraction is the smart decision. Greed destroys more runs than difficult enemies ever do.

Step-by-Step Strategy: Sequences That Work

Sequence 1: The Clean First Extraction

1. Deploy PADDOCK at Threat 1 with your chosen Weaver.
2. Complete the main objective only. Do not touch the Rift Exposure Zone.
3. Take two Lythograms that match one build direction (damage or survival).
4. Call extraction while everyone is above half health.
5. Bank the haul. Salvage duplicates at the Forge Center.

Sequence 2: The Zone Probe

1. Agree as a squad on a single zone run before deploying.
2. Enter the Rift Exposure Zone early, while the squad is fresh.
3. Set a hard timer: two minutes inside, then leave regardless of loot.
4. Extract with whatever dropped, even if it is mid.
5. Repeat with the same squad, extending the timer by one minute per run.

Sequence 3: The Scar Rebuild (Post-0.6.2.1)

1. Return from a failed extract with a scarred main weapon.
2. Read the negative mod at the Armory. Check what it actually removes.
3. Decide: repair if the base is top-tier, salvage if the negative ruins the build.
4. If repairing, adjust Periapt nodes and Lythogram picks to compensate.
5. Deploy once with the restored weapon before deciding whether to keep it.

Sequence 4: The Elite Reset Farm Loop

1. Launch a mission with an early elite spawn near deployment.
2. Route directly to the elite; skip optional rooms off the path.
3. Delete it fast with pack-clear tools (Rook denial, Botsy turrets, Starling priority fire).
4. Loot the body and nearby chests completely.
5. Reset or abandon instead of clearing the rest of the mission.
6. Repeat until diminishing returns or squad fatigue. Stop when HP or shields
   drop below your agreed floor, or when you have enough materials for the
   night's Forge goal.

This is the most time-efficient Mythic Resource farm in current EA. Mythic Resources are the long-term crafting bottleneck, and elites, not trash packs, carry the premium tables.

Sequence 5: The Solo Survival Run

1. Equip dash cooldown Periapts and a high-capacity Assault Rifle primary,
   Marksman Rifle secondary.
2. Enter each room carefully. Pull enemies to choke points.
3. Remove elite targets with the secondary before they act.
4. Keep moving while clearing. Standing still is a death sentence solo.
5. Extract at the first sign of ammo or healing pressure. Solo, the trigger
   is stricter: one empty magazine and you start moving to the pad.

Advanced Tips

1. Learn your extract lanes early. Read the briefing for extract locations before you drop, then identify a backup route in case exposure migrates across your primary path.

2. Pick Lythograms that multiply your Periapt. Prefer effects that scale what you already invested: pierce on Starling, health on Hertz, turret damage on Botsy. A Lythogram high roll carries weak accounts through Threat 1; high-Threat farms assume both layers align.

3. Treat scarred weapons as projects, not losses. With Repair live, a scuffed primary costs materials instead of a rebuild grind. Repair the base you will main for weeks, salvage everything else.

4. Watch the exposure map, not your kill count. Exposure migrates on timers and objective triggers. The moment the boundary moves between you and the pad, pivot. Do not assume the briefing map stays static.

5. One synergy per squad. Two coordinated Lythogram picks beat five overlapping ones. Agree before the drop who builds damage, who builds utility, and who builds survival.

6. Mobility is a defensive stat. Faster movement makes dodging projectiles easier and boss repositioning safer. When choosing between a defensive stat and speed, speed often wins.

7. Hold scarred weapons if you crash or disconnect mid-run. The devs stated crashes and disconnects should not punish you. Rejoin the previous session before abandoning; rewards survive in most cases. If a performance-caused cancellation happens, no penalty applies.

8. Farm smart, not hard. Keep a farm list at Threat two steps below max where you clear in half the time with near-zero deaths. It stockpiles materials and backup weapons so progression nights can afford an occasional failed extract.

9. Coordinate revives in exposure. When a Weaver goes down inside a hot zone, decide instantly between a fast revive and an orderly retreat. Half measures wipe trios.

10. The chaos is the point. Builds that embrace the escalation, rather than trying to control it, extract with the best stories and the best loot. The compounding systems are designed to get loud.

Performance and Settings

System requirements (Steam EA):

Known issue and fix: very low FPS after entering a mission, common on high-core-count CPUs. Open Options > Settings > Simulation Thread Count and set it to 2. This is the official workaround and the most important performance setting in the game right now. It can restore roughly 80 FPS on systems stuck in slideshow territory. Re-test Auto after major patches.

Graphics philosophy: readability first. Lower shadows and post-processing before resolution if dodge tells become unreadable. Threat 2-plus co-op with three ultimates active is a CPU spike even on recommended GPUs; Thread Count 2 matters more than turning every slider to Low.

Network: wired Ethernet beats Wi-Fi for an always-online title. Avoid VPNs that add latency spikes. If a disconnect happens, relaunch and rejoin the session promptly.

Other tips: close background capture software during co-op, keep 20+ GB free for patches, and run the Easy Anti-Cheat repair tool from the install folder if periodic hitching persists after the thread fix.

Controls (QWERTY defaults, rebindable since 0.6.2):

Gamepad players choose between two official presets; the difference is which face button handles Dodge versus the Third Active Skill. Test both in the tutorial, pick the one where dodge sits under your thumb, and don't change it mid-run.

Early Access Roadmap: The Four Contingencies

The devs structured the EA roadmap across four thematic Contingencies:

• PADDOCK (launch through 2026): onboarding campaign, two additional Weavers planned, arsenal expansion, balance and QoL.
• BLACKSITE (2027): deeper Mythic Protocol lore, new Weavers and threats, and the first raid experience.
• GREYLINE (2027): the larger world, new environments, and systemic reworks of older Mythic species.
• STORMSURGE (2028): mythic hybrids, transformed environments, harder Threat levels, and the countdown to the RIFTSTORM's landfall itself.

Expected Early Access duration is 18 to 24 months. Progression resets are possible during major updates, and the game is expected to cost more at 1.0 than during Early Access.

FAQ

Is RIFTSTORM free to play? No. It launched as a paid Early Access title with a 20% introductory discount. The developers have said the price will rise at 1.0.

Can I play solo offline? Yes, since 0.6.1. Solo-Offline Beta lets you play without connecting to the online service, with save compatibility between modes. Note the offline beta still does not pause when you open menus.

How many players? Up to three in online co-op via Steam Lobby and invite codes. Solo is supported in both online and offline modes.

Is there PvP? No. It is a co-op PvE game. The competitive pressure comes from the extraction decision, not other players.

What happens when I die or fail to extract? You lose the unsecured loot from that mission, and weapons you brought in get scarred: one mod becomes a random negative modifier. Periapt progress and blueprints survive. Since 0.6.2.1 you can repair scarred weapons in the Armory.

What are Lythograms? In-mission roguelite upgrades. They reshape your build for that run only and do not persist.

What are Periapt? The persistent between-mission progression layer. Account-wide nodes for stats, recipes, and Threat unlocks.

What is a Rift Exposure Zone? A dynamic high-intensity area inside missions with denser spawns, better loot, and migrating boundaries. Enter with a timer, leave with margin.

What does Combat Power mean? A derived score from your equipped weapons, mods, and progression. Mission select shows recommended CP; red CP means harder enemies and better rewards. It is a gear gate, not a skill rating.

Which Weaver should I start with? Rook for the smoothest learning curve, Hertz if you play solo, Starling if you want the DPS ceiling. The second Weaver unlocks after about 90 minutes to two hours of onboarding.

Which weapons should I bring? A flexible primary you can repair (high-capacity Assault Rifle base is the solo consensus) and a ranged secondary to remove elites. Keep one scar-safe loadout and one experimental gambit slot.

What enforces the extraction tension? Threat Levels raise baseline difficulty, Rift Exposure Zones add local intensity on top, and Weapon Scarring makes failure sting without wiping your account.

Who is making RIFTSTORM? Confiction Labs, with Indonesian studio Agate as co-developer. Publishers: Confiction Labs and Gamersky Games.

What platforms? Windows 10/11 64-bit on Steam at Early Access launch. Partial controller support and full custom keybinding since 0.6.2.

What languages are supported? English with full audio, plus French, German, Arabic, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese interface support.