Farming Rogue-like Dungeons: The Five Locations, Keys, and the Run Pattern

How they all work

Grasp the three shared rules - key, one-way, exit - and every dungeon runs on the same template.

• ▸Rogue-like dungeons are the high-difficulty sections behind a Skeleton Key-locked gate - a big payout per run in exchange for tighter rules than open maps (one key is spent per gate opened).
• ▸Inside, personal rifts (including travel to town) are disabled. Once in, you cannot pop back to reorganize bags or restock.
• ▸Doors are one-way: passing through shuts them, and they won't open from the inside. The only ways out are death or clearing the dungeon.
• ▸No re-entry within the same session - to run it again, return to the main menu and start a new session.
• ▸A level-scaled fixed boss waits at the bottom; killing it opens the treasure trove. After looting it, touch the stele-like exit object in the vault to be teleported back to the entrance and leave - that ends the run.

Preparing Skeleton Keys

• ▸A Skeleton Key is the consumable that opens a rogue-like dungeon's door - one key is spent per door opened.
• ▸The blueprint is an Act 2 side-quest reward, and the key is crafted at the blacksmith; with materials in hand you can make them repeatedly.
• ▸If you farm these, keep one or two keys in stock so you can jump in whenever (see Mid Game Money).
• ▸Keys are not soulbound, so you can park them in the shared stash and share across characters - just note Hardcore and Softcore keep separate stashes.

Choosing among the five

Which dungeons you can reach depends on DLC and progress. Start with Steps of Torment; graduate to Ancient Grove and Tomb of the Heretic.

• ▸Steps of Torment: Act 2, south from the Broken Hills rift. The first one reachable in the base game and the standard pick for Elite-tier farming.
• ▸Port Valbury: Act 3, northeast of Homestead. A base-game dungeon.
• ▸Bastion of Chaos: Act 4, northwest of the rift inside the Necropolis. A base-game dungeon.
• ▸Ancient Grove: Act 5, east of the Coven's refuge. AoM only, with higher difficulty and better rewards.
• ▸Tomb of the Heretic: Act 7, beyond the Lost Oasis rift. FG only.
• ▸You reach each dungeon's entrance in the course of its associated side quest. With FG on Ultimate, the four pieces of the Vanquisher set are each assigned to one of the first four dungeons (Steps of Torment, Port Valbury, Bastion of Chaos, Ancient Grove), one piece apiece. Tomb of the Heretic alone drops its own Armor of the Eternal Night set, so pick the dungeon by the piece or set you want (see item pages for which dungeon gives which piece).

Running one, and alternatives

Steps of Torment as the worked example. Because it is one-way, the prep before you enter is everything.

• ▸Prerequisites: Act 2 access, one Skeleton Key, free bag space, and consumables ready.
• ▸Start at the Broken Hills rift, enter Steps of Torment, pass the initial non-key floors, and spend the Skeleton Key at the locked inner gate to enter the rogue-like section.
• ▸Descend floor by floor to the level-scaled fixed boss at the bottom and kill it. Loot the treasure trove that opens, then touch the stele-like exit object in the vault to warp back to the entrance - that ends the run.
• ▸End condition: boss kill, trove pickup, and the exit warp. With no personal rifts, one-way doors, and no same-session re-entry, a stuck run has no exit but death (be especially careful on Hardcore).
• ▸Alternatives: Steps of Torment until your gear is set, then Ancient Grove or Tomb of the Heretic as your damage and resistances grow. A single run yields vendor income and blueprints, and - on Ultimate with FG - a low chance at your assigned Vanquisher-set piece from the final vault, or an Armor of the Eternal Night piece in Tomb of the Heretic (see Collecting Blueprints and Farming Legendaries).

1. Grim Dawn Japanese Wiki: Tips — Confirms the five rogue-like dungeons and their locations (Steps of Torment - Act 2 south of Broken Hills; Port Valbury - Act 3 NE of Homestead; Bastion of Chaos - Act 4 NW of the rift inside the Necropolis; Ancient Grove - Act 5 east of the Coven refuge, AoM; Tomb of the Heretic - Act 7 Lost Oasis, FG), the Skeleton Key requirement (blueprint from an Act 2 side quest, crafted at the blacksmith, one per gate), the internal constraints (no personal rifts, one-way, exit only by death or clearing, no same-session re-entry), the bottom boss with its treasure trove (kill, loot, then the stele exit warps you to the entrance), and on FG + Ultimate the Vanquisher set's four pieces each assigned to one of the first four dungeons (a low-chance drop from each final vault) while Tomb of the Heretic drops its own Armor of the Eternal Night set.
2. Official Grim Dawn Game Guide: Ashes of Malmouth — Confirms Ancient Grove is an Ashes of Malmouth feature (one basis for including AoM in requiredDlc).
3. Official Grim Dawn Game Guide: Forgotten Gods — Confirms Tomb of the Heretic and other FG content belong to the Forgotten Gods expansion (which requires the base game and AoM), the basis for requiredDlc.
4. Official Crate Forum: Grim Dawn v1.2.1.6 + Hotfix — Official patch notes for the verified version.