Tripping the Rifts

Tripping the Rifts was the Cataclysm launch event Feat of Strength. To receive this achievement, players had to close one of each of the four types of elemental rifts and receive their buffs during the Elemental Unrest.

Elemental invasion camps could be found in every quest zone in Eastern Kingdoms, Kalimdor, Outland and Northrend. They could also be found in Stormwind, Ironforge, Orgrimmar and Thunder Bluff every three hours, from midnight server time (so 00:00, 03:00, 06:00 and so on). Elementals that were found within major cities however, were much more powerful and had to be approached with extreme caution.

The rifts were on a random spawn timer of approximately 50–56 minutes. It appeared all rifts were on the same timer and occurred about the same time.

• Closing any level [counted] towards Tripping the Rifts.
• It was not necessary to have all four buffs at the same time to complete the achievement.
• Rifts de-spawned if not closed within ten minutes.
• Players were only eligible for the daily quest Hammering It Out or A Natural Occurrence from a rift that was within the player's level range. The level range on the tables below indicated the general level range of the zones; however, the actual level range at which players were eligible for quests was slightly wider.
• Defeating an elemental drained the rift of one health point. Elementals defeated by NPCs, pets, or guardians would not be counted for reducing the rift's health unless a player had tagged the elemental.
• The health of each rift varied with the level of the zone it appeared in. Lower level rifts had six health while higher level rifts had twelve health.
• Bringing the rift to zero health closed it and spawned the Mysterious Device in its place.
• Players within range of the rift when it closed were granted a buff. The buff lasted for an hour, but disappeared on death.
• The nature of the buff depended on the type of rift that was destroyed:
• Earth Powered: Each melee attack, ranged attack, harmful spell or healing spell has a chance to heal you for 2% of your maximum health.
• Fire Powered: Each melee attack, ranged attack, or harmful spell has a chance of engulfing the target in flames, dealing X damage over 15 sec. Stacks 5 times. Scales based on player level.
• Water Powered: Each melee attack, ranged attack, harmful spell or healing spell has a chance to increase your Energy, Rage, Mana or Runic Power gain by 15% for 10 seconds.
• Wind Powered: Each melee attack, ranged attack, harmful spell or healing spell has a chance to increase your haste rating by 50 for 10 sec.

The rift types could be found in the following zones before the Shattering:

Rumbling Elementals could be found at the Earth Elemental Rifts before the Shattering. Note: Rumbling Elementals are immune to nature magic.

Searing Elementals could be found at the Fire Elemental Rifts before the Shattering. Note: Searing Elementals are immune to fire magic.

Surging Elementals could be found at the Water Elemental Rifts before the Shattering. Note: Surging Elementals are immune to frost magic.

Gusting Elementals could be found at the Wind Elemental Rifts before the Shattering. Note: Gusting Elementals are immune to nature magic.

Note that the coordinates displayed on the maps are for the continent pre-Shattering, not for the zone in which the spawn locations can be found, and are no longer applicable in-game as the event has passed, and the world is geographically different.

On the maps below, represents Earth, represents Fire, represents Water, and represents Wind Rifts.

When you closed a rift, a Mysterious Device was left behind for a short period of time.