Alright so I gotta come clean – I was farming these totally wrong for WEEKS. Seriously, wasting so much time bashing monsters hoping they’d drop Death’s Breath. Then some random guy whispers me after a dungeon run and goes “Dude, you know they drop WAY more in Nephalem Rifts right?” Felt kinda dumb honestly.
What Gear I Grabbed First
Went straight to my stash. Found this old helm I’d saved months ago gathering dust – had a pretty weak socketed yellow topaz in it. Swapped that thing out for the biggest emerald I owned. Not perfect but hey, +25% chance right there. Threw on every “extra gold find” piece I could dig up too. Figured more gold = more Breath chances since they kinda drop together. Grabbed my fastest weapon with a Movement Speed bonus – speed is EVERYTHING here.
Where I Actually Ran
Skipped story mode completely. Camp dude -> Nephalem Obelisk -> popped a regular Rift key. No Greater Rifts, no fancy stuff. Teleported straight to Tristram fields once inside cause dense monster packs spawn FAST there. Didn’t even bother finishing the damn Rift! Cleared out Tristram, maybe shoved my way into Cathedral a bit if monsters were thin, then TP’d out like a chicken. Closed that rift. Repeat. Literally that simple.
How I Actually Killed Stuff
No fancy rotations. See mob? Smash it FAST. Teleport right into clumps of dudes – archers, knights, zombies, didn’t matter. Spammed my fastest AoE spells like a madman. Ignored elites unless they stumbled right in front of me. Speedrun rules: Kill tons of trash super fast, leave stragglers behind. Focused on sheer kill VOLUME over tough targets. My potion button got worn out from constant gulping!
Big Mistake I Fixed
First session? Only got like 20 Breaths in 30 minutes. Felt like garbage. Then realized my Magic Find was basically ZERO. Swapped all my armor gems to topaz ASAP. Found an old pair of goldwrap pants buried deep – boom +35% MF right there. Next run I grabbed 28 Breaths in the same time. HUGE difference! Lesson? Stack that Magic Find even if the stats suck otherwise. Also kept pets unequipped – they pick up gold super slow and slow YOU down!
What Actually Worked Best
After testing hard for 3 days? This simple loop sux for loot except for Breaths:
- Pop Regular Rift
- Teleport ONLY to Tristram/Cathedral entrance
- Blast EVERY trash mob cluster in under 3 minutes
- TP out without finishing
- Close Rift, repeat
Ended up averaging like 400 Breaths per hour. Crazy compared to my old open-world wandering. Key takeaway? Density + Speed + Basic MF. No complicated stuff needed. Still feels weird leaving Rifts unfinished, but hey it works!
