Delves are short instanced adventures you enter directly from the open world — no group finder, no key. Get to max level, open your map, and look for the Delve entrance icons dotted around the zones. Walk to one, click the entrance, pick a difficulty tier, and go. Tier 1 is available from the start; higher tiers unlock as you complete lower ones.
How to start your first Delve, step by step
- Hit max level on the current expansion. Delves are endgame content — they scale, but they're built for capped characters.
- Do the intro quest. When you reach the relevant zones you'll be pointed toward Delves by a quest breadcrumb. Following it unlocks the system's UI and your companion.
- Open the world map and switch to the current expansion's continent. Delve entrances show as their own distinct icon, separate from dungeon portals and world quests.
- Fly or ride to the entrance — Delves sit in the open world, not behind a teleport menu. Most are caves, mineshafts, sunken structures or similar.
- Pick a tier at the entrance. Start at Tier 1 or 2 to learn the layout, then step up.
- Loot the chest at the end. The reward chest at the bottom is the point — it's your main solo gearing path.
Quick facts
- Group size: 1 to 5 players. Fully soloable — you get an NPC companion who heals, tanks or DPSes depending on how you spec them.
- Lockout: Delves themselves are repeatable; the bonus loot from the end chest is what's limited per week.
- Key requirement: The big weekly reward chest wants a coffer key. Keys come from open-world activities, so farming them is a real chore for a lot of players.
- Tiers: Difficulty tiers scale up in enemy health, damage and reward level. You unlock the next tier by clearing the one below it.
- Companion: Your NPC helper levels up alongside you and gains talent-like choices. Investing in them makes higher tiers dramatically easier.
Where exactly do I find Delves on the map?
They're placed across the current expansion's leveling zones, usually several per zone, and they're marked with their own map icon rather than the standard dungeon portal symbol. If you don't see them, you probably haven't picked up the unlock quest yet, or you're looking at the wrong continent's map.
Zoom into a single zone rather than viewing the whole continent — icons get crowded at continent zoom and Delve markers are easy to miss next to world quest pins.
What tier should I start at?
Start at Tier 1 or 2 even if you're geared. The first run teaches you the layout, the mechanic gimmick of that specific Delve, and how your companion behaves. Then jump several tiers at once — the early tiers are trivially easy for anyone in decent gear, and you're only losing time by grinding through them one at a time.
The wall most players hit is in the upper tiers, where mechanics stop being optional and your companion's build starts to matter more than your item level.
Are Delves worth doing for gear?
Yes, especially early in a season. They're the fastest solo route from fresh-max-level to raid- or dungeon-ready gear, and they don't require you to find a group or pass anyone's invite check. Later in a season their ceiling falls behind organized content, but as a starting engine they're excellent.
Do I need the coffer keys?
For the full weekly value, yes. Without a key you still clear the Delve and get the normal drops, but the bonus chest stays shut. Keys are earned through open-world activity, which is why key farming is one of the most common things players outsource.
If the grind is the part you'd rather skip, PewPewShop has vetted human players who handle it as coaching or play-together progression help — Delves Boost from EUR 17, Delve Tier Unlock from EUR 12, or Coffer Key Farm from EUR 16 if it's purely the key chore you're tired of. No bots, no cheats, and you're welcome to just take the tier-skip advice above and do it yourself.