Poly Loot Archmage Vex: Rift Timer, Rift Keys and Shadow Katana

How do you fight Archmage Vex?

Through his rift, in the Dark Forest. The official V3 notes give the rules in two lines: “Enter Archmage Vex’s rift at level 100, which opens in the Dark Forest every 20 minutes” and “Beat him with up to 8 players.”

So three things gate the fight:

• Level 100. Below that you cannot enter. The leveling guide shows how few players get there: the Level 100 badge had been earned 80,365 times by October 31, 2026, against 643,139 for Level 10.
• A 20-minute timer. The rift opens on its own every 20 minutes.
• An 8-player cap. Servers hold 10 players since V3, so a full server cannot all fit. One player filed “Rift can only hold 8” as a bug on October 5, but the cap is what the notes describe.

That is a different shape from the world bosses. The King Chicken, Spider, Triple Head Cobra and Cursed Owl are fought out in the open by whoever turns up; Vex is closer to a raid, with a door, a level check and a headcount.

What is a Rift Key, and where do you get one?

A Rift Key opens his rift yourself, without waiting for the 20-minute timer. The notes name three sources:

Lyra’s is the only guaranteed one, and it is a one-time quest reward. After that, keys come from the Dark Dungeon, which needs level 150, or from Vex himself. The Roblox store had no Rift Key product on October 4, 2026, so they cannot be bought.

What does Archmage Vex drop?

Starfall is one of three Godly enchantments V3 added, and the only one tied to him. The enchants page lists all of them. The scrolls are covered on the tier scrolls guide.

What has changed since launch?

Three updates have adjusted the fight’s rewards:

• Coins are now shared. Since October 10, “Archmage Vex’s 20,000 coins are now shared between everyone who wins, Solo now gives 10,000 coins”. So a big group splits the pot, and a solo win pays more than a share of a group of three or more.
• XP scales. Since October 17, his rift “now gives XP based on your level”.
• Rarer drops. Since October 10, his rift keys are “slightly lowered” and Starfall drops less often. The notes give no new numbers.
• Rarer keys again. The V4.5 notes on October 31 say “Archmage Vex drops Rift Keys less often”, also with no number. One player in the official Discord puts the base rate at 1% and argues it hurts newer players (unverified).

The same notes fixed players being put under the map after beating him. A V4.5 follow-up post also fixed his rift opening on the Beach instead of the Dark Forest. That rift at the Beach is now Abyssor’s, a higher-level fight on the same 20-minute timer.

How rare is the Shadow Katana?

0.01% — 1 in 10,000 per win. The notes say “Archmage Vex has a 0.01% chance to drop the Secret Shadow Katana.”

Two comparisons put that in context. It is the same odds the game gives for rolling a Z tier on an item, which its own badge describes as 1 in 10,000. And it is far rarer than the other headline drop of the update, the Godly Soul Scythe, which the Dark Dungeon drops at 1 in 250.

At one rift every 20 minutes, the timer alone allows 72 fights a day, so a katana from timer runs is not a realistic plan. Rift Keys are what make repeated attempts possible, which is why every source of them matters.

How many players have beaten him?

The official “Archmage Vex” badge (“Defeat Archmage Vex!”) had been earned 17,340 times by October 31, 2026, with a 1.5% win rate listed by Roblox.

He is the least-beaten of the three, even though his level gate (100) is lower than the Dark Dungeon’s (150). The Dark Forest page covers the area all three share.

Sources

• Poly Loot official Discord announcements (U6, 2026-10-10, 2026-10-17 and 2026-10-31 posts): the shared coins, lowered rift keys, Starfall drop change, XP by level, the under-the-map fix and the Beach rift fix. official
• Poly Loot official Discord, #suggestions (A84, 2026-11-01): a player’s 1% figure for Rift Keys. community
• Roblox badge data for Poly Loot (A70, read 2026-10-31): the current badge counts and win rates. official
• Poly Loot official Discord announcements (U6, 2026-10-03 17:00 UTC post, “V3 | Dark Forest Update”): the rift, its 20-minute timer, the level 100 gate, the 8-player cap, the rewards, Rift Keys and their sources, the 0.01% Shadow Katana, Starfall, the Archmage’s Fall banner and 10-player servers. official
• Roblox badge data for Poly Loot (A59, A62): the Archmage Vex badge and the October 4, 2026 counts; the Z Tier badge description (“1/10000”); the Level 100 win rate. official
• Roblox developer products for Poly Loot (A62): no Rift Key product on October 4, 2026. official
• Poly Loot official Discord, #bug-report (A68, threads of 2026-10-04 and 2026-10-05): the ice wall report and the “Rift can only hold 8” thread. community