It's funny hearing complaints like this, the game is supposed to be enjoyed in all aspects of it and not frustrated because things don't go your way. The idea of the rifts is to test your builds and see how far you can get based on your particular build and play style, to totally depend on Pylons and shrines defeats that purpose.
Clearly the "idea of rifts" failed then, since there's more than a 5 level gap between rifts that you can clear or fail while playing the same character/build.
T7 chicken or push grifts, ill stick with the chicken in casual mode. Ill let real life frustrate me, not a poorly designed video game. Best of luck