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[RIFT] Beta Keys available in thread, next Beta event begins Feb 4th
Ellthiteren
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
RIFT is a new MMO that will be launching on March 1st, 2011, with a headstart for those who pre-order beginning on February 24th, 2011. Pre-ordering gets you into the remaining beta tests as well! You can pre-order directly from Trion, through Steam for the Steam fanatics out there, and from plenty of other locations. More info can be found here.
If you need a beta key, just ask in this thread. For those of you who have pre-ordered or have otherwise acquired beta keys, we're setting up two PA guilds starting with the Beta 5 event.
PA Beta Guilds:
The Six Mouths, Sunrest RP-PvP Server, Guardian Faction. Contact person: Ellthiteren (Do /who Six Mouths. You can ask anyone in the guild for an invite.)
Ambulatory Dresser, Faeblight RP-PvE Server, Guardian Faction. Contact person: SimpsonsParadox (Jeaa or Katheresa in game)
The next beta event takes place from Feb. 4th through the morning of Feb 7th.
Here is RIFT's official description:
Join legions of adventurers in RIFT™, a new fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) set in a world being torn apart.
Rifts violently rip into reality across the land and release powerful forces that threaten the very existence of Telara. Each breach brings with it new characters, events, and treasures, while the world itself changes dynamically around you.
Play with your friends across vast, lavishly detailed environments, or go head-to-head in challenging Player versus Player (PvP) combat as you battle to uncover the secrets of the planes. Build and advance your character using an innovative new class system with limitless possibilities.
The rifts have divided the people and endanger the world. Whether you fight to seal the rifts forever, or harness their power for your own, epic adventures lie ahead for those willing to fight for the future of Telara.
Here are some pretty pictures:
And here are some videos:
Guardian Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0JirfhEPhE
Defiant Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD0nRD4jTRI
Other Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GXQLESmfX4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5kJ5IOZNz4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-4djlnO83I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH39BTRzx2Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGi1d9U4BXE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a97I2c-FPMo
Hartsman talks Rift:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j68253f4wbE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz7QqWXGjNo
Defiant Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD0nRD4jTRI
Other Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GXQLESmfX4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5kJ5IOZNz4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-4djlnO83I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH39BTRzx2Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGi1d9U4BXE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a97I2c-FPMo
Hartsman talks Rift:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j68253f4wbE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz7QqWXGjNo
RIFT will feel very familiar if you've played MMOs in the style of WoW, WAR, LOTRO, and the like, but there are some standout features that have a bunch of us pretty excited.
Your Character:
RIFT has a very unique character creation and customization system. First, you choose your calling: Warrior, Rogue, Cleric, or Mage.
Your calling determines the Souls available to you. Each Calling has nine Souls, and each Soul has numerous different abilities. You can mix and match up to three Souls in each of your character builds. Each Soul has a talent tree (top ability requires 31 points, 51 points can be applied) through which abilities are unlocked. You max out at 66 points at level 50.
In addition, each character has up to four Roles, which are character builds that you can switch between at any time. For example, a Rogue could have a Melee DPS Role, a Ranged DPS Role, a Tank Role, and a Support Role. Same for the other Callings.
*** To really understand how all of this works, check out this character builder. ***
Warrior Souls:
Paladin - Tank
Warlord - Tank, Buffs
Beastmaster - Melee DPS + Pet
Champion - Melee DPS, Burst, Two Hander
Paragon - Melee DPS, Sustained, Dual Wield
Reaver - Aoe DPS, Tank
Riftblade - Elemental DPS
Void Knight - Anti-Caster, Tank
Vindicator - The Warrior PvP Soul, has a variety of PvP-centric abilities and bonuses. Only 21 points can be applied here.
Rogue Souls:
Warlord - Tank, Buffs
Beastmaster - Melee DPS + Pet
Champion - Melee DPS, Burst, Two Hander
Paragon - Melee DPS, Sustained, Dual Wield
Reaver - Aoe DPS, Tank
Riftblade - Elemental DPS
Void Knight - Anti-Caster, Tank
Vindicator - The Warrior PvP Soul, has a variety of PvP-centric abilities and bonuses. Only 21 points can be applied here.
Bladedancer - Melee DPS, Frontal - Charge in, smack the enemy in the face repeatedly. You also get some dodge/parry bonuses, reactive abilities, and a small amount of AoE.
Assassin - Melee DPS, Positional - Attack the enemy from stealth and backstab away from behind. Plus you get poisons.
Nightblade - Melee/Mid-Range DPS + Stealth - Attack the enemy from stealth, with the option of closing to melee range or staying a bit further out. The Nightblade abilities do elemental damage (fire and death) instead of physical damage, great for targets with lower elemental resistances / higher physical resistances.
Riftstalker - Tanking + Teleports - The Riftstalker is the rogue tanking soul. Unlike Warrior tanking souls, you are more focused on damage reduction than damage avoidance, through a large variety of self-buffs available to you. You also get a bunch of teleports that grant you even more buffs in combat. You ARE an effective tank.
Ranger - Ranged DPS + Pets - The Ranger gets a variety of pets as well as numerous ranged attacks.
Marksman - Ranged DPS + Kiting - The Marksman gets some really hard hitting ranged attacks (if you're standing still) as well as a bunch of abilities that make kiting a viable option.
Saboteur - Ranged DPS / AoE - The Saboteur is an interesting soul. You have a bunch of traps you can set and bombs you can throw, each with different effects. Your add charges to your target to build up combo points, and then detonate those charges for a big nuke plus all of the associated status effects. There are seven or so different charges: damage, damage over time, aoe damage, stun, slow, armor reduction, and damage increase (I think).
Bard - Support / Healing - You have a huge number of buffs - one for statistics (pick between str/dex, int/wis, or endurance), one for other stuff (pick between armor, magic resistance, movement speed, ability cost), plus up to six Motifs that must be refreshed every 30 seconds and provide a bunch of combat bonuses. Your combo point builder heals your group, and your finishers debuff, damage (single target or AoE), or heal, depending on which one you use.
Infiltrator - The Rogue PvP Soul, has a variety of PvP-centric abilities and bonuses. Only 21 points can be applied here.
Rogue abilities cost energy to use - you have a max of 100 energy, and it regenerates slowly during combat. You build up combo points and then use finishers, which do greater damage, have greater effects, or have greater durations with more combo points.
Cleric Souls:
Assassin - Melee DPS, Positional - Attack the enemy from stealth and backstab away from behind. Plus you get poisons.
Nightblade - Melee/Mid-Range DPS + Stealth - Attack the enemy from stealth, with the option of closing to melee range or staying a bit further out. The Nightblade abilities do elemental damage (fire and death) instead of physical damage, great for targets with lower elemental resistances / higher physical resistances.
Riftstalker - Tanking + Teleports - The Riftstalker is the rogue tanking soul. Unlike Warrior tanking souls, you are more focused on damage reduction than damage avoidance, through a large variety of self-buffs available to you. You also get a bunch of teleports that grant you even more buffs in combat. You ARE an effective tank.
Ranger - Ranged DPS + Pets - The Ranger gets a variety of pets as well as numerous ranged attacks.
Marksman - Ranged DPS + Kiting - The Marksman gets some really hard hitting ranged attacks (if you're standing still) as well as a bunch of abilities that make kiting a viable option.
Saboteur - Ranged DPS / AoE - The Saboteur is an interesting soul. You have a bunch of traps you can set and bombs you can throw, each with different effects. Your add charges to your target to build up combo points, and then detonate those charges for a big nuke plus all of the associated status effects. There are seven or so different charges: damage, damage over time, aoe damage, stun, slow, armor reduction, and damage increase (I think).
Bard - Support / Healing - You have a huge number of buffs - one for statistics (pick between str/dex, int/wis, or endurance), one for other stuff (pick between armor, magic resistance, movement speed, ability cost), plus up to six Motifs that must be refreshed every 30 seconds and provide a bunch of combat bonuses. Your combo point builder heals your group, and your finishers debuff, damage (single target or AoE), or heal, depending on which one you use.
Infiltrator - The Rogue PvP Soul, has a variety of PvP-centric abilities and bonuses. Only 21 points can be applied here.
Rogue abilities cost energy to use - you have a max of 100 energy, and it regenerates slowly during combat. You build up combo points and then use finishers, which do greater damage, have greater effects, or have greater durations with more combo points.
Purifier - Single Target Healing
Sentinel - AoE Healing
Warden - Healing Over Time
Justicar - Tanking + Some Healing
Inquisitor - Ranged DPS
Druid - Melee DPS + Pet
Cabalist - DPS of some sort
Shaman - Melee DPS
Templar - The Cleric PvP Soul, has a variety of PvP-centric abilities and bonuses. Only 21 points can be applied here.
Mage Souls:
Sentinel - AoE Healing
Warden - Healing Over Time
Justicar - Tanking + Some Healing
Inquisitor - Ranged DPS
Druid - Melee DPS + Pet
Cabalist - DPS of some sort
Shaman - Melee DPS
Templar - The Cleric PvP Soul, has a variety of PvP-centric abilities and bonuses. Only 21 points can be applied here.
Archon - Debuff Enemy, Buff Self/Allies
Dominator - Crowd Control
Elementalist - Pets
Chloromancer - Healing (through doing damage)
Pyromancer - Single Target Nukes
Stormcaller - AoE
Warlock - Damage over Time
Necromancer - Pet + Lifesteal?
Archmage - The Mage PvP Soul, has a variety of PvP-centric abilities and bonuses. Only 21 points can be applied here.
Dominator - Crowd Control
Elementalist - Pets
Chloromancer - Healing (through doing damage)
Pyromancer - Single Target Nukes
Stormcaller - AoE
Warlock - Damage over Time
Necromancer - Pet + Lifesteal?
Archmage - The Mage PvP Soul, has a variety of PvP-centric abilities and bonuses. Only 21 points can be applied here.
Rifts - Dynamic World Events...Really!
The signature feature of the game, Rifts are holes in the planes through which monstrous elemental creatures come to attack Telara. They look like this:
Individual rifts open on their own around the world map. You can also choose to open them at various locations. Sometimes they also appear during quests:
And sometimes, they appear as massive, dynamic world events, triggered by players and resolved by players, as our very own Archonex describes here:
So I just experienced an invasion.
And I don't mean the piddly little "squad of troops marches to a town and tries to burn it to the ground" invasion.
I mean "Cthulu has risen from the depths of Rl'yeh, and seeks to devour the world" sort of invasion.
Me and some group mates were on a peninsula in the Free Marches, fighting some group of artillery men water cultists, trying to close a rift. Which is when we apparently accidentally flipped some sort of pre-programmed trigger that triggered the apocalypse.
See, by this point, I had assumed that Rifts were pretty bog standard PQ's with a twist. If you don't close them, they start spawning troops that will gladly overrun the zone and shut down questing until they're taken care of. And the rifts never stop spawning them. You get rewarded pretty heavily for attacking rifts, however, so you're always wanting to actually attack these things.
So, we close this rift. And all of a sudden a voice rises up from the sea. Apparently by closing that last water rift we pissed off the in-game equivalent of Cthulu. He starts screaming at us, calling us false ascended, traitors, etc, etc. While a goddamn turncoat cultist of death on our side back at Kings Retreat basically shit talks the lovecraftian abomination (Ballsy move, I gotta say.) and ticks it off to the point where it launches a full scale assault on the zone.
Now. I should clarify on this. This wasn't just a couple portals to some stygian un-reality opening. This was a full fledged attempt to sink the zone under the sea. Hundreds of fleshless horrors that were over-leveled for the zone, and looked like something out of Lovecraft's worst nightmares came charging out of the ocean. Portals to another reality opened across the width and breadth of the zone, spewing water from nowhere and everywhere at once, slimy tentacles writhing from them in the air, disgorging their own elite, lovecraftian horrors. Strange, alien growths appeared on the ground throughout the zone, as if the land itself was changing to some sort of alien gods whim.
In short, all hell broke loose. After the initial shock on general chat (Which mainly amounted to people saying "holy shit!", "help!", and "THE'YRE KILLING EVERYTHING".), a raid got together and we started fighting back.
Across the verdant, drowned fields of the Free Marches, we rallied and began to kick ass. Killing at least fifty of the stygian horrors as we marched south to the beacons they were building, struggling to keep the NPC AI from taking the zone (Which apparently they're quite capable of doing. They had to build beacons, RTS style. And they were succeeding for awhile.). We even pursued our man-hunt to kill the monster that rose from the sea, under the sea, finding marks of his favor and hacking them to pieces.
Meanwhile, the sky darkened. And the ground under our feet got wetter and wetter, until in some areas, we were literally walking in ankle deep water at all times.
The Kelari village got burned (Drowned?) to the ground at some point, no clue when. Which is a shame, because not twenty minutes before it fell, I paid it a visit and upgraded it's wardstone to the highest tier.
The Kings Retreat, the most secure area in the northern half of the zone, also came under attack a few times, though a second battalion of ascended formed and marched down the main roads to meet the huge invasion force that had gathered, and was incoming toward's it, so it was saved.
There were easily 20 rifts open, and god knows how many eldritch abominations running around. When I logged out after the invasion, twenty minutes later, the southern half of the zone was still covered in rifts that were disgorging a dozen invasion forces, despite the event being officially "over".
Eventually, after an hour of marching around and hard combat, we finally managed to face off with the monster that started the zone wide event. It died. And I got myself a special orb, an epic item, that can be used to trade for epic quality gear, even at my level.
That was probably the most badass, awesome thing i've ever done in a MMO. Some of the scenes from it looked like they should have been on the cover of a death metal album, and it was definitely dynamic content on a zone wide scale. We had a frigging militia forming to defend the towns, for instance. For no other reason then to not lose them.
And I don't mean the piddly little "squad of troops marches to a town and tries to burn it to the ground" invasion.
I mean "Cthulu has risen from the depths of Rl'yeh, and seeks to devour the world" sort of invasion.
Me and some group mates were on a peninsula in the Free Marches, fighting some group of artillery men water cultists, trying to close a rift. Which is when we apparently accidentally flipped some sort of pre-programmed trigger that triggered the apocalypse.
See, by this point, I had assumed that Rifts were pretty bog standard PQ's with a twist. If you don't close them, they start spawning troops that will gladly overrun the zone and shut down questing until they're taken care of. And the rifts never stop spawning them. You get rewarded pretty heavily for attacking rifts, however, so you're always wanting to actually attack these things.
So, we close this rift. And all of a sudden a voice rises up from the sea. Apparently by closing that last water rift we pissed off the in-game equivalent of Cthulu. He starts screaming at us, calling us false ascended, traitors, etc, etc. While a goddamn turncoat cultist of death on our side back at Kings Retreat basically shit talks the lovecraftian abomination (Ballsy move, I gotta say.) and ticks it off to the point where it launches a full scale assault on the zone.
Now. I should clarify on this. This wasn't just a couple portals to some stygian un-reality opening. This was a full fledged attempt to sink the zone under the sea. Hundreds of fleshless horrors that were over-leveled for the zone, and looked like something out of Lovecraft's worst nightmares came charging out of the ocean. Portals to another reality opened across the width and breadth of the zone, spewing water from nowhere and everywhere at once, slimy tentacles writhing from them in the air, disgorging their own elite, lovecraftian horrors. Strange, alien growths appeared on the ground throughout the zone, as if the land itself was changing to some sort of alien gods whim.
In short, all hell broke loose. After the initial shock on general chat (Which mainly amounted to people saying "holy shit!", "help!", and "THE'YRE KILLING EVERYTHING".), a raid got together and we started fighting back.
Across the verdant, drowned fields of the Free Marches, we rallied and began to kick ass. Killing at least fifty of the stygian horrors as we marched south to the beacons they were building, struggling to keep the NPC AI from taking the zone (Which apparently they're quite capable of doing. They had to build beacons, RTS style. And they were succeeding for awhile.). We even pursued our man-hunt to kill the monster that rose from the sea, under the sea, finding marks of his favor and hacking them to pieces.
Meanwhile, the sky darkened. And the ground under our feet got wetter and wetter, until in some areas, we were literally walking in ankle deep water at all times.
The Kelari village got burned (Drowned?) to the ground at some point, no clue when. Which is a shame, because not twenty minutes before it fell, I paid it a visit and upgraded it's wardstone to the highest tier.
The Kings Retreat, the most secure area in the northern half of the zone, also came under attack a few times, though a second battalion of ascended formed and marched down the main roads to meet the huge invasion force that had gathered, and was incoming toward's it, so it was saved.
There were easily 20 rifts open, and god knows how many eldritch abominations running around. When I logged out after the invasion, twenty minutes later, the southern half of the zone was still covered in rifts that were disgorging a dozen invasion forces, despite the event being officially "over".
Eventually, after an hour of marching around and hard combat, we finally managed to face off with the monster that started the zone wide event. It died. And I got myself a special orb, an epic item, that can be used to trade for epic quality gear, even at my level.
That was probably the most badass, awesome thing i've ever done in a MMO. Some of the scenes from it looked like they should have been on the cover of a death metal album, and it was definitely dynamic content on a zone wide scale. We had a frigging militia forming to defend the towns, for instance. For no other reason then to not lose them.
PvE: Dungeons and Such
There are about ten instanced dungeons in Rift, and they're all available again as "expert mode" dungeons with different layouts and bosses once you hit level 50. Raids will be in as well, 20 people max, although we don't know much about them yet.
Current Dungeon and Raid List:
Realm of the Fae - Silverwood - Level 15+
Iron Tombs - Freemarch - Level 15+
Darkening Deeps - Gloamwood - Level 20+
Deepstrike Mines - Stonefield - Level 20+
Foul Cascade - Available beginning Beta 5.
Here are some videos of boss fights in the early dungeons:
And here are some scenes from the dungeons available so far:
PvP: Yeah, RIFT has that too
If you're into PvP, there will be PvP servers. Here's a link to a description of the PvP ruleset and the opportunities for open world PvP.
We also know that there will be several Warfronts, basically instanced 10v10 (or more) battlegrounds that you queue up for. Warfronts that we've seen so far include:
-The Codex - 15v15, get points for holding different locations
-The Black Garden - 10v10, get points for controlling the Fang of Regulos, which does more and more damage to you the longer you're holding it
Important Links:
Official RIFT Website: http://www.riftgame.com/en/
Character Builder: http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html
PA Beta Guilds:
The Six Mouths, Sunrest RP-PvP Server, Guardian Faction. Contact person: Ellthiteren (Jeran or Naimi in game)
Ambulatory Dresser, Faeblight RP-PvE Server, Guardian Faction. Contact person: SimpsonsParadox (Jeaa or Katheresa in game)
Ellthiteren on
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This discussion has been closed.
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SteamID: devCharles
twitter: https://twitter.com/charlesewise
Jees lurk much? Six posts over four years!
In the first zone, approximately levels 1-6, there isn't any PvP. It is just a starter zone that you can't access again once you depart. The second zone, Silverwood or Freemarch, is for levels 6-20 or so. You are not automatically flagged for PvP in these zones. You can flag yourself if you wish, of course.
The third zone, Gloamwood or Stonefield, on both sides, is for levels 20-27 or so. I'm not sure if you get flagged for PvP in this zone or not. I believe you are flagged for PvP once you enter these zones. The fourth zone, shared by both sides, is for levels 27+ and you are flagged for PvP once you enter this zone (and all remaining zones, I assume).
Summary: You can't be griefed until at least level 20, possible a bit higher. Even then, in my experience you are far more likely to get ganked by an elemental invasion than by an opposing player. The death penalty is very lenient, so no worries there. And people seem to be mostly focusing on warfronts for their PvP at this point, anyway.
SteamID: devCharles
twitter: https://twitter.com/charlesewise
Or you can take one of our billion VIP beta keys and check out the rest of the beta!
Xbox GT: Master Vinter Steam: Vinter PSN: VinterM 3DS: 4699-5853-7381
Xbox GT: Master Vinter Steam: Vinter PSN: VinterM 3DS: 4699-5853-7381
If you get that you're awesome.
On that note the Drake things from the Death Rifts actually give me that whole demon dog vibe from the movie.
But with wings.
Dwarves, motherfuckin' Dwarves, hell yeah.
I'm making a Dwarf rogue.
Edit: Got one from Arthil, thanks!
Black Desert: Family Name: Foolery. Characters: Tome & Beerserk.
(Retired) GW2 Characters (Fort Aspenwood): Roy Gee Biv
(Retired) Let's Play: Lone Wolf
Oh no... even simple ones like WoW suck up tons of my time. If I'm making a character I'm gonna spend HOURS upon HOURS playing, I need to know he looks perfect and will match my playstyle. You can imagine the mindf*** that was aion!
Image by Sharpwriter on deviantart.com
IGNORE, KEY GOTTEN
I don't believe you can send it cross-faction, but thanks for the thought! I actually already have a minion assigned to money-giving duty
This. And I don't even know how most stuff actually works yet.
But I want to try out the other archetypes more fully before the official release so whats a good rogue class to play as? I dont think I want to really try ranger/marksman since they just remind me of being a hunter from WoW.
3DS: 2852-6809-9411
If you play the Rogue calling, you owe it to yourself to play Riftstalker. It's the rogue tanking soul and it's built around teleporting around with each teleport giving you a slew of buffs, from +crit chance (for DPSing) to less damage/a damage shield (for tanking) and, given that the buffs only last 15 seconds (but you have 5 teleports on 45 second CD's) the game heavily rewards you for bouncing around the battlefield like a pinball. It's great.
Gonna also try a necro cause I always like necromancers.
3DS: 2852-6809-9411
I've always loved the animations for archery, and when my ranger in EQ1 had AM 3 and Endless Quiver, he was a monster.
Battletag: Kain#1658
Which is not inherently bad, but based on my admittedly limited experience with the Age Of Conan stress test, very little playing of the actual game may be involved.
All those codes, are VIP ones, giving everyone who gets one access to the remaining three beta events.
But yeah the fact that there will be a LOT more people makes me not look forward to the contested zone, if I do decide to join the guys on the RP-PvP server.
Also from mentioning the videos. Nothing makes me enrage quicker than hearing some nasally british fop mumble on about how "Like WoW, lawl WoW, etc WoW," FACEPUNCH!