One of the problems with diving back into the world of Telara on an alt or completely new character is the fact that, well, RIFT’s quests aren’t always that exciting. Sure, some of the quest chains are awesome. Some entire maps are awesome. I’m a huge fan of Gloamwood and Iron Pine Peaks, for example. Other maps, for me, prove a little more difficult to muddle through the second or third time around (Scarwood Reach and Scarlet Gorge, I’m looking at you). I don’t know what it is about the 30-40 leveling hurdle, but for some reason, my alts always get stuck there.

I don’t think I’m the only one with similar leveling hurdles, either, because many new players that are trying out RIFT for the first time find themselves a little underwhelmed at around the same levels. Trion was pretty quick to notice one of the glaring issues at these levels and have since changed the entire look of Scarwood Reach. The lush, green surroundings are a huge improvement, believe me, but there’s still… something off about the 30-40 level range.

Maybe it’s the fact that both Scarwood Reach and Scarlet Gorge share similar arid, war-torn environments. Moonshade Highlands always seems like a breath of moist air after questing in other areas, and it, of course, is. Until you know, Droughtlands comes into play. Ugh. As silly as it may sound, our questing environments matter, because they help immerse us and make us feel involved.

I think, in part, that’s why for those of us with characters at endgame, Ember Isle is so exciting to wander around in. Ember Isle has a bit of everything– gorgeous shoreline, lush forests, dangerous peaks, and tons of currency and PA to gather. Trion, take note of this. Just in case, you know, you guys are developing an awesome, new city for us to wander around in the future. Mmm, new city…

Where was I? Ah, yes, leveling hurdles. There are currently a couple ways of overcoming these hurdles. First, players can skip questing altogether, and level through dungeons, rifts, warfronts, or some combination of all of those. All ways are quite possible, and can be pretty fun. I personally am having way more fun than I thought I would by just running around to the nearest rifts and planar tears on my Rogue. I find myself ahead of the leveling curve, and with a solid chunk of planarite that will only help me when I reach level 50.

Leveling through dungeons and warfronts isn’t quite as simple. Possible, sure, but in the case of dungeons, players may have to learn to embrace all of the roles of their class if they plan to make the most of the queue. Not that this is a bad thing– I encourage any player new to RIFT or to a particular class to try out all of the possible roles. That’s where RIFT branches off from the “other” MMOs. We’re free to experiment and do a little bit of everything. It’s encouraged, it’s allowed, and it’s fun. Learn to tank, learn to heal, and learn to plunk away at motifs! Just uh, don’t fall asleep doing the last one.

Warfront queues move quicker, but twinks (players with maxed-level characters who intentionally create a set of “perfect” gear for their lower-level alt in order to perform well in PvP) often get an advantage when it comes to playing against newer players. Many players are frustrated regarding the issue, but unfortunately there isn’t a lot that can be done about it unless Trion decides it’s necessary to do so.

The remaining solution? Powering through the levels with the realization that yes, better things are to come. RIFT’s endgame is where the action’s at, and levels 40-50 are quite amazing as well. Some of my best RIFT memories took part during these levels, where the maps get large, expansive, and there are multiple goodies to start working toward as far as planarite, sourcestones, and crafting materials are concerned.

Speaking of better things, Instant Adventures while leveling, which are currently in development, should be amazing for alts and players new to RIFT. Paired with the mentoring system which is now on the public test shard, I think many of these sluggish leveling spots will easily become rectified. I talked about this subject a few weeks ago.

There’s also always the possibility of Trion going back and adjusting the leveling content again, to help new players look at questing through a different colored lens. World of Warcraft did a complete overhaul to their questing system, and many players found themselves eager to suddenly level a whole bunch of new characters. Sometimes a little creativity goes a long way when it comes to quest implementation.

For the meantime, we’re left with the options at hand– warfronts, dungeons, powering through quests and dynamic content, and the promise of some cool features headed our way. Fear not, altaholics and new players, Trion’s on our side, too.

INFERNAL DAWN
* Laethys:
- Increased Laethys’ Enrage timer by 1 minute.
- Increased the timer for the Laethys Achievement, ‘Gold Rush’, from 8 minutes to 9 minutes.
- Slightly increased the time between minion spawns in the initial phase of the encounter.
- Greed’s Wrath will deal substantially less damage when it ticks just after the target has taken damage from Golden Subjugation.
- Laethys no longer gains Energy while channeling Golden Destruction.
- Gilded Shrapnel can no longer be reflected.
* Maklamos the Scryer: Now with even more squashed bugs.

INSTANT ADVENTURE
* Onslaughts should be more difficult now, but should also have a max number of Invasions that can spawn an attack a given location.
* Unleaded Transmutation: This adventure should no longer wrongly inform you that some crates are already filled with lead.

GENERAL
* Looking For Group: Fixed a bug where you could occasionally be given a Random Normal dungeon when you had queued for a Random Expert.
* Riftblade: Stoneshield: Fixed this so it no longer prevents certain Event and Boss mechanics it should not be able to block.
* World Event: The end date on the World Event UI now actually matches the updated event ending date!
* World Event: Rogue statues no longer appear in the middle of tents set up in Sanctum for the World Event.
* The ‘Hide Other Players’ Hit FX’ option now actually only applies to player VFX.
* Fixed a case where attacks in duels wouldn’t put characters into combat.
* EU Shards: Players who have queued quest rewards from the current World event can now claim them properly from the UI.

* Updated the landing page URLs from when you click the Support button on the patcher.

Today’s update to PTS includes the following (high level notes; more details to come):

====

CONQUEST
* An early version of Conquest is now on PTS for testing! At this point, Conquest will only be accessible when specifically enabled for a playtest.
* Align yourself with one of the three warring groups – the Dominion, the Oathsworn, or the Nightfall, and join three-way cross-shard conflict in a contested sliver of Stillmoor.
* Capture, defend, and enhance conflict points to not only control the region but also gain access to bonuses and resources for your team.
* Fight Colossi on the field of battle to demonstrate your power and gain additional buffs.
* The Conquest Bar displays your current Conquest bonuses and can be found in the ‘K’ menu under Conquest.
* For those looking to contribute in ways other than direct combat, gather Sourcestone resources and use them to create beneficial effects that help everyone in your faction. These resources can be deposited in a depot inside your base where other crafters can also process them.
* New crafting recipes for use during Conquest are now available on the trainers in Sanctum and Meridian.
* Matches begin to lock down when a single team claims 40% of the control points, or when 5,000 deaths have taken place in the match; at that point a 10 minute timer will begin for a last chance at rallying your troops!

MENTORING
* New Mentoring system allows you to set your character’s level below what it actually is, whether you’re on your own or playing with a lower-level character.
* Mentoring is available for characters of level 11+ and you can only reduce your current level, not increase it.
* The new Set Ascended Mentor Level menu option now appears when right clicking your own character portrait. You can choose what level you’d like to set your character to from this option.
* When right-clicking the portrait of another character, the menu option to set your mentor level to the target’s level appears.
* While mentoring, your stats, abilities, regeneration, etc. will be temporarily reduced in line with the target level.
* Grouped characters using mentoring will receive bonus experience as long as the character with the lower natural level remains within 2 levels of the mentor and the mentor remains at least 5 levels below their natural level.

PRESTIGE RANKS / ARMOR
* Prestige Ranks are now increased to 50!
* The added ranks offer new milestone titles and additional Planar Attunement bonus experience when attained – 2 Planar Attunement levels worth for each rank.
* A new set of PvP Armor is now available in line with the Prestige Rank increase.
* Increased the effect of Bolstering in line with the addition of new PvP gear. Warfront Bolstering is now applied to all characters up to rank 25.
* PTS NOTE: The new rank set armor is temporarily using the previous set’s appearances on PTS.

Originally posted from The Blog (Source)
Introducing Conquest – Test the latest in RIFT PvP on Thursday, 5/17

Three faction PvP and the essence of open world combat will soon storm upon the shores of the Public Test Shard!

Welcome to Conquest – choose your side and square off in a no-holds-barred, interdimensional battle royal on Thursday, 5/17 @ 4:00PM PDT (11:00PM GMT). This is the first massive test of this brand new feature!

Conquest at a Glance

• Engage in massive, cross-shard battles capturing the excitement of Open World PvP at its best!
• Align with one of three new factions, the biggest difference is their philosophy. (You will be able to change factions.)
• Earn rewards and bonuses for your team – or supercharge yourself with bonuses that can be used outside of Conquest!
• Everyone can contribute – crafters play a vital role in every Conquest battle.
• This is a brand new feature, details and specifics will likely change based on your feedback and play tests. For the latest info keep an eye on the PTS Forums!

Three Factions From Beyond the Ward

As the Bloodstorm’s onslaught continues to weaken the Ward an ageless feud has breached the divide between worlds and now embattles our own!

Beyond the Ward stretch infinite versions of Telara – each with their own fate and heroes and from the void between them three factions have formed. Their conflict is concerned not with the Vigil or technology, it is to answer one basic question:

What is the role of the Ascended in the cosmos?

To rule, to protect, or continue to ascend.

You must choose your path, Ascended: Are you a Ram, guarding the flock under your iron grip? Do you protect your pride, your virtue gold as the Lion’s mane, keeping the helpless from harm? Or do you soar like a Raven into the twilight – cleansing all corruption in your wake across the universe, whatever the cost?

Conquest – Capturing the Essence of Open World PvP
Not all Telaras were created equal – and some slivers of our world may control the fate of all.

This is a game about domination. Set in the windworn foothills of Stillmoor, the familiar landscape has been transformed with control points and sourcestone powered fortifications as Ascended banners billow under the blood-red sun.

• Pitted against two additional competing teams you must wrest control of as many Sourcestone Extractors as possible while preventing your opponents from doing the same.
• These control points open access to buffs and resources to your team which provide a wide variety of benefits in addition to unlocking additional buffs and abilities you earn by contributing to your factions cause.
• You won’t find gated doors in Conquest – your battle is on the field, not in a cozy castle! However, Caer Mathos (cleansed of its Endless occupants) now holds strategic importance for all three forces.
• The match ends when a single team has claimed 40% of the control points or 5,000 players are killed – once this happens a 10 minute timer will start, this is your chance to make a last grab for control – after which you’ll earn your rewards!
• Conquest offers yet another way to augment your gameplay and characters and there’s something for everyone. Even crafters play a vital role by refining the battlefield resources into upgrades and even more perks – you’ll find new recipes available at your crafting trainer!

Follow the source link above for full information on the different factions.

Some cryptic Trion staff member posts have surfaced on the official RIFT forums this past week. A staff member by the forum name 3 3228466 787 is the main culprit, with posts that are intentionally cryptic, containing poetry, numerical codes, random pictures, and phrases. Fans of the game and forums have banded together in an attempt to muddle through the confusing posts, and figure out what the heck the folks at Trion are up to.

What do we know so far? Here is a summary of the posts, findings, possible theories, and reactions so far. I’ll try and keep this post updated with the latest information, so if you know of any new details, feel free to drop me a line. Special thanks to the awesome people on the official forums who helped come up with this information. It’s all interesting stuff!

Here’s the thread where it all started, on Thursday, May 10th. Telara-style poetry! Staff member 3 3228466 787 then went on to post little hints in other parts of the forums that directed players back to the original thread. These were found in the PvP and Warfront forum, Public Test Shard forum, and Dungeons and Raids forum.

The first cryptic aspect of this post was, of course, the poster’s name. By using a simple phone keypad code, players deduced the name translates to “3 FACTION PVP.” Interestingly enough, “3 FACTION RVR” also works. Either way, big hint.

Here’s the poem:

Nemo surdior est quam is qui non audiet

The voices echoed in chamber halls,
Through valleys wide and darkened den
The time has come for all to heed
For the flesh of Telara shall be rend

As an answer comes with great resound
The drums of war fill the bitter air
Three points the blade, but two edges bleed
Not merely one thrust for the bloody fare

The fog of war, blood bridle deep
The time is now, a chance to decide
Which song you sing, which promise you keep
To bear upon Death’s dear sweet bride

Growing seeds of domination born
All opposition shall give way
To an empire spanning from sea to sea
The iron Ram the only way

A promise given forever more
To conquer and to shed all fear
Never to rule, but born of war
The Lion’s vigil to protect those held dear.

The Raven’s consequence of a latter day,
Our destruction will meet no end
Telara is doomed by our ill born fate
Unless we continue to ascend.

The title, which is in Latin, translates to “No one is more deaf than he who will not listen.” The poem itself alludes to a war, two forms that shift into three, a trio of animals, and a decision that must be made in order to end the war. Later on, 3 3228466 787 went on to post a series of posts that contained pictures depicting various images in the poem: here, here, and here.

The first contained an image of a ram, lion, and raven, the second a blue lion’s paw, and the third a combination of the word “machine” (with an image of a machine) added to the word “born” (with an image of a newborn baby). The images depicted seem to emphasis the animals, and the concept of being “machine-born”, which is one of RIFT’s themes, mainly originating from the Defiant faction.

3 3228466 787 posted an amendment of sorts later in the thread, with this:

“Choices are the hinges of destiny.”
~ Pythagoras

…. To Protect

……. To Save

……… To Rule

What is your choice, Ascended?

This seems to emphasize the need to make a choice between three goals. Just by using the knowledge we already know about the factions, we can deduce that “to protect” probably means Guardians, “to save” means Defiant, and “to rule” represents this new third faction. This seems to make sense with the three animal symbols. Ravens have been seen as the Defiant symbol in early beta, and Guardians seem to fit under the lion by the wording of the poem (“The Lion’s vigil”), which would leave the ram to represent this new faction. All of this is pure speculation at this point, of course.

Players went on to theorize that the war described in the poem could allude to the coming of Crucia, which was then shot down by 3 3228466 787, who posted here, with the paw, using the same numerical code. The code, when translated, says, “Wrong guess” and “No Crucia”. Players then went back to the drawing board.

Coincidentally enough, on the very next day, last Friday, Trion announced a huge, new PvP feature being tested during a PTS event this coming week. The actual feature being tested hasn’t been announced, which is unusual for Trion. It’s as if they’re being intentionally cryptic here, too. Coincidence? Probably not.

As to why they’re being cryptic? It’s hard to say, but honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if this is partially an attempt to get a little public notice. Let’s face it– There’s a lot of soon-to-be-released buzz and beta buzz flying around the MMO scene these days. Is Trion using this little adventure as a way to get attention a bad thing? Not necessarily. While many of us are more comfortable with Trion’s usual upfront manner when it comes to announcing new features and additions, there’s nothing wrong in a little creativity and fun every once in a while.

So what does Trion have up its sleeve? The facts seem to open doors to few different scenarios.

Here’s what is safe to say we know at this point:

Three factions are coming to RIFT
Players will have to choose between their current faction and this new one
The factions will be used in PvP in some fashion

Latest update (5/14): Another post cropped up, with another avatar change for our buddy, 3 3228466 787. This one, when translated, means, “PREPARE YOURSELF.” The avatar changes seem fairly random, but so far we’ve seen a couple of different letters appear, starting with “D” and now we see an “O” in a block.

Mystery solved! (5/15): Trion announced what they’re really up to. Conquest– three-faction world PvP! Check out all the details here.

Let’s think about possibilities for a minute. Players have now began to theorize that the faction “split” will happen with Orphiel Farwind splitting away from Asha Catari, and thus the Defiant faction. The lore seems to fit here, as well as the allusion to “machine born” and the fact that this new faction seems to be more aggressive than the two we currently have. If we see this situation or one similar, it’s likely that we’ll be given a choice as to whether to stick to our current faction or join the new one. We may also get the opportunity to change factions altogether, similar to World of Warcraft’s system.

There has been evidence of a new city in development, which seems to fit the theory well. At around 2:38 in the following RIFT anniversary video, some new architectural designs are seen that may fit with this new faction:

Some of those designs were also dataminned in late 2011 by a few sources around the internet. Some of these models were seen under the name “Estrian”, which may allude to the actual name of this third faction.

It’s also possible that instead of seeing a game-wide faction split/switch feature, we’ll see one that’s limited to a particular PvP map, warzone, or environment. I really hope this isn’t the case, but it’s a possibility, given the PvP-centered nature of the evidence at hand. Upon joining the new PvP map/zone for instance, we could be forced to choose a temporary alliance. We could also see something similar to Lord of the Rings Online’s Monster system, where players are able to roll as an enemy faction under certain PvP conditions.

There’s also the possibility that instead of splitting off into three main factions, players will be able to choose a new subfaction, and each animal symbol represents something new entirely. Trion has a lot of options here, and it’ll definitely be interesting to see what they come up with. It’s also interesting to speculate about what type of PvP addition we’re receiving. Will we see a new warzone, or possibly a new open-world PvP map? What about the possibility of RvR? That would make a lot of people happy. RIFT would do very well with some open-world PvP. PvP needs some kind of boost.

UPDATE 5/13/12: New Guild joins the streaming gallery: Imperium of Steampike EU. See the stream after the break!

RIFT Junkies is inviting all guilds who are working their way through Infernal Dawn to stream their content on the front page of the website! If you and your guild are interested in doing this, please send an email to Draegan@Rerollz.com with the following information about your guild:

• Your guild name and server/region
• You guild raid schedule
• Link to your stream and/or embeddable code
• Link to your guild website

What we’ll do is list all the guilds below after the break and embed their stream. We’ll attempt to keep a live stream on top of the post at all times, schedule depending. If we get a large group of guilds with conflicting raiding schedules, we’ll rotate them up top as much as possible. Keep checking this post updates

CONTINUE READING FOR A FULL LIST OF STREAMS!

GENERAL
* Instant Adventure: Increased amount of experience given when participating in Instant Adventure on Ember Isle.
* Riftblade: Rift Storm hits no longer trigger Blade buffs or Elemental Touch.
* Laethys tweaks for Infernal Dawn raid.

RIFT Junkies is looking for some new writers to help us cover all the new things coming in Infernal Dawn. Are you an expert at your calling? We need people to help cover all the callings and help teach our readers the latest specs. Are you a valiant raider? We need those brave souls who plan on tackling Infernal Dawn to help report your adventures to everyone.

RIFT Junkies is currently looking for volunteers to write on the following topics.

• Calling Specialists
• Raiding, 10 man and 5 Man Content
• News Writers
• Bloggers

Fill out our “Join the Team” Form here.

OR

If you are interested please send a 200-300 word writing sample to Draegan@Rerollz.com along with any other questions or concerns. RIFT Junkies is the #1 Premiere Fansite for RIFT which is read by hundreds of thousands of people every week.

Join the team!

GENERAL
* NPCs that are nearby but not fully displayed on your screen will show up briefly as green cylinder effects, until they are fully loaded. [this actually started after the last hotfix! ]
* Rogues now regenerate 24 Energy per second, up from 23.
* Elder Tablets and their lower level counterparts no longer grant Energy regeneration.
* White Wedding garb and veil have agreed to stop eating dyes without changing color.

Hit us after the break for a full list of videos.

UPDATE 5/9/12: Added Ember Conclave