Rift: Planes of Telara

**Fhqwghads** · 2011-02-07 14:27

This was my first full weekend on the game. Had a static party of 3 people I play FFXI with, and we hung in vent the whole time exploring, fighting, and leveling. We all pretty much came to the conclusion the game's worth buying. It's hard to tell how chaotic things will be once the game is released, but I seriously doubt they're going to have as many rifts and invasions going on in the starter areas like they do at times now. Shit got srs biz with 15+ rifts and 10+ invasions all in the same zone. Pretty sure that was just to stress the hell out of the servers and test out all the various combinations of rifts and invasions, etc. Was a blast, and this is one of the most stable betas I have ever seen. The only other one that was about as polished was Aion, and that doesn't even count since it was out a year before the states were let in to play. If this is any indication of Trion's abilities to produce a game, I'm impressed.

**Jintu** · 2011-02-07 14:39

Don't have much but here's a vid 'n 2 screens from b6. Really think they need to increase the difficulty of the dungeons overall. Also note the next beta is 2/15-2/21 and then head start on the 24th!

Screens, large:

Spoiler: show

**Shnaklaha** · 2011-02-07 14:49

i'm probably going to end up preordering.....it's just frustrating that i can't really afford a new pc, cause runnning this on low settings will probably burn me out eventually (preordering cause cali friend is).

4 gig ram, geforce 9600M GT, 2.21ghz (not overclocked, maybe it'd help but my pc is about to die anyways it feels lol) dual proc, 17inch LAPTOP, so i think i'm screwed unless i buy a brand new pc (which i'll have to eventually, i'm just flat broke atm).

Justicar cleric is super fucking fun to play. PvE you're basically invincible unless you fight 2+ ELITES solo. I was duo, so i let him tank and put my Beacon thingy on him....healing him for 50% of my damage and constantly critting for like 100-150? teehee. PvP though.....i'm so useless. Unless the idiots sic their pet on me so i can get a conviction farming going (pets cannot even hope to dent my health). Then it's just an issue of I don't have the mp to sustain my spells. They need some mana/health regen abilities eventually.

Titan's blade on warrior 31 point champ is fun. critting for up to 900 (and my gear is mostly greens).

**Insanecyclone** · 2011-02-07 16:29

http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/02...february-15th/

RIFT's Telara the Merciless open beta starts February 15th

Let's face it. This time next week, some of us will be entirely sick of all the warm, fuzzy, cuddle-bug lovin' that typically signifies mid-February. Thankfully Trion Worlds is here to remind us that there are plenty of dragons, plate-clad pretty people, and a violent, war-torn world to explore when we've had our fill of Valentine's Day chocolates, truffles, and pink.

On February 15th, gamers across the land will be able to take part in RIFT's six-day open beta extravaganza. The event is billed as Telara the Merciless and will feature two playable factions, 42 levels, three PvP warfronts, and several explorable zones and dungeons. Signups are going on now, and you can also get ahead of the competition by pre-ordering and securing a spot in the head start event (February 24th to March 1st).

Finally, any dungeon boss that dies by your hand grants you a chance to win a spiffy Nvidia graphics card as well as an in-game prize pack. Get the full details at RIFT's official website.

**Fhqwghads** · 2011-02-07 16:50

Tight. Totally there for that. I also just pre-ordered. Game looks and plays great.

**Lucavi** · 2011-02-07 18:25

Hardest boss I've experienced yet is the Hag and her two ghosts in FC. Lesche is a fucking tyrant and if any of your party is spread out too far, there's half their health. I hope they tune up some of the bosses, as everything can be beaten with either a competent healer or tank, but some of the gear checks are rather surprising.

I was talking with a few guys in beta 6 and one thing we all agreed on liking is the fact that the game doesn't scale as high between levels as games like WoW, where if you're level 30, you can roll back to a level 20 instance and clean the fuck up. There's been more than a few times where some level 29 got his shit rolled by a level 18 boss in an instance because he was acting foolish trying to show off for lower level guildies. It also means that lower level players can contribute at least a bit when fighting against other higher levels in PVP. The sense of scale feels good, where that you're never truly as strong as you may think you are, even if you're bodying people all around you at your own level.

The more I play it, the more I love it. I really can't say anything else. Paladin is a joy when tanking multiple mobs (although it could use more +defense % cooldowns), I've had a ton of fun with necromancer and melting people's faces off, Sabs are hilariously broken with their 1.5k crit detonations, I've loved the fact that bard can buff -and- fight, and are still highly desired, rangers are super fun, beastmasters are great, and I can still run around as a head-cleaving, 2-handed axe-user that can silence and spam spells at mages at range, send my pet to harass someone else, fear 5 people around me, root another in front of me, and rape his face off; all at once, if I have the skill and timing down.

The game has so much sheer re-playability through soul-swapping; I think the soul system alone will keep many people satisfied. All I hear in beta (aside from WoW-speak) is how people are already hooked. I'm interested to see how they handle requests like capes/cloaks, since people have been asking since P2, once launch arrives. I'm sure they'll figure something out.

**Kuya** · 2011-02-07 18:42

Never have i seen the word swapping being used with so much enthusiasm without the word cum in it.

**Alderaan** · 2011-02-07 18:43

Funny you mention the scaling because i had a group of 30's that wanted to go do Deepstrike since they skipped over it doing quests and rifts. We ended up wiping from fucking around and seeing how many mobs we could handle at once. Obviously it's easy if you do what you'd have done at the appropriate level, but it's certainly not a steamroll situation where you don't have to pay attention.

I have noticed that the 2nd to last boss is always more difficult than the final one. This is something that needs to be addressed obviously.

Oh and i would absolutely fucking kill for cloaks and appearance tabs, simply to hide how hideous leather body armor is. I think it's why i refuse to wear anything buy brigadine since it covers the entire body pretty much.

**Lucavi** · 2011-02-07 20:38

Originally Posted by Fhqwghads

This was my first full weekend on the game. Had a static party of 3 people I play FFXI with, and we hung in vent the whole time exploring, fighting, and leveling. We all pretty much came to the conclusion the game's worth buying. It's hard to tell how chaotic things will be once the game is released, but I seriously doubt they're going to have as many rifts and invasions going on in the starter areas like they do at times now. Shit got srs biz with 15+ rifts and 10+ invasions all in the same zone. Pretty sure that was just to stress the hell out of the servers and test out all the various combinations of rifts and invasions, etc. Was a blast, and this is one of the most stable betas I have ever seen. The only other one that was about as polished was Aion, and that doesn't even count since it was out a year before the states were let in to play. If this is any indication of Trion's abilities to produce a game, I'm impressed.

Those are the "major" invasions, so they'll be in the game during launch. I forgot to mention that earlier. Those are how you get the purple stones for the purple planar gear.

@Kuya: I'm very vigorous about my passion.

@Alderaan: I still want capes/cloaks, but once I found the chick that sold the dyes, I was placated a bit. She still needs a black dye, but I found the colors to be very pleasing. I'm running around on my warrior with that full level 30+ set (defaults to red/sandy beige) colored to Drg AF2 with dark blue and the purple highlights and it looks pretty badass. Can't believe its going to have dyes at launch that can be applied so easily and effortlessly.

**Shnaklaha** · 2011-02-07 21:55

anyone have any experience with the builds of warrior? I'm like Beast/champ/rift and 6/31(or 32)/5 i think. 5 rift only for the buffs really. Is full on beastmaster good? I don't know about any pet specific builds, but i'd imagine they're op as hell.

**Alderaan** · 2011-02-07 22:29

All i know is Riftblade/Champion is the king of dps and ridiculous in PVP. I fucking hate getting stunlocked 100-0 from them.

Also, the 2 raids at launch will be 20-man and not 10-man. Lot's of annoyed peeps.
http://forums.riftgame.com/showthrea...0-man-versions

In our original design we also preferred to have both available. But at least for now we are moving all instanced Raids to be tuned for 20-players. We may add the 10-man versions back in post-launch but I'm not making any promises. This is has not been a quick decision. We have been discussing this option for awhile. Below is the "short version" of some of the main reasons we changed our design.

1. We're providing significantly more raid content then we originally scoped. This has allowed us to provide parties of both sizes content that is uniquely tailored to them.

2. We took a close look at the feedback and questions we received from our player-base AND took a very close look at "other-game(s)" that provided content with multiple raid sizes. Our general consensus is that there can be significant negative effects on the players and guilds as they try to both maximize their gear acquisition and straddle the two different raid-sizes.

3. Making this change streamlines our design process. There is a significant time investment in trying to balance difficulty and rewards to the two raid sizes. What we didn't want was there to be an "easier path" to progression. We knew this ahead of time and were prepared for it. But now this frees up our resources to provide a higher-quality experience and more content overall... or as I like call it "MoreBetter".

For those of you in smaller guilds we totally understand your concerns. We have several designers on the instance team that play in 10-man guilds. But we do hope that you can participate in the 20-man content either by joining forces with another small guild or perhaps growing the size of your own. Even if you don't there will still be a lot of 10-man content to enjoy throughout Rift.

**arus2001** · 2011-02-07 23:17

"Suckers, enjoy the harder path and have fun dicking around with whatever point system politics you try to use~"

Don't miss large-scale encounters with limited loot.

**Lucavi** · 2011-02-08 00:16

^ Agreed. Its really the loot pool vs. size issue for me. Usually ends up in drama as you start filling up the last few slots that typically consist of non-"core" members, who will start feeling slighted, and leads to drama. I prefer smaller sizes but I'm not going to sweat it simply for the fact that there's so much more to do than simply raid. Hopefully they'll take another look at the issue in the future.

**Guitarman** · 2011-02-08 00:23

Originally Posted by Shnaklaha

anyone have any experience with the builds of warrior? I'm like Beast/champ/rift and 6/31(or 32)/5 i think. 5 rift only for the buffs really. Is full on beastmaster good? I don't know about any pet specific builds, but i'd imagine they're op as hell.

that's what i'm using and rocking the hell out of anything that crosses my path. the pet is a bit undertuned (at least at my level) so at times it feels like i'm babysitting it, but it IS great additional dps.

marksmen are fucking insane, i can plug arrows into a mob from a crazy distance at blinding speed. I was blown away at how far away you can shoot and how arrows fly as fast as you can hammer the button. A great departure from the WoW shit. Add in ranger for the tank pet and you can destroy anything before it gets into melee range. And necromancer? Fuck man. Was my favorite in diablo its fantastic here. I'm extremely excited to play again.

**Lucavi** · 2011-02-08 00:51

Full on BM is pretty good; soloing god, really; I use Rift/Champ/Beast for pure solo 0/35/13 for the AOE buff for others - for PVP I switch it to 6 in rift for fork for ranged. So hyped, though.

**Eanae** · 2011-02-08 00:53

And first major blunder. Essentially seals me not buying any preorder for this game.

**Jintu** · 2011-02-08 01:11

I actually support their decision, raids should not be included in the same sentence with 10 man content which is glorified 5 man dungeons, you're playing an mmo; make friends. Even with this they still have content for those without 20 in tier 1/2 dungeons and raid rifts. I'm biased though, I only intend to run the larger content and with this it lets Trion better design encounters, without worrying about 10 player balance.

**fantasticdan** · 2011-02-08 01:27

Originally Posted by Eanae

And first major blunder. Essentially seals me not buying any preorder for this game.

^

With all that they've copied from WoW, not copying the wotlk/cata 10 man raid dynamic is pretty retarded.

**Kuya** · 2011-02-08 01:29

You're not making friends if you have 9 other people to do raids with you.

**Foxer** · 2011-02-08 01:55

Originally Posted by Jintu

Don't have much but here's a vid 'n 2 screens from b6. Really think they need to increase the difficulty of the dungeons overall. Also note the next beta is 2/15-2/21 and then head start on the 24th!

Screens, large:

Spoiler: show

Wow this game looks pretty damn great. Seems a little on the easier side but great nonetheless. Also, didn't know 17FPS was so smooth lol

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