Perfect World International is just about to unleash its third expansion, Rising Tide, to North American shores. This expansion is our biggest yet--introducing a new race and two new classes!

The newest race to join Perfect World is the Tideborn, an aquatic race whose home is under the safety of the sea. A player shouldn't be surprised to discover that the Tideborn starting city is in fact on an island!

The Tideborn have their own features, such as the fin-like ears and sea creature inspired clothing, which lets them standout amongst the other denizens of Perfect World, however, they are fully customizable like the other races.

Players who choose to become a Tideborn will have one unique starting advantage: the mermaid form. This transformation will allow players to switch to mermaid form for improved swimming speed, a must for a sea dwelling race.

The Tideborn also bring two new classes to the table: the Assassin and the Psychic.

The Assassin introduces a true rogue class to PWI, wielding dual daggers and the ability to use a stealth mode. Combat skills for Assassins focus on the initial hit and then follow up damage or effects. One skill unlocked at level 9, deals initial weapon damage to a target and then gives your character several seconds of increased running speed--perfect for the swoop and kill PK! Assassin buff skills are mostly offense oriented, like increasing maximum critical damage.

The Psychic takes less direct approach to combat. They are a spell-casting class with a focus on buffs and debuffs, so they're definitely a class to recruit into your next dungeon party. Using an orb called a Soulsphere, the Psychic can cast debuffs that slow or immobilize a target, or drain mana. Buff skills include regenerative healing skills, increasing defense or removing negative effects. They are not without combat skills though, many of their combat focused skills deal a great deal of water damage to targets, while inflicting a debuff as an added bonus. One of the teams favorite is one that cast a shield over a friendly target and then reflects damage back to the attacker--this will make for great tanking/support teams.

This is just a taste of the two new classes being released in Rising Tide on Dec. 16. Hope to see you in game!