Greetings, people! This week, I thought I’d spend a little time scouring the net to see what info is out there concerning Rift’s upcoming expansion, Storm Legion. The expansion itself is only out sometime in the Fall, but there are tantalizing tidbits filtering onto the net, (mostly from E3), and here’s what I’ve managed to gather together so far.
Firstly, the most important thing about the expansion, (and definitely the most important thing to Caedryn), is the introduction of capes into the game. Yes, Caedryn will be able to strut and stride, and his cloak will flow behind him so he can pretend to be the superhero he really is. (And please, no The Incredibles jokes here. Cloaks are cool.) The capes will have their own equipment slot and come with their own unique boosts, meaning they’re not just cosmetic but will add power to your character. I foresee a lot of screenshots of Caedryn standing atop windy mountaintops, his cloak billowing in the breeze while he stares moodily out across the land.
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Now even though this is patently the most important addition of the expansion, what else does Storm Legion have in store for us?
As you might have guessed from the name, Crucia, the Queen of Storms has decided she wants to take her turn in the spotlight. The other gods of the Blood storm have had their chance, and, to put it bluntly, screwed up royally. Crucia thinks she can do better, and she’s got her hand on some new technology that just might be able to help her. The details of this tech and the specifics of the storyline are still under wraps, but the adventure (for high level players) will take you to two huge new continents where you will battle Crucia’s lackeys and try to stop her vomiting the entire Plane of Air through something called the Infinity Gate.
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These new continents more than triple the size of the game-playing area in Telara. Not bad for an expansion. But, in the words of insomniac television programming the world over, that’s not all. There will also be other additions to the game. And one that a lot of people will be excited about is something called Dimensions. This is where you can build your own totally personal space inside the game and have other adventurers around for tea and scones. And Caedryn is a very good scone maker. He makes his own cream and jam and everything. I wonder… maybe I’ll build my own Dimension in Telara and invite some of my guild members over for a roleplaying evening in my Dimension. The word Meta is not known to Caedryn, but if it was, he would use it to describe this scenario. He’d probably also use the word stupid a lot, but that’s just him.
Another new addition is that the level cap is being raised from 50 to 60, great for all those out there looking for some new end game content.
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What else do we know? Well, we’ll be getting four new souls to play with, allowing new options towards class customization. We’ll also be able to level our crafting skills to Grandmaster and unlock more recipes while we do it.
And if you’re not excited yet, check out this pic of one of the new bosses we’ll have to fight.
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Big chap, yes? Apparently, he’s linked with this new technology that Crucia got hold of. To fight him, (and stop him from destroying a nearby city), a public group is going to have to blast and slice bits of armor off him, one chink at a time, disable the laser cannon in his chest, and just basically pester him till he falls. Like a Chihuahua attacking a tyrannosaur.
But never fear! We don’t have to wait till autumn to get new content. Patch 1.9 is on its way and offers some tweaks as well. The first is the introduction of a mentoring system, where you can de-level and help out your mates in some situations, at the same time earning new experience points. Not that Caedryn needs that. As he says quite often, he’s a lone wolf, a survivor, a—
Oh, all right. I’ll stop. Something else new is the introduction of barber shops. Caedryn’s more than happy with his haircut, but I have no doubt he will get drunk every once in a while and get an ill-advised trim and color. Perhaps a perm. But I hope it doesn’t mean we’re going to have warriors wandering around Telara with emo haircuts though. “Get that fringe out your eye, you idiot! How do you expect to fight a Dragon God with no depth perception?” is what Caedryn would shout.
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Anyway, that’s 1.9, but I’m still drooling over Storm Legion. I only need about another 20 levels or so before I can take part, and I’ve got a few months to do it in.
Catch you later.
