This week brings part four of our review in progress covering Rift: Storm Legion. Next week we will conclude the series with our official review. This one just ties up any loose ends before doing the category breakdown of the final scoring. Read on!
The Rough Spots (Week 4)
I did not experience any rough spots over the past week that I have not previously addressed. With the holiday now behind us it appears Trion is back in business. Since our last Review in Progress they have released another hot fix stomping out more bugs, solving the great rested experience heist, and fixing broken quest lines.
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Aaaughibbrgubugbugrguburgle!
The Shiny Spots (Week 4)
Two features that I would consider the shiniest of the shiny are the new souls, one for each calling; and dimensions. First let’s tackle the new souls.
The Harbinger. For all of the mages out there that want to pretend that they are Gandalf and fight with a sword here is your chance. Mages can finally get up close and personal with their opponents and not be torn apart like a rag doll. They are not tanks though. While some may be discouraged by that mages still make for excellent healers, support, as well as DPS and continue to fill a vital role in the group.
The Tempest. While Trion gave the mages a way to get closer to the fight they provided the warriors an additional option to strike at range. The Tempest is an elemental master who does have melee capabilities but is more effective using lightning spells from a distance. Personally I do not care for the style of play with this soul. However, synergized with Riftblade, Tempests can generate excellent ranged DPS and offers another viable alternative for warriors to fight at ranged in fights where being in melee would most likely get them killed.
The Tactician. This soul is more of a support soul to complement existing souls. While I have run into mages that are using Harbingers for their main soul, and warriors that are using Tempest for their main, I have not run into any rogues that are a Tactician first all others second and third. What the Tactician is intended to be is an AoE master. The Tactician is designed to synergize extremely well with the Bard for improved healing, or the Saboteur or Nightblade for dealing increased damage. The Tactician accomplishes this with an arsenal of gadgets and constructs at his disposal. The Tactician is the Batman of Telara.
The Defiler. This was the last soul revealed by Trion and thematically different from the rest. Each of the new souls represents main themes that can be found in Storm Legion. The Tempest represents the elemental aspect of Storm Legion, more specifically lightning. The Harbinger and the Tactician draw upon the new technology found in SL. The Defiler represents death and decay. The Defiler is intended to be another healing soul to but done in a unique way. This soul is focused on redirecting damage and using burst magic to heal allies.
This brings us to the last new feature we will talk about before next week's official review: Dimensions. Brevanic technology discovered by the ascended upon traveling to the new lands introduced in Storm Legion have given all Telarans access to pockets of time and space they can call home. Trion has made dimensions available to everyone, not just those who have purchased the expansion. Even players that are using the Lite addition have access to dimensions. For new players and for players creating alts you can obtain your first dimension around level 10.
Dimensions are unique instances of some of the more popular areas around Telara. These dimensions allow you to stake your claim on this area and personalize it however you like. You obtain your first dimension key through a quest; further dimensions can be purchased from vendors. They vary in price from hundreds of platinum to thousands of platinum. You can set permissions on your dimension which would allow only you to visit, or you can open it to the public. You can also decide whether or not you want visitors to be able to edit your dimension or if they are only allowed to view the work that you have done. There are also dimensions that can be shared across your guild. You can furnish your dimension with dimensional items. These items can be found as quest rewards, from vendors, and from merchants all across Telara. You can even find NPCs to populate your dimension. If you have a public dimension visitors can +1 your creation, almost like a Google+ post. There are leader-boards for dimensions with the most popular ones at the top.
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Bob's Bar and Grill
Players are already creating amazing dimensions. While at first there was a glut of jump puzzles modeled after another MMO, people are settling in and creating some truly amazing hangouts. While dimensions are pulling some players out of the cities which can lead to the world feeling less populated they are creating a lot of truly fancy sites to go see in your idle time. What really intrigues me is the potential for user-generated content dimensions represent. While essentially dimensions have a preset space that you can add too and not subtract from the level of customization only stands to increase as the game goes on. How long until we see user generated dungeons? Will Trion allow players to create their own adventures in the future? We already have NPCs that can be placed in dimensions, in the relative future why not quest givers? With games like Neverwinter coming out early next year can we see Trion incorporate more features into Rift that compete with the foundry? I think the answer is yes and dimensions are a great first step.
The Wait and See (Week 4)
Next week we will wrap it all together and put a score on it with the official review. What do you think of the new souls? Are you happy about melee mages and even more incentive to play as a ranged warrior? Are you having fun with expert dungeons? I'm still looking for some really good dimensions too! Let me know in the comments below or reach out to me on Facebook or Twitter. I and other members of the MMORPG.com team continue to stream our experiences in Rift on our Live Stream Channel.
Check out the rest of the Review in Progress series:
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