Rift: Planes of Telara News, Reviews, & Media

While the capital cities of Meridian and Sanctum may be the most popular destinations in Telara, true understanding of this complex and war torn land can only be achieved by exploring what lies beyond the safety of those walls. Ten Ton Hammer is pleased to announce an exciting new series of exclusive journals that chronicle just such a journey - as seen through the eyes of a Guardian Scribe. Featuring the immersive writing of Paul Crilley, this recurring feature will help expose players to the lore and legends behind the struggle to free Telara from the treachery of Regulos.

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GENERAL

• Added weekly quests to Meridian and Sanctum to obtain a random Expert Rift lure.
• Currency caps are now shown on the character sheet.
• Potentially fixed player armors randomly changing color!
• Daily quest on offer for a particular day now stay the same before and after a shard restart.
• If the last leader-ranked member of a guild is removed due to trial player restrictions, a new leader will automatically be selected.

LOOKING FOR GROUP

• Dungeon Daily quests are now obtained via the Quest tab in the Looking for Group tool.
• Votekick. You can has it.

RIFTS AND INVASIONS

• Zone events now show on the main map which Wardstones need to be defended.
• Defender Achievements for each zone no longer list Rift events that do not occur in those zones.

COMBAT

• Diminishing Returns changes:
• Abilities are now consolidated into two groups for diminishing returns. - Movement abilities [Root, Knockback, Snare] which were not previously set up with diminishing returns. - Control abilities [Banish, Disarm, Silence, Fear, Confuse, Mesmerize, Stun]
• In PvP, being hit with a crowd control effect starts a diminishing returns timer. (We are currently testing this value at 30 seconds.) If you are hit with a second effect from the same group (Movement or Control) during that time, the effect is reduced by 50%. You are then immune to additional effects from the same group until the initial timer has expired.
• Crowd control-breaking effects have also been updated with the new Diminishing Returns groups:
• Breaks all effects:
  • PvP Souls: Break Free
  • Bladedancer: Untangle
  • Elementalist: Sever Bonds
  • Pyromancer: Flicker
  • Ranger: Escape Artist - Escape Artist no longer grants immunities.
  • Riftblade: Rift Walk
  • Riftstalker: Flashback
• Breaks Control effects:
  • Paladin: Devotion
  • Reaver: Tempered Will
• Breaks Movement effects:
  • Bladedancer: Flash of Steel
  • Champion: Ruthless Pursuit
  • Marksman: Getaway
  • Riftstalker: Shadow Stalk
  • Shaman: Battle Charge
  • Vindicator: Unrestrained
  • Warden: Dissolution
• Damage Reduction updates:
• The following powerful short-duration damage reduction buffs will no longer be overwritten by weaker effects:
  • Nightblade: Twilight Shelter
  • Riftstalker: Planar Refuge
  • Vindicator: Phalanx
  • Warlock: Neddra's Essence
• The following abilities no longer stack with other powerful short-duration damage reduction buffs:
  • Druid: Strength of the Fae
  • Infiltrator: Ignore Pain
  • Sentinel: Healer's Covenant
  • Void Knight: Singularity
• NPCs will prefer unstealthed targets when picking between targets they're equally mad at.
• You should no longer see NPCs targeting 'invisible man' or other un-targetable phantoms.
• Falling damage no longer triggers abilities and other effects that react to damage taken.
• Fixed an issue causing ability effect tooltips on others to often show incorrect values.

SOULS

• Taunts can now be used three times before diminishing returns affects NPCs [previously 2 times].
• Fixed an issue with the use of Rogue tracking abilities while mounted that would cause the Rogue to 'fall through' their mount.
• Also fixed a bug with Feign Death and Slip Away abilities that sometimes didn't keep you from gaining aggro right after use.
• Cleric snares now list the movement speed reduction on the effect tooltip.

CLERIC

• Nysyr's Rebuke: Now shares the same diminishing returns group as other Control abilities.
• PTS bug fix: Life and Death Concord: The cooldown given to Bolt of Depravity when this procs will now show properly in the UI.

• Vengeance of the Frozen Earth: No longer applies a snare to the target if they are already snared.

• Barb of Shackles: Now shares the same diminishing returns group as other Movement abilities. No longer applies a snare to the target if they are already snared.
• Blessing of the Martyr: Now gives your damaging abilities a 20% chance to remove 1 buff effect from enemy players. Once triggered, this cannot happen again for 2 seconds.
• Ethereal Shell: Once triggered, cannot happen again for 15 seconds. Reduced duration to 5 seconds; damage reduction reduced to 3% per point spent.
• Arcane Defenses: Spell damage reduction has been reduced to 1% per point spent.

MAGE

• Due to the below changes, characters with Soul Points spent in Archmage will receive a free soul respec.
• Lethargy: Removed.
• Degeneration - New Ability: Channels dark energy into the enemy player, dealing Death damage over 3 seconds and removing a single buff effect from the target each second. 30 second cooldown. This ability is obtained after spending 10 points in Archmage.
• Ethereal Shell: Once triggered, cannot happen again for 15 seconds. Damage reduction has been reduced to 3% per point spent.
• Steelweave: Physical damage reduction reduced to 1% per point spent.

• Seed of Life, Soul Tether: Can no longer be cast on a pet.

• Durable Control: Now causes Transmogrify, Mass Exhaustion, and Disorient effects to break after the enemy receives damage equal to 1.5-3% of your max Health, plus 0.15-0.3% of your maximum health for each point spent in Dominator. This only occurs with enemies above 85% health.

• Water Elemental's Ice Bolt no longer snares the target.

• Skeletal Zealot, Skeletal Horror: Readjusted their armor values, which were not previously readjusted after the cloth armor increase in 1.1. Other pets are unaffected.

• Ground of Strength: Reduced resistance bonus to 60.
• Cinder Burst and Fulminate can no longer be used within 5 seconds of each other.
• Cinder Burst/Pyromancer's Armor: Fixed an issue where the damage from Cinder Burst would consume a Pyromancer's Armor proc incorrectly if the proc occurred after Cinder Burst was cast but before it landed on the enemy.

• Spark of Life: Can no longer be cast on a pet.

• Improved Life Leech: Updated ability description for more clarity.

ROGUE

• Against All Odds: Now triggers from stun, root, or disarm, reducing damage by 3-15% for 5 seconds. Once triggered, cannot be triggered again for 15 seconds.
• Evading Thoughts: Reduced duration to 2 seconds per combo point.
• Take Cover: AoE damage reduction reduced to 3% per point spent.

• PTS Bug Fix: Rapid Fire Shot: Fixed a bug where all hits for this would crit if the first hit was a crit.

• Traps will no longer follow you when zoning into an instance or using a porticulum.

WARRIOR

• Touch of Tranquility: Now shares the same diminishing returns group as other Control abilities.

• Forced Recon: No longer applies a snare to the target if they are already snared.

ZONES

• Resolved some issues with major or elite Invasions not dropping loot - mostly seen in Stonefield and Iron Pine Peaks.
• Fixed a bug which could occasionally cause players to 'pinball' over areas of water.

SANCTUM

• Guardian players wondering how they can be knighted as a member of the Sanctuary Guard can now speak to Sir Guysun Lawless in the Lodge of the Planes to the rear of Sanctum. Sir Guysun can direct those seeking this honor to where they may have prerequisite quests incomplete. [Kain storyline quests]

SILVERWOOD

• Rift: Gedlo Supply Drop: Adjusted to prevent creatures getting stuck in stacks of crates...again.

DUNGEONS AND RAIDS

• With the upcoming addition of the Looking for Group tool, we're also in the process of tuning our Expert Dungeons to be completable with one appropriately geared healer per group, instead of frequently requiring a second full healer on top of support heals. Additionally, the power of the items purchased from the Expert Dungeon stores has increased to assist gearing up for further challenges. With these changes we expect more dungeons to be completed more often; as a result, the cost for Expert Dungeon merchant items has increased. Overall, this should net a similar or improved gain rate of plaque-purchased items.
• Reduced the damage dealt by general Expert Dungeon NPCs.
• Dungeon Daily quests are now obtained via the Quest tab in the Looking for Group tool.
• All Raid bosses now drop 5 Plaques of Achievement for each member of the raid.

ABYSSAL PRECIPICE

• Added a portal to Calyx's platform that activates once he is killed that allows players to exit the instance.

IRON TOMB

• Humbart the Bold no longer cleaves players behind him!

ITEMS

• Dragonslayer Covenant, Order of Mathos, and Icewatch notoriety merchants now sell only a single version of their armored mounts.
• Greater Bottle of Tricks, Exalted Bottle of Tricks, Whisker Concoction, Sheepish Concoction, Prancing Concoction, and Abyssal Modifier now share the same diminishing returns as Control abilities.
• Guise of Death and Shroud of Anti-Life now sort properly as Trinkets in the Auction House.
• Fixed Swift Desert Najmok to move at epic mount speed (110%). It was incorrectly using the rare mount speed (90%).
• Corrected an issue with the Greater Essences Rekindled Flameshard, Cinder Flamesource, Combusted Flamesource, Engulfed Flamesource, and Smoldering Flamesource which prevented them from proccing correctly in some situations.

PVP/WARFRONTS

• Diminishing Returns changes:
• Abilities are now consolidated into two groups for diminishing returns.
  • Movement abilities [Root, Knockback, Snare] which were not previously set up with diminishing returns.
  • Control abilities [Banish, Disarm, Silence, Fear, Confuse, Mesmerize, Stun]
• In PvP, being hit with a crowd control effect starts a diminishing returns timer. (We are currently testing this value at 30 seconds.) If you are hit with a second effect from the same group (Movement or Control) during that time, the effect is reduced by 50%. You are then immune to additional effects from the same group until the initial timer has expired.
• Elementalist: Water Elemental's Ice Bolt no longer snares the target.
• Inquisitor: Nysyr's Rebuke: Now shares the same diminishing returns group as other Control abilities.
• Paragon: Touch of Tranquility: Now shares the same diminishing returns group as other Control abilities.
• Templar: Barb of Shackles: Now shares the same diminishing returns group as other Movement abilities.
• Greater Bottle of Tricks, Exalted Bottle of Tricks, Whisker Concoction, Sheepish Concoction, Prancing Concoction, and Abyssal Modifier now share the same diminishing returns as Control abilities.
• Crowd control-breaking effects have also been updated with the new Diminishing Returns groups:
• Breaks all effects:
  • PvP Souls: Break Free
  • Bladedancer: Untangle
  • Elementalist: Sever Bonds
  • Pyromancer: Flicker
  • Ranger: Escape Artist - Escape Artist no longer grants immunities.
  • Riftblade: Rift Walk
  • Riftstalker: Flashback
• Breaks Control effects:
  • Paladin: Devotion
  • Reaver: Tempered Will
• Breaks Movement effects:
  • Bladedancer: Flash of Steel
  • Champion: Ruthless Pursuit
  • Marksman: Getaway
  • Riftstalker: Shadow Stalk
  • Shaman: Battle Charge
  • Vindicator: Unrestrained
  • Warden: Dissolution

CRAFTING

• Crafting daily and weekly quests now scale to match your character level and always award appropriate experience and notoriety.
• Made adjustments to sync up Runebreaking and Outfitter better. Previously, items crafted by Outfitters were too high level to be runebroken by an equal-level Runecrafter. The level ranges for Runebreaking have been updated and expanded to account for this and to be more flexible in general.
• Restricted the drop of crafting Cores to specific mob types when in Shimmersand, Iron Pine Peaks, and Stillmoor - once discovered, these can be targeted for hunting if you're after more Cores!
• Brilliant and Blazing Life Resistance Rune recipes are now differentiated by required skill and planarite cost.
• Resistance Vial recipes now cost 2000 planarite, Heroic Warding Potion recipes now cost 2500 planarite, Brilliant Resistance Rune recipes now cost 1500 planarite, Blazing Resistance Rune recipes now cost 10,000 planarite.

GRAPHICS AND AUDIO

• Fixed an issue with physics which could cause players to become stuck in a 'falling' state on certain collision. Oh, silly gravity.
• Corrected some audio stuttering at the end of combat, specifically in Iron Pine Peaks, Shimmersands, and Droughtlands.
• Turned up the relative volume of the ready check sound.

UI/SETTINGS

• The Guild Exp contribution column on the Guild UI has been changed to show the member's total Achievement score.
• Raidframe ready check marks should be more readable.
• Text for raid warning messages should be more visible, appear instantly, and come with a sound effect.
• The Settings option for 'Show All Party Buffs' is now 'Show only my buffs on target', which behaves the same was as the Debuff visibility options.

CLIENT

• Added alert flashing (similar to aggro flashing) to the client on the Windows taskbar for LFG popups while the game is minimized.

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== FEATURED ==

• The Endless Court launches an unprecedented invasion of Telara. Check out WORLD EVENT below for event details!
• In-game video can now be recorded as well as posted on YouTube! Read more under VIDEO CAPTURE.
• You can now report AFK teammates in Warfronts. Check out PVP/WARFONTS for details.
• Rift events no longer track player contribution against other players. See below under RIFTS AND INVASIONS for more.
• Leaders of merged groups now have the option to Unmerge Group through their portrait menu.
• Many quest fixes below under individual ZONES.

WORLD EVENT

• The Endless Court invades Telara! This worldwide event for all present-day Telara zones and level ranges culminates in the opening of the River of Souls raid zone.
• Events and rewards are available for characters of all levels!
• The new World Event UI keeps you up-to-date on current and future event progress. Check it out to see where your server stands in the fight against the Plane of Death.
• Quest starters in Meridian and Sanctum offer currency rewards for special vendors, including limited-time items only available during this event.

VIDEO CAPTURE

• You can record video through RIFT up to 3 minutes in length. If you add a YouTube account through the Settings menu, RIFT will automatically upload videos to that account!
• Type /record or press CTRL+Y to start recording. Use it again to stop!
• Small icons next to the minimap show when video is recording and encoding.
• Once encoding is complete, you will have the option to upload if you have attached a YouTube account.

GENERAL

• After merging your group with another public group, you can now un-merge it! Look for the menu option to Unmerge Group if you were the party leader of a group that has been merged.
• Exposed now reduces movement speed by 6% per stack, rather than increasing damage taken.
• There are now Raid Rift daily quests! See Abbess Katia in Sanctum or Raj Tahleed in Meridian. These award Inscribed Sourcestone which you can use to buy all sorts of cool things.
• Fixed the loot bug where only the tank could get mob loot.
• All artifact nodes now have a consistent 1.5 second gathering time.
• You can now accept a quest on behalf of your guild even if your personal quest log is full.
• Guild members cannot be promoted while offline.
• If a group disbands after killing a mob with loot that would otherwise trigger a roll, that loot is now free-for-all.
• Angelic Flight and Mighty Leap will not interrupt movement when used (auto-run or holding down a movement key).
• Fix for quickly opening a series of clickable loot (such as geodes for gems) with auto-loot that would occasionally result in lost items.
• Server Announcements now stay on-screen for twice as long.
• Fixed multiple status updates going to Twitter during important discoveries.

RIFTS AND INVASIONS

• Rift events no longer track player contribution against other players. You are checked for participation in the event and given rewards appropriately. It's still important to participate in as many stages of a Rift or event as possible to receive the best rewards.
• A large number of new Essences have been added to merchants in Meridian and Sanctum for purchase with Inscribed Sourcestones.
• Tweaked cooldown times between zone events.
• Fixed some instability with Wardstones disappearing when a large mob population is nearby.

ASCENDED POWERS

• Planar Charges are no longer consumed immediately when starting to cast an ability. They are consumed when the effect actually takes place -- no more wasted charges on an interrupted cast.

GUILD PERKS

• Killing Spree and Blood Thirsty use the proper perk tokens now.
• The following perks will now properly show the description/tooltip values associated with them: Lucky Penny, Call of the Ascended, Journeyman, Foe Hunter, Cache Finder, and Rift Extraction.
• Journeyman no longer always shows in the buff bar.

CULT SAGA

• Epic quests now award Achievements and titles at key advancement points. These are granted retroactively so if you already completed portions (or all!) of the epic questline, you will receive these on login.
• The conclusion to the Saga of the Aelfwar is now obtainable.
• The epic questline updates for Greenscale's Heart and Death Corruption Sample are now granted for only one raid member per Greenscale kill.
• The Saga of the Endless: Darkblade's Terror will now properly update.
• The Peacemaker: Disguise step no longer required. Defiants can still get to hide in the bushes!
• The Peacemaker: Disguise items for this quest have been removed following the quest re-work to no longer require them.

COMBAT

• Updated the tooltip description text for Attack Power and Spell Power in the character sheet.
• Effects subject to diminishing returns will now also use diminished durations on player pets.
• 'Immune' scrolling combat text no longer appears on characters in stealth.
• Player tracking abilities no longer proc trinket effects.
• Fixed a bug causing some Soul abilities to be inappropriately blocked when respawning after a death.
• Occasionally NPCs would be unable to attack stealthed players. Not anymore!
• Increased the amount of Armor on Cloth items.
• PvP Combat: Abilities now only check for caster facing their target at the start of a cast - they will still land if a target moves behind you while casting is in progress.

SOULS

• Warriors: The following abilities have been changed to fix an issue where the character could use them and die before they actually triggered, making it seem like they missed: Touch of Life, Master of the Abyss, No Permission to Die, Rift Shield, and Predictable Movements.
• Warriors: Taunts now continue cooldown timers while logged out.
• Mages: Reduced pushback on all non-healing Mage spells.
• Mages: Increased the base damage on all damaging Mage abilities.
• Clerics: All cleric Cleanses should now properly remove associated effects.
• PvP Souls: The cooldown for Break Free has been reduced to 2 minutes. Improved Break Free now reduces the cooldown by 10 seconds per point spent.

ARCHMAGE [PvP]

• Rune Shield: Now has a 60 second cooldown. Fixed multiple issues with this ability so it now works as described.

ARCHON

• Exhilaration: Now only triggers on damaging or healing Critical Hits. Mana procs will appear correctly in the combat log.
• Ashen Defense: No longer counts as a mage armor buff and will stack with other mage armors.
• Consuming Flames: Now a 6-point root ability. No longer deals damage to the caster and can be cast on yourself as well as other friendly targets. Now absorbs a set amount of damage and has multiple ranks.
• Power In Numbers: Corrected the second rank so it will affect aura buffs.
• Procs from Surging Flare, Volcanic Bomb, and Earthen Barrage now affect allies within 35 meters of the caster.

BARD

• Due to the below changes, characters with points spent in Bard have received a free soul point respec.
• Invigorated Soul, Coda of Restoration: Now affects up to 5 targets.
• Using Verse of Fascination or Verse of Captivation now turns off auto-attack, since these effects break on damage.
• Verse of Fascination is now tagged correctly as a Mesmerize effect. It can now be removed by abilities that clear Mesmerizes and will not affect enemies that are immune to them.
• Motif of Tenacity: Now unlocked at 12 points.
• Anthem of Defiance: Now unlocked at 18 points.
• Motif of Regeneration: Now unlocked at 24 points. Now casts on the Bard and heals up to 10 raid or group members nearby with each tick. Uses smart healing to select targets - those with the lowest health of available targets nearby.
• Anthem of Fervor: Fixed tooltip so the cost reduction is shown correctly when points are spent in Street Performer. Also fixed the cost reduction not being applied correctly to raid members when points are spent in Street Performer.

BEASTMASTER

• Flesh Rip: Will now properly show up in the reactive ability UI when your pet critically hits. Fixed an issue where this was gaining weapon damage to each tick of the bleed effect. Base damage reduced.
• Backhanded Blow: Now correctly triggers global cooldown. Fixed a bug causing Rank 3 to do 20% more damage than intended. Base damage reduced. Corrected Power cost on ranks 2 through 8 to cost the proper 25 Power.
• Slashing Strike: Fixed a bug where this ability was doing the damage of a single target ability. The damage has been reduced to match other cleave-style abilities.
• Fight as One: The benefits gained from Fight as One have been reduced to 5-15% for Hit, Critical Hit, and Damage. This ability has been taken off of global cooldown.
• Diversion Strike: Increases Critical Hit chance of the Beastmaster and their pet by 5% instead of 10%. Damage lowered.
• Tenacious Wounds: Now increases bleed damage by 2-4% instead of 3-6%.
• Feral Sweep: Resolved a bug where this was dealing extra damage on each tick of the Bleed effect. Base damage lowered.
• Tearing Slash, Fierce Strike: Damage lowered.
• Protective Companion: Fixed a bug where the armor bonus from Protective Companion was not being applied for ranks 2 through 5. Corrected the armor bonus from Protective Companion remaining on the Beastmaster after their pet was killed or dismissed.
• Protective Companion caused Companion's Bite to debuff the target's damage. This ended up not working as hoped, and the ability has been changed to a buff for the pet that reduces the damage they take by 2% per Bleed effect on the target, up to a maximum of 5 (10% damage reduction).

BLADEDANCER

• Combat Culmination: Ability will not break stealth when it triggers.

CABALIST

• Nebulous Haze: Now increases cast time by the 20% advertised on the tooltip.
• Decay: Lurking Decay will now always trigger, even if Obliterate or Tyranny kills the enemy outright.

CHAMPION

• Debilitating Strike: Made the tooltip for the debuff from this ability more clear.
• Titan's Strike: Damage has been lowered and the stun has been reduced to 1-3 seconds, down from 1-5 seconds.
• Mark of Extermination and Mark of Inevitability: Will now cause the target to attack.
• Bull Rush: Fixed a bug where this ability could root boss mobs.

CHLOROMANCER

• Withering Vines: Increased the amount healed.
• Livegiving Veil: Now affects up to 5 targets.
• Radiant Spores: Now has a base chance to proc of 10%.
• Phytogenesis: Now increases the chance for Radiant Spores to proc by 2-6%.

DOMINATOR

• Priest's Lament: The primary debuff on this ability is no longer affected by diminishing returns. The silence proc debuff is still affected.
• Haunting Pain: Will only trigger on the first tick of damage from a damage shield.
• Mana Wrench: Now drains 4% of the target's max mana per second, capped at 4% of the caster's maximum mana, returns 4% of the caster's maximum mana per second, and has a 25 second cooldown. The damage and energy drain portions of the spell are unchanged.
• Improved Mana Wrench: Now increases the mana drained and returned by Mana Wrench by 0.5% and reduces the cooldown on Mana Wrench by 5 seconds per point spent.

DRUID

• Trickster Spirit, Slothful Spirit, Spiteful Spirit: Reduced the damage to better account for the attached debuffs.
• Fury of the Fae: Now a pet-cast buff that increases the group/raid's Attack Power and Spell Power for 30 seconds with a 10 second cooldown. Shares stacking with Bard's Motif of Bravery.
• Satyr: Increased the ratio of the owner's Spell Power converted into the Satyr's Attack Power.
• Weight of the World: Fixed a bug preventing this from applying to ranks 2 through 6 of Crag Hammer.

ELEMENTALIST

• Intensify Elements: No longer on the global cooldown.

INFILTRATOR [PvP]

• Due to the below changes, characters with points spent in Infiltrator will receive a free soul point respec.
• Cloudy Poison: Ability should not break stealth when used. The debuff from this is now cleansable.
• Murderous Thoughts: Now requires Prestige Rank 3. Now increases all damage against players by 3-6%.
• Knock Knock: Now requires Prestige Rank 2. Increases critical damage against players by 2-10%.

INQUISITOR

• Fanaticism: No longer consumed by Shroud of Agony.
• Purge: No longer unintentionally removes debuffs that are caused by buffs (ex: the debuff from Battlefield Distraction).
• Shroud of Agony: No longer triggers on falling damage.

JUSTICAR

• Reparation: Now affects up to 5 targets.

NECROMANCER

• Empty the Crypts: Charge can now be gained while this is active. The pets summoned by Empty the Crypts can be active for a maximum of 20 seconds.
• Lich Form: Will no longer consume buffs that reduce the casting time of your next spell.

NIGHTBLADE

• Scourge of Darkness: Can no longer miss, be parried, dodged, or blocked.

PALADIN

• Touch of Life: Now continues cooldown timer on logout.
• Balance of Power: Now deals 25-75% of weapon damage.
• Aegis of Salvation: Ranks 1 and 2 have their cooldowns changed to 1.5 seconds to match with other buffs.

PARAGON

• Strike Like Iron: Ability is no longer on the global cooldown. Increased from a 10-30% damage buff up to a 16-48% damage buff, with the value doubled for follow-up attacks. No longer overwritten by lesser effects.
• Death Touch: Due to the Strike Like Iron changes, damage of Death Touch has been lowered.
• Force of Will: Due to the Strike Like Iron changes, damage bonus to follow-up attacks from Force of Will has been reduced from 20 per point to 10 per point.
• Path of the Wind, Path of the Raptor: Now have cooldowns of 4 seconds and a slight increase in damage due to the longer reuse time.
• Dual Strike: Fixed a bug causing this to do less damage than intended - as a result, damage from this ability has increased.
• Deadly Grace: Increased from 7% of Dual Strike damage per point to 9% Dual Strike damage per point.
• Weapon Master: Increased from a 4-20% chance to gain a second attack point up to a 10-50% chance.
• Combat Precision: Fixed a bug that caused this to ignore 100% of target's armor. Combat Precision now correctly ignores 1-5% of the target's armor.
• Rising Waterfall: Damage increased.
• Turn the Blade: Damage increased.
• Flurry: Damage lowered.

PURIFIER

• Shield of the Ancestors and related buffs now appear in the combat log.
• Caregiver's Blessing: No longer procs off of procced heals.
• Surging Flames: Now converts 50% of overhealing.
• Divine Cascade: Reduced Spell Power contribution. Now has a stack size of 1 per caster instead of 1 total, but only triggers when target is healed by the caster rather than anyone.
• Spirit Rupture: Fixed the contribution from Spell Power.

PYROMANCER

• Due to the below changes, characters with points spent in Pyromancer have received a free soul point respec.
• Heat Wave: Reduced cooldown to 2 minutes.
• Inferno: Removed from global cooldown.
• Improved Grounding: Now a tier 2 branch ability.
• Improved Smoldering Power: Now a tier 3 branch ability.
• Ground of Power: Now obtained at 6 points.
• Smoldering Power: Now obtained at 8 points.
• Burning Shield - New Ability: Consumes the mage's Ground spell to shield them in flames, absorbing damage. Lasts up to 30 seconds. While Burning Shield is active, the next Ground spell is instant-cast. Obtained at 6 points.
• Ground of Strength: The stun proc from this spell is now affected by diminishing returns, to match other stuns in the game.

RANGER

• Escape Artist: Fixed a bug where the improved version was not causing the pet to be immune to Root, Snare, and Stun.
• Fixed a bug where the Razorbeast's Charge could root boss mobs.

REAVER

• Due to the below changes, characters with soul points spent in Reaver will receive a free soul point respec.
• Soul Sickness, Flesh Rot, Necrotic Wounds, Blood Fever: The damage on additional targets when using Plague Bringer has been lowered. The Threat generation has been increased to keep overall threat gain of the abilities the same.
• Crippling Infestation: Moves down one tier to unlock at 21 points.
• Wasting Away: Moves down one tier to unlock at 16 points.
• Grisly Works: Moves up two tiers, now unlocked at 26 points. Now increases the healing of Soul Feast by 30-90% for 15 seconds after killing a target the Reaver has engaged.
• Soul Devour: Now increases the damage of Soul Feast by 50%, instead of 150%.
• Power from the Masses: Changed to give a stack per nearby party/raid member rather than per nearby enemy.

RIFTBLADE

• Earth Burst: Now properly interrupts elites and other high level mobs.
• Avatar of Wind: Fixed a bug causing the tooltip of this ability to report improper values.
• Rift Surge: Can now be removed with abilities that remove Curses. Now has a 30 second cooldown instead of 10 seconds and is adjusted by Attack Power at a slightly lower rate.
• Flamespear: Now has a cooldown of 4 seconds and has its damage slightly increased to reflect the longer cooldown.
• Burning Blood: Now deals damage based on 10-30% of the character's Strength.
• Improved Freeze Armor: Now only affects Riftblade attacks.

RIFTSTALKER

• Memory Capture: Ability should no longer get you stuck in collision or falling through the world.
• Rift Scavenger: Ability will not break stealth when it triggers.
• Removed internal cooldown from Defer Death and Scatter the Shadows. Both abilities should be more responsive now.
• Hasted Time: Fixed a bug with the second point spent in this ability gave an incorrect movement speed buff.

SABOTEUR

• Due to the below changes, characters with points spent in Saboteur will receive a free soul point respec.
• Shrapnel Charge: Fixed a bug where Shrapnel Charge would not fire if the main target was killed by the initial Detonate damage.
• Long Range Bombing: Now increases the range you can hurl Bombs by 1-5 meters, down from 2-10 meters.
• Improved Blast Charge: Fixed a bug where the armor penetration provided was higher than 25-50%.
• Charge Booster: Redesigned. Using Detonate with 5 combo points will fire off a Booster Charge, dealing 50% weapon damage. This damage is increased by 15% for each point in Saboteur over 21.
• The outcome and damage of each charge is now calculated individually. When you detonate 5 Blast Charges, you will see 5 damage numbers, each with its own chance to critically hit, rather than one large number.
• When a Trap or Land Mine is triggered, the player who placed the trap or mine will not have their Stealth broken.
• Undetonated Spike Charge and Blast Charge will not cause stealth to break when the charges expire.

SENTINEL

• Vigilance: Now triggers more consistently.
• Serendipity: Now properly affects heals that are queued immediately after being triggered.

SHAMAN

• Strike of the Maelstrom: Rank 1 is no longer unintentionally affected by Stormborn.
• Glacial Shield: Ranks 2 and up now work properly with overwrites of similar abilities - Shield of Oak can overwrite Glacial Shield, and vice versa.
• Lust for Blood: Fixed a bug causing this to increase the damage of non-Physical abilities, such as Strike of Judgment. Fixed tooltip to more accurately describe functionality.
• Ageless Ice: Description now properly mentions that it does not trigger a global cooldown.
• Stormborn: Now properly affects the lightning on Lightning Hammer.

STORMCALLER

• Static Discharge: No longer on global cooldown.
• Static Flux: Will no longer be overwritten by weaker buffs.
• Cloudburst: Increased damage.
• Icy Vortex - New Ability: Reduces damage done to the Mage by 25% for 10 seconds and applies Hypothermia to attacking enemies, reducing their movement speed by 50% for 10 seconds. Obtained at 6 points.

VINDICATOR [PvP]

• Due to the below changes, characters with points spent in Vindicator will receive a free soul point respec.
• Dangerous Game: Now requires Prestige Rank 3. Fixed a bug that only increased damage on critical hits. Now increases all damage (not just physical) against players by 3-6%.
• Resilient: No longer has a Prestige Rank requirement. Fixed a bug that only reduced critical chance received by 6%. Now reduces chance to be critically hit by players by 3-15%.

VOID KNIGHT

• Insatiable Hunger: Now drains mana equal to half of the equipped weapon's damage.
• Devouring Blow: Now drains mana equal to 100% of the damage of Devouring Blow, rather than 50%.
• Soul Pillage: Reduced to drain approximately 15% of target's mana, down from 20%. The amount drained is now modified by Endurance to better scale at level cap.
• Catalyze: The mana drain component has been reduced to drain approximately 15% of target's mana, down from 30%. The amount drained is now determined by how much damage is dealt by Catalyze. This ability also gains Instability, a 15 second buff that reduces the damage taken by the Void Knight by 5% for 15 seconds.
• Unstable Reaction: Now drains mana based on how much damage it deals. The net change should reduce it to approximately 15%, down from the 25% drained previously.
• Power Sink: Mana drain value reduced to drain approximately 20% of target's mana from each target, down from 60% previously. The amount drained is now modified by Endurance to better scale at level cap. It has also gained Instability, a 15 second buff that reduces the damage taken by the Void Knight by 5% for 15 seconds.

WARDEN

• Tidal Resonance: No longer consumed by actions that are not Heal Over Time spells.
• Track Water Creatures: Wardens can now use this ability to track creatures from Water Rifts.
• Well of Life: Now has a 35 meter range.

WARLOCK

• Neddra's Might: No longer requires a target to cast.
• Neddra's Torture: Reduced cooldown to 20 seconds.

WARLORD

• Call to Battle: Fixed buff tooltip to report a straight value rather than a percentage.

ZONES

• The items on Rare Planar Goods merchants in Scarlet Gorge, Scarwood Reach, Droughtlands, and Moonshade Highlands had incorrect minimum levels to use. Scarlet Gorge items now have a minimum use level of 25, Scarwood Reach level 30, Droughtlands and Moonshade Highlands level 35.
• Fixed many minor typos in quest and NPC text.

DROUGHTLANDS

• Ancient Wardstones have been uncovered in Droughtlands! A dangerous land just got more dangerous-er. Beware the beast that lies within the ruins of Eth - Skirathos, the Eye of Fate!
• Nowhere to Run: Fixed an issue that could cause the kobolds to not show up and attack.
• Sothul's Demise: Sothul now respawns faster.
• A Fall Tale: Anontok's Notes' description now shows the level requirement to use the item.
• Lecu the Claw: This cat is now almost as vicious as my cat.
• The Biggest Void: Netharius is now more nefarious.
• Additional variety and difficulty pass was made on Droughtlands named mobs.

FREEMARCH

• The Tech is Mightier than the Sword: Jakub will no longer sucker-punch players or their pets during this quest.
• Zone event Shadestones can now be used for pickup by multiple people at once.
• Tete-a-Tete: The faction-change effect during this quest now makes you friendly to Life Rifts as well as the surrounding Aelfwar.
• I Heard a Storm Was Coming: Doubled the duration of the swim speed buff.
• Man v Mandible: Increased the drop rate of mandibles.
• Durgin the Keeper: Durgin now respawns much more quickly.
• Freemarch Defender - Achievement: Fixed the Rift 'Encroaching Death' to give credit for the minor version instead of the major version.

GLOAMWOOD

• Dead Water: Quest now gives out Millrush Brew, which is soulbound and has no resale value.
• A Burgher with Lies is now less disruptive to players not also on the quest.
• The Toxic Source: Re-ordered the quest rewards so they are displayed more consistently with other quests.

IRON PINE PEAKS

• A Hymn of Frost and Flame: All party members can now loot the Redsnow Communique.
• Conquered Minds, Imprisoned Minds: Fixed an issue causing these quests to reset too often.
• Deepmoss Lurkers are no longer skinnable and do not give experience.
• Dagda Skullthumper, the Redsnow Bandit, should no longer return to life instantly when slain!
• Dominance of the Soul debuff correctly affects Armor instead of Attack Power.
• Corrected duplicate loot drops from rare mobs Emissary Kavenik and Frosthide.
• Thunder Snow has been fixed so that Sentinel Nightbane is always where expected.
• Removing Their Eyes: Increased total number of cultist kills required.
• Protectors of Stone: Reduced the total number of gargoyle kills required.
• Telara On the Brink: Significantly retuned to be more solo-able.

MATHOSIA

• Shyla will cast heals more often to assist players during the Rift event.

MOONSHADE HIGHLANDS

• Rainy weather is a bit less frequent in Moonshade.
• Question and Answers: Centurion will stop beating on the Imprisoned Legionnaire before you get a chance to interrogate him.
• The hounds of Conchobhar will stop trying to defy their master.
• To Know Evil: The Infernal Transmitter will be more reliably provided.
• Fall of Moonshade: Updated quest locators on the map.
• In Plain Sight: The first objective now shares progress for the whole party.
• A Gathering Force: The Demiurge of Earth now has a more accurate quest locator.
• Death's Embrace: Reduced Gorvaht's damage.
• A Holy Remedy: The sickly dwarves now stop to offer thanks before running back to Three Springs.
• Scanning for Clues: The Defiant Scanner should be more reliable.
• A Demon Among Satyrs: This quest now grants credit to all group members on the same step.
• The Elite Greater Golems in Grey Gardens now look visually different from the Lesser Golems.

SCARLET GORGE

• Taking Shards: Fixed an issue causing the visual effects to not appear as intended. Group members now also receive credit for placing the Problem Solvers.
• Bits and Pieces: Construct components now drop as group loot for everyone on this quest.

SCARWOOD REACH

• Honest When Dead: Fixed step four of this quest so it properly progresses.
• Sealing the Portal: The portal at the back of Sagespire should be much more active now.
• Salve No Longer: Quest can once again be completed.
• Seek and Destroy: Added a map marker for Kelynn Eregor.
• A Troll's Lunch: Rakthug should respawn much more quickly now.
• Let them Come: Fixed to allow party members to join in on the mission.

SHIMMERSAND

• Reduced respawn rate of Rifts in Dunes of Akala, and made it possible for Major tears to spawn.
• Final Preparations: Anthon Eskar, the Dragonslayer Covenant guard who provides the disguise for Flatyard quests, no longer tries to offer a second disguise if you already have one.
• Buried Beneath: You will now be required to kill 16 Immature Whelplings for this quest.
• A Crafter's Lament: Now grants loot to all group members on the quest.
• Fire and Sand: Improved spawn rates of Wanton Bone Rituals.
• Tweaked scripting for the levers to summon Warden Nevin for Dragonslayer Covenant daily quests.
• Slither the Voice: You get to keep the Inmate Disguise item after completing this quest!
• Binding the Lightning, To Turn Aside the Storm: Golden Maw Enforcers will now correctly display quest tooltips.
• Dragonslayer: Forging the Haft: This was a sneaky leftover quest from testing that was horribly broken and not intended for the live game -- it's been removed!
• The mobs inside The Flatyard should respawn more slowly when fewer players are in the area.
• Added more guards to Fortune's Shore.
• A sinister and powerful force from the Plane of Fire is on its way to Shimmersand. A large and organized force will be required to stop it! [aka: a New Fire Raid Tear in Shimmersand.]
• Ritual Rescue: This quest should now be fixed for Dragonslayer Covenant dailies in The Dragon's Tail.

SILVERWOOD

• Azure Blade on the shores of Suncrest Rise now properly share faction with the Defiant.
• Rift: Forging Heat: The Gedlo Heater should quit getting stuck inside the bonfire during stage three.
• Beast of Burden: This quest is now offered to mount-less players at level 13 instead of 20.
• Aelfwar Monstrosities: Quest now has more accurate locators for Aelfwar Defenders.
• Clouded Contemplation: Quest now requires you to kill 8 Greenscale Zealots, rather than 12.
• The Power of Life: Increased the drop rate of items required for this quest.
• Thanks to the recent efforts of the Ascended, the road leading to and from Silver Landing is now much safer for travel.

STILLMOOR

• The Spirit Walk: Quest now gives proper credit for the second objective.
• Spirit Animus: Quest gives credit when entering Hillsborough.
• The Spirit Walk and Spirit Animus shadow forms match up with player Calling!
• Galenir's Last Answer: Fixed respawn of Galenir.
• Digging in the Dirt: The JKG-77 has learned to better recognize the character it should be following.
• New Blood: Added a missing pre-requisite to this quest, so that you must first complete An End to the Horror.
• Guardian NPCs at Thalin Tor should no longer respawn instantly.
• Lowered respawn times on named quest targets for Stillmoor daily quests in the Endless Citadel.
• Past is Prologue: Fixed a bug that would sometimes cause the quest giver to not appear.

STONEFIELD

• The Graniteborn Champion and Corrupted Graniteborn Champion ability, Earthen Shock, will no longer react to passive or DoT damage.
• Dead Drop: The respawn rate of the Earthmaul Ward is now faster.
• Breaking the Breaker: Bonebreaker will always be tagged to the player who spawned him. Also cleaned up a case where players who attempted to summon Bonebreaker immediately after someone else killed him could have their quest items removed but not spawn the NPC.
• Goorn has been working on overcoming his shyness - he might even stick around long enough at Titan's Well to offer an escort quest!
• The artifact set, 'Ancient Eth Tablets', included two different items with the same name. One has now been corrected to Scuffed Tablet Fragment.

DUNGEONS AND RAIDS

• Plaques of Achievement will no longer drop off the zone quests for Expert Dungeons.
• Added new daily quests for Expert dungeons for both tiers - one quest from each tier can be completed per day.
• Tier 1 Expert dailies reward 10 Plaques of Achievement.
• Tier 2 Expert dailies reward 20 Plaques of Achievement.
• Only the final boss of Expert dungeons drop the Corrupted and Grotesque Souls needed for Expert and Raid Rifts.
• Reduced the drop rate of tradeable, Bind on Equip zone-drop items in Expert Dungeons.
• The appearance of Chain Raid-tier armor from the vendor has changed. It was incorrectly using the PvP Chain armor graphics - it now uses a unique appearance.
• The Head and Shoulders of Cloth Raid-tier armor from the vendor have an appearance change.
• The appearance of Warrior Raid-tier armor from the vendor has changed.
• Updated a number of armor drop appearances from tier 1 and 2 Expert Dungeons; there's now more variety in the look of various armors within a tier.

ABYSSAL PRECIPICE

• Expert: Icetalon's Ripping Talons can no longer critically hit.

CHARMER'S CALDERA

• Expert: Gronik will now reset if he leaves his encounter area.
• Expert: Gronik's minions, Xaeiel and Sanwusu now ignore line of sight with their spells.
• Expert: Added borders around Ryka Dharvos' area to ensure more laser goodness.

THE FALL OF LANTERN HOOK

• Expert: Oludare the Firehoof can now Charge and throw harpoons at players from a greater distance.

FOUL CASCADE

• Corruptive Ritual: Fixed so that the mobs that drop the required items now always spawn in certain groups.

GREENSCALE'S BLIGHT [Raid]

• Blightleaf Hexmaster's Noxious Cloud can no longer critically hit.
• Blightleaf Guard's Wicked Vine can no longer critically hit.
• All general population mobs' standard attacks can now critically hit.
• Made small adjustments to boss enrage timers.
• Raid bosses in Greenscale's Blight have new items added to their drop tables.
• Raid bosses in Greenscale's Blight now drop more items per kill than they previously did.

IRON TOMBS

• Added new ranged weapon rewards to the zone quest, You Are Who They Call.

KING'S BREACH

• Expert: Konstantin's Mathosian Fury is now more lethal (and furious).

RUNIC DESCENT

• Changed the quest mobs, Guardian Purelights, so the ambush should be easier to manage.
• Expert: Eliam's Death's Fury can no longer be removed by player abilities.
• Expert: Rictus: Changed Rotting Flesh from a targeted AoE DoT to a ground target effect with a longer duration.

ITEMS

• Increased the amount of Armor on Cloth items.
• Increased the amount of Plaques of Achievement needed to purchase first and second-tier Expert Dungeon items:
• Boot and Glove items from the first-tier Expert Dungeon merchant have their price increased to 30 Plaques of Achievement.
• Shoulder and Helm items from the first-tier Expert Dungeon merchant have their price increased to 40 Plaques of Achievement.
• Chest and Leg items from the first-tier Expert Dungeon merchant have their price increased to 50 Plaques of Achievement.
• Boot and Glove items from the second-tier Expert Dungeon merchant have their price increased to 120 Plaques of Achievement.
• Shoulder and Helm items from the second-tier Expert Dungeon merchant have their price increased to 160 Plaques of Achievement.
• Weapons from Greenscale are now Relic quality, and their stats/effects have been upgraded.
• Swift Armored War Horses have had their price increased from 100 platinum to 125 platinum.
• Pure-Endurance 'Of the Fortress' items will no longer drop above level 13.
• A large number of new Essences have been added to merchants in Meridian and Sanctum for purchase with Inscribed Sourcestones.
• Earthbreak Pauldrons from the quest Hero of the Defiants had defensive stats on them when offensive stats were intended. This has been updated for future Earthbreak Pauldrons, but existing items will remain as-is.
• Fixed a number of items, including high-end Weaponsmith recipes, that had incorrect auction house categories. They now appear in the expected search results. We would list them all, but it's a long list.
• Fixed an issue where high-level Runes were showing as 'level 1' in the Auction House.
• Going forward, randomly generated two-handed weapons will come with DPS stats rather than tanking stats.
• The Waxing Shadesource had stats applied for a higher level item, and has been reduced in effectiveness to match its level.
• Spellbinder's Sash now has Spell Power instead of Attack Power.
• Crystal of Brilliance and Crystal of Foresight had melee stats but are caster items. This has been corrected.
• Rare Essences dropped from Major and Minor Rifts should no longer be bound on pickup.
• Chan's Thundering Fist was set up as a Warrior weapon rather than a Cleric weapon. This has been corrected so it now properly has spell power and lower base weapon damage.
• Sacred Heirloom of Eth and Totem of Overgrowth were incorrectly gaining a bonus to their healing procs from Spell Power. These have been fixed.
• Petrifying Rune: The root proc will now break on damage.
• Fixed Ritualist's Buckler to be a Cleric-equippable shield.
• A number of offhand book items had the wrong visual attached and have been fixed.
• Powdery Ash now has a proper sell price.
• Ancestral Sourcestone: Fixed the tooltip so it shows an actual number value instead of 0.
• Fixed many minor typos in item names.

CRAFTING

• Apothecary updates: Endgame Apothecary recipes no longer use Minor Catalyst as an ingredient. Recipes that previously used Rift essences or augments now use consumable items gained from Rifts instead.
• Bottle of Spellstrikes, Bottle of Critical Strikes, and Philter of Power now have a potion cooldown of 3 minutes. Each of these also apply a 1 minute immunity after use, so a player can only be affected by one of these effects for each minute.
• Many vials that did not last through a death now persist. Rejoice!
• Fixed an issue where all potions were on the same cooldown. They are now divided into three major groups based on their effects: Healing/Positive, Damage/Negative, and Buffs.
• A large number of items have been updated to be Runebreakable/Salvagable. In general, all items not purchased from a vendor should fall into these categories.
• Runecrafting material names have been updated. Crystals, Shards, and Powders now have new names. Uncommon has become Flickering, Rare has become Sparkling, and Epic has become Shimmering.
• Fixed an issue where some runes were displaying incorrect names when applied.
• Devastating Runes, Calamitous Runes, Ravaging Runeshards, and Destructive Runeshards have had their stats updated. They now award Wis/Int [Calamitous, Ravaging] and Str/Dex [Devastating, Destructive].
• Accurate Rune now grants Attack Power/Hit, and Sharp Rune adds Spell Power/Focus.
• New zone-specific drops come from monsters in the following zones, and are used in recipes from each zone:
• - Gnarled Core - Scarwood reach
• - Evergreen Core - Freemarch
• - Enchanted Core - Silverwood
• - Stone Core - Stonefield
• - Shadow Core - Gloamwood
• - Rusty Core - Scarlet Gorge
• - Cracked Core - Droughtlands
• - Glowing Core - Moonshade Highlands.
• Artificers are now able to use Looms to craft Parchment and Vellum.
• A large number of recipes from notoriety vendors have been adjusted. Recipes that were previously Uncommon are now Rare and have their stats adjusted accordingly. Ingredients used in these recipes require the Cores mentioned above or have had their other ingredients and quantities updated.
• Iron Buckler recipes from faction vendors have been renamed to Steel Buckler.
• The recipe for Divine Defender now appears in the 'Maces' section of the recipe list.
• Recipe: Blazing Wisdom Rune now teaches the correct recipe.
• Fixed an issue where Recipe: Polished Shadethorn Lumber and Recipe: Polished Mahogany Lumber tooltips displayed incorrect item information.
• Blackwood Chopper crafted item has been renamed to Blackwood Cleaver.
• Greater Rootcatch Brew is now a single target potion, while the Heroic Rootcatch Brew is now area effect.
• Luminous Accurate Rune now grants Hit instead of Focus.
• Fixed Rootcatch Brew items, which were using a healing effect rather than functioning as a snare.
• The crafting quest items Light Downy Cloth, Tough Silken Cloth, and Exquisite Cloth are now Bind on Pickup.
• The quests from Light Downy Cloth, Tough Silken Cloth, and Exquisite Cloth now direct Defiants to Master Outfitter Deo Zervos, instead of Master Butcher Jace Prisco. These quests direct Guardians to Master Outfitter Louis Klies.
• Defiants: Rare Ore quests involving Kleeg Stonebreaker no longer try to convince you he is in Sanctum.
• Fixed some floating and sunken resource nodes in Droughtlands, Stillmoor, and Moonshade Highlands.
• Crafting related actions should no longer trigger abilities that proc on criticals.
• Luggodhan now requires more than '0' Butchering skill.
• Crafting trainers in Fortune's Shore, Shimmersand, now teach Master level crafting instead of Novice.
• Adjusted harvest nodes in Abyssal Precipice and Charmer's Caldera - nodes before the first bosses can no longer be stealthed to.
• Additional adjustments to many resource nodes across the world. New locations have been added, and many nodes will now respawn faster than they did before.

PVP/WARFRONTS

• You can now report AFK teammates in a Warfront. When enough of the team has reported someone as AFK, they will have a short period to prove themselves by engaging the enemy or supporting the team. If they fail to prove themselves, they will be banished! PvP combat: Abilities now only check for caster facing their target at the start of a cast - they will still land if a target moves behind you while the casting is in progress.
• Killing lower level players in your Warfront bracket will now grant some favor and some experience.
• The Black Garden: The damage dealt from the Fang of Regulos now increases higher than 100% of the carrier's max health.
• The Codex, Whitefall Steppes: Fixed a bug where stunning/mesmerizing/incapacitating an enemy player did not interrupt flag captures in progress.
• The Battle for Port Scion: Repeatable quests now grant 50 Notoriety, up from 25.
• The Battle for Port Scion: 50 Notoriety is awarded with the Noble Guard or Eldritch Vanguard for every 100 points earned.
• The Battle for Port Scion: Resident NPCs in Port Scion no longer apply the Exposed debuff.
• The Battle for Port Scion: Defiant Centurions and Guardian Lieutenants have had their difficulty slightly reduced.
• The Battle for Port Scion: Capturing Sourcestone with two Idols up is now worth 30 points. Each Idol lost will reduce the score for capturing Sourcestone by 10 points.
• The Black Garden Token, The Codex Token and The Whitefall Steppes Token can now be consumed to gain back the Favor that was spent to purchase them.

GRAPHICS AND AUDIO

• Wardstones in player hubs have new and improved visuals!
• New fancy appearances are incoming for the Epic Najmok, Yarnosaur, and Vaiyuu mounts.
• The low health and death effects have been improved in the Low Quality Renderer.
• Shield spell effects now appear on players even when mounted.
• Extraplanar Leather Gloves and Ellisar's Gloves now have actual glove graphics when equipped instead of INVISIBLE HANDS.
• Various ambient sound and voiceover updates, as well as volume level tweaks.

COMMANDS AND MACROS

• The /focus command now understands the @targeting arguments like the /target, /cast, and /use commands.
• @pet targets your primary pet, and @targettarget picks up your target's target.

UI/SETTINGS

• Character stats will turn green on the character sheet if they are under any sort of bonus.
• The total number of discoveries for a character is now displayed in the Achievements window.
• Additional improvements to the Soul Tree window - role-changing and resetting visuals, confirmation to save spent points on exit, etc.
• Equipped Planar Essences should now show colored borders based on the rarity of the Essence.
• Guild names are now included in player tooltips.
• Fixed a brief artifacting flicker on the screen when discarding changed video settings instead of applying and saving them.
• Fixed a bug that would cause the Reactive Abilities UI to stop working after performing a /reloadui.
• Edit Layout Mode: Elements can now be set to fade in and out when moused over or when entering and leaving combat.
• The Rift meter contribution bar and leaderboard button have been removed due to the above change to contribution.
• UI pieces docked to the Target and Target of Target windows now stay where you told them to be.
• The Tutorial Alert icon will now always appear in the same place instead of being attached to the casting bar (which can be moved by editing the UI layout).
• The guild roster will stop showing you as AFK when you log back in after having logged out with the AFK flag on.
• A special World Event UI is now available.

CLIENT

• Any existing connections will be disconnected as soon as you enter character selection, rather than when a character is logged in.
• The green dot next to recommended shards at Shard Select now says 'Recommended' instead, which is what it indicated.
• High population shards show in orange text, and medium in yellow. Full is still red!
• We now also display queue sizes at shard selection.

» Read Full Story

If there's one MMO on the horizon that has everyone excited, it's Rift. Created by Trion Worlds, Rift promises to be the next big AAA launch title and has been drawing its share of attention from players. The game's closed beta begins tomorrow, and Trion has been giving out beta keys in preparation. Some Rift fans were able to grab limited beta keys that give access to several beta events, while others were lucky enough to secure an access-all-areas VIP beta key. Here at Massively, our 500 VIP keys disappeared in record time. For those of you who missed the chance to get in on the Rift beta, you can still sign up at the Rift website for a chance to get in.

Rift is being marketed as a fully complete, next-gen MMO. But those are just marketing buzzwords, right? Guess again! In this new video (after the cut below), the Trion team has taken the bold step of defining what exactly those terms mean in a very practical context. Rift is promised to be a highly polished MMO right from launch, with none of those rough edges we've come to expect from new titles. Rather than follow the standard MMO formula wherein monsters are forever bound to respawn and walk around within a small area, Rift aims to create a truly dynamic game world.

» Read Full Story

» Read Full Story

This week Scott Hartsman – Rift’s Studio General Manager, Chief Creative Officer and Executive Producer – join us on the podcast. He talks to us about lots of things Rift.

He explains about the Scope of the game and that Rift: Planes of Telara is currently on target. We discuss dungeons and instancing, Engame content including Raid Rifts and what they are and how they work. There’s also mention of rare drop rewards throughout the game including pvp – as well as the leveling curve and how it’s progressing and how they’re planning on dealing with gold spammers and bots.

It’s a fantastic interview and we really appreciate the time he took out of his busy schedule.

Today we also announce a random drawing contest we have going for a VIP all events Beta Code. Just listen to the podcast where we give the instructions and comment on this blog post with the answer by Midnight CST October 22nd.
We’ll then randomly draw one of the correct answers to win a VIP all events Beta Code and announce the winner in the Podcast on Monday October 25th. This contest is open to everyone.

Don’t forget the other contest are still going on the Rift Podcast blog and over at Riftseekers. And don’t forget there are plenty of other ways to win one too!

» Read Full Story

» Read Full Story

» Read Full Story

Slaughter brewing

Guardians coming from Gloamwood and Defiant travelling through Stonefield arrive on opposite sides of Scarlet Gorge, staring each other down across a chasm blessed and cursed with newfound sourcestone.

The place was once beautiful and austere. Crystal skies soared over a box canyon strip-mined into the earth by industrious miners. So rich with ore is this chasm that it once glittered by night like a pit of stars. Anticipating the conflagration to come, Fire Rifts have erupted throughout the Gorge, smothering the precious metals under blankets of ash and turning the sky red as a gushing wound.

As the Defiant and Guardians race toward open conflict, the dragon cults called the Golden Maw and Endless Court encroach on Scarlet Gorge. Eager for sourcestone, all these factions rush headlong into a four-way massacre. Scarlet Gorge will serve as a cauldron, where blood is the broth, greed, ambition, and devotion the spice, all boiled by the heat of the Fire Rifts into a brew to sate Telara's enemies.

» Read Full Story

In the first on an ongoing series of exclusive interviews with Trion Worlds, Ten Ton Hammer seeks out as much information as they can about Rift: Planes of Telara, the upcoming, action-packed MMOG. This time, we talk to Scott Hartsman, Creative Director and Trion Redwood City Studio Lead. If you have any questions that you wish to be asked in future interviews, post them in our official Rift forum.

» Read Full Story

As you may have noticed, refugees from the Kelari Isles make camp at the base of the great stairway. Oh, don't fear for the Kelari Elves. An adaptive people, if perhaps foolhardy, they are our welcome guests and allies. From those stairs you can see majestic Meridian herself.

Telara has not seen such deceptively sturdy walls of polished sandstone since the ancient Eth city-states. The sweeping towers crowned with twirling machines, the arabesques adorning the walls... it almost transports you back to the ancient Eth Empire! Listen, and you'll hear the chanting of the Sorcerer Kings.

» Read Full Story

IRC Fridays Developer Chat with Abigale from Trion Worlds

Abigale: We do have internal dates for Beta now. We aren't releasing that info just yet. But we are on the road to getting there soon
Abigale: But.... if you have a Trion account, be sure to be watching your email over the next few days for some big info
Abigale: Make sure you are opted in to receive emails! And no, it's something separate from the newsletter
Abigale: We have been working on the newsletter issue. Hopefully we will have less trouble when the next one goes out
Abigale: Now. I want to tell you a little about somethign we did around here the other night...
Abigale: We were all asked to participate in a big PVP play test on our new alpha pvp server
Abigale: Now I have to say first that I am NOT a pvp player.
Abigale: I suck at it. And I don't like killing people. But I did have some fun
Abigale: But what was really fun to me was to be in the channel with the devs as they were reading feedback
Abigale: There is a lot of balancing to be done and they are starting to do regular pvp tests now, several times a week. So I guess my pvp skills are going to get a work out whether I like it or not!
Abigale: I killed a few people. And they were people I knew! I don't like killing my friends. I am a totalcare bear
Abigale: I'll never tell
Abigale: A lot of the feedback was about balance. Which was to be expected
Abigale: I didn't notice any lag. I was concentrating on the fighting
Abigale: Same here, Amary. I didn't notice any either
Abigale: I was at home
Abigale: We are allowed to play from home. Most people stayed here in the office to play but I went home and lpayed from there
Abigale: Well, I didn't do to well. I came in late and just ran around killing. Like I said, I am no good at pvp. I never really did learn the strategies. But I have had that problem every time I try to pvp lol

faction V faction PvP?
Yes

Instanced for these tests. The server is pvp but we just logged on for the Warfront tests I can't share a whole lot more about it as this is the time that they are making changes. I really enjoyed reading what the devs had to say though. They were so excited to see people logging in and playing and then they just devoured the feeedback I have seen little groups around discussing the play sessions and coming up with solutions and ideas. It's really cool to hear these conversations Ok, I'll answer a few of the questions coming in that I can answer

Besides the Soul System and Rift events, what other features of this game stand out for you?
One things that stands out is the beauty of the world. It is so alive! There is movement and interaction among the NPC's, there is beautiful scenery... I often find myself stopping to look at a vista or exploring a city. I haven't done much of that in a long time The screenshots just don't do the game justice. I can't wait for you guys to see the real thing

Are we still in track for a Q1 2011 release?
Yes, still planning an early 2011 release. Adam said it on film so it must be true

Been waiting for crafting info for some time now and nothing really solid has come down the line yet. Is crafting getting some kind of a major overhaul?
As I mentioned earlier this week on the forum, we won't be releasing crafting info until it is done being tested. It's not that we are unhappy with it now. We just want to have plenty of time to test things and make changes based on feedback. If our crafting dev was here today, all she would be able to say is "Sorry, we can't talk about that ye." But I know how important crafting is to you guys. So I am asking about it on a regular basis. And the minute I am given the green light, we will tell you all about it!

How much interaction between individuals/groups are necessary to close a Rift? and How do you close a Rift?
Abigale: It depends on the rift. You close a rift by defeating the stages in it. Each stage is a wave of mobs. I've closed some with just a couple of people and some with 5 or 6. but it's really depended on the lvl of the rift too. But in addition to rifts, there are strongholds. Last night I was trying to turn in some quests and there was a stronghold on top of the NPCs. I died trying to kill them. So I had to ask if there were others around who could help someone else of my lvl came along and we closed it together. It took some team work but we did it. Was a lot of fun Yeh, I guess we are calling them footholds. My bad. All I know is I needed to get to the quest giver and those darn flaming trolls wouldn't let me near them!

I wasn't able to get to any of the recent conventions However, I do live in CA. Are any of the Trion/Rift offices open to the public? I would love to stop in and say hi and see what goes on there.
No, we don't allow visitors. We don't have the time, really. Or a lot of room. Everyone here is busy making the game. BUT... watch for some news soon about us bringing some visitors in. We would like to do that soon. It's always good to meet with the people who are supporting you. So we are hoping to do something along those lines. Watch for more info on that in the next few weeks

What levels were yall playing?
I am playing 6 characters right now. So a wide range of lvls for me. My highest is 35, I think. But I have been using this testing time to try out a lot of different souls and combos. It's been a lot of fun. Oh... in the pvp test, we all started at lvl 20 for this test

Any more community parties coming our way?
I hope so! I am all about community parties. I still miss the fan faires! I will be very happy if we have regular events. What we have said all along is that if the interest is there, we will have them. And it seems so far, people are really hoping we have them. It's wonderful to meet players face to face. And I found over the years that i ran the fan faires that people really enjoyed them so they could meet and hang out with each other. Nothing like getting 1500 gamers together in a hotel bar. Someday I am going to write a book about all the cool things that happened at fan faires. So yea, if I have anything to say about it, we'll be having fan events.

Regarding the Name a Soul for Rift thread, there have been lots of suggestions, will we be seeing a poll soon?
Yes. We should have the poll up on Monday, most likely. We'll leave the poll open a few days and then we will have our winner.

How are you intending to ensure high quality feedback from beta tester and letting in the "right" crowd of players.
Well, the "right" crowd of players is the tricky part, right? SO we are working on getting a good cross section of people in beta and alpha. While it is important to have people from the community (and we will continue to add you) we also look to other places, such as people who have tested for us before and done a good job. Remember that most of us here have tested games before... so we know a lot of testers. But don't worry... community members are very important to us and we will see that you get your chance. No beta selection system is perfect. Adn we will never be able to make everyone happy unless we just open the server to everyone. But we are really trying to take care of you

There seems to be a belief that high post counts better beta chances. Is this true?
It depends on the posts. We don't just look at post count and say, "hey, this guy has 500 posts, let's put him into beta". We look at posts people make and what they contribute. But mostly at how someone expresses him or herself. 500 posts that don't say much are not worth as much as 10 posts that are well written and really communicate well. Guys, remember this... we read the forums EVERY DAY. I read them probably 20 times a day. Don't you think we have gotten to know who is who just as well as you have? We see who starts posting when it's beta talk and who has been here all along contributing to the community. And one more thing.... You guys know there are some community people in alpha. There will be more added as we can. But it all comes down to numbers. We can only add a few at a time until we have what we need. But we will add as many of you as we can.

Can you elaborate on your community leader post from last week?
My whole purpose of the thread was to just get the discussion going on who and what the community leaders are. There had been some misconceptions, I thought. Some folks seemed to have an impression that I was selecting people to be community leaders. But I wanted to talk about the fact that leaders are really who you see as leaders. Not necessarily just me. Sorry if it was misleading. Not everything I say or do has to do with beta selection

Well, that's all the time I have today. It was really nice to visit with you guys. Thank you for being so hospitable

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Exploring Telara, you may find a lush oasis in the heart of a wasteland, where alien plants grow thick as corded sinew and heavy with fruit, and new species of beast prowl, displaying fur and plumage in unreal colors.

Turn away from such places, for if you wander in alone you may become intoxicated with scent and sight and lose all sense. By the time you realize the foliage has blocked out the sun, you will be bitten by legions of ravenous insects, and finally come to the center of the growth.

There hangs the Life Rift, vines and roots spilling out, tearing the rift wider like fingers pulling at frayed cloth. One of the vines will notice you and dart for your guts like a viper as its end sharpens to a venomous spear...

See the Life Rift in Action

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As RIFT marches closer and closer to that glorious day when demons will invade our world, we've been eagerly soaking up Trion Worlds' gradual reveal of the races, classes and features of this promising title. Today we're pleased to announce RIFT's sixth race, the Kelari!

If the thought of edgy rebel elves who channel magic into machines makes your ears perk up, then you're going to love the Kelari. They're not just the stereotypical "dark elves" that many fantasy games boast, but instead they carry with them the same genre-twist that RIFT is becoming known for creating. Read on for Trion Worlds' official background description of the race, as well as a few new gorgeous screenshots in our gallery.

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Trion Worlds gives us an official preview of the Stonefield zone in Rift: Planes of Telara. Stonefield is an early zone for the Defiant faction, one where players will fight the old servants of the titans and defend helpless townspeople from the undead, before potentially adventuring in to the Deepstrike Mine. Read further for this exclusive look at the zone along with images and a high definition flythrough video.

Stonefield

Thunder in the Hills
Wind rattles like labored breathing through the hills of Stonefield. The grass strains to stretch across rounded hills that bulge together like the muscles of some vast stone giant, ready to tear through the grass and stride out from the deep earth to crush mortal men.

More...

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It's Monday, and that means there's another episode of the Rift Podcast for your enjoyment. This week, the ladies are joined by Ciovala from Rift Nexus/Telarapedia and Kal from Rift Calculator.

They also take us briefly through some pet peeves, what their favourite race would be, and is. Not to mention they talk about which calling type they’re likely to choose from their brief stint playing the game at gamescom.

And lastly, they explain a bit about their dungeon exploring experience.

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Maybe it was the name change from the even-more-generic "Heroes of Telara", or maybe it's the pretty but ultimately not unique art style, but Rift: Planes of Telara is one of those games that, for whatever reason, has sort of slipped under the radar of the public. It's kind of a shame, too, because for all its sameness, Rift, the massively-multiplayer online role-playing game from Trion Worlds, does a few things differently, and, from what I've played, does them pretty well.

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