The Riftstalker


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style="font-weight: bold;">Riftblade
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/93781/"> style="font-weight: bold;">Calling: Rogue

Role:
Tank/DPS

Primary Attribute: Dex/End


When one thinks of a Rogue,
images of
stealthy cut-purses , thieving pirates or even raucous swashbucklers
spring to mind. And while this is also mostly true in Rift, it
wouldn't be fitting if there wasn't some sort of loop to be thrown
through. The Riftstalker provides the OMG element to the calling by
giving Rogues a viable, and powerful, tanking spec.




Pros

  • Unusual Role for a DPS calling
  • Exceptional avoidance
  • Engaging gameplay mechanics
  • Can also work well with DPS builds

Cons

  • Some groups are slow to accept a Rogue tank
  • May overwhelm less skilled players
  • Less taunt mechanics than other tanks




Overview


Using avoidance, mitigation
and the
shadows to provide solid protection for their groups, the Riftstalker
is one of the more unusual tanking souls in Rift. Instead of going
toe to toe with many of their foes, the Riftstalker employs the use
of damage barriers and increased avoidance by using several planar
shifting abilities. As the Riftstalker teleports about they increase
their powers and prowess and keep the enemies confused and hunting
for their target, not the most conventional tanking style to say the
least, but maybe one of the most fun. Perhaps the most interesting
mechanic employed by the Riftstalker is a three pronged spear of
awesome achieved by using Memory Capture, Flashback and Planar
Attraction. Memory Capture gives you the ability to recall a point
for up to 5 minutes, Flashback grants you the ability to port to that
spot every 30 seconds(as long as you remain within 50 meters of it)
and Planar Attraction allows you to grip up to 5 mobs to you, making
the Riftstalker an amazing anti-caster tank.


Solo Play

By not casting  Guardian
Phase, the Riftstalker goes from being a potent tank to a teleporting
stealth bomber. The difference in point distribution from a tank to a
DPS build for players who love the soul can have very little variance
and still achieve drastically different results. Even if you prefer
to level as a tank, the Riftstalker edges out the Justicar for the
best choice in terms of damage output and low downtime.

Group Play

One of the main barriers between
Riftstalkers and groups is often poor shared experiences by the group
of awful Riftstalker tanks. Mastering the soul and having a firm
grasp on its unique mechanics can excite a group and win you lots of
fans, but showing up unprepared or not committing fully to the tank
role can leave a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

Pairs Best With


Bladedancer

Bladedancer is a no-brainer
pairing
that enhances the Rogues damage output and maximum avoidance, even
with as few as 6 points spent. There are two ways to go with this
pairing however, and both are effective – either spend 1/3rd
of your total points here or stick with minimum discussed earlier. A
22 point Bladedancer build will provide more flexibility, but will be
a less effective tank. As long as 5 points are spent in Quick
Reflexes and one in Reprisal the pairing is solid, granting 5% flat
increase to dodge, a 50% increase on a cooldown and castable
endurance buff.

Bard/Assassin

Depending on whether or not
you are
looking to DPS or Tank, the third soul should be one of these two.
For the tanking build you will want to add about 9 points into the
bard to give yourself the maximum amount of effective health, a solid
armor increase and an extra endurance buff. For the DPS folk, the
Assassin is the way to go as either the tertiary soul, or as the main
soul with Riftstalker in the 3rd slot. The upside here is
that the dilemma of unused combo points that is fairly common in
heavy Assassin builds becomes a boon as they are converted into
healing – making an already deadly soul even more fearsome.

 


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Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

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