CONTENTS:
Locations |
Creatures |
Spawned Objects |
Notoriety |
Zone Events |
Artifact Collections |
Achievements

Air Rifts originate from the domain of Crucia, one of the six Dragon Gods known as the Blood Storm. Crucia, also known as the Broodmother, rules over the endless skies of the Elemental Plane of Air where she is now trapped. Crucia and her cult plot endlessly to control all of the universe and use all manner of coercion and manipulations to forward their goals.

The elemental plane of Air is one vast endless sky with the occasional floating land mass in it. The sky in the realm of Air is anything but still though as there are hurricane force winds, great storms, and violent lightning clouds that wander through the zone. Therefore when a Rift opens into Telara it can be easily spotted by the clouds circling around it, the winds howling through the surrounding trees, and even the occasional pieces of rock held aloft by the air and static charges from the zone.

Anyone near an Air Rift needs to be endlessly aware of their surroundings or fall prey to either the minions of Air or the very elements themselves.

Air Rift Locations

Air Rifts can be found in only a few of the zones in Telara. They are amongst the rarest of the Rifts along side Water Rifts, only showing up in three zones. You can find them in the following zones: Droughtlands, Iron Pine Peak, and Shimmersand. All of these are relatively high-level zones and therefore you will not encounter them early on while leveling.

An Air Rift opening in the Droughtlands

Creatures

There are great flocks of different creatures that come from the Plane of Air. Most of them are winged so that they can survive in the vast skies of that realm. This means that you should expect to find winged nightmares such as giant wasps, rocs, gargoyles, griffons, harpies, and even winged drakes descending from the skies near an Air rift. Also found in the endless skies are elementals, thunderbirds and djinn battling for supremacy.

While the winged denizens of the realm dominate there are many other creatures that inhabit the floating sky islands that drift through the realm. These can include human clans, reptiles, elementals, and even the occasional yeti.

There are also the many followers of the Cult of Crucia from Telara to deal with. The cult, called the Storm Legion are vast in number and draws followers from all the major races on Telara. When a Rift opens to the Plane of Air many will make their way there to assist the minions that come through the Rift.

Usable Spawned Objects

When fighting near an Air Rift you can find items that can be used to assist you. While these can vary between different rifts, the most common to spawn from Air Rifts are the crystals that spawn from most rifts that provide useful bonuses.

The crystals that spawn can be moved close to and clicked on to grant different buffs depending on their color. There are red, green, and blue crystals that can be activated. Red grant extra attack power and spell power, while green grants a health HOT (Heal Over Time) effect, and blue grants a mana / energy regeneration effect. These bonuses are extremely useful when there are few players around the Rift to help in closing it. Make sure you watch for them and grab them when you can

While not directly usable items, there are additional spawns around an Air Rift in the form of boulders that float in the air supported by wind and lightning. Even though they do not grant a buff or have an effect for players, they are very handy for breaking line of sight from the many Air Rift casters that are summoned. You can aggro a caster, then step behind a floating boulder to break LOS and make them run to you so that they are away from others and you do not have to risk pulling more enemies than you want.

Notoriety

While defeating Air Rifts you will earn notoriety with either the Storm Inquisition if you are a Guardian or with the Zephyrian Collective if you are a Defiant player. Ciaba is the quartermaster for the Storm Inquisition and can be round in Sanctum, while Bolorma Pavro is the quartermaster for the Zephyrian Collective and can be found in Meridian.

Caster DPS players should focus on this faction and start earning notoriety early with them for once they reach level 50. This faction has a level 50 planar essences for sale once you are decorated with them that grants +focus which is a key caster DPS stat.

Water Rift Zone Events

Each zone in which Air Rifts blow through the ether into Telera has a unique set of events that can start, when an event starts it opens up even more Rifts to the Plane of Air. These encounters or events are different from zone to zone and are based on the zone's level of difficulty.

The culmination of each zone event is the defeat of a boss that will complete the event and earn you an achievement. The bosses and achievements are as follows, listed as the boss name and then the achievement you earn.

• Droughtlands - Ptevetorax (Falling Roc), Ditkanis (Dust in the Wind)
• Shimmersand – Steetos (Beating the Storm), Aurispus (Sand Storm Serpent Slayer)
• Iron Pine Peak – Sither (Stone Cold), Nedavada (Storm Chaser)

Just one of the Air Rift invasion boss achievements.

Artifact Collections

There are three different sets of artifacts that drop from Air Rifts. They are as follows:

• Arch Invader Storm Artifacts (from Air Rifts in Droughtlands)
• Exarch Invader Storm Artifacts (from Air Rifts in Iron Pine Peak and Shimmersand)

One of the Air Rift Artifact Collections

Achievements

There are several achievements that can be earned from the Air Rifts that open throughout Telara. The major ones are as follow below, with many other achievements that can be earned by completing the various Air Rift based zone events mentioned earlier.

• Stormbound Achiever - Complete the following four achievements
• Stormbound Champion - Close 75 Air Rifts
• Stormbound Collector - Complete all the Air artifact collections
• Stormbound Defense - Defeat 500 Air Invasions
• Stormbound Rescue - Defeat 100 Air Footholds

Rift Types:
Death |
Earth |
Fire |
Life |
Water |
Air