As Rift
passes its one year anniversary celebrations throughout Telara
continue. This year players of the hit fantasy MMORPG have more to
rejoice for as game update 1.8 approaches. This update will bring
plenty of new and exciting content to
style="font-style: italic;">Rift that will keep
even the most Rift-crazed
entertained for some time.
The Carnival of the Ascended is under way for the in-game celebration
of Rift's
first year anniversary. This event has a very laid-back and fun feel to
it. For a brief time Telarans can forget the turmoil that is tearing
the world apart and just enjoy some good old fashioned entertainment
like ring tosses, mechanical ponies, and a balloon stomp. Raids have
even formed to jump around in the Balloon Stomp as the
style="font-style: italic;">Rift community
kicks back their heels for a little R&R. But this relaxation
period won't last. Soon enough conflict will break out all over again
and this is where Rift
Game Update 1.8 will come in.
The showcase content update for 1.8 will feature an all new 20-person
raid called Infernal Dawn. This raid will have seven boss fights over
11 encounters. Several of the bosses have multiple stages to the fight.
In this volcano prison Lathys and the Golden Maw have joined in a pact
with the Wanton dragon cult to release Malforge, one of the deadliest
dragons ever to exist. Players will need to fight their way through the
encounters and eventually defeat Lathys herself.
The Lathys encounter itself will be a glorious battle. She is made up
of swirling gold that will fly from her body as she's struck. She'll
eventually shift around the room and meld with the gold itself, forming
powerful arms out of the treasures to strike back at her foes. The
battle will consist of several stages as Lathys shifts into different
forms and it will be up to the heroes of Telara to figure out the
winning strategy.
alt="Face Lathys in Rift 1.8" width="600">
Face Lathys in Rift 1.8
Also in the Infernal Dawn raid, players will board a battleship
reminiscent of Pirates of the Caribbean. This is no ordinary tank and
spank battle, though, as the ship itself will come alive with sawblades
from the deck and cannons and guns manning themselves to fight off the
invading raid.
The highlight of the dungeon comes later when raiders will face
Malforge. This encounter is a tiered fight which will be fought in an
erupting volcano. As the fight progresses players will need to jump
from platform to platform to avoid the steadily rising magma.
Rift 1.8
will also have plenty of new content for the non-raider. Leaderboards
are making their way into the game which are achievement based. The
design of these leaderboards has been built specifically so that anyone
can get onto the boards with a little creative thinking. It won't be
impossible feats that only the most hard-core will be able to achieve,
but rather an open category-based system that will give everyone a
chance to make their mark on their servers and the game as a whole.
New auxiliary skills will give Telarans more ways to interact with the
world as fishing, survival, and trapping all become available skills to
learn. The fishing skill in Rift
Update 1.8 will be similar to what MMO players are accustomed to in
some other MMO games. Trapping will be an involved experience as
players set their traps around the world and return to them later to
check their success. The survival skill will tie all of these skills
together with the ability to cook the caught game creatures and build
player tents for those long weekends away from civilization.
For the lonely player a new Guild Recruitment system is being added to
the game which will not only allow guilds to advertise more efficiently
but also allow players to search and find a guild that's well suited to
their playstyle and personality.
Rift Game
Update 1.8 is targeted for launch in early April. This update will wrap
up the Malforge and Lathys stories and lead into the next story arc
with 1.9, which will include a new 10-person raid. April will be a big
month for Rift
players everywhere and Trion Worlds is showing no signs of slowing down
on the content updates for the second year in Telara.
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our RIFT Game Page.
