And here comes 1.4, Even though 1.3 is barely old.
RIFT 1.4 - 8/3/11
== FEATURED ITEMS ==
* A new type of Rift - PvP Rifts - can now be opened at Raid Tear locations with a special Ascended Power. See below under PvP Rifts for details.
* The first Alternate Warfront, for Whitefall Steppes, will now appear on weekends and grant double awards when active!
* The Looking for Group tool goes cross-shard with the other shards in your wargroup; look below under CROSS-SHARD LOOKING FOR GROUP for more info.
* A new epic questline for higher level characters solo or in small groups is now available: The Water Saga!
* The new 10-person Sliver, Drowned Halls, makes an appearance in Scarwood Reach. See below under DROWNED HALLS - NEW SLIVER.
* The quest journal system has some shiny new updates; see QUEST SYSTEM below for specifics.
* Many, many more improvements below!
PVP RIFTS - NEW
* The armies of the Ascended can now open special PvP rifts at Rift Raid locations. Opening these rifts secures sourcestone for your faction, but also leaves you open to attack from enemies! Keep the rift open as long as you can to gain the most rewards - or close your enemy's rift for additional bonuses!
* See Girdoom in Meridian and Templar Zin in Sanctum to obtain the Ascended Powers needed to open these new Rifts, purchased with Favor (Lure of the Unseen and Lure of the Eye).
* PvP Rifts can be opened at Raid Tears in Shimmersand, Iron Pine Peak, and Stillmoor. Only one per zone can be opened at any time, for a total of three active PvP Rifts at a time.
* Contribution to objectives or to PvP activity in the region of the opened Rifts triggers rewards.
* PvP Rift activity will be broadcast in the new World Defense chat channel.
ALTERNATE WARFRONT: WHITEFALL STEPPES - NEW
Whitefall Steppes - Escalation
* In their fight for dominance, the Guardians and Defiants have deployed massive rune cannons to the Whitefall Steppes. Their Ascended armies battle to collect and return Soucestone to fuel these powerful weapons.
* Capture three Sourcestone from the field and hold them at your base to win. Beware though; Sourcestone can be stolen directly from your base by the enemy.
* Alternate-mode Warfronts appear on weekends and are highlighted in the Warfront queue UI when available. These Warfronts grant double awards while available.
* Daily quests for the standard version of Whitefall Steppes can still be completed in the Alternate Mode.
* Achievements related to Whitefall Steppes must still be done in the standard version.
CROSS-SHARD LOOKING FOR GROUP
* The Looking for Group tool now includes queues from the other shards within your battlegroup when forming instance groups.
* Cross-shard players are indicated the same way as in Warfronts - Name@Shard.
* Cross-shard groups cannot contain more than 5 characters but can still be 'converted to a raid' for the UI change.
* The ability to ignore players cross-shard is currently being worked on.
* You cannot trade items or coin to players from another shard. This includes Bind on Pickup items under the 30 minute trade window after looting.
WATER SAGA STORY QUESTLINE - NEW
* After the appearance of Akylios, Guardians take a trip through madness while Defiants learn the story of the Faceless Man and help determine his future. The Abyssal have a hand in all of it.
* The Water Saga is intended for higher-level characters in solo and small groups. You don't need to raid to complete it though you may need to bring some friends for some portions.
* Start the story after completing either Standard or Expert Abyssal Precipice. Defiants speak to Faceless Man inside the Abyssal Precipice instance itself, while Guardians need to see Cardinal Visc in Sanctum after completing the instance once. Pre-1.4 completions of Abyssal Precipice DO count!
* New item rewards are available while completing the questline, and rumor has it that finishing the series grants the player a sweet new mount type. CROCNARD!
DROWNED HALLS - NEW SLIVER
* A new Sliver location has been reported to be intersecting with present-day Telara in the region of Lord's Hall in Scarwood Reach.
* High Priestess Hydriss attempts to break through from a twisted reality, bringing her Abyssal army to claim the Ascended's Telara for Akylios. Enter the Sliver to fight her back on her own turf before she can bring her future into ours!
* Drowned Halls is positioned as an entry-level 10-person raid instance, with unique new loot to help gear for more difficult challenges.
* Several new costume items can be obtained from the Drowned Halls sliver and Achievements.
QUEST SYSTEM
* Repeatable quests (daily, weekly, etc) no longer count against the 25-quest limit in the quest log.
* Collected quest items that are placed in your bank now count toward the total required for the quest and will be withdrawn when the quest is turned in.
* All characters now have a 'quest bag' attached to their quest log which holds items that are either gained during or required for quests the character is currently on.
* Looted quest items will automatically go into this new quest bag.
* You can move quest items around inside the quest bag or move them into your general inventory if needed.
* Regular items go into inventory bags as usual, and cannot be stored in the quest bag.
and:
ZONES
* The Ancient Wardstone mechanic has been removed
FAIL FAIL FAIL. FAIL.
and again:
* Sigil of Ravaging: Renamed Ravaging Darkness. This now works like Tyranny, dealing damage and consuming/triggering all of your Lurking Decays. In addition, it heals the Cleric for 100% of the damage done.
MUWAHAHA MY CLERIC WILL BE SO OP
