WoW player intruiged about Rift... Looking for information

[Polarthief]

So... RIFT... I remember when everyone said how this was going to be THE game to kill WoW.

I'll admit it caught my eye back then, but I never bothered to try it, but after countless days of doing NOTHING in WoW other than waiting to kill the same boring bosses night after night, I am a bit intrigued as SW:TOR didn't look to appeasing to me. (I'm not a Lore buff and I've never seen a SW movie in my entire life, so... yeah)

Anyway, I'm curious to try it during downtime, but I've got a few questions; would love if someone could answer them? (And yes, I will be asking many of them as "Like in WoW, is X like Y?")



1. Is there a f2p trial just to give me a small taste, similar to WoW's f2p up to level 20 accounts?

2. Despite LOVING customization, when I saw the three talent trees per each class, as well as multiclassing and whatnot, I think my brain exploded. Is it easier than it looks to talent efficiently? (Or rather are there "Stupid Choices" like WoW's current trees?)

3. If you've played WoW, you know that there's not much to do when you're already decked out in gear waiting for your raid nights. If I came to RIFT, what would I be doing instead of standing in Stormwind/Orgrimmar talking to my friends/guildies? (Assuming I'm in decent "Normal Raid" quality gear)

4. Is there a no-armor class (Cloth) that can hybrid into Tanking? (e.g., I'm a Mage in WoW and would love to tank as that same character, or maybe heal when I want to)

5. Could I get a list or a website link that briefly explains each class and what roles they can perform?

6. Exactly how much customization is there? I mentioned in #2 about Multiclassing which I don't even know is true or not, so I'd like to know just how much control do I have?

*7. In regards to #6, what IS reversible/changeable? (This will very likely be a major deciding factor. I've played SO many games where talent trees / multiclassing is irreversible w/o paying a USD fee or just unavailable, which kills the game instantly for me)

8. Could you recommend any servers that would fit best for a US (East Coast [Southern Florida]) player?

9. Are there factions like Alliance V Horde? If so, how does it work? Do you get to be like Pandaren in MoP and be any race you want and choose a side?

10. Just how much like WoW is it? The biggest thing that killed it for me made me think it was just a complete copy of WoW on a better graphics engine.

[Tarien]

1. Use this link for a seven day trial (shameless use of refer a friend ).

2. Once you get to know the tree's experimentation is actually quite fun. Until then many guides are about to help you choose, everything from levelling to soloing to pve to pvp.

3. In the unlikely event that you have Akylios on farm you won't have long to wait for the next content, tends to be a new raid every couple of months. We're due a new 20man raid. Failing that there are plenty of rep grinds, world events, xp to be earnt for planar attunement, PvP (including some nice world PvP), exploration, achievement hunting etc etc.

4. Sadly not. Mages can heal, but still can't tank.

5. Erm, riftgame.com?

6. LOT's! We have five specs available to use over WoWs two, and believe me it's not enough!! I've created some weird and wonderful niche specs over the last 9 months.

7. Erm, you can respec very cheaply so everything is reversible? Mages for instance only really need one set of gear whether they heal or DPS. They can get specific trinkets but the rest of their gear is the same. Clerics need more than one set of gear but the game rains cleric gear so it's not that bad.

8. Check out http://www.riftstatus.net/shards/na and sort by population on the left panel, to see the busier servers.

[Slipmat]

You've certainly asked a lot of questions there, don't even know where to begin
First off, yes, there is a free trial, click here to get started on that >>> https://eu.riftgame.com/en/products/mmo-free-trial/

As for the various callings and the classes contained in that calling...it boils down to four callings...Cleric -- Mage -- Rogue and Warrior, the fun begins within those 4 callings... let me explain better with some videos, bear in mind these videos are a few months old so some classes have been changed a bit...

Cleric



Mage



Rogue



Warrior



Also you can have up to five different specs now per calling, think of it as dual-dual + one spec
The videos go a bit of the way explaining them, but all this just happens at the click of a button, that fast and that easy...

As for worrying about sitting on your mount in the cities doing nothing? not in Rift, you will get zone invasions happening on a regular basis where you get to play with these bad boys...

[Polarthief]

6. LOT's! We have five specs available to use over WoWs two, and believe me it's not enough!! I've created some weird and wonderful niche specs over the last 9 months.

You're referring to Dual Specc I take it?

Also, IS there multi-classing?

---------- Post added 2012-01-06 at 06:15 AM ----------

Rogue

All that stuff on the talent tree is what scares me o_O;

I mean within the last month or so, I've FINALLY learned all the classes 3 trees and most of the talents (I at least know the classes I play frequently near perfectly) [Referring to WoW of course]. I feel like it would take me a millenia to learn JUST my class, let alone all the other ones!

[Tarien]

You're referring to Dual Specc I take it?

Also, IS there multi-classing?

All that stuff on the talent tree is what scares me o_O;

I mean within the last month or so, I've FINALLY learned all the classes 3 trees and most of the talents (I at least know the classes I play frequently near perfectly) [Referring to WoW of course]. I feel like it would take me a millenia to learn JUST my class, let alone all the other ones!

Yes, we have quintuple-spec

What exactly do you mean by multi-classing?

The tree's look scary, but they are one of the most fun things in the game. As a RIFT mage I can play like a Fire or Frost mage or a Warlock from WoW, or a Tempest of Set from Age of Conan (lightning!), or one of the unique classes like Dominator (debuffs/control) or Chloromancer (healer). So don't stress, look forward to the vast array of playstyles

[Polarthief]

Yes, we have quintuple-spec

What exactly do you mean by multi-classing?

The tree's look scary, but they are one of the most fun things in the game. As a RIFT mage I can play like a Fire or Frost mage or a Warlock from WoW, or a Tempest of Set from Age of Conan (lightning!), or one of the unique classes like Dominator (debuffs/control) or Chloromancer (healer). So don't stress, look forward to the vast array of playstyles

Fuuuuuuuuuuun

e.g., you're a Mage, but you have an "Off class" into Rogue so you could use some basic rogue abilities while still being a Mage main (which wouldn't be optimal). FFXI and DDO had it and it was a very interesting take on typical MMOs.

As a... wa...?

Edit: ... THERE'S THIRTY-TWO CLASSES?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Okay so if I choose Mage as my base, can I multiclass among the other 8 classes that are there? Can I change between the 8 at will or is it locked in place?

[Tarien]

Ah no there isn't multi classing.

There are four classes, Mage, Warrior, Rogue, Cleric. Each has its own nine souls (tree's) from which you can choose three at any time to make up your spec.

So as a mage I might take Stormcaller, Elementalist and Archon, which gives me Lightning and Ice, buffs to elemental spells and a pet, and some self buffs.

Or I could go Warlock, Necromancer, Archmage, which would give me Dots, Death based cooldowns, a skeletal minion and a break free ability for any CC.

Lots and lots of possibilities!

[Deleted]

(there are 31 specs in wow)

[Slipmat]

Edit: ... THERE'S THIRTY-TWO CLASSES?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Okay so if I choose Mage as my base, can I multiclass among the other 8 classes that are there? Can I change between the 8 at will or is it locked in place?

No, not quite 32 classes, each of the 4 main Archtypes each have 8 'classes' in them,(9 if you include a seperate PvP soul) so there's 32 classes but split between each calling so you can't mix, like you suggested, a Mage with some Rogue type abilities..but no, you can have up to 5 specs for each calling...for example, say a Mage...

One spec can be Warlock--Necromancer-- Chloromancer
A second spec can be Pyromancer--Elementalist--Archon
A third spec can be Elementalist--Stormcaller--Dominator

and so on, each spec is a different playstyle, one can play like your 'traditional' warlock...DoTs and nukes, mix in some minions from Necromancer which can tank for you, one spec can play like a Fire Mage and so on..all can be instantly switched back and forth at the click of a button

Your action bars will automatically switch abilities etc..

Here's a look at the 8 sub classes in each of the 4 callings...

http://eu.riftgame.com/en/classes/

If you want to play around with a Soul Builder, mess around with combos or look at pre-made builds, this is your friend...

http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html

[Deleted]

try the trial, i played the game in beta and liked it enough to pre order it, then i played it about 2 months. i stopped playing when i got to the point where there wasnt anything new to see

considering i didnt play SWTOR, Rift is second best p2p MMO i played. (and considering wow sucks now, its #1 really)

[Deleted]

Awesome thread been meaning to try this game for a while now since Swotor was such a massive let down for me and WoW dosent seem to be getting better any more. Think ill make use of Tarien's shameless RaF link. Thanks for all the info

[Cronos]

RIFT is a pretty good game, its pretty dynamic with the world events and stuff, the speccing system is good (love the quintuple spec), having said that, I felt the movement and combat was slow and somehow a bit clunky, and thats why I only played for 1 month.

[Deleted]

I do wish they'd streamline these tree's a bit, i do love the variety and possibilities with them but it can be awfully intimidating when a new player starts and by level 4 they have their action bars full of abilities that seem to do the same thing. I remember being quite confused and overwhelmed by that when i first played.

[Deleted]

I do wish they'd streamline these tree's a bit, i do love the variety and possibilities with them but it can be awfully intimidating when a new player starts and by level 4 they have their action bars full of abilities that seem to do the same thing. I remember being quite confused and overwhelmed by that when i first played.

Uhrm, not exactly as you gain points when you level and you only have a few souls to start out with, so you won't have alot of abilities, and streamlining it.. gawd, I hope they never end up like in WoW where everything is so boring and linear.

The game is fun to level in, but really first starts at 50. Planar attunement means you'll basically never be done levelling up. There's like.. 922 levels there.

Alot of things to do, standing in town is not really.. there's always an invasion, some dailies, or just plain out killing things to be done. So most of the time is spent in the game world and not in a 100 x 100m area with an empty space around it while you're waiting to join the same dungeon you've done before to roll your face over the keyboard once more to kill the same old boss. Oh yeah, and you won't just get into raids especially not the latest tier. That's not something that's puggable or ad-hoc 20 mins faceroll.

If you liked the early wow, classic/tbc with some very cool twists and ways to do things, Rift is for you. If you liked Wotlk or Cata.. then you'll waste your money. Oh yeah, the community is alot better as well. You can even ask if you don't know what's going on and get a reply.

[Zych]

I disagree, I love the talent trees just the way they are. It is a bit intimidating at first, and despite what people are saying it does cost a little money (you won't have enough money to totally redo your talents for at least 10 levels). I would recommend going to riftjunkies and researching the class you want to play a little bit first, so you have at least a basic idea of which 3 souls you want to use together.

I see a few questions unanswered so I'll give 'em a shot:

8) Server choice really doesn't matter. There is one datacenter (in Texas?) so latencies are the same wherever you go, and you can do a free instant transfer from your character select screen at any time. Check out riftstats.com

9) Yes there are 2 factions, defiant & guardian, you decide which is more like horde/alliance :P 3 races for each faction

10) At first glance it is very similar to WoW. The UI is a reskin, and the questing is very similar as well. I did the free beta deal a while back and was like 'Oh man this is just WoW with different graphics' but after getting back into it I have to say it really isn't. All you can do is try it out for yourself & see what you think.

[Fencers]

Anyway, I'm curious to try it during downtime, but I've got a few questions; would love if someone could answer them? (And yes, I will be asking many of them as "Like in WoW, is X like Y?")

Obvs. the guy was banned and these were somewhat answered but for those that might still gleam some info; My POV

1. There are free trials but limited time. Every so many weeks Rift has a free-for-all weekend or deeply discount the game. Like $10 with 30 days if you bought it on a Steam a few months back.

Play the limited trial or wait for a weekend special.

2. The talents trees only share similarity with Warcraft's in naming conventions. Their ends are not truly the same. We call them talent trees in a vulgar fashion but really each tree is more akin to a class within an archetype.

Players essentially equip 3 out of 8 "trees" spending 66 total talent points spread among the three. With each tree having vertical and horizontal progression. It is complicated. Yes, you can make dumb choices.

However, and this is a biggie- the way the class system works is by having a large emphasis on hybridization and fluidity. That is to say many odd combinations are workable and the game encourages players to swap spec and trees often. So often it can be per boss or per encounter even.

We have 5 specs in Rift as opposed to 2 in Warcraft. Re-specs are a flat, trivial fee as well. Most coming from Warcraft or other games with singular classes struggle with the class system in Rift. If you go into the game thinking; "I'm a frost mage!" or "I'm a healing cleric!" you have set yourself up for hard times.

Rift's class system has to appeal to a player on the terms that as a cleric one might... tank (like a paladin), range magic DPS (like a shadow priest), melee physical DPS (like a fury warrior), pet DPS (like a beast lord), tank heal (like a disc priest), raid heal (like a resto druid) and off heal (like a resto shaman) all in the same raid night. And often be expected to move between all of these roles with ease and equal skill.

That has to appeal to you or, yea...

4. Nope

5. http://telarapedia.com/wiki/Rift_Wiki <-- is a good source.

6. Explained above. Hybrids are the norm in class set up with a high emphasis on moving between many different roles per instance.

7. Everything. Just talk to a trainer in a city and they can reverse anything about your class for a flat fee. The total cost of which is like killing 1 dragonfly. Kinda meant to swap specs and roles a lot. A LOT.

Did I mentioned you are suppose to move between roles and specs often? I didn't? Oh well, you are expected to move between roles and specs often.

8. All US servers are in the same location. All west coast, IIRC.

9. Two factions; Guardians and Defiant. They don't mingle. No neutral races.

10. It's a hotkey MMO in a fantasy world built around an endgame of raiding and gear. The structure and goals of the game are similar to Warcraft, Aion and The Old Republic. The gameplay and internal systems of Rift are unlike Warcraft, however. Games are about gameplay.

If killing raid bosses wears thin- wait for Guild Wars 2 or Secret World, I suppose.

[Deleted]

There's also epic raids in rift. Like wow used to have in Burning Crusade and Classic.
We only have 1 difficulty. (Afaik they are planning on adding a heroic mode to raids as they currently have in 5 man dungeons)
First video is the last boss in the raid dungeon called Hammerknell.

[willowwand]

I downloaded this game to play with friends but i got one error after another and never actually got to try it /sad

[iceberg265]

ALL of the info you are asking for is on their website...

IMO you shouldn't waste your time. I tried it and I thought it was a terrible game. But I LOVE SWTOR and you don't, so maybe its worth a try for you.

[DDazzle]

ALL of the info you are asking for is on their website...

IMO you shouldn't waste your time. I tried it and I thought it was a terrible game. But I LOVE SWTOR and you don't, so maybe its worth a try for you.

to each his own. i couldn't stand SWTOR personally. i had been watching that game like a junky for 3 strait years and when i hit beta wanted to cry. that's just me though. i may try it again in 6 months or so when they clean the game up and add some content, but it's not for me right now.

if you play MMORPGS people need to understand that the greatest commodity is time. i've never seen a game released to date where you didn't in some form or fashion waste some time. a lot of people really enjoy Rift and trying the game out for free is never a waste of time. you either learn it isn't for you, or you find a great game that's worthy of your sub money.