How good are presets?

[Deleted]

Started fooling around Rift in the last couple of days, as it is f2p anyways and I am liking it, however I am curious, how good are the preset "templates" for various callings?

I started a mage and choose corruptor and the basis of that presets seems to make sense (mainly dot damage with some minor focus on burst damage, sicne dot specs often tend to really really lack any sort of burst).

The souls system looks nice on paper but I definitely can have a good use of these templates as the overwhelming numbers of possibilities are way too complex for someone not well versed in the game.

I assume these templates do nice for leveling, including dungeons and PvP while leveling but fall out of usability at the endgame? Or how are them?

[Trix]

They are good starting points, however you can get better specs by looking at their forums.

[Edge-]

You'll be able to get all the way to 60 and do experts with them.

As Trix said, they're not the ideal specs for each calling, but they're great starting points. Once you get comfortable with the class and the souls you're using, I'd recommend checking out the Rift forums. They have a pretty robust class guide section that has a ton of great builds and discussions going.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the responses.

I think I'll stay with presets then for awhile, mainly corruptor and will try out some others as well.

Also I'd have two more questions, namely, to get Harbinger I have to pay, right? Like, it's part of the new souls from the expansion and I need to buy the Storm Legion souls separately, yes? But everything else from the XP is available free?

And the other is, as far as I understand this game has "support" as an additional role to the standard trinity, and that is actually viable in end-game PvE.

How do these support souls play? Is it like the original design intention behind WoW hybrids, mainly that they have more buffs/debuffs compared to regular classes while also capable of dealing some damage and healing, that is nontheless not on par with regular dps/healer output?
How should I imagine say, raiding with a support spec?

[Bodaway]

You are correct in that the 4 newest souls require a purchase to use. I'm not sure if it's something you can purchase with in game currency if you grind it out or not.

[Onorvele]

Also I'd have two more questions, namely, to get Harbinger I have to pay, right? Like, it's part of the new souls from the expansion and I need to buy the Storm Legion souls separately, yes? But everything else from the XP is available free?

Theoretically, you could buy REX with plat, and use that REX to get crystals, and use those crystals to buy the expansion souls. More info on REX here. In practice, you'll need a rich friend. Especially given the AH is gated - you need a certain amount of loyalty (based on using crystals to buy stuff, or subscribing) to sell stuff on the AH.

And the other is, as far as I understand this game has "support" as an additional role to the standard trinity, and that is actually viable in end-game PvE.

How do these support souls play? Is it like the original design intention behind WoW hybrids, mainly that they have more buffs/debuffs compared to regular classes while also capable of dealing some damage and healing, that is nontheless not on par with regular dps/healer output?
How should I imagine say, raiding with a support spec?

As you've sussed out, Support offers two main things:

• Buffs and Debuffs. The support soul will boost DPS for everyone with short duration raid buffs (like 30 second duration) that can be permanently maintained through class-specific mechanics. They may also debuff enemies. Overall, they provide a solid contribution to rDPS and raid survivability.
• Responsive Healing/DPSing. In addition to the raid buffs, the support soul will offer limited pDPS, and relatively weak healing. However, the healing will be better than what a pure DPS soul can do, and the DPS will be better than what a pure healing soul can do. Support can therefore act as an extra 1/2 a healer when there's massive, unavoidable raid damage, and go back to being 1/2 a DPS when the raid is just dealing with mechanics.

Hope this helps.

[Drikkink]

So, I changed out of preset because I hate having my hand held... how would a Warlock/Necro combo be for leveling? I'm pretty much doing only Warlock with a couple in Pyro right now, but my Pyro spells are kinda worthless. I might just get rid of the heal tree.

[Lathais]

So, I changed out of preset because I hate having my hand held... how would a Warlock/Necro combo be for leveling? I'm pretty much doing only Warlock with a couple in Pyro right now, but my Pyro spells are kinda worthless. I might just get rid of the heal tree.

Necrolock is an excellent spec. However, if you have the SL Souls, Harb/Chloro is hands down the best leveling spec.

[Slipmat]

In case people aren't aware and you might have that awesome sauce leveling build you made yourself....

Trion are holding a "Build a Better Preset" contest, it just started last week and runs right through to January 3rd

CONTEST: Build a Better Preset
Get your build in the game!

While the preset system is fantastic way to introduce the complex soul system to newer users, it is in need of an update. To ensure that they’re the very best that they can be, we need your help. We want to put your builds in the game, credit them to you, and offer you prizes to boot!

In order to do this, we've prepared a form with all the required information, which will be in the next post.


Dates:

Contest Opens: November 22th - Today! Now!
Contest Ends: December 3rdst 10 AM PST


Rules:

You may enter as many builds as you want.
You can win multiple times, and all those builds will be placed into the game!
Some prizes can be won multiple times, but others only once. Please see the Prizes section for details.
Please be sure you include a guide in addition to your build. That guide can be off site.
Judgement will be done by the community, for the community, done with polls broken up by Calling.
The top builds with the most votes will be put into the game.
Vladd, Kervik, and Daglar may also select some builds that they find noteworthy, too!
You may not enter a build that someone else created.



Prizes:

All winners will have their build(s) added to the game as a preset!
Winners will be able to offer a descriptive name for the preset.
Your character's name and shard will be credited in the description.
All winners will earn a Hellbug or Ki Rin mount of their choosing.
Only 1 will be given to 1 character.
This prize can be won multiple times! If you win three times, you can pick 3 different mounts!
30 Day Patron Pass
This prize can only be acquired once.
Winners will receive the prefix title "Soulmaster"
All participants will receive the title "the Soul Architect"

Full details at: http://forums.riftgame.com/game-disc...uild-game.html

[CandyCotton Marshmallows]

that sounds like a pretty cool contest.

the problem I recall with the presets is its mix/match pve/pvp stuff can be an issue, especially if you are on a pve server.

It'd be interesting how many they add. I mean I could see people putting forth a good pve/pvp/aoe/burst etc builds for several builds ... and either clutter up the presets or have to redesign that interface with sub categories (Basic/beginner, pve -burst, pve -dot, pvp, mobility, survivability, throughput - heals, threat, solo, group ... )