Soul Combinations #Riftgame
I didn’t intend on playing beta 3 of Rift that much because I’ve already determined that I want to purchase the game. Playing it a lot now means I have less surprises to look forward to when it goes live, and I don’t want to experience burn out before I’ve even started. On that same note there was really nothing I wanted to play this weekend except Rift, so I did find myself in game more often than not.
I started beta 1 with a sentinel warden combination. Basically a pure healer combined with a druid who used elemental attacks and heals over time. I had a lot of fun, the warden has a few attacks that push mobs away from you, and the casting of the sentinel was quite fast. With a few buffs under my belt I actually never died while playing. I created on the defiant side since it was beta 1. Beta 2 I did not participate in, being caught up in WoW and – I forget what else. Looking back I wish I had of played more, but I don’t feel like it was that bad of a thing that I missed it.
Beta 3 I decided I would create a different class, and I would play the Guardian faction instead of Defiant. I instantly fell in love with the dwarf race, enough so that I think it’s what I’ll be playing at release, on the PvE-RP server. I really miss role playing. I created a Beastmaster, which is one of the tank classes. Much like the Beastlord of EQ they come with a pet, and you have the ability to wield a number of weapons right from the start including dual wielding, sword and board, and 2 handed. Unlike beastlords (from what I saw in any case) the pets are mostly for dps and not for tanking purposes since you are a tank class and you generate a lot of threat. It was nice to have the added dps. Once I had quested along enough I added a second soul to the combination, and I picked a paladin. It wasn’t one of the suggested soul pairings, but I figured being able to use heals and magic attacks along with my pet attacks could only lead to more awesomeness. Having such a gigantic amount of choice when it comes to character customization (via souls) is really what is sucking me in to Rift.
The tank was fun. I mean, really fun. Considering I rarely play tanks and they’re always my 4th (or 10th) choice in a game I was pretty happy that the idea appealed to me at all.
Before I go too far I decided to try another character combination. This time I went dwarf (guardian) rogue, and picked bard to start. Things were a little slow until I got my second skill which allowed me to use my points (much like a rogue has points in WoW or a paladin has holy points) and expel them all at once in a big attack. For my second soul I decided to try a ranger and was given a pet. This pet (unlike the beastmaster) tanks, has a charge, and holds agro very well – at least from what I saw. I never had it lose agro once, although I did find that it tended to pull mobs that had not agro’d me, as though it’s on it’s own agro leash. Fine but I’ll have to keep that in mind as I go running around. The ranger and bard combination was working fantastic. I could heal a little, buff a little, had a pet to tank while I pelted the mob with arrows. Things were good. I did die once because some how my pet gained agro on .. well. A lot of creatures that bee-lined for me but aside from that it was pretty smooth sailing.
I was going to log back in and play my healer some more, but alas, all good things must come to an end and beta 3 was one of those things. I’m pretty excited about this game (as you can probably tell) even if it doesn’t stick, I’m looking forward to beta 4 and whatever it brings.
Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!
The characters models are the best looking i’ve seen in an mmo.. so far.
I played a Justicar/Shaman/Druid this time around and had a really good time with him. Not a lot of attacks, but enough. Good buffs, good enough heals for soloing. I also tried a Dominator. I think that would make a great 3rd soul for a build like Warlock/Necromancer or Elementalist/Pyromancer for it’s polymorph ability.
I really like the Bahmi and the Kelari. The only Guardian race I cared for was the High Elf. The dwarf (my first choice) just didn’t look tough enough. They have a little too much Snow White and the Seven Dwarves about them (the males, anyway). I usually can’t cross dress in MMO’s, but the female Kelari warrior’s battle roar is so adorable I might have to try. I liked the new Markings for the Defiants, but I wish they would have left the old in place and just added to them.
My Beta 3 Rogue was also a Bard – Ranger. I love the idea of defeating enemies with my music as my pet chews them up.
I was afraid the different combos would not be different enough, but was proven wrong when I compared my Sentinel/Justicar/Inquistor to my daughter’s Druid/Warden/Shaman. While they were similar they did play different enough to not make them feel “the same”.
Oh by the way, writing a reply to your post encouraged me to write one of my own. Thanks.
I usually go with the ranged DPS classes, but after playing the Defaint warrior, I think I’m going to have to re-think my choices for live. I’m also not normally an alt’er, but I can see how Rift might encourage alting, even with the possibility of swapping souls when needed.
I do not beta. It is hard work and I really do not like to write up up bug reports. But I do appreciate other people doing it. So thanks.
I hope Rift will have a free trial. Heck, I’d even pay a small (like 3-5 dollars) to try a week or two. Hopefully it sucks, as my gaming really do not have any time for anything else but EVE and LotRO. :)