Diary of two RIFT noobs #1

This week I decided that even though I was enjoying my new DK alt in WoW, that I’d like to try a new game out. One that was suggested several times was a game called RIFT. Several people have described it to me as “fake WoW”, so I figured that at least I have a good chance! I didn’t want to miss out the fun, so I downloaded it too.

First Impressions

I watched the opening trailer:

…and first impressions were pretty good. It seemed like the type of thing I’m into (lots of fantasy, MMO, questing etc) and the graphics, for a F2P seemed really nice. So, we decided to give it a go.

I get onto the character screen to create my first toon on a medium pop PvE server (I don’t like WoW PvP, I don’t see how this would be any different!), and I’m faced with a decision straight away: which faction to choose. I am unashamed to say that I chose Guardian purely based on the fact the other one looked like the Horde symbol. I just did as I was told! Then… Elf, Dwarf or Human. Well, as cool as Dwarves are, the Elf looked really beautiful so I chose a female. And I a male.

I wanted the same race/server as we don’t know if different races start together, so this is why we chose Gelidra and the High Elves.

Creating a Character

We haven’t read a single thing about the lore or the background to this game, so I pick a class that I am most familiar with – a Mage (there was Warrior, Cleric or Rogue as well). I chose a Warrior Destroyer… because it looks cool. However, you must then further specialise… you can be a healer, tank or damage Mage, depending on what you wish to do. I didn’t want to heal, as the tool tip says that it “takes longer to solo mobs”. I thought this would be silly seeing as I doubt I’ll be grouping with lots of people just yet – I wanted a class that could hold its own as I learn the game. In the end, I chose the Pyromentalist, it seemed the most logical at least!

Customisation

This was a really fun experience. In WoW, you get hair style and colour, face shape, accessories (ear/nose rings/tattoos) and skin colour. In RIFT, you also get make-up tones, mouth and nose size/shape, highlights, eye colour… many more options to explore! It also gave you a preview of gear at different levels which was pretty cool.

Here they are, as new level one’s in the starting area.

The first five levels

Level 1 and 2 were pretty easy… moving is the same as WoW (W,A,D) and you right click to interact with quest givers. The storyline is pretty linear too – one quest leads to another etc. I found it really quite simple to level those first couple of levels. It’s a bit weird using 1 and 2 for main abilities (when I’ve always used Q, E etc) but as we’re grouping together, the mobs die quickly anyway. I also realised at around level 5 that I have an Elemental pet – similar to a Warlock voidwalker. Pretty handy!

Levels 3,4,5 were more complex purely as the mobs became hostile and started attacking you. The world was also pretty cool to explore, even if the quest givers tend to change places from where you picked the quest up from – rather confusing.

I was a bit overawed by the amount of abilities you get as a level one – a lot to get your head around. Each class seemed to have abilities from the other. Like in WoW a fire mage using arcane missiles, it seems a bit bizarre. The ‘soul tree’ (talents) seems complex too, we just opted for the automatic fill-in feature for now.

I also changed our key bindings, she was getting confused using 1 and 2 for abilities usually on Q and E….

Beyond level 5

We only got to level 10 in our first sitting, although I think that was a valiant attempt. We stopped here as I wanted to try a different class. We tried duelling a few times and I could barely touch her before I died, I couldn’t be having that!  It started to get a bit complicated with things that needed research – what do the Porticulis do? Why are people in my party if I didn’t invite/accept them? Why is there a quest which is completing without me doing anything?

The World

From what we can gather, the world is interactive with quests that you can complete as part of a team – you turn up, complete the objectives and get a reward. I’ve had one experience of this (completely accidentally), but it seems like a cool concept. We killed some big firey dude and I got some rocks as a reward. I didn’t get anything though…

So far, we haven’t explored much out than the starting town and its relevant quests. However, I did get chance at the end to stumble through a large part of the map into new questing hubs further into the zone, in what looks like a college. I’m sure we’re not doing them in a logical order, but we’re gaining xp… We also got our first taste of the ‘dimensions’ – player housing we think. Not entirely sure what it’s for, but I put a bush down and it looked like home!

Heading forward

I’m quite looking forward to continuing this adventure! It’s fun exploring a new world and learning something new. Here we are at level 10…

Do you play RIFT? Any advice for us noobs?