Rift Game Update 1.8 Preview

Tags : rift updat, rift preview, rift news

As Rift passes its one year anniversary celebrations throughout Telara continue. This year players of the hit fantasy MMORPG have more to rejoice for as game update 1.8 approaches. This update will bring plenty of new and exciting content to Rift that will keep even the most Rift-crazed entertained for some time.

The Carnival of the Ascended is under way for the in-game celebration of Rift's first year anniversary. This event has a very laid-back and fun feel to it. For a brief time Telarans can forget the turmoil that is tearing the world apart and just enjoy some good old fashioned entertainment like ring tosses, mechanical ponies, and a balloon stomp. Raids have even formed to jump around in the Balloon Stomp as the Rift community kicks back their heels for a little R&R. But this relaxation period won't last. Soon enough conflict will break out all over again and this is where Rift Game Update 1.8 will come in.

The showcase content update for 1.8 will feature an all new 20-person raid called Infernal Dawn. This raid will have seven boss fights over 11 encounters. Several of the bosses have multiple stages to the fight. In this volcano prison Lathys and the Golden Maw have joined in a pact with the Wanton dragon cult to release Malforge, one of the deadliest dragons ever to exist. Players will need to fight their way through the encounters and eventually defeat Lathys herself.

The Lathys encounter itself will be a glorious battle. She is made up of swirling gold that will fly from her body as she's struck. She'll eventually shift around the room and meld with the gold itself, forming powerful arms out of the treasures to strike back at her foes. The battle will consist of several stages as Lathys shifts into different forms and it will be up to the heroes of Telara to figure out the winning strategy.

Face Lathys in Rift 1.8

Also in the Infernal Dawn raid, players will board a battleship reminiscent of Pirates of the Caribbean. This is no ordinary tank and spank battle, though, as the ship itself will come alive with sawblades from the deck and cannons and guns manning themselves to fight off the invading raid.

The highlight of the dungeon comes later when raiders will face Malforge. This encounter is a tiered fight which will be fought in an erupting volcano. As the fight progresses players will need to jump from platform to platform to avoid the steadily rising magma.

Rift 1.8 will also have plenty of new content for the non-raider. Leaderboards are making their way into the game which are achievement based. The design of these leaderboards has been built specifically so that anyone can get onto the boards with a little creative thinking. It won't be impossible feats that only the most hard-core will be able to achieve, but rather an open category-based system that will give everyone a chance to make their mark on their servers and the game as a whole.

New auxiliary skills will give Telarans more ways to interact with the world as fishing, survival, and trapping all become available skills to learn. The fishing skill in Rift Update 1.8 will be similar to what MMO players are accustomed to in some other MMO games. Trapping will be an involved experience as players set their traps around the world and return to them later to check their success. The survival skill will tie all of these skills together with the ability to cook the caught game creatures and build player tents for those long weekends away from civilization.

For the lonely player a new Guild Recruitment system is being added to the game which will not only allow guilds to advertise more efficiently but also allow players to search and find a guild that's well suited to their playstyle and personality.

Rift Game Update 1.8 is targeted for launch in early April. This update will wrap up the Malforge and Lathys stories and lead into the next story arc with 1.9, which will include a new 10-person raid. April will be a big month for Rift players everywhere and Trion Worlds is showing no signs of slowing down on the content updates for the second year in Telara.