About RIft:
Mysterious rifts are tearing the world of Telara apart. A powerful magic explosion during the final days of the Shade War has left the veil between Telara and other planar dimensions fractured and torn.
Treacherous and powerful, these rifts occur when another plane of reality intersects with the magical Ward protecting Telara. Rifts create doorways for planar invasion, destroying the lands and people of Telara, but they may also grant otherworldly power to those brave enough to seize it.
Factions:
In the final days of the Mathosian civil war, the Ward that protected Telara from planar convergence was severely weakened by a disaster known as the Shade. Since that time, rifts between Telara and the planes have been increasingly devastating the land, and old enemies held at bay by elemental prisons have begun actively clawing their way out.
Telaras greatest enemy, the death god Regulos, pounds against the outside of the Ward, seeking re-entry into Telara to finish the job he once started. Meanwhile, Telaras own pantheon of gods has suddenly grown silent, and the world is descending into total chaos.
The people of Telara are now convinced that the end of the world is at hand. In these desperate final days, two major factions have arisen to battle the coming apocalypse: the Guardians and the Defiant. Though each faction wants to save the world, their beliefs and methods differ, and they war upon each other as often as they do other enemies of Telara.
The Guardians
Dwarves:
High Elves:
Mathosian
The Defiant
Bahmi
Eth
Kelari
The Ascended Class System
In RIFT, players are one of the Ascended, a Telaran slain during the great Shade War and resurrected to combat the forces of Regulos. As an Ascended, players have access to special powers, the greatest of which is "Soul Attunement", the ability to commune with, and embrace, the souls of Telara's ancient fallen heroes.
Souls
Players choose an Ascended Soul from one of the four callings (Warrior, Cleric, Mage, and Rogue) at character creation. These initial souls, which grow in power as they become more specialized, are flexible and have well-rounded abilities that make them great for both solo and group experiences. Players can later choose to augment, or even replace, embraced souls with other souls from within their calling. The process of enabling souls that players discover in their adventures is called Soul Attunement.
Players will also gain more specialized "Heroic Souls" that open up a number of new and exciting gameplay experiences, offering special achievements and rewards for players who discover them all.
The Soul Tree
Each attuned soul grants players access to a unique "Soul Tree," which contains all of the traits and abilities that a soul had mastered during its life. As your character levels up, you earn soul points that can be used to improve that tree's soul level, granting players access to even more powerful traits and abilities.
Multiple Souls
As an Ascended grows in power, so does his or her ability to attune souls. Leveling a character will unlock the ability to attune additional souls. A maximum-level player will be able to attune up to three souls of their choosing!
Warrior
Weapons, tactics, and combat are the mainstays of a Warriors life. Both the barbarian raiding a village and the knight commanding a column of troops adhere to the tenets of discipline, personal combat, and martial training. Every Warrior knows how to fight in close quarters, to take a blow and deliver a mortal wound in return. As the elemental forces have closed around Telara, a growing number of Warriors have incorporated magical techniques into their martial styles.
Warriors excel as lone combatants or within a larger force, depending upon what fighting styles they have mastered or choose to employ. Warriors as a Calling have no shared ethos or background, but their training, mastery of weapons, and enduring nature unite them in spirit. The noble barbarian and corrupt knight meet as equals on the battlefield.
Warrior Souls:
Champion
Strengths
A Champion's legendary strength allows him or her to move with startling speed, closing with opponents to wreak destruction with their two-handed weapons.
Weaknesses
Quick to answer the call to arms, Champions often rush into battle with reckless abandon, and can find themselves vulnerable to sneak attacks and well-organized assaults from multiple adversaries.
Reaver
Strengths
Reavers specialize in damage-over-time effects that weaken both the mind and body, crippling an opponent's ability to mount a successful offense.
Weaknesses
Like death itself, Reavers grind down their opponents slowly; but as such they are not effective at quickly neutralizing a single opponent.
Paladin
Strengths
A Paladin excels in using a shield to turn aside incoming assaults and launch powerful counterattacks. This martial skill, and the divine blessings of their patron gods, allows Paladins to extend their protection to nearby allies.
Weaknesses
Heavy arms and armor do not allow for quick movement, so Paladins have a hard time dealing with opponents at range, or with those who weave powerful magic, against which metal plates offer no protection.
Warlord
Strengths
Warlords can draw upon vast tactical experience, empowering their allies and weakening their enemies to change the course of battle.
Weaknesses
The Warlords focus on enhancing the capabilities of her allies leaves her vulnerable when isolated from friendly ranks.
Paragon
Strengths
With a finely tuned mind and body, the Paragon wields two weapons to perfection, devastating his enemies. Paragons specialize in dealing consistent damage, and can also hit their enemies from range.
Weaknesses
Paragons suffer against healers who can outpace their steady damage output, and these methodical warriors tend to be weaker against opponents who specialize in burst damage.
Riftblade
Strengths
Able to shoot lances of fire, stone, and wind at enemies, Riftblades possess stronger ranged capabilities than other Warriors. Furthermore, much of their damage is elemental, cutting through armor as if it were flesh.
Weaknesses
Offensive specialists, Riftblades do not focus much of their discipline on protecting themselves and are vulnerable to concentrated attacks. Their magical damage, while devastating against physical defenses, is just as weak as any magic against the appropriate resistances.
Void Knight
Strengths
Void Knights empower themselves by absorbing hostile spells, becoming terrifying foes for any wielder of the arcane.
Weaknesses
Enemies using mundane weapons and force of arms can ignore a Void Knights enchanted defenses and give them no fuel with which to charge their attacks.
Beastmaster
Strengths
The warrior combines his strength with a pet from the deep wilds. They work together, improving upon one another's strengths. WIth an increased bond with nature beastmaster's also excel at detecting the presence of stealthed creatures.
Weaknesses
Beastmaster's lack the pure offensive and defensive strengths of the other warrior souls. They have more utility, but are better suited for groups then individual play.
Cleric
Telaras original wielders of magic gained their powers through pacts with minor elemental spirits. Through devoted study, these Clerics reached out to ever-more-powerful beings, soon communing with demons, faeries, and gods. These holy men and women founded a number of spiritual disciplines: some focused tightly on a narrow ethos, while others retained more free-form theological allegiances.
Although those who take up this calling boast extensive knowledge and keen intellect, Clerics value wisdom and faith above all else. Intensely focused, a Cleric tackles any endeavor secure in the support of powerful beings incomprehensible to the layman. These beings exact nature depends upon each Clerics culture of origin and spiritual training regimen.
Cleric Souls
Purifier
Strengths
Purifiers dedicate themselves to mastering the healing properties of fire, and as such are potent support Clerics who can burn away disease and instantly cauterize the most horrific wounds.
Weaknesses
Purifiers are not known for their offensive capabilities, and while they are capable of marshaling the fury of their ancestors to strike down foes, they rapidly lose ground against the focused assault of a determined melee combatant.
Inquisitor
Strengths
An Inquisitor is a potent one-on-one combatant who specializes in mixing life and death magic, stealing their opponent's greatest strengths and making it their own.
Weaknesses
Because they stand between the threshold of life and death, Inquisitors give up the strength found in those who walk a pure path. For that reason, they cannot support their allies in battle as strongly as other, more specialized clerics.
Sentinel
Strengths
Sentinels are defensive clerics who excel at group support. Their divine powers aid the weak and ensure that everyone in their group lives through the fray.
Weaknesses
Sentinels sacrifice offense for a strong defense, and thus struggle to deal massive damage to their opponents.
Justicar
Strengths
A Justicars healing comes from damage dealt in close combat. Thus he can survive and thrive in the thick of the fighting while ensuring his allies do the same.
Weaknesses
A Justicars divine magic depends upon his melee prowess, so foes are wise to try and keep the Justicar from the front lines.
Shaman
Strengths
A Shaman strikes hard and fast like the fury of a winter storm. He can quickly close into melee and unleash powerful blows fueled by muscle and magic.
Weaknesses
Shamans lack other clerics abilities to bolster defenses and heal grievous wounds, so they fare poorly against foes with a strong defense of their own or those who can keep them at bay.
Warden
Strengths
The Warden excels at slowly stacking powerful healing energies on their allies. Given sufficient time to lay down magic, a Warden can bolster their allies through even the most grueling struggles.
Weaknesses
Unable to weave their protective spells quickly enough to overcome a concentrated attack, Wardens have little defense against a rapid or group assault.
Druid
Strengths
Where fragile Mages force their minions to fight in their stead, the mighty Druid draws upon their bonded Fae to personally take the fight to their foes. Druids themselves are formidable combatants, using their pets more as conduits and sources of power than as direct attackers.
Weaknesses
A Druids bond with their Fae Spirit is both the key to their power and their greatest weakness. Enemies who destroy a Druids companion greatly reduce the Druids prowess and endurance.
Cabalist
Strengths
Reveling in the power of darkness and shadows, the cabalist relies on sigals and timing to trigger debilitating spells and skills. They have many area of effect abilities that will stop enemies in their tracks.
Weaknesses
The cabalist lacks many of the offensive spells seen on other cleric souls, and is more fit for group and AOE combat rather then single target DPS or healing.
Rogue
The history of martial combat stretches back to the earliest days of Telara, when war was a brutal, messy, simple affair. This, as any Rogue will tell you, was the heyday of the Warrior. Their own tradition began much later, after people learned to fight with their minds as well as their muscles.
The arts of the Rogue are handed down by many different masters, each of whom developed unique forms and techniques. All Rogues are sophisticated combatants and dynamic thinkers, who utilize every available tool to skew the battlefield to their advantage. In the cities, Rogues learned to use shadow and cover to catch their targets unaware. Other Rogues learned the secrets of the wild, taming savage beasts and brewing poisons from the flora. Still others gained mastery over the arcane to enhance their weapons and attacks.
NightBlade
Strengths
A Nightblades stealth and proficiency with weapons can dispatch enemies quickly and silently, while their knowledge of arcane magic gives them versatility in dealing a wide variety of damage.
Weaknesses
Preferring the element of surprise and precise, killing blows, the Nightblade has trouble enduring a lengthy battle. Wearing only lighter armor, the Nightblade is better suited to sneak attacks or hit-and-run tactics.
Ranger
Strengths
An expert woodsman and archer, the Ranger excels at striking from range, while their animal companion harries the opponent in close combat.
Weaknesses
Without an animal companion, a Ranger is but a simple archer, and while still quite deadly, can no longer mount a strong defense in close combat.
Blade Dancer
Strengths
The Blade Dancer's mastery of edged weapons allows them to unleash devastating close combat attacks in quick succession. Their honed skills and supernatural agility allow them to avoid incoming attacks for short periods of time and launch lethal sneak attacks on the unwary.
Weaknesses
Once a Blade Dancer's fury is spent, their light armor offers scant protection. They must quickly overcome their opponent's defenses or face defeat themselves.
Assassin
Strengths
Assassins are trained to meld with the shadows, bypassing defenses and launching potent surprise attacks with their poisoned blades.
Weaknesses
Assassins must choose their targets carefully, or wind up in desperate straits if they forfeit the element of surprise or attack a foe who can shrug off the venom from their blades.
Riftstalker
Strengths
A Riftstalker is an incredibly mobile fighter capable of shielding himself from harm and appearing in the ideal place and time in a fight.
Weaknesses
Harnessing planar energies places Riftstalkers under tremendous strain, so while formidable in short engagements, they quickly lose ground as they exhaust their bag of tricks.
Marksman
Strengths
Marksmen are experts at hit-and-run tactics, surgically dismantling targets from a safe distance, then sprinting away before the enraged victims can close for melee.
Weaknesses
The Marksman keeps foes at bay for a reason. The key to defeating a Marksman is reducing their mobility, exposing them to devastating melee counterattacks.
Saboteur
Strengths
Saboteurs mold the battlefield to suit their needs, and with careful planning, a lone Saboteur can overcome the most formidable foes in one explosive instant.
Weaknesses
A Saboteur requires significant preparation to launch each devastating assault, and is quickly overcome if confronted in direct combat before every trap is in place.
Bard
Strengths
Bards are support specialists. They focus on group healing, buffing and heal their party and raid members while simultaneously doing damage.
Weaknesses
Bards lack the offensive strength of other rogue souls and are best used when in a group.
Mage
Since the dawn of time, spirits, creatures, and eruptions of energy from the elemental planes have shaped Telara in profound ways. Mortals watched planewalkers call forth elemental power, and gleaned from their techniques the basics of arcane magic. Through research and experimentation, the ancient Mages learned to control the elements without pledging themselves to any gods or minor spirits. After mastering broad elemental incantations, Mages focused their studies on individual elements, tapping the potential of primal forces controlled by a skilled hand.
Magical study is no solitary affair. Mages gather to share their arts and research, and arcane schools have risen and fallen throughout Telara's history. The two greatest schools still in existence are Quicksilver College, where Mathosian students come to study under ancient elven masters; and the new academy in the stronghold of Meridian, where Defiant scholars accumulate the recovered knowledge of the Eth.
Elementalist
Strengths
The will of an Elementalist is so powerful that it allows the mage to manifest the elements and bind them to physical form, ripping them from the planes and using them as allies in battle. Each elemental has its own strengths and weaknesses, making the Elementalist a flexible and potent force on the field of battle.
Weaknesses
Their greatest strength is also their greatest weakness, for an Elementalist without their summoned minions is just a frail scholar with minor magic at their disposal.
Warlock
Strengths
Warlocks specialize in destructive curses that eat away at an opponents body and soul. A Warlock is capable of rapidly spreading their blight across the battlefield, or focusing all of their entropic power to eradicate a single target in mere moments.
Weaknesses
Warlocks can cast their lethal curses with but a word, but like death itself, they are slow and inexorable. This gives enemies a small window of opportunity to overcome them with a rapid and brutal assault.
Pyromancer
Strengths
Pyromancers keep their enemies at bay with well-placed fire spells, until they can be immolated at the Pyromancers leisure.
Weaknesses
Pyromancers excel at roasting their enemies from afar, and so must be wary of foes able to charge into melee quickly or defend themselves against searing flames.
Stormcaller
Strengths
Stormcallers weave Air and Water magic together, their spells reaching heights of devastation in concert they could not achieve individually.
Weaknesses
Just as a storm cannot be wind or rain alone, the Stormcaller must combine spells to reach peak devastation. They thus take longer to warm up than other mages and are vulnerable to foes who know how to interrupt their rotation.
Archon
Strengths
Archons draw upon an enemys strength to empower their friends and unleash potent spells, helping their allies face down seemingly insurmountable odds.
Weaknesses
An Archon is weakest when caught between transfers. Having expended their own life force to gain access to their enemys, they must feed on the energy of others to regain strength. During this time a strategic assault can quickly overcome the Archons meager defenses.
Necromancer
Strengths
Together with their undead servitors, a Necromancer can inflict serious sustained damage and survive adversity better than most Mages. Using different minions, the Necromancer can handle various combat situations, and is as comfortable ending one life as he is covering a whole area with necrotic energy.
Weaknesses
Since much of a Necromancers damage comes from their pet, they become vulnerable when caught on their own. These minions also require help from the Necromancer to reach peak performance, or they will do only a fraction of their potential damage.
Dominator
Strengths
With mind-altering abilities that easily disrupt focus, Dominators are the bane of enemy casters, especially healers. Dominators also excel at sending enemy ranks into disarray, making isolated, terrified individuals prey for the Mages allies.
Weaknesses
Like many who thrive on terror, Dominators are themselves fragile and require a solid screen of companions to shield them from the wrath of those they torment.
Chloromancer
Strengths
A support class, the Chloromancer focuses on using the power of life to shield himself and his allies, revitalizing their health by the use of spores and plants.
Weaknesses
The Chloromancer is not an offensive based class and does not fair well in solo combat.
PvP Souls
Each class has a PvP soul which, once you've earned enough points in PvP, you can purchase and use. Each of these souls have skills and abilities which enhance your effectiveness in PvP situations.
Disclaimer: This is Rift, not WoW. The WoW OT is here. Please feel free to post about WoW there.
