Traversing Telara is an exclusive series of articles from Trion Worlds that explores Rift's lore and gameplay mechanics through the eyes of one intrepid adventurer. It's a great read and a fantastic introduction to the world of Telara. Even if you're a veteran of Rift, you might enjoy hearing about the game from another perspective! Read on for Traversing Telara #11: Gods and Lakeside!

Catch up on all the past issues of Traversing Telara here!

You heard it right - there's a RIFT Expansion, dubbed Storm Legion, just announced today. With the announcement comes this slick trailer.

First details of Storm Legion are a doozy - two new continents, four additional souls, Grandmaster-level crafting, increased level cap by ten, and a brand new storyline, dealing with the Queen of Storms, Crucia. She has prepared to unleash her full power on the Ascended of Telara, now that most of her Blood Storm has been wiped out. With a new legion gathered behind the Infinity Gate in the Plane of Air, players will have to fight to stop her before it's too late.

Possibly the coolest feature planned is the Dimensions, a new housing-like feature that lets players and guilds own their own private space, decked out any way you chose. I remember the embarrassing amount of time I spent decking out my house in EverQuest II - with the level of epicness Rift likes to sport, this sounds awesome. 

We'll keep you posted further at ZAM's RIFT Portal when more news comes out in the coming weeks.

RIFT 1.8 Hotfix #9 - 8:00am PDT 5/30/12 [NA] - 1:00am GMT/2:00am BST 31/5/12 [EU]

GENERAL

• Fixed some Planar Attunement abilities not showing descriptions in tooltips.
• Also fixed a related issue causing tooltips for Mace and Dagger Mastery to have incorrect displayed values, even though correct values were granted.
• Ranger NPCs no longer use Feral Instincts. Bard NPCs no longer cast Anthem of Glory.

Traversing Telara is an exclusive series of articles from Trion Worlds that explores Rift's lore and gameplay mechanics through the eyes of one intrepid adventurer. It's a great read and a fantastic introduction to the world of Telara. Even if you're a veteran of Rift, you might enjoy hearing about the game from another perspective! Read on for Traversing Telara #10: Hylas and Orphiel!

Catch up on all the past issues of Traversing Telara here!

The first play test just ended for Trion's newest open-world PvP content, and the next test begins this Thursday. Hal Halin (Design Producer), Bill Fisher (Lead Game Designer) and Chris Junior (Senior Systems Designer) chatted with ZAM about what this huge new PvP format will hold... and the trials and tribulations of balancing such a a major undertaking. Read on to learn more!

RIFT 1.8 Hotfix #9 - 8:00am PDT 5/23/12 [NA] - 1:00am GMT/2:00am BST 24/5/12 [EU]

INFERNAL DAWN

Laethys:

• Metallic Orbs cast by Laethys in the second part of the encounter will now prefer targets at range unless none are available. Also reduced their damage. The single Metallic Orb cast in the first part of the encounter remains unchanged.
• High Ground's protection effect should be more responsive to players entering the affected areas. High Ground now provides immunity to Tail Lance and Molten Gold as well as Laethic Gold.
• Silvered Wrath and Gilded Wrath now behave similarly to Greed's Wrath, dealing decreased damage when they tick just after the target has been hit by Golden Subjugation.

GENERAL

• Fixed some edge cases where a Leaderboard score might not expire from one week to the next.
• Item: Flamecaller: Fixed the Hit and Focus values. Now has Endurance rather than Physical Crit.
• Item: Flamecleaver: Fixed the Hit and Focus values.
• Fixed a case where abilities recently added to a hotbar would sometimes disappear from the bar on next login.

RIFT 1.8 Hotfix #8 - 8:00am PDT 5/16/12 [NA] - 1:00am GMT/2:00am BST 17/5/12 [EU]

INFERNAL DAWN
Laethys:

• Increased Laethys' Enrage timer by 1 minute.
• Increased the timer for the Laethys Achievement, 'Gold Rush', from 8 minutes to 9 minutes.
• Slightly increased the time between minion spawns in the initial phase of the encounter.
• Greed's Wrath will deal substantially less damage when it ticks just after the target has taken damage from Golden Subjugation.
• Laethys no longer gains Energy while channeling Golden Destruction.
• Gilded Shrapnel can no longer be reflected.

Maklamos the Scryer:

• Now with even more squashed bugs.

INSTANT ADVENTURE - EMBER ISLE

• Onslaughts should be more difficult now, but should also have a max number of Invasions that can spawn an attack a given location.
• Unleaded Transmutation: This adventure should no longer wrongly inform you that some crates are already filled with lead.

GENERAL

• Looking For Group: Fixed a bug where you could occasionally be given a Random Normal dungeon when you had queued for a Random Expert.
• Riftblade: Stoneshield: Fixed this so it no longer prevents certain Event and Boss mechanics it should not be able to block.
• World Event: The end date on the World Event UI now actually matches the updated event ending date!
• World Event: Rogue statues no longer appear in the middle of tents set up in Sanctum for the World Event.
• The 'Hide Other Players' Hit FX' option now actually only applies to player VFX.
• Fixed a case where attacks in duels wouldn't put characters into combat.
• EU Shards: Players who have queued quest rewards from the current World event can now claim them properly from the UI.

• Updated the landing page URLs from when you click the Support button on the patcher.

Traversing Telara is an exclusive series of articles from Trion Worlds that explores Rift's lore and gameplay mechanics through the eyes of one intrepid adventurer. It's a great read and a fantastic introduction to the world of Telara. Even if you're a veteran of Rift, you might enjoy hearing about the game from another perspective! Read on for Traversing Telara #9: Quicksilver and Meridian!

Catch up on all the past issues of Traversing Telara here!

Rift is introducing a new PvP element and needs you to test it! Called Conquest, this new feature allows you to pick a side from three different factions (yes, you can change factions!) and engage in open world, cross-shard PvP battles!

The first test of Conquest is Thursday, 5/17 @ 4:00PM PDT (11:00PM GMT) on PTS.  Be there!  Read more about Conquest on the Rift Blog.

Today's downtime converts Rift to a streaming client!  Find the patch notes below: