ZAM Staff Writer Paul "LockeColeMA" Cleveland Tries Out 1.6's Ember Isle

Typical ruinous architecture found on Ember Isle

I had previously explored the Guardian starting area of Port Zarnost, where players immediately begin learning about the Farclan Dwarves and what their lives were like being stuck outside the Veil (hint: it wasn't very pleasant, which leads them to be less than trusting at first). Instead I visited the Defiant starting area, Talos Landing. A long pier extends into the sea; this seems slightly outdated, as all travel to Ember Isle is done through travel stones rather than via boats. The Landing area itself is made up of stone that seems to be part of ancient ruins, covered in vines and perhaps carved from volcanic rock. Kelari elves are about in prominence, as are several friendly spirits. Between the two is the Ember Watch, previously mentioned as the neutral base of the Keepers of the Flame faction. The base itself is small and just a series of ruins, but it overlooks a huge waterfall (no, no new Jump! achievement; I tried) that leads to a basin of lush vegetation and elite enemies. Hal also mentioned that one of the coolest looking new modeled enemies rarely spawns at the bottom, but it was not up when I looked.

Spirit: "I want cookies!" Kelari: "If only I knew what it wanted!"

From Ember Watch I went to the temple of Atia, which seems to be a place of study for the Kelari Elves left upon Ember Isle. In the center of the temple, the Kelari High Priestess Anthousa Mona waited with a daily quest. Each of the four corners of the temple had small towers with elves attempting to form pacts with spirits and often accompanied by humorous idle chatter. Teleportation stones allowed travel to the top of the temple, where the city's personal spirit overlooked Atia. I also discovered a collectable diary in one of the towers detailing a bit of Anthousa Mona and the Kelari race's escape from Ember Isle, and the horror when the High Priestess discovered that her son Jace had not made it to the mainland with the rest of the ships. I have a hunch that Jace will appear later on in Ember Isle; and judging by his rejection of spirit pacts in preference to the “easier path” of planar magic, I imagine the reunion will be less than pleasant!

Center of the temple of Atia

Overall, Ember Isle seemed to have a fiery center with the volcano surrounded by a tropical jungle hiding many ruined towns and temples. The enemies, as I mentioned, are not for the faint of heart and can easily take down seasoned players if they are caught unprepared. The new spirits dot the landscape, coming in friendly, neutral, and hostile varieties and encompassing several magic types; I personally saw earth, life, and fire spirits (Hal said the development team nicknamed the fire spirits “Burnies”). Onslaughts look to provide entertainment and mayhem whenever players want; all they need to do is charge up the turrets and Sourcewell and watch as the invasions come to them. And none of this includes other features coming before 1.7, including Instant Adventure, a new raid, new achievements, zone events, artifact collections, a new raid sliver, and advancement of the planar attunement feature. If my brief time on Ember Isle proved anything, it's that there's a lot to be excited for come the next patch!

Remember, you can keep up on more Patch 1.6 details on our Ember Isle Rift Wiki Page!

Paul "LockeColeMA" Cleveland, Staff Writer.