The new features headed our way in RIFT 2.6 continue to roll out on the Public Test Shard (PTS). Last Friday, we received another new update with some pretty cool features to preview, one of which is a completely new Loyalty tier. Also available for preview are unstable artifacts and some of the reward mounts as well the new trophy goodies, the beginning hints of an Air saga world event, and the Bloodfire Stronghold and its corresponding zone events. Let’s take a brief tour, shall we?
Notes: As always, all information found on the PTS is subject to change at any time. Also, it was announced on the PTS that not all of these updates will be going live the day that 2.6 releases. Some parts are connected to the Air saga world event while others will be released gradually.
The Bloodfire
There are 48 new achievements under the Planes -> Fire achievement section having to do with a new threat that will encompass all areas of the Telara– the Bloodfire. These denizens from the Fire plane will launch a full-out attack in the form of Bloodfire Behemoth zone events that will appear in every zone. Completing these zone events will grant players with Infernal Conduit items that can be used to access a special instance called the Bloodfire Stronghold which lets players summon unique bosses. There are portals outside of Meridian/Sanctum that can be used to access the instance once you have the item to do so. There are, of course, achievements for defeating these bosses.
It looks like there are 7 bosses total that will be spread across different level ranges (level 15, 30, and 60). For defeating all 7 stronghold 5-man bosses, you’ll get the title of “Incinerator”. As a note, more than 5 players can be inside the stronghold at once, but the fights are tuned for 5 players. For completing all 16 Bloodfire Behemoth zone events, you’ll be rewarded with the “Bloodbane” title. For locating each of the NPCs associated with each of the 16 zone events, you’ll receive the title of “Huntsman/Huntswoman”.
For defeating 100 bosses in Bloodfire Stronghold, you’ll recieve a Crucia’s Supply Crate as well as the Infernal Plate Helm (previewed to the right) which is cosmetic. The grand prize is a mount obtainable called the Magma Walker which is made by leveling up a BoA Torrid Ember item to level 50. The level 1 Torrid Ember is obtained after completing the initial stronghold quest near the entrance portal. The Torrid Ember needs to be upgraded using Burning Cores, which drop off the Bloodfire Stronghold bosses.
There are also items purchasable off the RIFT Store called Stronghold Boosts which can be used to increase your chances of obtaining Essences from stronghold bosses in The Dendrome. These boosts expire which means they may be connected to the Air saga world event.
It’s important to note that the all of this Bloodfire content is most likely connected to the Air saga world event in some way and won’t launch the day at 2.6 is released. More on this in the next section!
The Air Saga World Event
The early stages for the Air saga world event are on the PTS currently. There are two achievements (shown above) so far found in the Planes -> Air section. One grants a prefix title of “Initiate”. From the looks of the achievements (one’s even called “An Approaching Inferno”) and the decay on Stronghold Boosts, it seems probable that the Bloodfire content will be a part of the world event. When the PTS update first went live, the world event info also suggested the two are connected.
There will be multiple phases in the world event, and each will bring new quests for the Air saga as well as new zone events.
Black Loyalty Tier
The completely new black Loyalty tier comes after the red tier and contains rewards for players starting at 280,000 Loyalty all the way up to 2,800,000 Loyalty. The rewards are as follows:
280,000 – Mini reward of 3 Spring Loaded Pow Kickers.
840,000 – Mini reward of a Sparkles companion pet.
1,400,000 – Mini reward of 3 Dungeon Charges.
1,960,000 – Mini reward of a Summon Friend Boost, which reduces the cooldown of Summon Friend by 15 minutes.
2,520,000 – Mini reward of a Transcendent Trove of Boosts which contains a Transcendent Experience Vial, a Transcendent Favor Vial, a Transcendent Notoriety Vial, a Transcendent Prestige Vial, a Transcendent Skill Sphere, and a Transcendent Token Tablet.
Finally, the grand prize at 2,800,000 Loyalty includes all of the following:
Wrist of the Prestigious – Grants a title of “The Prestigious”.
Bag of Infinite Possibilities – 36 slot bag.
Treasure Map Boost – Permanently increases experience, notoriety, and token currency gained from all sources by 15%.
Ability: Summon Portal Auctioneer – Permanently grants you the “Summon Portable Auctioneer” ability .
Gift of the Auctionista – Permanently increases the amount of items that you can put up for auction by 50.
Prestigious Portrait – Permanently gives you the option to display a prestigious portrait.
Unstable Artifacts and New Artifact Rewards
We’ve known about the new planar squirrel mounts that will be part of the reward for completing unstable artifact sets for a while now, but now we know what some of those frolicky squirrels look like. All of these mounts can be picked up for 23 Planar Nuts apiece. These are rewarded for completing unstable artifact sets.
Unstable artifacts themselves are obtainable only from Unstable zone events, which are labeled as such in the global channels and can appear in every zone. They last for 30 mins. During this time, you can run around and gather unstable artifacts that glow blue. You also collect one unstable artifact upon completing the event. There are a ton of achiecvements for unstable artifacts as well as new tracking vials that can be bought in the RIFT Store to track them on your mini-map. These cost 432 Credits each. Patron’s Artifact Tracking Vials do not work on unstable artifacts unfortunately.
Not all the squirrel mounts have their in-game artwork ready to go, unfortunately, but a couple are ready. Shadowtail, Flametail, and Brambletail are pictured below:
The squirrels that don’t have their artwork updated yet are Rivertail, Cloudtail, and Gemtail. There are achievements tied to the squirrels as expected. The grand prize achievement for collecting all 6 squirrels gives you a fun item that can be used on a player to summon a herd of squirrels around them.
As mentioned in a recent live stream, we’re also going to be getting some fun rewards for completing unstable artifact sets in 2.6. Trion has heard our plea for fun toys, and toys we’ll have to choose from aplenty. Many of these items have dual purposes and can be used as a dimension item or a neat toy to use in your bags. Now, it’s important to note that all of the items sold in the RIFT Store are trophies. They can only be purchased if you already have the original item for completing the artifact set and/or achievement. You’re then free to purchase additional goodies for alts or whatnot. All of the following items and prices are for the trophies only.
The first trophy set consists of dimension items that have a dual purpose of creating a cool effect around your character for a limited time. Each currently cost 100 Lucky Coins or 900 Credits apiece. From left to right below, here’s what the items look like in a dimension along with their on-use effect in parenthesis – Bee Blossoms (summons bees), Butterfly Flowers (summons butterflies), Dragonfly Lillis (summons dragonflies), Fly Meat (summons flies), and Spider Crate (summons spiders):
We also have this super cool disco ball trophy that Greg showed off that’s officially called the Hailol Jig Ball. It can be used in a dimension to create a disco ball-type light show with a control panel that looks like a giant booze keg. The control panel can be used to change everything from the colors that appear to their speed. Its trophy currently costs 200 Lucky Coins or 1800 Credits. Let the dimension disco… er, jig parties begin!
There are a few other similar dimension trophy items that have cool effects: The Haunted Bell which summons bats for 150 Lucky Coins or 1350 Credits, the Lightning Rod which does what you’d think for 150 Lucky Coins or 1350 Credits, and the Racing Halfwits which might be a cannon that summons bunny rabbits? I guess we’ll see! At any rate, its trophy costs 200 Lucky Coins or 1800 Credits.
There are two new trophy pets, pictured below: Cugly and Ungie. Both can be adopted for alts for 80 Credits or 720 Credits apiece:
Finally, there are some more random, fun trophy items to choose between. The Froggy Caller summons a swarm of frogs on a player to follow them around temporarily for 80 Lucky Coins or 720 Credits. The Gorgeous Frog Carving is most likely the item that you turn you into a frog (so you can be a frog with a herd of frogs!) for 80 Lucky Coins or 720 Credits.
There’s also a Dream Desk which is rewarded for an achievement and is a dimension item that looks like a standard desk, but hopefully does something spiffy for 100 Lucky Coins or 900 Credits. Last but not least, there’s the Transnogriflier for 80 Lucky Coins or 720 Credits. If I had any guess, I would say that this changes your character to look just like Snogs, the adorable pet that’s obtainable on Ember Isle (and is one of my top 5 pets in any game ever).
Something tells me unstable artifact collecting is going to be quite popular. Alongside artifact smashing, of course. Speaking of which, take a look at our preview of Dream Weaving if you haven’t already. It’s looking like 2.6 is edging nearer and nearer. Trion has stated that the update will be making its way to us in February.
