[Note: An updated guide for Carnival of the Ascended 2015 can be found here.]

The Carnival of the Ascended Annual World Event is up celebrating another year with Rift’s 3rd Anniversary with various Carnival Games and associated Carnival goods. A whole plethora of mounts, essences, costumes, pets, consumables and titles are available to be purchased with Auroral Doubloons, Glass Beads and Prize Tickets!

This year the event lasts for only two weeks from 27th February to 13th March 2014.

Table of Contents:

• Overview
• Store Items
• Dimension Items
• Strategies and Tips
• Vouchers/Currency Exchange
• Games/Quests Guide
• Achievements

Overview

The Carnival of the Ascended celebrates Rift’s Anniversary and the Ascended’s past achievements in conquering the false Dragon Gods. Telarans have set up a variety of Carnival Games in the major cities and Dragon Pinatas spawn throughout all zones with a chance at past world event items.

According to 2.6 Hotfix #6 notes, the Carnival of the Ascended lasts from 3:30PM Server Time on the 27th February 2014 till 3:30PM Server Time on the 13th March 2014. This is two weeks. Carnival of the Ascended has been extended for an additional week until 19th March. [r]

Phase 1 – 27th Feb to 5th March

• Rift Store updated with World Event tab containing various Carnival goods to purchase.
• Carnival Games available in Sanctum, Meridian, Shimmersand and Tempest Bay.
• Dragon Pinatas spawn in all Zones. Defeating them rewards you with Glass Beads and chance at past World Event items.
• One-time Quest to obtain 1x Auroral Doubloon is up.

Phase 2 – 6th March to 19th March

• Dragon Parades that start at Sanctum and Meridian journey throughout the zones, dropping Parade Cores.
• New Carnival Games are available in Shimmersand and Tempest Bay.
• One-time Quest to obtain 2x Auroral Doubloon is up for Week 2.
• One-time Quest to obtain 2x Auroral Doubloon is up for Week 3. [r]

Reminder: The Air Saga World Event‘s Phase 2 starts on the 20th March, introducing Arc 4 of the Air Saga Quest-chain, Bloodfire Behemoth zone events and unlocking the Bloodfire Stronghold.

Store Items

There’s a whole plethora of Store Items introduced with the Carnival of the Ascended – both old and new alike.

Check out the new Knight Spider Mount, Level 60 Essences, Weapon, Illusion items, Costumes and a preview of the items contained in the Carnival Celebration Crates below:

• Guide: Carnival Store Items

Dimension Items

Dimensioneers have been given a treat with this year’s Carnival of the Ascended, introducing four Carnival dimension kits with an assortment of Carnival Games-themed objects, an entire banquet of dinnerware and food; and a brand new Dimension Key: Castle Fortune.

Check below for labelled screenshots of the dimension items as well as a video of the Dimension Key: Castle Fortune:

• Guide: Carnival Dimension Items

Strategies and Tips

Want to know all about the various currencies available to be gained during the Carnival of the Ascended? How about an efficient way of obtaining a Knight Spider Mount or obtaining an endless amount of Carnival Celebration Crates?

Check below for strategies and tips in regards to the items obtainable from the Carnival of the Ascended World Event:

• Guide: Carnival Strategies & Tips

Vouchers/Currency Exchange

Voucher NPCs

You can send all the prize tickets and glass beads on your alts to your main via Voucher merchants in Sanctum, Meridian and Tempest Bay.

No additional costs are required for the vouchers and they come in bundles of 1 or 25 for both Glass Beads and Prize Tickets. The vouchers allow you to send the Carnival currencies to other characters on your account.

Currency Exchange

There are a currency exchange vendor in Sanctum and Meridian.

• Perdel <Moneychanger> in Sanctum at (7403, 3120).
• Rakim the Thrifty <Moneychanger> in Meridian at (6117, 5181).

The Moneychanger NPCs provide the following conversions:

• 5 Prize Tickets for 1 Glass Bead (horrible conversion);
• 50 Glass Beads for 1 Prize Ticket (‘decent’ if you just need a few more Prize Tickets);
• 1 Pyrite Doubloon for 50 Prize Tickets (irrelevant now)

Note: The Pyrite Doubloons were the limited currency for the 2012 Carnival of the Ascended. The limited currency has been the Auroral Doubloon ever since. Thus if you weren’t here back in 2012 and don’t have any Pyrite Doubloons lying around, the “Prize Ticket Bounty” (50 Prize Tickets) conversion is irrelevant to you.

Games/Quests Guide

Below is a guide to the Carnival Games/Quests related to the Carnival of the Ascended World Event.

Carnival Games Locations

The Carnival Games and Quests are located in Sanctum, Meridian, Shimmersand and Tempest Bay.

• Sanctum – To the left of the main Messengers of the Vigil Statue outside Sanctum building.
• Meridian – In the middle courtyard in-between the Inner and Outer Walls.
• Shimmersand – Right outside Fortune’s Shore where all the boats are docked.
• Tempest Bay – At the Docks.

Phase 1 Quests

Phase 1 starts on 27th February 2014 and ends 5th March 2014.

Phase 1 Quest – Auroral Doubloon

The quest to obtain an Auroral Doubloon currency during Phase 1 is obtained in your home city:

• Sanctum – Carmichael the Clubfoot <Barker> located at (7420, 3143).
• Meridian – Bokk the Squint-Eye <Barker> located at (6193, 5178).

The quest involves completing 50 carnival games. Don’t panic though! This quest includes group contribution – so if someone else in your group finishes a carnival game, it counts to your quest completion.

By joining a large group/raid like a Balloon-Stomping raid; you should be able to finish this quest very quickly.

Reward: Auroral Doubloons and a Carnival Celebration Crate.

Check out Seatin’s guide on how to obtain a ton of Carnival Celebration Crates in short order.

Note: Phase 2’s quest will give out 2x Auroral Doubloons so you should be able to obtain 3 Auroral Doubloons in total for this event.

Carouse at the Carnival (Daily Quest)

Carouse at the Carnival is a Daily quest located in Sanctum and Meridian. The quest is obtained from the <Barker> NPC in each home city:

• Sanctum – Carmichael the Clubfoot <Barker> located at (7420, 3143).
• Meridian – Bokk the Squint-Eye <Barker> located at (6193, 5178).

Reward: 3-Year Birthday Cake (first time) or 1 Prize Ticket (subsequent times)
Objective: Participate in Carnival Games 0/3

This daily quest simply needs you to do 3 Carnival Games. It doesn’t reward much (1 Prize Ticket) other than the first time.

Note: The 3-Year Birthday Cake is only rewarded to those who have never done this quest before – that includes previous years. You can also purchase the 3-Year Birthday Cake from the Rift Store -> World Event section for 10 Prize Tickets or 20 Credits (18 for Patron).

Building the Parade Floats (Daily Quest)

Building the Parade Floats is a Daily quest located in Sanctum and Meridian. The quest is obtained from the two NPCs in each home city based on whether you have Gathering and/or Crafting Professions:

• Sanctum: [ Gathering ] – [ Crafting ]
• Meridian: [ Gathering ] – [ Crafting ]

Reward: 25x Glass Beads
Objective: Create [something] with [something]

Pretty much every Crafting Profession except Dream Weaver (excludes Fishing + Survival) can receive a quest to change Traveling [Craft] Kits into ingredients needed to complete the quest.

You will need to use Pumice Stones, Ultra-Thin Hides and Helium Blossoms that you obtain from Gathering nodes in the open world during the world event.

• Outfitter = 5 Ultra-Thin Hides
• Artificer = 5 Ultra-Thin Hides
• Weaponsmith = 5 Pumice Stones
• Armorsmith = 5 Pumice Stones
• Runecrafter = 5 Helium Blossoms
• Apothecary = 5 Helium Blossoms

You will need to be near the Parade Grounds crafting cart outside your home city [ Sanctum ] [ Meridian ] and use the ‘Traveling [Craft] Kit’ Quest Item.

• Pumice Stone: Gained from mining ores. Mining Profession.
• Ultra-Thin Hide: Gained from butchering mobs. Butchering Profession.
• Helium Blossom: Gained from foraging plants and wood. Foraging Profession.

As well as the craft quests, there are also Gathering turn-ins for turning in Pumice Stone, Ultra-Thin Hide and Helium Blossoms.

Tales of the Ascended (Daily Quest)

Tales of the Ascended is a Daily quest located in Shimmersand. The quest is obtained from Dantwor Honey-Tongue <Barker> who is located in front of the Carnival ferries at (6644, 6864).

Reward: 10x Prize Ticket; Box of Random Artifacts (contains one random artifact)
Objective: Speak with the Herald of Heroes; Participate in [Tales] Raid Rift.

The Herald of Heroes is located in Shimmersand at (7036, 6994). Speak to him and he will summon the Tales of the Ascended Raid Rift. There are approx 3-4 different tales that rotates at random each day.

Once the rift is completed, speak to the Herald of Heroes to complete the quest.

Tip/s:

• Although the adds are Level 52 – they can be painful if you aren’t in a decent solo spec – even at Level 60. Don’t pull the entire pack of mobs during each phase unless you have some self-heals.
• If you complete the rift but somebody else starts a fresh version of the rift – don’t fret! There’s two versions of the Herald of Heroes – One in the rift, and another who is standing on one of the spectator steps surrounding the rift that you can turn the quest in to.

Balloon-Stomping (Repeatable Quest)

Balloon-Stomping is a repeatable quest located in all the Carnival areas: Sanctum, Meridian, Shimmersand and Tempest Bay.

Reward: 1x Prize Ticket
Objective: Pop Balloons 0/30

Although the payout is low (1 Prize Ticket), the reason is likely because you can form a group/raid and everyone contributes to each others’ quest objective – so if one person pops a balloon, the quest gets updated for everyone in the group/raid.

Tip/s:

• Join a group/raid. Ask for an invite.
• Use an ‘interact’ macro to make completing and accepting the quest easier.
  i.e.
  interact fefer
  Replace ‘Fefer’ with the name of the Balloon Stomping NPC Questgiver.
  Note: Don’t spam the macro. Just press once – complete quest; press again – accept quest.

Ring Toss (Repeatable Quest)

Ring Toss is a repeatable quest located in all the Carnival areas: Sanctum, Meridian, Shimmersand and Tempest Bay.

Reward: 3x Prize Ticket
Objective: Toss the ring on the seacap 0/8

The goal is to use the Quest Item you receive after accepting the quest and throw the quest item on one of the two seacaps that are constantly moving in random directions within the ring.

Tip/s:

• Drag the Quest Item onto your action bar so you can use a hotkey to cast the Carnival Rings instead of manually clicking on the quest item each time.
  

Mini Mounts Racing (Repeatable Quest)

Mini Mounts Racing is a repeatable quest located in all the Carnival areas: Sanctum, Meridian, Shimmersand and Tempest Bay.

Reward: 6x Prize Ticket
Objective: Talk to [NPC] to select a team; Complete 6 laps in the race! 0/6

Speak to the NPC that gives you the quest for the Mini Mounts Racing carnival game (located right next to any Mini Mount Racecourse) and pick a team. Doesn’t matter which, although the more people jumping on a pad, the faster it goes.

Now check the colored signs and jump on the pad in front of the sign that corresponds to the Team you chose. This speeds up your horse so it finishes the 6 laps faster.

It doesn’t matter if you ‘win’ or not. Just finish the 6 laps.

Tip/s:

• Fatigue – the horse will slow down if it has more than 5 stacks of its speed buff. Click on your horse to see its stacks of the speed buff and make sure it doesn’t increase over 5 stacks. [Thanks to xanduin246 on the forums for confirming!]

Memory Match (Repeatable Quest)

Memory Match is a repeatable quest located in the Tempest Bay Carnival area.

Reward: 5x Prize Ticket
Objective: Match the Colored Orbs 0/5

Memory Match is only located in Tempest Bay’s Dock area.

The basic idea is that you click on the Lever in front of the Memory machine to activate it. The orbs will then light up in a random order. Once the sequence is complete, you are tasked with clicking on the orbs in the same order.

Successfully matching the color sequence will reward you with progression through the quest. Failing results in you having to repeat.

Tip/s:

• For some players it may be easier to say the names of the colors in your head as they light up to remember the sequence. May be easier than trying to remember the location.

Phase 2 Quests

Phase 2 starts on 6th March 2014 and ends 19th March 2014.

• There is a quest in Phase 2 for 2x Auroral Doubloons.
• There is also a quest in the 3rd/Final Week for 1x Auroral Doubloon. [r]

This phase introduces Dragon Parades as well as some new quests/carnival games:

• Dragon Parades
• Wheel of Fate
• Fashion Show
• Drinking Contest
• Leaping Grass Tigers
• The Race Around The Carnival Grounds

Phase 2 Quest – Auroral Doubloons

The quest to obtain 2x Auroral Doubloon currency during Phase 2 is obtained from the same NPCs as Phase 1 in your home city:

• Sanctum – Carmichael the Clubfoot <Barker> located at (7420, 3143).
• Meridian – Bokk the Squint-Eye <Barker> located at (6193, 5178).

The quest involves completing 50 carnival games. This quest includes group contribution. There will also be another quest in the 3rd week that will include a 2-doubloon reward.

Reward: 2x Auroral Doubloons and a Carnival Celebration Crate.

Check out Seatin’s guide on how to obtain a ton of Carnival Celebration Crates in short order.

Prize Ticket Adjustments

With Phase 2 of the Carnival of the Ascended, the Phase 1 Carnival Games have had their ticket payouts adjusted as follows:

• Balloon-Stomping  – 1 -> 1 Prize Tickets
• Ring Toss – 3 to 3 Prize Tickets
• Mini Mounts Racing – 6 to 8 Prize Tickets
• Memory Match – 5 to 8 Prize Tickets
• Tales of the Ascended (Daily Quest) – 10 to 15 Tickets

Dragon Parades (Quest)

Dragon Parades begin in Phase 2 of the Carnival of the Ascended and are marked on the map as Guardian/Defiant shield icons. They relate to the Dragon Cores-type quests.

Reward: 10 Glass Beads.
Objective: Collect Combine Cores from the parades 0/40.

The Dragon Parades appear in Silverwood, Freemarch, Gloamwood, Stonefield, Scarwood Reach and Shimmersand.

Simply follow the Dragon Parades and they’ll spawn Guardian/Defiant Might Cores every now and then (usually between two close flags). Collect the cores and turn them into the respective Gathering NPCs at the Carnival Craft Stations:

• Sanctum: [ Gathering ]
• Meridian: [ Gathering ]

Wheel of Fate (Repeatable Quest)

Wheel of Fate is a repeatable quest located in the Shimmersand Carnival area at (6576, 6858) on the second Carnival ship and Tempest Bay Carnival area at (12449, 11850).

Reward: Varies, see below
Objective: Pick a ticket and hope the ball lands on that number.

This is basically a simple Roulette game. There’s 20 numbers so a 1 in 20 chance of winning. You speak to one of the NPCs (Low-Stakes, Mid-Stakes or High-Stakes) and buy a ticket, then right-click the ticket and accept the quest.

Note: You can only accept a quest from a ticket item if you aren’t already on a quest (thus you can only use one ticket per game) and only if the ball isn’t already spinning.

Payouts are as follows:

• Low Stakes – Costs 20g and rewards 3plat 70g 12s if you win.
• Mid Stakes – Costs 2p and rewards 37plat 12s if you win.
• High Stakes – Costs 10p and rewards 185plat 12s if you win.

Tip/s:

• Payouts are nearly the same at approx 18.5x cost.
• You can effectively ‘lose’ 18 times between each ‘win’ before you start getting into negative territory.

Fashion Show (Repeatable Quest)

Fashion Show is a repeatable quest located in the Shimmersand and Tempest Bay Carnival areas. They are located on the first Carnival boat.

Reward: 12x Prize Ticket
Objective: Go Backstage, Catwalk

The Fashion Show involves waiting in the backstage behind the curtains to the catwalk. Once your name appears – stand in the white AoE circle and follow the prompts.

Like with some of the other Carnival Games, you must wait for the Fashion Show to begin (it starts every few minutes).

Drinking Contest (Repeatable Quest)

Drinking Contest is a repeatable quest located in the Shimmersand and Tempest Bay Carnival areas. They are located on the second Carnival boat.

Reward: 3x Prize Ticket
Objective: Pints Drank 0/15

This Contest involves interacting with drinks on the various tables. You need to drink 15 before the timer runs out.

You receive a stack of Drunkenness every time you drink. Hit 4 stacks and you’ll be stunned. You gain one stack per bottle.

You can eat Bread to refresh the stacks; or become stunned to do the same.

Tip/s:

• Drink 3 of the thin bottles, one of the mugs (larger drink) and then a piece of bread. Rinse/Repeat.

Leaping Grass Tigers (Repeatable Quest)

Leaping Grass Tigers is a repeatable quest located in the Tempest Bay Carnival area.

Reward: 3x Prize Ticket
Objective: Win Leaping Grass Tigers

Leaping Grass Tigers is only located in Tempest Bay’s Dock area.

This is a wack-a-mole game. Simply interact with the controller in front of the game and then click on the mounds where a Grass Tiger appears. Hit them in time to progress.

Tip/s:

• Stand in the middle of the mounds so you can reach each location fast.

The Race Around The Carnival Grounds (Repeatable Quest)

The Race Around The Carnival Grounds is a repeatable quest located in the Shimmersand and Tempest Bay Carnival areas. They are located on the second Carnival boat.

Reward: 12x Prize Ticket
Objective: Choose mount; Finish Race

Basic idea behind this is to choose a mount and then finish the race. Like the Budgie Madness races, you’ll have red AoE that slows you down as well as others that will buff you. Each mount also gives you a reactive ability to speed you up.

Tip/s:

• The Crocnard and Ash Strider mounts tend to provide you with the fastest route to completing the race due to their shorter cooldowns.

Achievements

There’s a multitude of Achievements added for the Carnival under Achievements (default key “H“) -> World Events -> Carnival of the Ascended.

• Spider Knight Mount Achieves
• Other Achieves
• Expiring Achieves

Spider Knight Mount Achieves

There’s a variety of achievements that are related to obtaining a Spider Knight Mount (other than the very rare chance from the Carnival Celebration Crates).

These are:

• Come On And Jump On My Spider;
• Party Personifier;
• Celebration Through Decoration;
• Tito Approved!;
• The Color Changer.

Check out tips on obtaining these achievements and the Spider Knight Mount below:

• Guide: Carnival Strategies & Tips

Other Achieves

Fortune Favors The Gold

Play all of the Carnival Games at Fortune’s Shore in Shimmersand. These are located at approx (6644, 6864) along the shore and on top of two ferries.

You must complete the following Carnival Games at least once:

• Mini Mounts Racing
• Ring Toss
• Balloon Stomp
• Fashion Show
• Drinking Contest

Mini Mounts Racing, Ring Toss and Balloon Stomp are available in Phase 1 of the Carnival. Fashion Show and Drinking Contest are only available during Phase 2 of the Carnival and are both located on the carnival ferries.

Hard Core Gamer

Play a total of 100 Carnival Games.

Hit It With A Stick!

Bust open Dragon Pinatas placed around Telara. These spawn in all zones and are their icons on the map look like three multi-colored balloons. The Pinatas themselves vary based on the various Dragons.

Everyone Loves a Parade

This achieve involves collecting 250x Parade Cores that spawn along the road that Dragon Parades path throughout various zones. These are only available during Phase 2 of the Carnival as the Dragon Parades only begin spawning during the second phase.

Will Dance For Beads

Collect 1,000 Glass Beads. Glass Beads are obtained from:

• Defeating Planar Invasions/Mobs;
• Closing Rifts;
• Completing Zone Events;
• Destroying Dragon Pinatas; and
• Completing Gathering/Crafting Dailies related to the Carnival.

If you aren’t receiving Glass Beads from any of the above – make sure you are at least Green to the mobs you are fighting by mentoring down to that level.

For the Gathering/Crafting Dailies. These are obtained from Carnival NPCs in the main cities, locationed below:

• Sanctum: [ Gathering ] – [ Crafting ]
• Meridian: [ Gathering ] – [ Crafting ]

Hope Someone Packed The Antacids

Obtained from eating all of the above Carnival Foods. These cost 1 Prize Ticket each – obtainable from the Rift Store -> World Event section.

What Do You Mean VIP Only? Don’t You Know Who I Am?

Acquire all the Carnival Titles – purchased in the Rift Store -> World Event section for 50 Glass Beads each (300 total).

Expiring Achieves

Last year’s special Carnival Warfront “Codex: Wheel of Fate” is no longer available this year. Trion have confirmed they won’t bring it in for this year.

The achieves relating to the Codex: Wheel of Fate Warfront will become legacy and since they are not up this year, they are therefore no longer obtainable (already legacy on PTS). [r]

Hope this Carnival of the Ascended Guide has helped you out! Happy Rift 3rd Anniversary!