Pre-Nightmare Tide To-Do List

With RIFT’s Nightmare Tide expansion coming out in just under a month’s time (Oct 8th), there’s probably a few activities you want to experience before the majority of players move on to the new content in the Plane of Water.

Prelude Quests

First up are the prelude quests – quests relating to Nightmare Tide which are already available in the game.

• Song of Dreams Questchain
• Dream Souls Lore Quests
• Air Saga
• Nightmare Coast Prelude Quests

Song of Dreams Questchain

The Song of Dreams questchain was introduced in RIFT Patch 2.5: Song of Dreams. The questchain is Level 60 and begins at Keeper Ivan in Tempest Bay who is right near the porticulum. You can also start the questchain at Breaker Point off the west coast of Ember Isle.

Location of Breaker Point on Ember Isle

You can access Ember Isle from the Mathosia (old world) map.

The Song of Dreams questchain introduced the initial story of the Akvan and the concept of nightmares becoming reality. There’s companion pet rewards as well as a Bind on Account Focus with +20 Water Resist, 4 Lesser Slots and 2 Greater Slots (the current maximum).

Dream Souls Lore Quests

With the introduction of the Dream Souls (Arbiter, Physician, Liberator and Oracle) came the revealing of a new library in the north-east of Moonshade Highlands, filled with books on lore about ‘hybrids’ and other information somewhat related to the Plane of Water.

There’s also a questchain which takes you through the lore of each of the Dream Souls and rewards you with various experience, notoriety and a cape costume for each soul.

You can start your journey in Sanctum or Meridian. A full guide is available here.

• Guide: The Runic Athenaeum

Air Saga

The Air Saga questchain begins around Level 30 and ends at Level 60. It’s a large questchain with more than 40 quests in the chain. It follows the story of Crucia and the Storm Legion, but includes the aftermath of your actions in the Storm Legion expansion, the introduction of The Bloodfire Army and connects to the Plane of Water storyline.

In many ways the questchain fills in gaps that the normal story quests in the Storm Legion zones did not cover (such as who created the original device in the A Hero Rises chronicle). There’s a multitude of rewards including titles, experience, notoriety and even a “Popsicle” companion pet at the end of it all.

You can start your journey in Arc 1: Rites. We have a complete guide below:

• Guide: Air Saga – Arc 1: Rites
• Guide: Air Saga – Arc 2: Chekaroth
• Guide: Air Saga – Arc 3: The Bomb
• Guide: Air Saga – Arc 4: An Approaching Inferno
• Guide: Air Saga – Arc 5: The Infinite Empire

Nightmare Coast Prelude Quests

Beginning at either Cyril Kalmer (Guardians) or Kira Thanos (Defiants) in Tempest Bay, the Nightmare Coast prelude quests are a series of quests that expands on the previous Nightmare Tide-related questchains above. This quest chain eventually leads to the Nightmare Coast Dungeon which leads towards the Plane of Water content.

You can check out a guide to the quests here as well as a guide to the Nightmare Coast (Normal) Dungeon here.

• Guide: Nightmare Coast Prelude Quests
• Guide: Nightmare Coast (Normal Lvl 60-63) Dungeon

Sinister Presences

There’s one Sinister Presence in every Level 60 chronicle and dungeon. Attack the neutral, sleeping mob to spawn the Sinister Presence. Defeat each Sinister Presence to update your “Dreams of War” Achievement.

Completiong of the “Dreams of War” achievement gets you “The Sinister” title as well as a new quest to put an end to the Sinister Presence called “No Beginning, No End” which you obtain from Keeper Ivan in Tempest Bay.

You can find a full guide to every Sinister Presence location in the game here:

• Guide: Sinister Presence – Main Page
• Guide: Sinister Presence – Chronicles
• Guide: Sinister Presence – Dungeons

Bloodfire Stronghold

The Bloodfire Stronghold is a 5-man instanced map where you can summon a variety of bosses at Level 15, 30 or 60 that drop essences as well as Burning Cores which are used to upgrade a “Torrid Ember” item. Upgrading the “Torrid Ember” item to Level 50 gets you a Magma Walker Mount.

There’s quite a large amount of achieves related to The Bloodfire Stronghold, including one that gets you an ‘Infernal Plate Helm’ costume piece as well as a Crucia’s Supply Crate.

The reason I’m mentioning the Bloodfire Stronghold here is because chances are that when the Nightmare Tide expansion hits, there will be hardly anybody willing to do this content. Might be a good idea to get your achievements and mount now before the expansion hits.

You can find a guide to all the bosses and how to access the Bloodfire Stronghold below:

• Guide: Bloodfire Stronghold

All these quests should keep you busy for the next few weeks and hopefully get you up-to-speed with the existing lore related to the Plane of Water before you take you dive into the expansion!

Check out our RIFT 3.0 Preparation article for information on all the ways you can prepare for the expansion from boosts, quest prep, bonus gear and crafting preparation.