PTS Datamining for 31st March 2015 – Part 1

RIFT’s Public Test Shard (‘PTS’) was updated on the 31st March 2015 with a 4.79GB update. You can check out the main PTS info here.

As you can imagine there are a significant amount of data files for this update. As such I am going to split the datamining into at least two parts so you don’t have to wait too long for the info. This is Part 1. You can find Part 2 here with Planetouched Wilds info.

Patch version TEST-302-4-A-993757.

Summary:

• New Mounts. Battle Boars, Arclight Riders and Lifter mount skins.
• New Portraits. Tentacle, Red Intricate, Diamond and Violet Flower portraits.
• Lord Arak Raid. Plenty of updated models and new skins.

As always, everything below is subject to change prior to hitting Live and some things included below may never make it to Live release.

---

New Mounts

First up, files for new mounts have been found:

• Battle Boar Mounts. Two versions.
• Arclight Rider Mounts. Blue and Red.
• Lifter Mounts. Abyssal, Death and Earth.

Battle Boar Mounts

If you’ve read the PTS Update article for the 31st March, you’ll know these are coming in a new Promo Week. There’s now two skins found:

There’s also some interesting file names within a few configuration files:

• anim\mount\swim\idle\asset\bahmi_female_mount_boar_swim_idle.kf
• mount_boar_swim_idle

Looks like these mounts are Amphibious! Can’t wait to see how these new Boar mounts waddle around with their short, stubby hooves.

Originally the Concept Art had information stating these mounts were called Battle Boar, but the achievements on the PTS describe ‘War Boar’. Keeping to the ‘Battle Boar’ name until these mounts actually appear in-game.

Arclight Rider Mounts

There’s two new Arclight Rider Mounts: Blue and Red. Don’t know what their actual names are:

Nothing too interesting to see here. These are direct reskins with no other differences. Blue/Green and Red/Yellow.

And some icons. These will probably appear in future Arclight Ascendency Promo Weeks.

Lifter Mounts

Remember the three Lifter Mount icons datamined a few weeks back? Well, now we have all three skins!

Abyssal Lifter Mount

The Abyssal Lifter Mount is the reward for the new Level 65 Return to Hammerknell Conqueror achievement. It is 155% and Amphibious. The skin above shows the top (left) and bottom (right) sides of the skin. The bottom-half almost looks like a ribcage with a spine going across the middle.

Here’s the mount on the PTS for comparison.

Death Lifter Mount

Unsure of its actual name, but here’s the skin that goes with the Death Lifter Mount icon datamined previously. It is cut diagonally unlike the other Lifter mounts.

Given the same ‘look’ as the right side of the Abyssal Lifter Mount, I am going to assume the left side is the bottom and the right side is the top. A boney spine goes across the middle with a skull popping out at the front.

The mount probably has a purple vfx trail at the back.

Earth Lifter Mount

I originally thought this mount was going to be a flower mount with a variety of different colored roses extending out from the center, based on the icon:

Turns out that is very incorrect. It’s actually an Earth-based mount with an assortment of multi-colored crystals around it.

Chances are this mount will probably come out about the same time as the Planetouched Wilds zone.

---

New Portraits

Four new portraits have popped up in the files: Tentacles, Red Intricate frame, Diamonds and Flowers.

Tentacle Portrait

The Tentacle Portrait will probably appear some time in 3.2 since it clearly relates to all the Hammerknell Fortress stuff being added to the game (IAs, Tier 2 Raid, Open World rares).

Interestingly, the portrait has skins for its components as well as its combined version.

This is similar to the Fae Yule Snowman Portrait. This seems to suggest that perhaps some of the tentacles are animated, or at least move around a little on the portrait.

Just an fyi – you can change your Portrait Frame by right-clicking your portrait and selecting from your currently available portraits under ‘Portrait Frame’.

---

Lord Arak Raid

More models and skins have popped up for the Lord Arak Raid that is likely slated for Tier 3.

Entrance

The entrance has changed a minor amount. It still looks to be against a glacier cliff, but instead of what looked to be ice sheets, it now has flowing water coming out of it so it seems to be at a some-what elevated location.

End to Reason

The End to Reason model has been updated. It looks a lot more sinister and the main building is partially destroyed with floating debris.

It looks like Trion has either completely removed the statues present in the old model, or they will be added in separately.

The structure at the very front (south) of the model might be the starting point. You might get teleported to this location, then have a choice of moving ahead into this particular building, or choosing the left or right wing (kind of like the front area of Hammerknell Fortress).

Lighthouse

In the old model for the End to Reason 03, there were lighthouses at the end of each path. This seems to be changed into a destroyed lighthouse:

This might just be a floating structure somewhere in the instance to enhance the atmosphere of the place.

End to Reason interior. This is assumed to be the inside of the building in End to Reason 03.

Below is a top-down view from the ‘hole’.

Three massive statues overlook the room.

The room has at least three levels, although the top level is probably inaccessible. Tendrils or vines can be seen protruding from various locations.

The right statue is holding a book, and what is likely a chain connected to a giant scale (more on that later).

The middle statue might be the ‘main’ one as she doesn’t hold a chain. In fact, she might be ‘Lady Justice’.

Lady Justice

One of the configuration files shows a ‘lady_justice.nif’. Some abilities are also shown:

• anim\1h\cast_channel\asset\lady_justice_1h_channel_scale_tilt_enter_left.kf
• anim\1h\cast_channel\asset\lady_justice_1h_channel_scale_tilt_enter_right.kf
• anim\1h\cast_channel\asset\lady_justice_1h_cast_bolt.kf
• anim\1h\melee\asset\lady_justice_1h_melee_special.kf

Interestingly, some of the abilities relate to left and right ‘scales’ tilting. This is what leads me to believe the statue above is actually a boss as her hands are stretched out, making it seem as though she’s ‘controlling’ the scales.

What scales?

Scales

These ones:

It is known that these scales are giant because of an older version of the End to Reason interior room datamined previously and shown below:

It seems clear that the raid is supposed to balance themselves on these scales, and likely port to the other one when this ‘lady_justice’ mob/boss uses her ‘scale_tilt’ channel.

A very interesting encounter room and I can’t wait to see what the mechanics will be like. Perhaps the middle statue is stationery, but there’s definitely a ‘lady_justice’ mob.

Statue

The walkway leading up to the End of Reason building will likely be lined up with statues like the above. The theme is clearly law and justice – perhaps Lord Arak taking the Ascended to court over their actions in the Plane of Water!

Hourglass

There’s also an hourglass dish and model:

This could just be a random doodad to make the encounter area look a little more interesting, but the hourglass itself looks rather intriguing:

Seems like this hourglass and the concept of time might end up playing a role in this encounter. Perhaps that’s why the old models were so pristine whilst the new ones look like ruins. The hourglass might be interactable and switch between times.

Uknown Base

The Uknown Base was previously just a whole bunch of weird-looking trees. It’s been expanded on quite a bit:

The spherical object above as well as all those random shapes are fog and other vfx. It’s when you get closer that things begin to take shape:

The squiggly lines are ‘nightmare’ trees. There’s clearly a pebble-like path leading to another block-based path, leading to the top building.

The ‘blocky’ area is interesting because it looks like voxels.

Not only that but there’s several models for different portions of these blocks. It almost looks like these blocks might collapse/fall off at random times. This area is likely for trash, but there could be certain mechanics you have to look out for so you don’t fall off.

As you can see, even in the ‘courtyard’ of this encounter area, there are a multitude of these blocks. This clearly isn’t just a normal floor because Trion would have used a texture skin instead of having each block look…well, like it does when you select them.

The main building is another open-ending ruins with floating debris and pillars.

At the center is a giant egg with a very long rod shooting up into the sky.

No idea what the egg is for (perhaps Lord Arak’s child?), but there’s likely a boss in this area who is tasked with defending it.

Heart of Darkness

A giant location in the Lord Arak Raid, the Heart of Darkness contains a giant, broken sphere and platforms on the side.

I couldn’t find an updated model of the entire Heart of Darkness, so for reference you will have to check out the old model.

You’ll notice platforms in the top-left corner of the sphere. These have now been updated with more sinew and other fleshy objects:

The pillars within the sphere seem to have gotten quite an upgrade:

Although this is a static image, just imagine almost all those white lines moving around. Not sure if the game can handle that many moving parts on a single object. This “heart_of_darkness_machine_master” probably twists and turns all over the place with its various components.

Nexus Centerpiece

Unsure if the ‘Nexus Centerpiece’ is a separate location, or if it is talking about the middle pillar in the Heart of Darkness.

Here’s some statues:

Statues or pillars with different faces. From the looks of it these pillars are stuck between an upper and lower platform.

Piecing everything together, it seems as though the Heart of Darkness might be a ‘nightmare factory’ that Lord Arak uses to create nightmares. Each pillar in the Heart of Darkness might contain these statues, and each statue might represent a person who is forced into controlled nightmares.

Here’s the centerpiece ‘base’. The 6 ‘indents’ in the middle exactly match the shape of the top and bottom sections of the statues.

Do the statues all rotate on their ‘base’? Here’s a ‘heart_of_darkness_platform’. Each circle’s white lines spin. This ‘platform’ looks like the rings surrounding the middle pillar in the main Heart of Darkness model.

Skins for what is likely the Centerpiece statues and base. The three circular objects are intriguing.

It’s hard to tell what the first two represent, but the last one seems to show ‘scales’ and an open book. This might be the icon for the End to Reason encounter. With that in mind, the other two might also be boss encounters.

There’s 6 statues – so perhaps 6 icons representing 6 bosses, plus the Heart of Darkness boss (probably Lord Arak). So 7 bosses + maybe a mini?

Other Models

Arisen Arak

Lord Arak’s final form? Could also be a nightmare version of Arak, or maybe mobs called ‘Arisen’.

There’s also some other path/bridge/platform models that have been updated:

Lord Arak Raid Skins

A couple of skins were found in the data files that look like they relate to the Lord Arak Raid. Just note that any of the ‘gray’-ish skins are simply the base skin and might not represent the actual color of the skin.

Lady Justice Building Skin

A skin for what is assumed to be parts of the End to Reason/Lady Justice building.

A close-up makes this obvious:

Blindfolded, lady, two scales and “Justice” on the left banner, “Truth” on the right banner. Checks out. That said, most ‘lady justice’ since Roman times carry a balance scale in one hand and a sword in the other. Maybe this one is too balanced!

Other Architecture Skins

Looks like the top of a pillar with a skull in the middle. Assuming to be for Lord Arak Raid because a separate skin only shows the base of the pillars and the skull’s eyes in a green glow.

Looks like window, floor or some other architecture skins. The spiky vines are similar to the one with the lady justices, so it’s probably for the End to Reason building.

Statue Skins

A couple of Lord Arak Raid statue skins; probably for End to Reason:

Texture Skins

Some texture skins. The bricks are probably for Uknown and the fleshy textures probably for the Nexus paths. Bottom-right looks like marble; so probably for the statues and pillars in End to Reason.

Heart of Darkness Skin

This might be what the Heart of Darkness main texture is supposed to look like. Or perhaps this is for the Uknown Egg.

Chamelion Mob Skin

This is what I assume to be some kind of chamelion mob in the Lord Arak Raid. It’s green, has fleshy bits and has what looks like a tail similar to that of a chamelion. Not much else to go on. Not even sure where its face is. Can’t find an eye.

---

Quite a few things in Part 1 of the datamining for the 31st March 2015 PTS Update. New mounts, portraits and updated models and new skins for the Lord Arak Raid. Stay tuned for Part 2 at a later date where I’ll have stuff on Planetouched Wilds and other interesting files.

You can also check out some related information below:

• PTS Datamining for 31st March 2015 – Part 2. The second part of the datamining for this update. Includes Planetouched Wilds info, sound files and further Lord Arak Raid skins.
• PTS Update for 31st March 2015. Full info on stuff available for viewing on the PTS including 3.2 Wardrobe System, IA revamp, Tier 1 cost reduction, Tier 2 gear and NMR6.
• PTS Datamining for 13th January 2015. Initial Lord Arak Raid models. Check out the difference between then and now.
• Live Datamining for 28th January 2015. Some old End to Reason building and platform models.

For past PTS Updates, click here. You can also find past datamining here.