RIFT updated the Public Test Shard (‘PTS’) on 8th June 2015 with a small ~100mb update. TEST-302-61-A-1010621, so still in 3.2 territory.
Summary:
- NPCs Temporarily Disabled. Also, no access to Mathosia/Storm Legion continents.
- World Event Tab Updated. Updated Summerfest Rings and Essences. There’s also a Nightmare Squirrel Mount and a new Minion adventure chain that rewards 5 minion cards!
- Mage Changes. Various Harbinger changes including to Phase Step, Conditioned Response, Reaper’s Blade and Healing Reflex. Also, Storm Locus changed in Stormcaller.
- Other Info. Animation Fix and Wardrobe Highlight UI addition.
As always, everything below is subject to change prior to hitting Live and some things included below may never make it to Live release.
NPCs Temporarily Disabled
DEV_SupermanSocks has mentioned that most NPCs have been temporarily disabled on the PTS for some testing. No details on what that testing involved.
- You’ll notice that outside of Tempest Bay, practically all NPCs (including mobs) are not available.
- Mathosia and Storm Legion continents are not accessible. You will be kicked back to Tempest Bay if you try to port there.
- This means you’ll only be able to go to Tempest Bay or Plane of Water zones.
- NPCs still exist in instances.
This is probably the best opportunity for any avid photographer to get some sweet screenshots of the environment without the distraction of NPCs. Perhaps you have a nice spot in mind to take a screenshot of your latest wardrobe – now you won’t have to worry about mobs attacking you whilst you take your pose!
World Event Tab Updated
As mentioned in the 5th June update, the ‘World Event’ tab is up on the RIFT Store on the PTS. With the latest update, there’s now Level 65 accessories and some other additions like the Nightmare Squirrel Mount.
Summerfest Rings
Level 65 Summerfest Rings are now up on the PTS. They cost 3,500 Summerfest Merit Badges + 6 Summerfest Friendship Bracelets each, or 1,780 Credits (1,602 for Patrons) each.
The rings are Bound to Account so you will be able to use your alts to collect them.
Summerfest 2015 Rings – PTS
Interestingly, only the Rogue DPS Ring has CP with the rest being AP or SP.
So how do they compare?
Looking at the Cleric DPS ring “Healing Soulfire Ring”, it’s better than Bulf’s Puzzle Ring (which is spell crit), but it isn’t as good as Johan’s Akvanium Insulator Coil (sp ring). Probably considered Tier 1-grade.
Looking at the Cleric Tank ring “Defense of the Sungazer”, it’s got +1 Wis, +8 Int, +47 Block but -24 Endurance compared to the non-relic Akvan Shell Hoop. It’s better than Translucent Frozen Band from Bulf. Again, probably considered Tier 1-grade.
As for the odd one out: The Rogue DPS Ring “Swarmlord’s Spikes” is better than Reraised Skelf Bone Hoop (Bulf) and Ungolok’s Wrathful Link (Ungolok), assuming you aren’t at CP soft cap after raid buffs/consumes.
Summerfest Essences
Level 65 Summerfest Essences have also popped up on the PTS. They cost 3,000 Summerfest Merit Badges and 5 Summerfest Friendship Bracelets each, or 1,780 Credits (1,602 for Patrons).
The essences are Bound to Account.
Summerfest 2015 Essences – PTS
Interestingly the Tank Essences only have one Primary/Secondary stat. The stat shown might actually be the Secondary stat since the stat is rather low (76) for a Primary stat.
Also, Both the Mage DPS and Tank essences have the same name. Might just be a bug.
So how do they compare?
It really depends on your current gear. If you are at the CP soft cap after raid buffs/consumes, the essences are actually better than NMR5 AP/SP essences and the old Fae Yule 2014 “Nether Ice” essences.
I.e. Cleric’s DPS essence “Extraordinary Glittering Lifestone” has +41sp compared to the NMR5 “Elder’s Dreamcatcher”. It’s almost as good as the NMR5 relic upgrade (for those at CP soft cap). This obviously doesn’t include endurance values (55 vs 140).
In fact, the endurance values on the DPS essences are probably a mistake, since even the Fae Yule 2014 DPS essences had 125-128 endurance on them.
As for the Tank Essences, they’re clearly bugged right now. However, if the Block and Endurance values remain, they’ll definitely be worth getting.
In the end you’ll probably want to get the Summerfest Rings and Essences even if you aren’t yet at CP soft cap for your DPS specs. They’ll be beneficial for your healing specs and once you do hit CP soft cap, they’ll provide an option for you to switch out some essences.
Nightmare Squirrel Mount
There’s a new Nightmare Squirrel Mount that you can obtain as a rare chance drop from the Limited Edition: Nightmare Squirrel Trove. 700 Credits each (630 for Patrons); Usual price for Limited Edition Troves.
The Nightmare Squirrel Mount has 155% mount speed and is a Land Mount.
New Summerfest Minion Card Chain
I mentioned in the 5th June update that there was a new Minion Card: Muirden. Turns out the tooltip has some interesting info!
The tooltip states:
Use: Add this minion’s calling card to your deck of minions and unlock a chain of 5m, 15m, and 8hr adventures that reward 5 additional minion cards.
Look forward to collecting 6 new minion cards when Summerfest pops up!
Muirden is available under RIFT Store -> World Event on the PTS for 750 Credits (675 for Patrons). There’s no Summerfest currency option.
Mage Changes
As Red Hawk mentioned previously, the Mage Harbinger ‘Phase Step’ change is now up on the PTS as well as the other changes Red Hawk mentioned previously (minus the Planar Shield change). Stormcaller’s “Storm Locus” has also changed.
Stormcaller Storm Locus Change
There’s a change to the 40pt Root “Storm Locus” ability in Stormcaller. It now only affects Air and Water damage.
Harbinger Phase Step Change
Phase Step has changed. You will now perform the 5 teleport attacks behind your target, but will then be ported back to your original starting position.
Unfortunately when you port back to your original position, you are usually facing away from your target. Not sure if that’s intended or just a bug.
The changes are supposed to solve the issue of Harbs dying from boss fights like Izkinra where the bosses ‘back’ is off a cliff. Some testing on the PTS is likely needed to see if this change actually solves the issue.
Other Harbinger Changes
- Single Target Abilities when in Empyrean Ascension now procs Rending Slash’s debuff on targets so you no longer need to worry about Rending Slash debuff stacks dropping off during Empyrean Ascension.
- Reaper’s Blade’s base damage is now equal to Lightning Blade’s base damage.
- Insult to Injury (which grants a small shield when you crit), now deals PBAoE damage when the shield disappears.
- Healing Reflex (35pt Tree Talent) has been changed to Rising Storm. Instead of a heal, it now increases the effect of Spell Power on your Air and Life abilities by 15%.
- Conditioned Response healing greatly increased. From something like 2-3k in Live to 12-13k on PTS (in Expert gear). Will probably be higher for those in Raid gear.
You can find more information on the changes in Red Hawk’s initial Mage Change post. Just note that the ‘Planar Shield’ change mentioned in the post hasn’t popped up on PTS. Chances are this is because it was abandoned for the teleport-back-to-same-position Phase Step change that is now up on the PTS.
Other Info
- Animation Fix. Companion Pets, Mounts and Player animations now work properly. On Live, female dwarves, various companion pets and mounts only have one or two animations that they can rotate through. On PTS this has now been fixed so they rotate through all their various animations.
- Wardrobe Highlight. Selecting a slot in your wardrobe set will now highlight it with 4 rotating blue balls of light. Nothing major.
Some interesting changes and additions. Mage Harbingers will probably want to post some feedback/bug reports on the current changes; Summerfest Rings/Essences might have some bugs in them; and look forward to 6 new minion cards and the Nightmare Squirrel Mount!
For past PTS Updates, click here. You can also find past datamining here.
RiftGrate 
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