RIFT 3.0 Preparation

The RIFT 3.0 Expansion to the Plane of Water will be coming forth on October 22nd 2014. What sort of things can you start collecting to get ready for 3.0? We address that question with some speculation below.

Disclaimer: Please note that everything below is speculation based on current information as well as the past (Storm Legion Expansion launch being our main reference point). Please consider the risk of the speculation below being wrong when preparing for 3.0.

Last Updated: 5th October 2014

Preparing for RIFT 3.0: Nightmare Tide
Table of Contents:

• Leveling Preparation
  • Patron Status
  • Rift Store Boosts
  • Consumables
  • Artifact Set Turn-ins
  • Quest Turn-ins
  • Bonus % Gear
  • Lockboxes
• Crafting Preparation
• Guild Preparation
• Other Preparation

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Leveling Preparation

Patron Status

Something that will help your leveling significantly for the expansion will be to get Patron Status as it comes with a wide variety of benefits that are perfect for the gear reset, new notoriety, leveling and new currency that an expansion brings.

Key benefits to Patron Status includes:

• Passive 40% Patron Bonuses– Passive 24hr bonuses for:
  • Experience, Notoriety, Tokens, Favor and Prestige.
• Patron’s Artifact Tracking Vial – Able to see artifacts on mini-map for 30min per vial (stacks to 7x, you gain 1x per daily reset).
• 10% Store Discount.
• +10% Mount Speed; -25% time to mount; -5% chance to be dismounted.
  
• 3x additional Random Daily Warfront Charges per week.
• 3x additional Random Daily Expert Dungeon Charges per week.
• 40 Daily Quest Limit (compared to 30 for non-patrons).
• +15% Currency gain.
• Priority Queue.

The Patron Bonuses themselves will be greatly beneficial, especially since you’ll be able to benefit from all of them when 3.0 hits as everything will have new levels. These also stack with Rift Store Boosts/Vials/Tablets so it leads to even faster leveling of experience, pvp rank, currency gain and notoriety gain.

Obtaining Patron Status

You can obtain Patron Status from either one-off Patron Passes or through a Patron Subscription. The Patron Passes are purchasable with Credits from the Rift Store whilst the Patron Subscriptions are with direct cash.

Patron Passes are currently available via:

• 15-day Patron Pass for 1,440 Credits (1,296 for Patrons); or
• 30-day Patron Pass for 2,400 Credits (2,160 for Patrons).

If you can find a reliable Credit Gifter in-game you could get a pretty good deal for the passes with platinum – should you choose to go that route. You can also purchase REX from other players via trade or on the Auction House in order to get enough Credits to purchase a Patron Pass.

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Rift Store Boosts

Rift Store Vials/Boosts/Tokens found under the Rift Store -> Boosts section come in a variety of ‘grades’ from 15% to 160% for Experience, Prestige, Favor, Notoriety and Tokens. There’s also Skill Spheres for crafting leveling and Artifact vials.

These are definitely a more costly alternative compared to getting Patron Status with the benefits of Patron Status outstripping Rift Store Vials on a cost-basis easily during an expansion launch.

However, Rift Store Vials do stack with the passive Patron Boosts so that can really speed things up for you.

Obtaining Rift Store Vials

There’s a few methods of obtaining Rift Store Boosts.

• Buying directly at Rift Store -> Boosts with Credits gained from $.
• Buying at Rift Store -> Boosts with Credits obtained from consuming REX gained from platinum via other players and the Auction House.
• Buying from a trusted Credit Gifter in-game with platinum.
• Chance drop from Patron Daily Gifts and Patron Weekly Gifts.
• Chance drop from Lockboxes/Supply Crates gained from Credits, Achieve rewards, Rare chance drop from random mobs or from the Auction House for platinum.
• Chance drop from participating and completing zone events in appropriate zones during Mayhem in Mathosia events. (Usually drops +15% Experience and Token Boosts).

If you’ve ever received the Transcendent boosts from Trion apologies in the past, it may be prudent to hold onto them for 3.0 use.

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Consumables

Want faster leveling? Preparing some consumables should help with this, allowing you to pull more mobs, kill faster, move faster and generally have a lot smoother leveling experience.

• Empyrean Scroll of [STAT].
• Brightsurge or Powersurge Vials.
• Powerstones or Whetstones/Oilstones.
• Comfortable Insoles.
• Comfortable Riding Chaps.
• Stellar Healing and Stellar Mana Tonics

Empyrean Scroll of [STAT]: Adds 70 [STAT] for 1 hour. Popping a Main STAT/Secondary STAT + END should help quicken your leveling. i.e., WIS, INT and END would be useful for Clerics/Mages whilst STR, DEX and END scrolls would be useful for Warriors/Rogues. Lasts 1 hour but is removed on death. Given that you usually won’t be dying too often whilst leveling, these may be better than Vials. Dropped from random Level 51+ mobs.

Brightsurge or Powersurge Vials: These can be costly depending on the rarity of the vials you are going to be using. These give +50 INT/WIS or +50 STR/DEX respectively. Lasts 1hr and doesn’t stack with scrolls but they last through death. Crafted by Apothecaries.

Powerstones or Whetstones/Oilstones: These provide +200 SP and +100 AP (1h)/+200 AP(2h) respectively to your weapon, providing a significant boost to DPS. Lasts 4hrs. Crafted by Weaponsmiths.

Comfortable Insoles: Increases runspeed by 10% for 4 hours. Saves considerable time over the long run. Crafted by Outfitters.

Comfortable Riding Chaps: Increases mounted movement speed by 10% for 4 hours. Again, saves time. These faster-movement items will help you get to quests, nodes and objectives before other players. Crafted by Outfitters.

Stellar Healing and Stellar Mana Tonics: These tonics are invaluable to pushing through swaths of mobs or players without the downtime caused by drinking out-of-combat or pulling less mobs to stay alive. Although mana will usually not be a problem, those Stellar Healing Tonics will be invaluable. Crafted by Apothecaries.

PvP Consumables would also work as they will have PvE stats and be usable on all gear.

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Artifact Set Turn-Ins

Completed Artifact Sets can be turned into the Artifact Vendor in Sanctum, Meridian or Tempest Bay for Experience, Caches of Potions/Scrolls and Lucky Coins/Planar Nut currency.

Given that these turn-ins are not counted towards any Daily Quest or other such limits, you can stack up a large amount of completed artifact sets and turn them all in when 3.0 hits for a nice extra boost to your leveling.

Note that Trion has reduced the amount of experience you get with artifact set turn-ins, but they should still be ‘free’ exp.

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Quest Turn-Ins

Update: Since the 1st Oct PTS Update, the PTS has removed several Level 60 quest experience.

Now only the following still gives experience:

• Dendrome Group Dailies/Weeklies.
• Raid Rift Daily.
• PvP Dailies.
• Chronicle Dailies.
• Crafting Dailies.

The rest, such as general Level 60 dailies, raid weeklies, PvP weeklies and onslaughts no longer give experience or only gives PA experience.

Also, you cannot stack warfront or dungeon charge reward completions.

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Bonus % Gear

There’s a variety of Bonus % Gear that drops from lockboxes/supply crates. These include:

• +10% Notoriety Set Gear;
• +10% Currency and Token Gain Set Gear (excl. Fragments of The Ward or Myrmidon’s Marks);
• +10% Experience Set Gear.

You basically need 2 pieces of gear in different slots with the same set bonus for the bonus to apply. These are fantastic either to wear during leveling or when turning in quests – just use a loadequip macro or addon just before turning in Quests and Carnages whilst you level for that extra +10% boost then switch back to your normal gear with another macro/button press.

If you can find 6 pieces of gear in different slots that covers all the above set bonuses, even better! These stack with Rift Store Boosts and Patron Vials!

Since the Bonus % Gear Sets drop as a random chance from Lockboxes/Supply Crates, it is subject to RNG. However, a cheap option is to buy Greenscale’s Lock Boxes and the Lock Box Keys required to open them off the Auction House or other players which are usually priced a lot cheaper than other lockboxes/supply crates that you can get with Credits.

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Lockboxes

[Update: Trion has indicated that current boxes will not scale above 60. New boxes will appear that will scale to 65 and the old boxes will have an addition to their names (such as ‘Legacy’) to differentiate between them.] [r]

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Crafting Preparation

So you want to prepare for the new Savant crafting level that pushes crafting to Level 450? Getting craft recipes early on will likely help push you and your guild to being Expert Dungeon-ready and could potentially provide you with a nice bit of profit on the side.

Nightmare Tide uses existing currency.

There are a few things you can prepare for:

• Storm Legion Mats
• Have a platinum buffer.
• Get all Gathering Professions.
• Get all Crafting Professions.
• Max out on Grandmaster Craft Marks and Master Craft Marks.
• Get Skill Spheres + Guild Perk: Journeyman.
• Dream Ribbons.
• Dyes.

Storm Legion Mats

You will still want at least 2-3 orange-recipes worth of crafting/gathering materials so that you can push to at least Level 376 (one above max Grandmaster 375) so that you can get the first Savant-level recipes when 3.0 hits.

Note: Make sure to train for ‘Savant’ from the Savant Trainers before you try to craft to 376. Savant Trainers will be available in Tempest Bay as well as the Atragarian Well in Goboro Reef and Margle Palace’s Choreburg district.

Have a Platinum Buffer

You will want a platinum buffer to account for recipe and training costs from your crafting trainers. A platinum buffer will also help to pay for vendor crafting materials so you aren’t scrambling to get enough platinum for level-up or crafting costs during the initial 3.0 launch frenzy.

Get all Gathering Professions

Getting all gathering professions will provide you with a huge advantage when 3.0 hits. The initial frenzy for crafted gear in order to quickly get into Expert dungeons will make gathering materials highly over-priced.

If you already have 3 tradeskills, consider increasing your Trade Skill slots with the Trade Skill Extension item available under Rift Store -> Services for 1,200 Credits (1,080 for Patrons).

Not only will you profit from selling the new 3.0 gathering materials, but you should also be given dailies and weeklies that will increase your Craft-based Marks so that you can purchase new Savant-level recipes sooner. You should also consider using a Token boost to increase marks gained.

Get all Crafting Professions

The more crafting professions you have when 3.0 hits, the better. Why? Because each crafting profession has its own dailies and weeklies that will provide you with the limited-per-week currency needed to purchase the new Savant recipes. You can effectively pool together all the professions to purchase recipes in the craft professions that are most lucrative.

Max out on Grandmaster Craft Marks and Master Craft Marks

Nightmare Tide uses existing craft currencies: Artisan Marks, Master Craft Marks and Grandmaster Craft Marks.

You should aim to max out currencies.

• Craft Dailies/Weeklies – Complete as many as possible from Romas Periga in Tempest Bay [Location].
  
• Gathering Turn-in Dailies – Turn-in gathering professions via Oorlon in Ashora’s K’Roms Fortress [Location].

Get Skill Spheres + Guild Perk: Journeyman

To quicken leveling you can use Skill Spheres gained from the Rift Store -> Boosts section and the Guild Perk: Journeyman. These increase the chance or provide you with additional craft skill level-ups when you craft a non-gray recipe.

Consider getting your guild to reset perks and re-arrange them before 3.0 hits to get the most out of them.

Dream Ribbons

Dream Ribbons are used in the Nightmare Tide expansion. You’ll also be using Dream Bolts, which are converted via right-click on 99x Dream Ribbon stacks. There’s new Savant Dream Orbs that require a lot of dream ribbons.

Dyes

The mats required for Dyes and the Dyes themselves will likely continue to be in demand – even more so with all the new armor and weapon models that 3.0 will bring. Holding onto these mats can still be beneficial.

The main risk will be if Trion introduces alternate recipes for the same dyes that use 3.0 materials or drops some of the requirements (such as the Coruscating Ethereal Shard component). [Thus far on the PTS there are no new dye recipes or alternate NT ingredient requirements].

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Guild Preparation

Your guild also has some stuff they can prepare for 3.0.

• Max out Guild Level.
• Check Guild Perks.
• Arrange Recipes

Max out Guild Level

Current max level for guilds is level 25. Maxing it out prior to 3.0 is a good way to get as many perks as possible.

Trion have stated there are no plans for new guild levels at 3.0 launch.

Check Guild Perks

Check your guild perks. Are they appropriate for 3.0 launch? Some key perks you want include:

• Journeyman 3/3 (for craft leveling);
• Cache Finder 1/1 (for token gain);
• Planar Knowledge 3/3 (for PA gain);
• Foe Hunter 3/3 (for Favor gain; PvP);
• Blood Thirsty 3/3 (for PvP);
• Killing Spree 3/3 (for PvP);
• Summon Guild Rally Banner 1/1;
• Summon Banner of Rage 3/3;
• Summon Banner of Fortitude 3/3;
• Call of the Ascended;
• High Visibility 3/3.

The others are optional and what you choose will be dependent on what kind of activities your guild members will prioritise.

Arrange Recipes

How many recipes you can obtain in a single week is limited by the amount of dailies/weeklies that you are able to complete. But that’s for one person. In a guild if you want to quickly become Expert-dungeon ready you should consider creating a guild forum post, google spreadsheet or similar where your guild members can arrange which recipes to obtain.

When Open Beta arrives for 3.0 it should become more obvious which recipes will be most beneficial for your guild members, but for now the usual culprits would be:

• Highest +HIT crafted gear available at 3.0 launch;
• Highest-quality Seal;
• Highest-quality Runes on all pieces.

We’ll have a spreadsheet/table ready when the time comes prior to 3.0 launch with the 3.0 recipes and which ones to go after.

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Other Preparation

What other things can you prepare?

• Planarite and Vouchers
• Ascended Powers
• REX
• Bag/Bank Space
• Clear out Quests

Planarite and Vouchers

Out of all the currency available, Planarite is one of the few that is likely to remain useful between expansions. Max out on planarite and consider converting all your Inscribed Sourcestone (old Level 50 currency) and Infinity Stones (Level 60 currency) to vouchers at the Voucher NPC or Iron Pine Peak/Shimmersand Rare Planar Vendors.

• 50 Inscribed Sourcestone gets you a Vault of Planarite which contains 500 Planarite;
• 50 Infinity Stones gets you a Gilded Trunk of Planarite which contains 500 Planarite.

These vouchers gives you planarite upon consumption. This can be highly useful since Nightmare Rift Lures and new Level 65 Raid Rift Lures require planarite as part of their cost. The Vaults/Trunks basically allows you to store Planarite beyond the cap of 200,000.

Infinity Stones are not useful in Nightmare Tide; so having them as Gilded Trunk of Planarite can be beneficial during periods when you are low on planarite.

Ascended Powers

Make sure you have all Ascended Powers: Planar Lure, Guardian’s Flare, Summon Rescue Medic and Omen/Quantum Sight. These are obtained from the Ascended Powers vendor in Sanctum and Meridian.

Aspect of the Ancients: Did you forget about this item? The Aspect of the Ancients restores 1 Planar Charge, costs 500 planarite each and you can have up to 3 on your char at once. Doesn’t seem like much, but when you include Planar Attunement abilities that makes you gain 2 additional charges per Planar Charge you obtain – it can be a nice little time-saver for minimal cost.

REX

Just having some REX lying around could be potentially beneficial depending on what is offered in the Rift Store when 3.0 hits. Having some Credits lying around for Rune and Essence Unsockets or for some new fluff items would be beneficial – the more time spent preparing prior to 3.0, the less you’ll have to worry about farming up platinum for REX when 3.0 hits and in the weeks following launch.

If you’re going the platinum option (instead of buying Credits directly with cash) you should probably just hold onto the REX and not convert to Credits until you actually need the Credits. That way, you can still trade the REX should the need arise (or market conditions suit such an action).

REX also has the advantage of keeping up with plat inflation. If 3.0 is like 2.0 you will likely see an increase in the amount of platinum you can gain from vendoring gear, completing daily quests and general mob coin drops. Holding onto platinum won’t keep you safe from plat inflation – but REX will likely keep up as those who purchase the REX with cash will likely want a higher amount of platinum (due to plat inflation and the higher cost of items).

Bag/Bank Space

Clear out some Bag/Bank space prior to 3.0 launch – especially if you plan on crafting so that you aren’t sending mail to your alts whilst other players are leveling up and cashing in on craft material demand.

Few things to consider:

• Fluff/Interactive items that are Bind on Account could probably go to an alt for 3.0 launch.
• Space may be needed for Wardrobe items – 3.0 will probably bring with it a whole slew of new armor and weapon designs. Are you an avid costume collector? Perhaps it’s time to unlock some more Wardrobe slots, Bank Vaults or move the Bound on Account-type items to an alt temporarily.
• Clear out some of the pre-3.0 craft/gathering materials or send them to an alt as you are unlikely to need them outside of Dyes and Dream Ribbons.
• Have random 2.0 lures lying around? Use them up before 3.0 because they will be useless when 3.0 hits.

Clear Out Quests

Check your Quest Log (default key “l“) and get rid of old, out-dated quests you no longer need. Also make sure to check which quest items in your quest item log you still need. Others should be deleted as you will get a lot of new quest items and quests in Nightmare Tide.

You don’t want to end up having no inventory space because your quest items are overflowing onto it, and you’ll save a lot of time at launch if you don’t have to delete old Level 30 carnages you still have in your quest log when you end up reaching max carnage quests (25 at a time).

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Hope all these tips and the speculation made here in preparing for 3.0 helps you out! You can also check out the 3.0 Expansion for more information regarding the upcoming Plane of Water expansion.