Gripes, complaints and irritations.

[Vinadil]

Agree... the boss fights are much more interesting than the normal versions, but I still like a 45-60 minute dungeon run...

[Azuredream]

Finished a DSM x run last night: the run was about 1hr 50min and we wiped once on trash, once on Dichrom, and once on Plutonus. The dungeon is just stupidly long. I think the boss fights in there are the most fun out of any five man though.

[Threash]

If you weren't one of the lucky ones to win the plaque lottery early on you are basically just throwing plat away doing crafting dailies at this point.  Let me see, should i blow 2 plat a day on a 5% chance at a plaque or just tip someone 5 plat once for the 4 plaque item i need.

[Xanthippe]

Darkening Deeps cannot be completed solo due to the boss that cocoons players - even a ranger with a pet cannot complete it because the pet will not attack the cocoon.

Annoying.

[Ivanneth]

But maybe what's weirder to me is that there's one, maybe two, combos per class which are so far and beyond better than everything else in the class that there's zero reason to ever spec it. I was expecting the numbers to be a little closer, to not have Necrolock or Pyromancer (for example) be so far above other straight DPS souls like Stormcaller. As a friend said to me when we were talking top rogue DPS spec, rogues don't have a DPS spec, they have bard or tank specs.

Quote comes from another thread. My reply fits better here:

In retrospect, this is a big part of what killed my enjoyment of Rift. I went through the following phases -

• Holy Shit there's so many talents and specs! The possibilities are endless!
• Ok, some of these combos have very little synergy, but that's to be expected. Not every spec will be viable. That's just not possible.
• Ugh. This one spec is amazing and everything else I've tried sucks ass because I just die all the time. I don't really have much choice in this at all.
• None of these alternate specs I've spent hours coming up with and testing are better than this other one. Fuck it, I'm going to play something else.

Rift offers the illusion of choice, and unfortunately it was that illusion that drew me to the game. It took me about 3 weeks to look past the new/shiny and see that I'd been "tricked". I don't regret spending $40 on it because I did get a few weeks of fun. If I wasn't already so tired of WoW then the rest of the game might have held more interest for me and I'd probably have stuck around longer. 

[Threash]

Meh, i disagree on everything other than dps.  For dps there is a best spec, for everything else there is best for a specific situation.  I have at least 5 different effective pvp specs that i use and enjoy and are equally effective in very different ways.  I know our tanks keep different tanking specs for different bosses and for trash, healing specs are all over the place too.

[Ivanneth]

I should probably clarify that my experience was primarily focused on Mages because that's the class I enjoyed the most.

[Draegan]

For Rogue DPS there are two or three very very competitive specs.  Blade Dancer heavy, Melee Ranger, and Night Blade heavy.  Then there are three different AOE DPS specs to choose from.  Ranger, 51NB and Sabo. Then there are two different tank specs, and a bard spec.

For Clerics there is one great melee spec, one decent caster spec, then support/healing/tanking specs.

For Warriors... one or two dps specs and like 4 different tank specs if not more.

I'm not super familiar with mages but I know there are 2-3 varied raiding/expert/dungeon DPS specs and then you have an Archon and a Chloro.

I don't know much about PVP, so there are more specs there.

This isn't even counting all the different solo/farm/leveling specs.

[Pendan]

This game really wants you to die a lot. I could list a lot of different things that will get you killed that don’t really exist in other games but will just describe one experience I had yesterday.

A zone event boss was up in Droughtlands. I was on my level 43 rogue that is a riftstalker and bard. I ride up to the area the boss is being fought and click the join group button and I am placed in nearly a full raid. The boss level is 42. I was in guardian phase that gives 30% increased endurance, have 15% increased endurance from Great Fortitude, have 10% increased health from Good Health so I have a lot of health compared to most level 43s. Character has somewhere between 5000 and 6000 HP. I see that health is low on a lot of the raid so the first thing I do is move into max Cadence range to do some healing. In the 2 seconds it casts I get hit for 3500 magic damage. I use the 3 points generated to apply Rift Guard which gives me a 25.5% absorb. I then start another Cadence. Get hit for another 3500 damage. 25% is absorb but that is not enough so die. I use soul walk to move away from the boss. I rebuff but have no way to heal so at less than half health. I then decide to stay at max targeting range which is about 3 times the distance and player class would be able to hit the boss just so I could just watch what it is casting and see if I could learn anyway to avoid the damage being put out. Half my defiant raid id dead and would guess the same was true of the Guardian raid plus any others not in the raid. While watching at this max targeting range I get hit again for 3500 damage and die. This time I have to return from graveyard. On rezzing I immediately mount up and ride away. I am several hundred more yards away. Not only is boss not visible but not a single person from the two raids is visible. I get hit again for 3500 damage and die.

[Threash]

Can you share this melee ranger spec? i don't even play a rogue but that sounds awfully interesting.  Looking through their tree there is like no melee stuff there, odd.

[01101010]

This game really wants you to die a lot. I could list a lot of different things that will get you killed that don’t really exist in other games but will just describe one experience I had yesterday.

A zone event boss was up in Droughtlands. I was on my level 43 rogue that is a riftstalker and bard. I ride up to the area the boss is being fought and click the join group button and I am placed in nearly a full raid. The boss level is 42. I was in guardian phase that gives 30% increased endurance, have 15% increased endurance from Great Fortitude, have 10% increased health from Good Health so I have a lot of health compared to most level 43s. Character has somewhere between 5000 and 6000 HP. I see that health is low on a lot of the raid so the first thing I do is move into max Cadence range to do some healing. In the 2 seconds it casts I get hit for 3500 magic damage. I use the 3 points generated to apply Rift Guard which gives me a 25.5% absorb. I then start another Cadence. Get hit for another 3500 damage. 25% is absorb but that is not enough so die. I use soul walk to move away from the boss. I rebuff but have no way to heal so at less than half health. I then decide to stay at max targeting range which is about 3 times the distance and player class would be able to hit the boss just so I could just watch what it is casting and see if I could learn anyway to avoid the damage being put out. Half my defiant raid id dead and would guess the same was true of the Guardian raid plus any others not in the raid. While watching at this max targeting range I get hit again for 3500 damage and die. This time I have to return from graveyard. On rezzing I immediately mount up and ride away. I am several hundred more yards away. Not only is boss not visible but not a single person from the two raids is visible. I get hit again for 3500 damage and die.

LMAO... good times. I constantly soul walker, or run back only to pop up and get destroyed. Burned through many a soul walk. THe death bosses and that AoE shadow bolt shit does that a lot. died 3 time in a row yesterday in shimmer doing just that. In fact, I ported into the Wyrm port and the boss was right there annihilating the NPCs and I took one to the face that dropped me to half health. I laff'd twice for each of my tears. 

[Stormwaltz]

I've played for about 30 hours now, have a character at 18 (and alts at 15 and 9), and so far, I have only one major complaint. That's with the basepop. For a game that shows careful consideration in other places, it's remarkable how little thought seems to have been placed into something so basic.

1) INACTIVITY:  Basepop mostly consists of mobs standing around in a field, occasionally shuffling a few feet in a random direction.

2) DENSITY: There are many areas where it is literally impossible to find a path through without aggroing something.

3) SPEED: Mobs are able to run faster than me. I'd rather see them slower, but with a speed self-buff (countered by stuns/root) or a counter-able ability to root/slow the player. Without CC abilities, I can never escape them. In fact, even with CC I often can't - which is my next point.

4) LEASHING: Sometimes they just don't. I've been chased by a pair of Endless from Todrin's Estate to King's Retreat. Only after they killed me did they go home. That's just unacceptable.

In my opinion, running away should always be a valid tactical option. My experience in Rift has thus far been "If you don't win, you must die." You can't escape your pursuers, and once you start running the mob desnity just means you start kiting more and more mobs behind you. Rift basepop parties like it's 1999.

[01101010]

4) LEASHING: Sometimes they just don't. I've been chased by a pair of Endless from Todrin's Estate to King's Retreat. Only after they killed me did they go home. That's just unacceptable.

In my opinion, running away should always be a valid tactical option. My experience in Rift has thus far been "If you don't win, you must die." You can't escape your pursuers, and once you start running the mob desnity just means you start kiting more and more mobs behind you. Rift basepop parties like it's 1999.

Ahhh the sweet smell of goblins in the Jungles, scorps and crawlers in the Nest, and undead/bats in Garlaige. Fuck I miss that god damn game sometimes... must be my masochistic streak shining back through.

[Azuredream]

This game really wants you to die a lot. I could list a lot of different things that will get you killed that don’t really exist in other games but will just describe one experience I had yesterday.

A zone event boss was up in Droughtlands. I was on my level 43 rogue that is a riftstalker and bard. I ride up to the area the boss is being fought and click the join group button and I am placed in nearly a full raid. The boss level is 42. I was in guardian phase that gives 30% increased endurance, have 15% increased endurance from Great Fortitude, have 10% increased health from Good Health so I have a lot of health compared to most level 43s. Character has somewhere between 5000 and 6000 HP. I see that health is low on a lot of the raid so the first thing I do is move into max Cadence range to do some healing. In the 2 seconds it casts I get hit for 3500 magic damage. I use the 3 points generated to apply Rift Guard which gives me a 25.5% absorb. I then start another Cadence. Get hit for another 3500 damage. 25% is absorb but that is not enough so die. I use soul walk to move away from the boss. I rebuff but have no way to heal so at less than half health. I then decide to stay at max targeting range which is about 3 times the distance and player class would be able to hit the boss just so I could just watch what it is casting and see if I could learn anyway to avoid the damage being put out. Half my defiant raid id dead and would guess the same was true of the Guardian raid plus any others not in the raid. While watching at this max targeting range I get hit again for 3500 damage and die. This time I have to return from graveyard. On rezzing I immediately mount up and ride away. I am several hundred more yards away. Not only is boss not visible but not a single person from the two raids is visible. I get hit again for 3500 damage and die.

I feel I should mention that zone event bosses, almost all of them have a few abilities that are based on %max HP.. you can die to silverwood bosses at level 50 for example. I think I know which boss you are talking about- it was a smooth kill when I did it because I was level 50 and chloro healing everybody for massive heals (since they're all lower level).

[Jherad]

I've played for about 30 hours now, have a character at 18 (and alts at 15 and 9), and so far, I have only one major complaint. That's with the basepop. For a game that shows careful consideration in other places, it's remarkable how little thought seems to have been placed into something so basic.

1) INACTIVITY:  Basepop mostly consists of mobs standing around in a field, occasionally shuffling a few feet in a random direction.

2) DENSITY: There are many areas where it is literally impossible to find a path through without aggroing something.

3) SPEED: Mobs are able to run faster than me. I'd rather see them slower, but with a speed self-buff (countered by stuns/root) or a counter-able ability to root/slow the player. Without CC abilities, I can never escape them. In fact, even with CC I often can't - which is my next point.

4) LEASHING: Sometimes they just don't. I've been chased by a pair of Endless from Todrin's Estate to King's Retreat. Only after they killed me did they go home. That's just unacceptable.

In my opinion, running away should always be a valid tactical option. My experience in Rift has thus far been "If you don't win, you must die." You can't escape your pursuers, and once you start running the mob desnity just means you start kiting more and more mobs behind you. Rift basepop parties like it's 1999.

Oh yes. The exposed debuff (which was changed from a damage multiplier to a frickin' snare) makes me wonder if the win-or-die mechanic was actually deliberate. Very frustrating, not at all fun. Also still get dismounted by mobs 30+ levels below me occasionally while I'm wading through the spawn soup.

[Ice Cream Emperor]

The exposed debuff (which was changed from a damage multiplier to a frickin' snare) makes me wonder if the win-or-die mechanic was actually deliberate.

I really can't imagine how it couldn't be deliberate. Trion aren't that oblivious, that I can tell.

That doesn't make it any less bizarre a decision -- as mentioned, running away should always be an option, though I also feel like sometimes it shouldn't be a very good one. But as it is it's just barbaric, and worse at low levels -- which seems backwards to me.

[AcidCat]

The mob density thing bugged me during beta, but I came to like how you have to be more careful and that there is risk during questing out in the world, just makes things more interesting. I think it's more noticeable at lower levels, I don't know if I've just grown to be more careful or the character's powers have increased to the point where they are just more survivable, but even so I can't remember the last time any of my characters died out questing, other than the elite walking tree that snuck up on me yesterday.

[01101010]

The mob density thing bugged me during beta, but I came to like how you have to be more careful and that there is risk during questing out in the world, just makes things more interesting. I think it's more noticeable at lower levels, I don't know if I've just grown to be more careful or the character's powers have increased to the point where they are just more survivable, but even so I can't remember the last time any of my characters died out questing, other than the elite walking tree that snuck up on me yesterday.

It becomes extremely painful when you are trying to stop an invasion, considering it's zone wide and the boss is always where the players are not. To highlight this, was in shimmer last night and an air invasion starts. Shimmer sucks major ass to get around in by itself, but then you have all the mobs between you and that little ramp up the hill which is being flooded with invasion spawned mobs. Knocks down contribution to almost nothing when you are stuck riding 80% of the time and 10% of that is being knocked off your ride and/or killed from the debuff and train of mobs hitting you. Hell, most mobs don't even seem to need to knock you off as they have some sorta light speed pursuit thing going on. Being careful is one thing, having it impact your contribution score on invasions which means you get denied a shard is another.

[Nerf]

Are you actually getting denied a shard because of it?  Every invasion I've done since they removed the meter, if I kill a single invasion mob during the course of the entire event, I get a shard.  It's always fun to be off doing something else and bam, you get a shiny blue shard because you killed 1 invasion 20 minutes ago.

[Draegan]

Can you share this melee ranger spec? i don't even play a rogue but that sounds awfully interesting.  Looking through their tree there is like no melee stuff there, odd.

Just enough points in ranger to get feral instincts and instant summon, more points into night blade for a standard build, then enough points into assassin to get the standard attack increases and backstab.

Keep Head Shot up (can use at 3m range), use backstab as your damager, blazing strike as your finisher.  That's about it.  Keep Fiery spike up at all times.

[Bzalthek]

I hate being 40 and curbstomped by a 33 elite.  Fuck you Kain and your stupid hunt!

[raydeen]

I hate being 40 and curbstomped by a 33 elite.  Fuck you Kain and your stupid hunt!

So it's EQ all over again? Thanks for that. RIFT will never get my money.

[Nebu]

So it's EQ all over again? Thanks for that. RIFT will never get my money.

Every MMO is EQ with less suck and more rails.   If you like fantasy MMO's, you'd enjoy Rift for a month.  Just don't expect anything novel or Earth-shattering. 

[raydeen]

So it's EQ all over again? Thanks for that. RIFT will never get my money.

Every MMO is EQ with less suck and more rails.   If you like fantasy MMO's, you'd enjoy Rift for a month.  Just don't expect anything novel or Earth-shattering. 

I just meant that something that should be green and easily beatable is going to eat my face. Fuck that. Why even have levels if the mobs don't conform. That was my biggest gripe with EQ. As for RIFT, frankly I didn't even enjoy it for 15 minutes during open beta. I was thinking about joining up until I read the bit above. That sealed the deal.

[Threash]

I killed 2 of those 33 elites solo at 32.  It is not EQ.

[Typhon]

We're talking about elite mobs.  EQ had no differentiators, you just had to know that something was tough or not.  If you were the first to find that mob, you had to do it via experimentation.  And doing that experimentation would make you lose experience.

It's not EQ.

[raydeen]

Sorry for the presumption. I guess I'm also comparing the above account to WoW. A lower level elite should be beatable by a normal level that is at least 7-10 levels above. But apparently some of you have beaten elites at an even closer range. So maybe it was more class or encounter specific. Sorry for the vitriol. It's Wednesday and as usual I'm hungover and surly. Don't take anything I post on Wednesdays seriously. Or weekends. Or any day that ends in 'y'.

[Register]

Just fought a rift boss named Corrupted Graniteborn Champion that's 16 while my cleric is 18 with mien of leadership on - 1.7k hp plus with 37% physical reduction. He uses an ability called earthen shock that one shots me repeatedly from full to zero - rez, buff, go in and get one shotted again.

Not quite sure what's the mechanic of earthen shock given searches on Google came up with precious little information so far.... but I think that one shot mechanics to tank-like classes at below level 20 is not quite excellent design....

[dd0029]

Just fought a rift boss named Corrupted Graniteborn Champion that's 16 while my cleric is 18 with mien of leadership on - 1.7k hp plus with 37% physical reduction. He uses an ability called earthen shock that one shots me repeatedly from full to zero - rez, buff, go in and get one shotted again.

Not quite sure what's the mechanic of earthen shock given searches on Google came up with precious little information so far.... but I think that one shot mechanics to tank-like classes at below level 20 is not quite excellent design....

That seems to be that guy's schtick. I tried to tank that rift boss yesterday on my 41 paladin with 6k hp. He double tapped me for 3900. I believe it's a problem with AoE abilities. I have noticed on my paladin, that if I am only attacking one mob and use my aoe ability Sweeping Strike which hits 3 mobs it will double tap a single mob if there's nothing else for it to hit. I was the only thing in melee and I guess the same thing happened.

Something else seems wrong with that ability as well. The first time, he will do the AoE snare and then cast his death touch. You have the time to run out of range of whatever it is, but the second time, he will start to cast the AoE and then nearly immediately death touch.

[Zetor]

Earthen shock makes him counterattack for 80% of your max hp while it's up. Seems the only way to avoid it is to turn off autoattack and run away before he casts it and wait until the buff disappears from him.

http://forums.riftgame.com/showthread.php?160943-Lowbie-death-rift-boss-Golem

[dd0029]

The more you know.

I wonder if my necro can eat that buff.

[Typhon]

Yeah, he sticks his chin out and says, "go ahead and hit me, see what happens".  Then you hit him, and you likely die.

I have yet to actually not hit him in a scenario where he activates that ability because it seems like he sticks his chin out after it's already active.  If there is some other tell to alert you (besides the casting bar) to not attack him, I don't know what it is.

Fake Edit: After reading that thread is seems like just the casting bar, knowing the mob, and knowing the spell that gets you killed are your tools to not dying.  I agree with original poster in that thread that having this boss in the 1-20 zones is not warranted.

[Register]

Earthen shock makes him counterattack for 80% of your max hp while it's up. Seems the only way to avoid it is to turn off autoattack and run away before he casts it and wait until the buff disappears from him.

http://forums.riftgame.com/showthread.php?160943-Lowbie-death-rift-boss-Golem

Hrm, when my character died, I scroll up the combat text and am pretty sure it was a one shot with overkill damage. Considering my hardest hit on mobs being around 150 crit, I don't see see how 80% of that translate into 4 digit damage.

Modify - ok 80 % of your hp and not your damage. Still seems excessively punitive for a boss found in 1-20 zone.

[Azuredream]

Why oh why do we still have limits on the amount of quests you can have active? The limit in Rift is 25 quests.. I have 5 dungeon dailies, 3 raid rift dailies, 5 expert rift dailies, and 2 epic quests (which are both telling me to kill raid bosses).. I cannot solo any of these and I don't want to drop them, I have room for 10 other quests which gets filled quick with event dailies+pvp daily+stillmoor/shimmer/IPP dailies. It's so annoying having to play the "which quest should I drop.." game every day.

[Nebu]

The 25 quest limit is pretty silly.  I do like that I can track 10 at a time though.

On a similar rant: I hate that the stupid event quest pops up every time I log on.  I TURNED IT OFF YESTERDAY!

EDIT: Added Second rant: Apparently there is a 30k planarite limit that noone tells us about?