1.7 PvP Discussion

[ITH]

Hi All,

With Update 1.7 RIFT is undergoing some serious changes to the way prestige works and how you earn rewards through PvP.

We outlined these changes in an earlier post – but now that you've had a chance to check them out on PTS for yourself we wanted to post more expansive details and get your feedback directly.

In a nutshell here's what PvP Progression looks like in Update 1.7:

- Prestige Ranks: Increased prestige ranks from 8 to 40! The time to hit max rank is still roughly the same but we've changed benefits from earning prestige rank. Existing ranks will be converted to the appropriate rank on the updated scale – on top of that each rank also grants a large amount of Planar Attunement experience.

Here's how it breaks down into the new ranks:

Rank 1 = Ranks 1-3
Rank 2 = Ranks 3-7
Rank 3 = Ranks 7-12
Rank 4 = Ranks 12-20
Rank 5 = Ranks 20-25
Rank 6 = Ranks 25-31
Rank 7 = Ranks 31-38
Rank 8 = Rank 38

Everyone will need to earn Ranks 39 & 40.

- Gear: All level 45+ items prior to Hammerknell/Rank 8 are receiving an upgrade in stats. The idea is to make the jump in power more consistent and less top-heavy. In addition you'll find that many of the PvP merchant items that required a certain prestige rank no longer do. While this does include armor sets, weapons and synergy crystals will still require you to be of a certain rank to use. I should also note that synergy crystals have had their notoriety requirements lowered as well.

    Going forward, there will only be 3 available sets of PvP Gear for the post 50 game. As new sets are introduced, the lowest set will be retired. We feel that it creates a more balanced playing field for all participants (specially with Bolstering being added).
    The largest improvement to the PVP Set gear is the addition of Vengeance.
    Vengeance is not a Bolstered stat, so once you have your full set of gear you'll have a considerable edge against those who are purely Bolstered.


- Customization: PvP Souls have been removed freeing you from having to decide whether or not to incorporate it in your spec. Many of the most used benefits and abilities have been moved to their own PvP Planar Attunement tree. You'll also be able to spend Favor to purchase Reinforced Crystallized Insight which grants 100,000 Planar Attunement Experience!

- Bolstering: Those who join Warfronts under Rank 13 will find that their stats have been boosted to allow for more competitive play. Bolstering will adjust most of your core stats, including Valor. Once you have reach rank 13 you should have the appropriate amount of Favor to purchase a full set.

- Quality of Life: We're continuing to tweak the logistics around Matched Warfronts, and are adding additional ranges to ensure that even more of these fire off then before. We've also made the popular "Break Free" ability available to all characters at level 1 – you can find it under the General Abilities tab. As you also may have noticed we just recently increased XP earned from PvP and we're looking to do the same for cash drops as well.

We realize this is a lot to take in all at once – and no doubt you've got some questions, maybe lots!

First, it's important to understand why we're making these changes. Our primary focus is to ensure that PvP offers a fun, competitive challenge for anyone who participates . Currently, with the way the gear sets were configured, this is a difficult thing to achieve – by reducing the gap between items you should see gear playing a smaller role in your success (and others) on the battlefield.

It's a similar reason for changing prestige and the item requirements. By increasing the number of ranks to 40 (but without increasing the actual time to hit max rank) we've made it so that you increase in power more gradually but with a higher frequency allowing for even growth from top to bottom. It's also important to remember you'll now be earning an entire Planar Attunement level each time you earn a rank – that means 39 additional PA levels your character can earn straight from PvP!

As I mentioned we've also removed most of prestige rank requirements from PvP gear with the exception of weapons and synergy crystals. Once again this helps smooth out the progression curve by requiring that you simply earn the favor needed to purchase all of the sets (you still need the previous set to buy the next one) and items.

Possibly the biggest part of this overhaul is removal of the PvP Souls and the introduction of the Planar Attunement path of War (thus what the 39 bonus PA levels can be used for!) to give you more options and rewards to work towards. The main factor for this change was choice – through our own experiences and yours we came to understand the frustration that can arise from having to choose between your standard souls or pursuing benefits in your PvP one. It was too restrictive and felt more like a hindrance at times than a help. Freeing PvP advancement from the soul system enables new ways to customize your character while at the same time actually expanding the choices you can make!

We've now set ourselves up to offer a deeper and more rewarding PvP progression. It's going to take some getting used to but to make it easier here's a full rundown of all the benefits you can take advantage of:

- More frequent and consistent rewards overall. Whether it's gear, abilities, or Planar Attunement you have multiple ways to benefit from PvP!

- With Bolster and improvements to the way items scale battles should be more competitive! If you're just getting started in PvP you'll be able to wear whatever gear you can get your hands on while being able to compete with more hardened veterans.

- The prestige rank overhaul brings with it a couple of new perks:

    39 new Planar Attunement levels, one for each starting with Rank 2!
    New costume sets to earn. If you really enjoyed the look of a previous set you don't have to grind out a second set anymore!

- Armor no longer requires you to wait until you've earned a specific rank meaning you can purchase your sets as soon as you have enough favor. Furthermore we'll ensure that all of the sets available are competitive with the current game, even if that means retiring old ones when new sets are added.

- Play whatever soul combination you want! With PvP perks moving to the Attunement of War tree the power is in your hands to reach a whole new level of customization!

There you have it – all of the awesome we're compressing into PvP for Update 1.7. These changes give us a great foundation for future growth and your feedback is an important part of the direction we take. It's clear to see how nearly everyone benefits with these changes improving the competitiveness of PvP and increasing the rewards and options you have available.

Update 1.7 is a big step forward for RIFT and we invite all of you to be a part of its development – we look forward to your feedback!