This HD video is narrated footage of my level 42 Warrior in a Codex warfront (queued solo) in the MMORPG Rift in Patch 1.1.
Patch 1.1 just launched today, so I posted this video to showcase the differences in Riftblade mechanics. My impression from a dozen warfronts in the 40-49 bracket is that Riftblade is still a viable PVP spec. I am not 50 so I can’t speak to endgame yet.
The most noticeable change with the patch is the decreased usage of Rift Surge – the cooldown is three times as long. In my objective opinion, Rift Surge was a bit over-nerfed. I do think Trion is doing the right, albeit painful, thing in trying to balance the game, so we’ll see if there are any changes made to swing the pendulum for Rift Surge back a bit.
To deal with the introduction of the cooldown for Flamespear, I tweaked my macros.
Per Patch 1.1, I have updated my Riftblade PVP Guide.
If you have questions about the changes, I recommend you read through the Guide first as I may have already addressed them. Questions asked on my blog will be given priority by me over questions posted here on YouTube, as the Guide is where I am focusing my efforts.
Here is the 1H Riftblade/Paladin used in the video:
http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=0cLhg.xGs0dsMGtdz.xxouok
As I mentioned in the video, Sweet verified in my bug thread that the 6-sec cooldown for Flamespear is supposed to be 4 seconds:
http://forums.riftgame.com/showthread.php?145550-Bug-Flamespear-cooldown-says-and-is-6-seconds-not-4
Taugrim's MMO Blog 
Just a little background on myself, I played WoW for 3 years as a Resto Shaman downing all of T10 content and most of T11. I have played Rift since launch. Other than the occasional battleground I have never really gotten in to PvP.
Prior to 1.1 I was leveling my warrior with a Riftblade/Reaver spec for the excellent aoe and 0 downtime but after the patch I was kind of lost on what to respec into.
A guild mate of mine talked me into doing some PvP with him last night and since I got a free soul respec I said what the hell. I respecced using Taugrim’s build and macros. We ran about 15 warfronts and in each one despite never using the spec before I was always top 5 overall in killing blows and damage done. The spec is really amazing and I would reccomend it to anyone.
On the very last Codex we did before I logged for the night we won. As the stat page came up on the screen I was looking for my name and low and behold there it sat at the very top of the overall leaderboard with 12 KB’s.
Pretty cool for a guy who has never really PvP’d.
Thanks for the spec Taug.
And to clarify I am currently level 46 in case anyone was thinking this was low level PvP.
That’s awesome to hear. I’m glad that you had success with it in 1.1 :)
I see that you dropped the 2 points from Steely Resolve, did you just not feel that it was worth the 30% reduction and the extra dmg is more worth it?
Once I got Paladin’s Devotion (breaks Stun, Fear, Disarm, Confuse), I realized that the passive CC duration reduction from Steely Resolve was no longer that valuable. So I moved the points elsewhere.
Hey Taug,
Thanks for the vid I was looking forward for your realistic perspective on riftblade post 1.1, the forum crying is unbearable.
I had heard there were LOS changes for mages can you still break LOS by ducking behind objects/jumping off cliffs? I know the change was intended to eliminate running through the mage to prevent casting.
Not sure how the new mechanic works.
Per the Patch 1.1 notes:
http://forums.riftgame.com/showthread.php?145022-Rift-1.1-3-30-11-8-00am-PDT-4-00pm-BST
* PvP combat: Abilities now only check for caster facing their target at the start of a cast – they will still land if a target moves behind you while the casting is in progress.
I’m not clear whether if you break LoS (e.g. terrain) if the spellcast is cancelled.
What seems clear is that your target must be able to see you to start the cast, so circle strafing still has value. I’m still giving RDPS fits in warfronts.
Like the new look for the website.
Danke, switching was a good thing to do, this WordPress theme has grown on me.
The nerf to RB isn’t bad at all–I don’t even have much problem with the RS nerf now that we can grab an off cooldown 12sec 48 percentage point dmg increase in Paragon.
What has become a huge problem (at least in my experience) is the change from melee dominance in warfronts to ranged dominance (particularly the abundance of pyros–every game I play now has at least 25% pyros and a sizable minority have more than 50% pyros). I simply can’t get across the battlefield (and can no longer put out sustained range dmg) and pyros can’t be crowd controlled.
I see this as a huge problem going forward. Again, the issue isn’t one or two pyros, the issue is pyros en-masse (an analogy can be made to the way in which hand-to-hand troops lost their dominance on European battlefields during the late 16th century). Trion needs to find a way to balance pyro dmg in a way that still makes them PVE and 1v1 viable. A simple fix might be to remove the CC immunity of the 44pt skill.
I haven’t noticed ranged dominance yet, but Mage DPS does seem higher, and I run 3 mitigation talents (10% from AoWa, 9% spell in Pally tree, another 5% spell from VK). It probably feels a lot worse to other players.
I’ve followed your Blog a little bit before you switched to Rift. You are a really level headed player and it makes watching your videos enjoyable. It’s a shame how backwards Blizzard has there PvP in WoW. After 1.1, balance feels so much better in Rift. In truth I think, all that needs to be done, is adjust Pyro immunites to CC, slight nerf to Cleric healing, and buff Rogue damage a bit or give them a Mortal Strike and things would be close to perfect.
It’s nice to no longer instantly explode while stun locked to Champs and to see the Range warriors forced back into melee rather then hiding behind their team. Never understood the Warriors who would do nothing but spam FS at range and never melee.
@Boston, the problem isn’t Pyros exactly, it’s Pyro Mages with Healers. Those are crazy death machines. As a Necro/Lock I destroy pyro mages. I think we’ll see a change to the ground buff (can’t remember the name) soon. Immune to CC with a RNG stun is a bit silly. I’m fine with their damage though. I know some are already complaining about it, but it takes alot of set up to make those crazy numbers pop up.
Keep up the great work, Taugrim. I hope you make a Cleric guide next. I plan on leveling a new Cleric again. Would be cool to see what spec you end up going with.
Oh and to the LoS change. You can LoS casts, however if we start casting a channeled spell, it can not be broken or out ranged. That’s the only exception to the rule. So if a mage is winding up a nuke, just duck behind a wall. I do it all the time to other casters. =p
@Dallin: Agreed. By damage I really mean sustained damage–the ability to chain cast without fearing CC.
In 1v1 battles with Pyros I have no problems. It’s when they group together that melee have a problem. Specifically, when melee was abundant you could hide in the crowd because there were a lot of other players closing the gap and mixing in with their side. When ranged is abundant you get focus fired (and ranged can mix in with the crowd). My past few warfronts, for example, I was top 3 for dmg taken.
I think the perfect change for the grounding buff, would be to keep the damage reduction, remove the total CC immunity, and simply keep immunites to fear, pulls, and knockbacks. That way it will be a good gun platform for PvE and PvP. However, you can still stunlock, silence, disorient them, etc. That way they can’t be moved from it, but they aren’t road blocks either. On the RNG stun side of it. I’d rather see it turned into a RNG snare. Less ear ringing for players at least.
From Trions track record so far, I don’t think we have to worry about them being to FOTM. One month in and they already brought in line the most powerful specs and made things better overall.
Good point. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a developer actually directly address so many concerns from the community. They are definitely reading the feedback and aren’t dismissing it out of hand, like Blizzard has been doing lately
What pleasantly surprised me was Sweet acknowledging my bug thread within minutes of it being posted.
I agree with you that PVP balance has improved in 1.1 and that it’s already better than WoW. There are still adjustments that should be made as you mentioned, but balance is an iterative process and hopefully Trion will stay focused on it.
The next class I would write about would be Cleric. My 14 Justicar/Shaman/Druid was lots of fun to play. Gonna stay focused on Warrior for now.
Thanks for that last tip regarding Mages!
Hey Taug,
First I just wanna say thank you for all the help you have given both with rift and many other games. Your insite is always clear and understandable and easily used by us part -time players, I for one am thank fulll.
Getting down to business … I am really looking forward to the movement command tips. How soon do you think you will be able to share those ? I unfortunately am not that cpu savy when it comes to writing macro’s.
I literally just recorded the strafing footage I need for the video.
I hope to have it posted by or before end of this weekend.
First off… just gotta say thanks for this. Been playing rift on and off since beta, and was starting to feel a little disinterested. This spec, however, changed that. My warrior is only lvl 28 now, but i’m having an awesome amount of fun with it thanks to your spec – just the right amount of range and the right amount of “in-your-face” for my play style.
I have a question though… with the recent changes to “strike like iron” (off the gc) would it not be worth the 2 point investment into para? +48% dmg every 12 seconds sounds like it could be worth it :)
again… thanks dude, your observations/guide/macros have been awesome for me :) Keep it up!
I have a question though… with the recent changes to “strike like iron” (off the gc) would it not be worth the 2 point investment into para? +48% dmg every 12 seconds sounds like it could be worth it
This question was posted on the Guide, here’s my response:
https://taugrim.com/2011/03/20/guide-riftblade-warrior-mechanics-and-pvp/#comment-3644
ahhh… didn’t go through all the comments… soz
i myself think im going to try it out, im quite an “agressive” style of player.
a quick suggestion though – and i know its probably more pain than what its worth – but a FAQ of sorts would be a great addition to your guide… and it would stop ppl like me from asking you questions you have already answered :)
Understood, but even if I put it in a FAQ there is no guarantee people will read that too.
I say this based on my experience with the 400+ comments submitted on my last Guide :)
hahah… well – i yield to your experience – just keep doing that voodoo that you do.
like i said – had i not stumbled onto your guide, i would not be having half the fun that i am currently.
Hey Taugrim,
Just thought i’d give an update on where i am with my Riftblade Spec’d warrior.
I hit 50 maybe 3 days ago, and am currently about 20% into 2nd Prestige. The first thing i noticed was, as everyone says, that the scaling when you go from 49-50 suddenly appears to be a bit thwarted, as other players begin to get more and more blues and epics, and you are immediately stuck with mainly lower level blues. However, having increased my prestige to only rank 2, and got the first 3 epic items, i’m still finding myself able to apply pressure to a large number of people, and am easily able to 1v1 just about any class. Considering i’m a long way behind some of the older 50’s, I really don’t understand what all the fuss is about with Riftblade. Compared to my 44/17/5 Champ/Para/Vind Build, and my 35/26/5 Para/Champ/Vind Build, Riftblade still has the most utility, by far the most survivability, and doesn’t slack too much dps wise. (that’s with the nerfs to Riftsurge and Flamespear)
Oh, by the way, with Blade of elemental affinity, a trinket that heals 10% of your health after dealing a killing blow and two greater planar foci equipped (1 that has about a 5% (with the small tests i’ve done) chance to deal 101 extra damage, and heal 164 health, and one that can heal 500 health on block) i can find myself losing only 15-20% health in 1v1’s against some characters with obvious gear advantages. One thing i’m keen on trying is a tank build, but i haven’t found anything that seems spectacular at the moment.
If you have any questions or suggestions i’d be happy to get back to you :)
Here are my three builds:
Riftblade: http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=1ctLh.V.EGs0dsRGtdz.xgoh0o
Champion: http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=1ckut.EhcdqRrrudz.E0to.V
Paragon: http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=1ckut.E0cdoobG0z.VetozA0cR.V
I really don’t understand what all the fuss is about with Riftblade. Compared to my 44/17/5 Champ/Para/Vind Build, and my 35/26/5 Para/Champ/Vind Build, Riftblade still has the most utility, by far the most survivability, and doesn’t slack too much dps wise. (that’s with the nerfs to Riftsurge and Flamespear)
Agree, RB has a lot of utility, even with the changes in 1.1.
People are reacting emotionally to the changes IMO. I still rock leader boards in warfronts and in 1v1s.
Oh, by the way, with Blade of elemental affinity, a trinket that heals 10% of your health after dealing a killing blow and two greater planar foci equipped (1 that has about a 5% (with the small tests i’ve done) chance to deal 101 extra damage, and heal 164 health, and one that can heal 500 health on block) i can find myself losing only 15-20% health in 1v1′s against some characters with obvious gear advantages. One thing i’m keen on trying is a tank build, but i haven’t found anything that seems spectacular at the moment.
I tried BoEA yesterday, and I didn’t like not having PB and having to pump an extra 6 points into RB tree.
Riftblade: http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=1ctLh.V.EGs0dsRGtdz.xgoh0o
I won’t comment on the Champ and Para specs as I don’t have enough perspective.
For the RB spec, you should consider moving the Pally points out of SR into LH and MS, so you have a stun to work with and build AtPts faster. SR is valuable until you get PD, at which point it isn’t as valuable.
Also, sorry if any of that is illegible, i just did an essay on epistemology and my brain feels a bit fried :P
Just got done doing a bunch of 20-29 warfronts with your fantastic spec. It’s very fun to play and I am a killing machine! Thanks Taugrim!
Glad to hear it’s working for you. Please post any questions or share insights on the Guide thread:
https://taugrim.com/2011/03/20/guide-riftblade-warrior-mechanics-and-pvp/
Just hit 40 and did my first few warfronts in that bracket, Im seriously under geared but i never went below 3rd on the board for damage and kills. I love my build thanks for all the tips Taug, look forward to your next vid.
Hi taug’ thanx for your blog , nice work.
RB/pally spec give so much fun !
Pixel from french community
You should try 51 Riftblade, 10 Paragon, 5 Vindicator. Keep Strike like Iron up constantly for the 48% boost to damage, and Avatar of the Rift for the 65% burst damage increase. You can then choose between Planar blade or Blade of Elemental Affinity. It does have slightly less survivability than Riftblade/Paladin but faaaaaaar more than the other paragon or champion builds that i’ve tried.
The Biggest problem with Riftblade is the scaling at 50, 51 Riftblade is the only way i’ve had really good pressurising capabilities in PvP because of the 1.3k burst hits. Because it’s Riftblade i find it just as fun as my previous spec, except it’s a much more viable PvP spec than your current riftblade spec, plus Riftblade/Paragon synergise beautifully.
Just don’t try to 1v1 a 51 pyro, it’s not representative at all :P
Re-reading that, i should probably point out that the viability of the 51 Riftblade spec isn’t necessarily due to DPS – i mean, as far as i can tell the DPS during PvP is much higher than Riftblade/Pally, but that’s inevitable as the Pally aspect is more focused on durability.
The viability comes from the situational capabilities that high AoE Bursts have compared to single target DoT’s like Fiery Burst, post 50. Now unless you are in a highly organised PvP group, (which so far, despite PvPing in groups with my guild members, i have never been, atleast to the extent that i am referring) more often than not no one character is going to be marked as the focus target, (that is both the case for attacking enemies, and healing allies) and even if they are, most people wont follow suit, their ‘i know best’ attitude prevails – PvP is less focussed. What this means is that overall group healing (in most cases, based on my experience) is based on HoT’s, not burst heals, so burst damage from characters will make more of a difference than applying DoT’s that will be more effectively cancelled out by the HoT’s.
Seeing as the role of the warrior currently doesn’t fit as well as other callings into DPS or healing, and debatably tanking, it seems logical to fit the role that we do best at, and to my experience that is applying pressure in warfronts – which more commonly is from AoE Bursts, as at 50+ you will be repeating Warfronts like Port Scion for Prestige ranks, which funnel people within AoE range.
In the 1v1 cases this build doesn’t lack either, obviously, you don’t need to apply SLI, so can benefit from higher single target DPS, if that’s the way the numbers work.
Hi could you comment on stats and crafted/reward gear, maby make a mini review on how to go about that after hitting 40.50level as there is where you are now and can remember all the steps you took, just to make leveling and right out the 50 hole a better exp for those trying out this guild, im thinking its needs a gear guide too………..:P so please make that happen.