Progression in Vanilla Rift - Is It Worth It

With the introduction of Rift's first expansion, Storm Legion, the game's content has been expanded upon greatly. As part of this, the progression path has taken a massive turn, and has really separated vanilla (the original) Rift from Storm Legion. Here we're going to look at whether or not it's worth going for progression (raids and such) in vanilla Rift, considering all of the new gear and content now available. To do so, we'll look at it from the PvP, PvE and Achievements point of views.

With Storm Legion, there are three new tiers of PvP gear designed for level 60 players. You can get them at any level, however, and just save them in your bank as you purchase and upgrade the different pieces from your warfronts and other PvP. While you're able to purchase these, you can not equip them until you meet the level requirements.

If you have Storm Legion or plan to get it, you do not want to do any of the progression in PvP gear that's available in Meridian and Sanctum. Instead, save up Favor for when you can go to Tempest Bay, as you'll be replacing all the gear when you can get there anyways.

PvE has been a hot topic among players, especially with the introduction of new levels. The fact of the matter is that even if you were to do raids like Infernal Dawn, the gear you obtain would be sub-par by the time you hit level 54 or so. As a result, you'd be wasting your time by farming for it. The same goes for the dungeons, where their gear is even worse than raid gear. When looking at the dungeons, the ones that you will out-gear quickly are “classic” dungeons. As a direct example of this, when looking for dungeons to do there is the “Random Classic Expert Dungeon” option. These are the ones you really want to avoid if you have Storm Legion. The “Random Storm Legion Expert” option is still good!

On the same token, doing expert and raid rifts yields the same overall results – the essences that are farmed from these ends up being obsolete by the time you get going in the new Storm Legion content, making these worthless for farming.

While this is really going to be based on personal preference, I also think it's best to hold off on adding runes to gear until dealing with end-game. Due to the quick upgrading of pieces while leveling, it's a bit of a waste. If you have a lot of extra gold, though, go for it.

This is the one time where Storm Legion or no Storm Legion doesn't really matter. For dungeons, you're mentored down if you're too high, and for raids your high level just makes them easier. And with achievements, your only goal is to grab them, which aren't out-leveled or replaced with new content additions.

If you're going for the achievements, you will want to start with the lower-tiered ones you need first. This will allow you to spend more time trying to get to 60 and gear up while you're waiting on groups to head to the different areas. Remember that as you level you'll be getting better gear and increasing both your stats and soul points, making each of the battles even easier.

If you still want to have a bit of a challenge while going for your missing achievements, the mentoring system is awesome for this. The content will still be pretty easy, but not nearly as much as being un-mentored.

If you're doing this, it's best to allow non-upgraded players to get the drops that come from the dungeons/raids. This is because for them it's the end-game progression they need, and for you the gear won't really have much value.

With the introduction of Rift's first expansion pack, the majority of the game's previous progression has been deemed as worthless. The new content will push you significantly further than you'd get from progression content, without the time and effort, that it's really hard to justify doing it. This is especially true when looking at it from the perspective of raiding.

For the most part, the only situations in which vanilla Rift progression content should be done are:

• If you don't have Storm Legion and aren't planning on getting it for a long time, if at all
• If you're trying to help others who are in the above situation
• If you're going for missing achievements
• If you just want to see all of the content there is in the game, or follow all of the lore

It's a bit bothersome that the gear has changed so drastically as a result of Storm Legion, especially from the perspective of a more casual player that now has to start all over again. On the same token, what this does is set the expansion up as being its own game, for the most part. Because of this, players who aren't getting Storm Legion can still go through all of the progression of the original game, having the same experience as before the expansion was released. To this end, the separation is a huge bonus, in that newer players (as well as those who haven't finished all of the original content) are given the choice of whether or not they want the entire game unlocked.