Patch 1.8, and its much-anticipated new content, will be delayed at least a week. Phase 5 of the Carnival of the Ascended (which wasn’t updating properly anyway) will be extended a week to give the devs more time to tweak the new patch and for the playerbase to complete the Phase goal.

James “Elrar” Nichols explained in the forums:

The reality is that we wanted a little more time to get Update 1.8 ready for prime time and, at the same time, wanted to make sure everyone could enjoy all parts of Phase 5 as well.

This allows us to hit two birds with one stone – we know the update has tons of awesome stuff in it, but we still won’t release it until we’re ready. It’s why we rarely give more than a few days notice about the release of our updates anyways, the World Events just happened to put a giant neon sign on our target dates this time around.

As we’ve said though – we’re not afraid to try new things, hit or miss we’re always working to make the game interesting and fun in different ways!

MMORPG.com has the skinny on the lore of Laethys:

Once, in another world, there was a little kingdom by the sea. It was a poor little kingdom, but happy—the rivers rushing to the sea made the fields fertile, and the bay was thick with fish. Its people, who called themselves Ogres, were strong from hard work and hale from good food. But the Ogres looked with envy upon their neighbors, who did not work quite so hard because their mountains hid glittering riches.

Rift Dev Journals: Laethy

Check out Rift’s latest Community Blog as they showcase Fishing and Survival skills!

As Ascended you lead thrilling, immortal lives full of combat and adventure, but sometimes, you just want to get away from it all. You want to immerse yourself in the wonder of this unique, plane-touched world, search for hidden treasures, and seek calm from the din of war. Now, Telara’s defenders can heed the call of nature and trek out into the great outdoors with two all-new, bonus trade skills: Fishing and Survival.

Coming in RIFT 1.8: Infernal Dawn, these trades can be enjoyed by everyone in addition to any existing crafting or gathering skills you possess!

Nature Calls in Update 1.8: Introducing Fishing & Survival!

PTS: NOW [almost] WITH STREAMING CLIENT
The PTS shard is now running an early version of the RIFT Streaming Client.
* The first time you patch with the Streaming Client there will be a longer initial import process that will convert your existing PTS files for use with streaming, so you won’t have to fully re-download them.
* The shard has been set up to use streaming client and will automatically start using it the next time you patch PTS.
* Streaming Client allows you to launch the game without having to wait for the full data download to complete. You’ll be able to start playing within a few minutes even after a large update, and the game will download the necessary data in the background.
* Streaming Client works best on a 5Mbps or better connection. If you have a slower connection, it is recommended that you let the patch complete before attempting to launch the client.
* If players and NPCs around you take a long time to load, or you’re not happy with the game experience when streaming, you can close the client and wait for the patch to finish. Launching the client before downloads have completed is optional.

GENERAL
* PTS UPDATE: Fishing when in range of a special fishing location will display the name of the area on the tooltip when targeting water for fishing.
* Kelari Racial: Camouflage: Now temporarily hides your pet instead of dismissing it when used.

SOULS
* Purifier: Restorative Flame: Reduced the casting pushback caused by damage.
* Sentinel: Healing Invocation: Reduced the casting pushback caused by damage.
* Warden: Deluge: Reduced the casting pushback caused by damage.

On the PTS this week, one curious player took a bundle of RIFT time cards and a pre-paid yearly subscription plan and was able to take a peek at the 30 and 36-month Veteran Rewards. There is a new costume, new pet, and new mount. These items have since became unavailable on the PTS due to the need for graphical adjustments, but not before screenshots were taken!

Casey gets a sneak peek at Rift’s next content update, Patch 1.8

Originally posted by Gersh_Trion (Source)

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Hello Testers!

Starting in 1.8 we will be offering a variety of titles that can be earned through participating in PTS events and helping us test new features. This is Trion’s way of saying thank you to all of the dedicated RIFT players who put in the extra effort to help us make sure our new features are AAA+!

Below are some details on what titles will be availible and how you can earn them. PTS titles will not be something that is super easy to obtain, and we will be watching for those players who really put in the extra effort during our events.

As always please remember when we try something new there will be rough patches to iron out, and PTS granted titles will be no exception =)

Enjoy!
-Gersh

Originally posted by Ailion (Source)

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Additional changes to the Sab will be coming up in tomorrow’s PTS update (if the push goes through).

High Explosives: Duration has been increased to 8s, up from 6s. Now stacks up to 3 times.

Increased Explosive Power: Damage increased by 5-25%, up from 3-15%.

Bomb Specialist: Damage increased by 5-25%, up from 3-15%.

Combat Wounds: Now increases damage of Spike Charge and Caltrop Charge by 15-30%, up from 10-20%.

Chemical Bomb: Damage has been increased.

Caltrop Charge: Damage has been increased.

Spike Charge: Damage has been increased.

Fragmentation Bomb: Reduced the cooldown from 15s to 10s.

Carpet Bombing: Reduced the cooldown from 2 min to 1 min.

Rapid Setup: Reduced the cooldown from 1 min to 30 sec.

Trench Warfare: Damage bonus from Attack Power is increased by 5% for every point spend in the Saboteur soul above 26, up from 4%.

In preparation for 1.8 testing, the previous “prelude” note sets for PTS have been unstickied and merged into the list below.
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== FEATURES IN TESTING ==
* A new equipment slot for crafted Seal items is now available. Recipes to create Seals are available beginning around level 40/skill level 225 for all production crafting skills with the exception of Runecrafting, and can be found on various crafting recipe merchants.
* Two additional Professions – Fishing and Survival – are now in testing on PTS. These professions do not count against the existing limit of 3 Professions on a character. Find new Fishing and Survival Trainers in Meridian or Sanctum, or head to Argent Glade or Kelari Refuge and speak with the trainers there to start off on your Fishing adventure! PTS NOTE: Not all recipes granted by these professions are final, resulting items are still having effects and bonuses added to them. Survival gear is not yet ready for use.
* Additional Instant Adventures are available and ready for testing on Ember Isle!
* The third tier of Planar Attunement can now be unlocked!
* Characters in Guilds may notice a new Recruiting tab on the guild UI – the first sign of the new guild recruiting and guild finding tool!

I wonder how much time Mr. Hartsman has. What issues do you guys have with the Bard soul?