The final of the four callings in Rift is the Warrior. You probably have some preconceived notions about this character, picturing either the club-wielding barbarian, or perhaps a paladin servant of the light forces. However you see the Warrior in standard RPGs, be prepared to open your mind to the Trion Worlds version.

In Rift, a Warrior can fill nearly any party role, although he typically excels as the tanking leader. Warriors of all flavors equip the heaviest armors and a selection of weapons that can include one and two handed weapons and shields in various combinations. Rather than mana, Warriors employ a resource called energy. They use their abilties to build up action points and then apply a finisher of some sort to end the battle handily.

Combining your Warrior souls and deciding which to attune can be confusing. Here’s a brief guide to what each soul is known for and what you can expect when playing this calling in Rift.

Beastmaster: This is the only Warrior soul that uses pets in battle. Rather than dealing damage from range, however, he can be relied upon for melee dps. He has numerous Area of Effect (AoE) abilities and can heal himself and his beast companion. He can also be relied upon for buffs for his party.

Champion: The Champion is also a master of melee dps and uses big, heavy hitting, two handed weapons. Single mobs are his specialty and he may have a harder time dealing with groups of enemies. He does excel against magic users as he can interrupt their casts and cause them a great deal of frustration.

Paladin: In Rift, the Paladin is a tanking specialization using a one handed weapon and a shield as his primary gear set up. He will have a harder time dealing with magic users and those who dps from range.

Paragon: Another melee dps soul, the Paragon relies on parrying his enemies attacks to build his own damage dealing strategy. He can buff himself with a number of different effects and offers a strength buff for the rest of his party.

Reaver: The Reaver specializes in tanking the party and uses a combination of physical damage and Death magic. He can taunt enemies to attack him, saving other party members from harm, and excels with crowds of enemies as he has several AoE abilities.

Riftblade: The Riftblade uses both physical damage and Elemental magic to deal melee dps to his enemies. He also has some crowd control abilities as he can snare enemies and interrupt the casting of his magic using foes.

Void Knight: The Void Knight is a party tank who is especially good against magic using enemies and mobs. He combines his physical damage with Air magic to take down casters and keep them focused on himself.

Warlord: The Warlord is the most traditional tanking soul in Rift, and can be combined with other tanks or with a melee dps soul for more versatility. He can taunt enemies and offers some crowd control to the party in the form of a root.

If enjoy playing your Warrior in more than one party role, it can be helpful to keep specs lined up for ​multiple scenarios. You can equip one set of three souls to tank melee enemies, another to deal with a group of casters, and a third to help out with additional dps if someone else wants to tank for awhile.

The most important thing to remember is that you have a ton of flexibility at your disposal and there’s no reason why you should feel pigeon-holed into only one play style.

Published on: 14 Jan, 2012

By: TJSonntag

Want more informations ? Look here: Rift Online overview

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