MEAD: RIFT’s Autumn Harvest
By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG RIFT Reporter
While the new warrior soul was revealed recently I’m going to focus on something a bit more current this week. RIFT 1.10 has released, and with it has come the 1.10 event, Autumn Harvest. Unlike previous events this one only has one phase and will last through until October 10th. And so, because of that I can tell you all about the event this week.
Currencies
Most importantly to know for the next month is that there are two new currencies for the event and as this is a seasonal event you will be able to use them again next year. The common currency is Autumn Harvest Sap; you can get it from completing event quests, doing rifts and other planar fights. And the more rare currency is Autumn Harvest Signets. These come from completing certain quests.
Merchants
There are two, well arguably three merchants in the autumn event. They’re all located in the Realm of the Autumn Harvest which is accessible through faerie rings in every zone of Telara except Iron Pine Peak where an unnatural frost has formed. The primary merchants are Jeyriall who sells food and Sorel who has all of the other goods. The other merchant is a non-traditional one who has the spectral mounts which are available.
Jeyriall’s food is everything you could possibly want for your autumn feast (Thanksgiving). Turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, wine…you name it he has several types of it. And all quite reasonably priced depending on how much work you put into the event.
While Jeyriall specializes in food Sorel is more of an odd bits and pieces merchant. He has companion pets old and new, a spiffy hat, three different titles and of course planar essences. All of his items are sold for sap except for the titles which require both signets and sap.
Finally there is Zoot-Toot. She is the stable master in the Autumnal Realm. And if you give her 15 signets you can get on of her four spectral mounts. She has a Crocnard, an Ash Strider, a Najmok and a Kontarula all in spectral form, so, dead.
There are several quests to do throughout the event. Most of them are obtained in the Autumn Realm but there is one in the main cities. It asks you to gather pumpkins then take them to the Autumn Realm. Most of the quests in the realm are repeatable. My personal favorite is helping out around the realm. In that quest you help out by releasing spirits, kicking lost animals back to their pins and killing any bugs you come across. There are also several quests to go out and collect a special fungus from trees and rocks in Telara that is used to make the Mead extra nice. This quest seems to get on peoples nerves because the fungus can be difficult to find and then even more difficult to get to. And of course no event would be complete without the complete rifts quest.
A reward you get from completing most of the quests is a potion of Autumn Eyes. This should only be used in the Autumn Realm and is used by Ascended to see the stashes the fae have hidden all over the realm. Different potions have different lengths and allow you to see artifacts (sparklies) hidden all over the zone. Pick up as many as you can before time runs out. These potions can also be purchased from Sorel.
Now, as I’m not one to use the app, mostly because it doesn’t seem to want to work on my phone, I never noticed before that there were new things for seasons, or maybe all events. Either way there is a new scratchcard which is called Pumpkin Patch. It seems that they mostly contain food but who knows what else there could be.
The Rift website lists a special alternate mode (Black Garden) where players are turned into monsters, ghouls and all sorts of creatures who all get new tricks. This will take place during the week leading up to Halloween. It is a magical time in MMOs.
This Autumn Telara is seeing the full range of oranges and reds as it transitions to winter. Trion has also started setting the stage for Storm Legion with just a few small hints referring to Iron Pine Peak. I’ll be taking part in this event all season long and can’t wait for the week before Halloween.
