Sentinel / Warden / Purifier Mix #Rift
stargrace 
I’ve been splitting my time between EverQuest and Rift, which may seem like an odd combination because they’re both your basic fantasy MMO and one is coming up on its 12th birthday but they each offer me a slightly different feeling. In Rift I have been playing my (now) 20 healer – I’m spec’d Sentinel / Warden / Purifier with 20 points into the sentinel tree and the rest into warden for heals over time. I debated going 20 points into purifier which is a ‘single target’ heal spec, but I spend too much time healing in rifts to devote myself to one player, I really need to be able to heal a crowd all at once. As you can see above, this spec really pays off (finally). When I first started out with this spec, around level 13-14 it was incredibly hard for me to rank anywhere at all on the leaderboard. I just couldn’t compete with other players so I made myself a dps heal build which involved the justicar and with that build I was scoring MUCH higher on the leaderboard. As I leveled up I grew frustrated with the lack of healers – or to be blunt, the lack of clerics spec’d as actual healers. So I switched back to my trusty sentinel and took it upon my self to do nothing but heal. I do tab the main bosses and throw my three instant cast nukes out there just so I have a little damage to go along with my heals, but for the most part I’m targeting all of the other players, all of the time.
Last night was my first adventure into Iron Tomb, and I knew little to nothing about the zone but found it quite fun. The group was made up of our warrior tank (level 17), two rogues, and a tank / dps spec’d cleric along with myself. One of the rogues decided mid-instance to randomly go AFK. After about 10 minutes they returned, claiming that they had to have an important conversation about college with a friend, and it was much more important then the video game. I replied that perhaps they could have at least taken 2 seconds to let the group know what was going on since we had been waiting, unsure of what was happening. They said that their priorities were far more important. Thanks. I understand real life happens but honestly when you do have four other people waiting (even if they are strangers) it’s just polite to let them know you’ve got to go AFK. Needless to say I won’t be inviting Tosh to any more groups.
There was only one death in the zone and it was my own. We had to destroy three mounds of dirt in the zone and during the destruction swarms of mobs spawn. They don’t hit particularly hard until you have 20 of them all hacking away at you – and I had aggro from all of them due to healing. My self shield wasn’t enough to keep them off of me. I really wish Rift had an aggro meter, I think the game could benefit from one. I won myself a pair of blue shoes, and completed quests that seem to only reward weapons. Why so many weapon rewards! I’d love to see a shield reward (I know a tank one drops within the zone).
It seems that every time I level, I happen to be dead. I hit 20 within the zone, the one time I died. 19 was when a Rift spawned and killed me. Ah well.
All in all I’m having a lot of fun. I’ve been working on my crafting, and I’m in the 23+ range now. Until I leave Freemarch supplies are getting sent to alts since I am on a higher tier. My main (the cleric) is an Artificer, making jewelery, wands, and other caster weapons. My alt (a bard / ranger / marksman combination) is my outfitter, making cloth and leather gear and most importantly – bags. Bag space is ever an issue in Rift. My 3rd character is a mage (dominator, necromancer, chloromancer combination) and is an alchemist, making potions to use. I really needed mana potions on the cleric.
It’s nice to see all of my friends all playing the same game even if we’re not all on the same servers. Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!
