Rift: Exploring the limits at Level 1
I appreciate guest writers, and this time I have an interesting experiment to show off. Doranbolt has recently taken it upon himself to explore the possibilities of what you can get done purely as a level 1 character. The results are interesting, and I think there’s a leaping off point here for future exploration of the concept.
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So I have been looking into the limits of what a level 1 character can do in Rift. There is more possible than you might think. Keep in mind that anything I say may end up changing, though I personally don’t see the harm of keeping this in the game myself.
The biggest obstacle level 1 characters face is exploration experience, which is gained the first time you enter a subzone. This makes players have to choose which subzones to unlock with the 1320 experience they are allowed to get. I would recommend unlocking at least the following subzones through summons:
- Tempest Bay crafting area (500)
- Tempest Bay canals (500)
- Sanctum porticulum (100)
Tempest Bay holds the crafting trainers, banks and auction house and the Sanctum porticulum is convenient because this is where guardians get teleported if their zone is not available after relogging. It also provides a way to get back to Tempest Bay without using a second character. Care should be taken not to complete the soul recall quest or accidentally selecting the Tempest Bay Plaza porticulum, both of these give xp.
Even though most places are in a subzone, some less traveled places are not. As a general rule, if the minimap shows the zone name, it is safe to go there. These are some of the things level 1 characters do have access to:
- Puzzles in Droughtlands, Freemarch, Iron Pine Peak, Scarwood Reach and Shimmersand.
- The squirrels on top of Granite Falls in Stonefield.
- Shoreward Island, unofficial level 1 character capital/beach resort.
Some Nightmare Tide dimensions award exploration experience, but otherwise dimensions should be safe to go to. Access to the artifact vendor is possible through the Sanctum porticulum, but handing in artifact sets might give experience. Planar Squirrels can be traded from another character on the same account, these not have any requirements preventing you from collecting and riding them as level 1.
If the player is willing to spend enough credits, maxing out all crafting professions should be doable. Even though crafting dailies do not give xp, they are not accessible due to level restrictions. Recipes seem to be giftable, though I haven’t tested this. If your goal is to unlock all crafting skills and useful level 70 recipes, you would need around 25k credits. Training gathering skills is possible by kiting gatherable mobs outside subzones, or using gathering nodes outside subzones. Maxing fishing might not be possible.
Finally, it turns out level 1 characters have access to the biggest grind the game: Tok’s Dungeon. If grouped with a character using the Tok Box, the second player does not have to meet the location requirements for this item. The second player can leave the instance/group to allow for solo play. Tok quests are unavailable due to level and killing rats does give experience, but reputation with Dead Simon can be earned through completing puzzles. I speculate that crafting the Tok Armors is possible as an ultimate feat if the level 1 maxes out the reputation and gets fed the required account bound items from a secondary character.
For now, I have made a character on NA, did a few puzzles and explored Shoreward Island. I’m still not sure if I will pursue the challenge of completing all the things mentioned, but I wish anyone reading this that wishes to give it a try the best of luck.
