Yesterday I pointed out that no single feature of Rift really stands out enough to singularly sell the game, but that does not mean there are not systems within the game that either bring something new or interesting to the table, or at least warrant some discussion. Today I want to break down the Soul system a little, and give some observations.
The biggest thing that stands out to me between Rift’s soul system and say, WoW’s talent trees is the degree of change. Back when I was actively playing WoW (feel free to point out if this has dramatically changed), switching my warrior from DPS to tank meant a talent tree reset and some gear swapping, yet the majority of the change resulted in some stats being moved around (more crit, less def, etc) and possibly a few new abilities or existing ones being switched around on a hotbar. The performance difference was fairly notable, yet the ‘feel’ of the class was still similar. I might spam heroic strike over taunt, but execute was still used when the target was low, etc.
When I switch souls in Rift, it’s in many ways a 100% change. Totally new skills, totally new underlying mechanics (beastmaster focuses on bleeds, paragon on one-two combos, pali on blocking, etc) still based on the core “three point combo” system, and a very different feel to each one. Yes, some things are similar, such as most warrior soul having a pure damage combo-dump skill, but the vast majority of the skills are different, and how they interact with other souls is also a factor.
Forget “build any class you want” as that’s idiotic marketing speak, but without a doubt the availability of 8 (9 if you count PvP) souls not only gives your character a ton of options and variety, it goes a long way to keep your gameplay feeling fresh and new. For the first 25 levels I solo PvE’ed as a champion/warlord, but switched to paragon/beastmaster recently, and it feels like I rerolled a fresh character. The strategies are different, the perks are different, and your whole approach to combat changes (yet my gear still works, which is huge and should not be overlooked). My reaver/vindicator spec for PvP? Yea, that plays nothing like the ones before it, and my pali/warlord tanking spec is yet another 180. And this is all before level 50 and the full availability of all the points.
As I mentioned before, the system shines in part thanks to the high level of polish. Swapping between roles takes but a few seconds, and all of your hotbars switch automatically as well. This makes jumping from a warfront, to an instance, to a zone with an invasion painless, all while still playing the ‘role’ you want/need.
The only part that feels ‘old’ or silly is visiting your trainer to buy the next rank of a skill. If you only had to do that once every level it would not be as painful (though still pointless), but you can only buy the skills for the current soul combo you are using, which means that if you have three combos unlocked, you have to switch and buy three different times at the trainer every level. Game-breaking? Of course not, but in a game where everything else is so refined and smooth, this bit feels like a bad carryover from MMOs of old. If the intent is to drain some gold from the world, find another sink, or at least let us buy up all the skills without have to switch to each combo.
Overall though, much like the invasion/rift system, the soul system in Rift looks like a minor tweak for the genre, yet its impact and feel are vastly different, even at level 30. I expect at level 50 to not only have four distinct setups, but to switch those up as needs arise or situations (current raid, PvP roles, gear) change. As someone who distinctly hates alts, I get to focus on one main while still getting to play a half dozen or more classes/combos, and that is very reward.
Hardcore Casual 
I am less enthusiastic about soul system frankly.On one hand it does provide a lot of options and customization within calling . I have all 4 roles unlocked and I probably could fill out 10 easily. There are tons of options out there how to build a rogue and they certainly go beyond 3 trees per class wow had
On the other hand callings do feel very generic to me. Combo points system is exactly same across all rogue souls . Yeah tank rogue plays differently from bard or assassin. But not that different.
I mean for example rogue in wow had completely unique gameplay, so did warrior , mage ,warlock and priest. Even hybrids were unique in many ways.
In Rift? -every calling has a blink(teleports in rift is generally overused). Every calling seems to use combo generating abilities (whether they are combo points, pacts or whatever) .Every calling has a pet. Every calling has ranged dps option and so on
Yeah there were only 3 trees in wow to do as a rogue and only 2 of them were pvp ones . but I could go play warrior and rage would be different mechanic than CPs. Rift also misses out on unique hybrids such as druid.
overall though I d say soul system was definitely THE thing that got me subscribe , whether it will last though is another question
I’ve only played a warrior and rogue past 25, and a priest to 20, but the warrior pet and the rogue pet don’t feel similar to me at all. The warrior one feels more like a dps/off tank pet, while the rogue pet is primarily a tank. Combine that with what the two classes are usually doing (rogue is likely ranged or attacking from behind, warrior is likely tanking or straight up melee), and I’m not seeing the similar feel. Are they both pets, sure, just like both a warrior and a rogue have dual-wielding specs, but the how and why are pretty different to me.
I view rogue points in the same light. Yes, all souls build up to five, and then you dump (usually anyway) but again the how is, to me, vastly different. Marksman channels and has range, assassins burst and require stealth/positioning, the melee soul (riftblade?) is in your face and gets to five steadily. Once at five, how you use those is also different. Right now on a marksman its a damage spike, while on my paragon it’s one of three boosts (unless the target is slow, then its a spike).
Marksman is a ranged rogue, Reaver is a ranged warrior, but that’s about it for similarities. One is a spike dps role, the other is a DoT/debuff role.
I could go on, but hopefully you get my point.
I started out full on Beastmaster up to 25 which was perdy cool. I provided buffs for my whole part as well as did decent DPS. Recently though I’ve been leveling a Warlock with Chloro as my 2nd soul and zomg, Chloro is so neat. I am very tempted to give full Chloro a try because healing via dps seems perdy fuckin cool imo.
I love playing as a “Chlorlock” healer in instances. And pre-30 if I use Elementalist as the 3rd soul I can use the tank pet as my heal target and (slowly) solo heroic mobs (and in an instance, just swap the 0-point soul for Dominator and the squirrel mez). That said, I do prefer Necrolock for leveling, though.
Biggest thing to watch out for when healing as a Chlor: If you’re fighting multiple mobs with low health and your tank needs a heal, be sure you’re casting on a mob that *isn’t* the focus of your group, else it will die before your nuke hits and the tank will miss his heal. . . .
It’s late and I have work tomorrow, so I don’t have time for a full comment, but I just wanted to say that I think your pieces on Rift are probably the best-considered on any of the blogs I’m reading these days (which isn’t to say a lot of the others aren’t good too…)
Keep ’em coming!
I agree. I’m reading with great interest.
Thanks guys, appreciate it.
I think the whole souls system is really done well in this game, and many more MMORPGs should and probably will follow with the same concepts.
Being able to switch from farming with a ranged DPS class with a pet, to a melee assassin-type rogue ganking powerhouse is awesome. You can farm really decent with a cleric, and still switch to a healing-oriented role if in need. Same with warriors and tanking.
I love it
I think this sums up my feelings on the soul system too. You literally got 4 fully customizable -classes- in your back pocket the entire time. You can switch between these at any given second.
Since i am more focused on PvE and the Warfronts [PvP] i have multiple builds for specific PvE encounters (fighting elites or fighting groups of mobs vs. fighting single mobs) and in PvP i throw in a few CC/Anti-CC type of things.
But yea, ultimately what is happening it’s making me push on. Just when i feel my little Bard Rogue is getting stale with the routine, i change “class” , maybe taking a ranger/pet or even a stealth-backstabby type of thing. Huge difference in game play style.
I am with Silvertemplar. I have three roles right now on my Warrior. First role is my main. Champ/BM/Rift. Good for most questing. If I get into an area where the mobs are packed together the risk of adds in greater I swap to Pally/BM/Reaver. AoE plus pally armor and shield. Third role is my goof around role. At the moment is is full AoE damage. I love being able to swap out roles at any given moment. Work great the other night as we entered RotF and the guy expecting to be our tank felt he was too low. I swapped to my tank build and we rolled through.
It’s a nice system because it gives each class almost complete flexibility. With all those options spread so evenly, Trion will likely never have to worry about class imbalance — at least not in pve.
The Souls/Callings/Roles are a huge plus for me so far. They provide a ton of variety. While I understand where Max is coming from about the similarities, there still seems to be sizable differences and choices.
I didn’t realize you could only train skills for your current set of souls. Absolutely agree, feels ‘old’.
Nice Post!