Episode 15 is here, as well as Chris, Trevor and Josh's first opinions on 1.8. The crew goes over fishing, survival, leaderboards, the HK changes and the bosses in Infernal Dawn. They round it out with the some up and downs for some new spec changes.

Download the Farm Status at Podomatic or iTunes!

All NA shards came down at 8am PDT for 1.8 Hotfix #0.5. EU shards already had this hotfix included in their original 1.8 patch. Here are the patch notes:

RIFT 1.8 Hotfix 0.5 - 4/19/12

GENERAL
* Fixed the incorrect spamming of re-server firsts.
* Tents and Bedrolls are now available for use!
* Fishing-related pets now summon instantly.
* Fixed an edge case with formed LFG groups and public grouping that could cause pre-queued groups to break up prematurely.

LEADERBOARDS
* The Leaderboard for Expert Darkening Deeps has been corrected and can now be enabled.
* Fixed a problem with the Library: Mass Martyr Duration leaderboard.

ITEMS
* Slinkers of the Dawn: Now with correct pricing.
* Ember Isle Raid Rift Essences now have a minimum level requirement to equip.

All NA shards are coming offline at 8am PDT on Wednesday, April 18 for Patch 1.8. Estimated downtime is two hours. The update is tentatively scheduled for 2am GMT on Thursday, April 19. Here are the patch notes:

Welcome to RIFT 1.8: Infernal Dawn!

== FEATURES ==
* Infernal Dawn: The new 20-player Raid that challenges players with seven new boss encounters as they enter Mount Carcera to prevent the rise of Laethys and the release of Maelforge from his imprisonment beneath the volcano.
* Kick back on the shores and relax, or go on a wilderness adventure; the new Fishing and Survival skills let you do both! See more under FISHING AND SURVIVAL, listed below.
* Players and Guilds can have an easier time finding each other through the new Guild Finder tool. See GUILD FINDER below for how to use it!
* New Leaderboards feature allows you to compare and compete against your friends, guildmates, and other players in a variety of categories. More under LEADERBOARDS, below.
* All-new appearances and animations for Druid Faerie pets, Beastmaster Primal Companions, and Ranger pets!
* Instant Adventure comes to Ember Isle; level 50 characters can now join the action immediately with the new Ember Isle queue available in the Instant Adventure menu.
* Achievements that are partially completed are now highlighted in the In-Progress Achievements list on the Achievement window.


Continue after the jump for the rest of the notes!

Traversing Telara is an exclusive series of articles from Trion Worlds that explores Rift's lore and gameplay mechanics through the eyes of one intrepid adventurer. It's a great read and a fantastic introduction to the world of Telara. Even if you're a veteran of Rift, you might enjoy hearing about the game from another perspective! Read on for Issue #7: Sanctum and Eliam Fields!

• Issue #1: Epic from the Beginning
• Issue #2: A Starting Zone Like No Other
• Issue #3: New Beginnings
• Issue #4: Regulos and Maelforge
• Issue #5: Silverwood and Kelari
• Issue #6: Life Rifts & Helping Kelari
• Issue #7: Sanctum and Eliam Fields
• Issue #8: Akylios

Hello and welcome to the next installment of ZAM's weekly leveling and lore guide for RIFT, Traversing Telara. 

Valnyr is still knee deep in Silverwood quests this week, but I decided I would strike out for Sanctum anyway, the temptation of all the Carnival announcements too much to resist. But I finish up one of my quests before I head west.  Colten Feddel has asked me to cleanse three Shrines of Tavril in SIlverwood - the Tribute of Stone, Tribute of Soil, and Tribute of Wood. As the goblins spread the fire of Maelforge through the forest, they have been defiling these holy shrines. Colten is afraid that if this carries on, Tavril will grow weak and be unable to keep her part in maintaining the Ward, the magical barrier that protects Telara from the elemental planes.

Are you all excited about RIFT's Patch 1.8: Infernal Dawn? Tomorrow Trion Worlds has announced that they will be hosting their first ever live stream event to explore Infernal Dawn, their new 20-person raid coming this week. Throughout the live stream, the team will be exploring the halls of Infernal Dawn, although they stress that they won't be spoiling any fights. They will, however, be highlighting the lore of the dungeon, as well as answering questions where applicable. At least you'll get to see each boss up close!

You can catch the live stream Tuesday, 4/17 @ 11:30am PDT on RIFT's Official Facebook page. See you there!

Episode 14 is here and Chris is back! Joined with Josh and Trevor, they go over the last Farm Status show before 1.8 hits! They cover a couple small news items, including the changes to Queued Quest Reward Changing, what Survival will do, and the new 1.8 changes to Block Hard/Soft Cap.

Discussion revolves around the future of Raiding from a ZAM Rift round table about individual responsibility in raids and the gating of content in Infernal Dawn.

Download the Farm Status at Podomatic or iTunes!

Here's the patch notes for this morning's downtime.

RIFT 1.7 Hotfix #17 - 8:00am PDT 4/13/12 [NA] - 1:00am GMT 15/4/12 [EU]

WORLD EVENT

• Earth-based Zone Events should once again be granting the correct loot when completed.
• Phase 6 event goal lowered to 60 due to the events being temporarily unavailable.
• Infernal Awakening properly counts toward the Phase 6 event goal.

GENERAL

• Several Costume items that were previously level-less are now level 1 items and cannot have Runes applied to them.

A group of Rift reviewers from all sorts of MMO sites gathered together on Wednesday to discuss the game’s newest update, Infernal Dawn. Hal Hanlin and Adam Gershowitz started the show, and Scott Hartsman showed up to answer all our questions about patch 1.8, which comes with big changes: a new raid, new auxiliary skills, Leaderboards, the Guild Finder, and more!

Phase 6 of the Carnival of the Ascended is slated to begin on Thursday, April 12. During this phase the denizens of the Earth and Fire planes launch their assault upon Telara, causing both Guardians and Defiants to put aside their differences for the greater good. A new zone event pits the Ascended against the invaders of the Wanton Maw.

Earn your final Pyrite Doubloon during this phase by confronting the Fire and Earth lords in Freemarch or Silverwood. Contribute to the phase goal by defeating Earth and Fire zone events to unlock the Phase 6 title of the Planar Defender. A new Ascended Goods merchant and currency will be introduced, both of which will also be present in the next world event.

This is the final phase that the majority of the carnival event merchants, including the Moneychanger, will be available. Spend your remaining Glass Beads and Prize Tickets before this phase comes to a close. Title collectors should keep a few extra Glass Beads on hand -- the only carnival merchant that will remain after the conclusion of Phase 6 is the Event Title vendor.

Rift will be changing the way queued quest rewards behave with patch 1.8 (anticipated on Live servers next week) and strongly recommend players claim any they have queued up. 

You can read the entire post after the jump or see it on the official forums.