Down in the Depths: Rift's next major expansion Nightmare Tide revealed

Splish, Splash Rift's about to take a bath, the MMO is headed to the Plane of Water in Rift's newly revealed expansion, Nightmare Tide. In a producer's letter to the community, Executive Producer Bill Fisher explains Nightmare Tide as being the expansionary response to the age old question of "what's on the other side" or more specifically, "where are all these horrific things coming from?!"

Within the Plane of Water, players will find a realm of "nightmares, dreams, madness and danger" as they dive into new open-world zones filled with new enemies, allies and end game content. Since this is a full expansion, the level cap will be raised to 65 and new mastery traits will be unlocked for players to use. These masteries are based on your calling and have been designed to provide more variety in soul builds and synergies.

New dynamic battles and new Nightmare Rifts ensure players will see plenty of action out in the open water world with promises of scaling content to ensure the action is always of the appropriate magnitude. Nightmare Tide will feature a "ton of new loot", but Fisher did say the best gear currently in-game would last players "all the way to level 65 – and a bit beyond".

Fisher refrained from mentioning any specific details regarding release, but he did mention the expansion would launch sometime this year. For more expansion info check out the full Producer's letter here.