So, after a few days of invasions and what not, I am now convinced I am the only person on the Defiant side of Blightweald using the Ascended Powers you can purchase from Planar vendors. Powers which use the Planar Charges you gain from rifting.
What are these I hear people say? Well long story short, they give buffs to wardstones, summon NPCs to aid you with Invasions and similar things along these lines.
I have prepared this - with some assistance from t'interwebtubes - and hope that it helps more of us purchase and use these very handy tools
Planar LureThis is the first ability you gain that uses Planar Charges. It is pretty mediocre and really should be swapped for one of the other abilities to encourage people to buy the rest! It is gained from an early quest rather than purchased like the rest. It lets you approach a "tear" and turn it into a Rift. It uses NO Planar Charges. 5 Second Cooldown.
Augment WardstoneHeals and/or Upgrades Wardstones. Best time to use it is when an invasion is heading to the Wardstone or a huge event is going off that has Wardstones as Targets. The skill costs 50 Planarite and can be purchased in Meridian & Kings Retreat at the Planar Vendors (Not found any other vendors yet to confirm other locations). As part of the upgrade the HP increases and the "turrets" by the sides of the Wardstone become active and really help in its defence. 1 Planar Charge is used per upgrade. 5 Minute Cooldown.
Defiants Flare Costs 50 Planarite to purchase - (Will update with location of vendor). To use it, you need to be assaulting a Foothold - not a rift or random bunch of NPCs. Once near the foothold, target the Idol and use the ability, assuming you have a Charge available it will summon a group of Defiant Elites to kick the ass of the Idol and its Defenders either fully or long enough for other players to show up and assist you. 1 Planar Charge is used on cast. 5 Minute Cooldown.
Anti-Planar AugmentationThis ability is awesome. It increases your damage by 100% and reduces damage you take by 75% for a full 30 seconds against any planar enemy (works against opposite faction invasion NPCs too). You can use this to take out a hard wave in a Rift easily when playing solo!
Uses 1 planar charge. Can be purchased for 200 Planarite in Meridian and Granite Falls.
Summon Rescue MedicThis summons a medic to your location that you can use to heal up your soul’s vitality. Convenient if you have died a few times in a row and do not want to use the spirit healer. It seems more like an end-game thing; would be convenient for raiding but for newbies it is not worth gathering up 15000 planarite! Requires 3 planar charges.
Call of the AscendedRequires 3 charges and resses all nearby group or raid members for 10% mana and HP
*(Those in quotes I dont have at this point and so have liberated the information from elsewhere
Now please get out there and get these powers purchased and setup for use during your gameplay, they really are useful. And can help save the lives of a 5man group against 20+ elites
(Reposted from the PK forums where I originally wrote it).