Neverwinter Underdark Countdown Begins

With the first three dev blogs (1) (2) (3) the Neverwinter Underdark countdown has officially begun. I’ll admit it’s one of the most interesting parts of the MMO life, because you can widely speculate and theorycraft about the new content.

It hasn’t really been revealed much, but let’s talk about what we have. If they follow the pattern they used lately, the Module should hit in about two months with the first patch going on the PTS in about 3-4 weeks. There definitely will be a new campaign, but they didn’t specifically mentioned a new campaign area, which could mean they could be extending or simply using the existing Underdark maps (Whispering Caverns and Gauntlgrym/Fiery Pit). That’s however way too early to tell.

[su_box title=”Get our latest on Neverwinter Underdark” radius=”0″]We got your attention? Click here for more posts about Neverwinter’s upcoming module Underdark.[/su_box]

A better tool to review gear is always a plus. Players have been asking for a wardrobe type of system in which you can switch gear and fashion more efficiently and it looks like they have been heard.

Because of the wording I’m pretty certain that the “large scale battle against the demon prince Demogorgon” will not be a full-sized dungeon, but much rather a HE or Tiamat-like approach. They still have to complete the rework of the old dungeons and I wouldn’t expect a completely new one before that.

Demogorgon
Demogorgon

I’m not sure what to make of the “Replayable vs. Repeatable” feature. It could be cool, but it could also be just a short enhancement of otherwise indeed very repeatable content. If it’s boss battles, yes absolutely. Make them variable and introduce triggers and abilities that don’t fire in every fight or don’t have a certain pattern. Worst case is that they are trying to sell an anti-botting measure which slightly adjusts daily quests to complicate scripting. It’s also sad to see that they still don’t apply interesting changes retroactively. So your Vigilance Tasks will still be repeatable and not replayable.

Same goes for variable rewards. It could be a neat feature that really promotes team play, but in the very casual environment of Neverwinter the thresholds to reach the best rewards will likely be too low. Rewards have always been gated behind grind and not skill and I can’t see them changing this approach, because their business model depends on purposely frustrating players. I’d be cautious with this one.

Last but not least, there’s the extension or rework of professions and the Trade Bar store. I’m pretty certain that they looked at their data and realized that nobody buys anything else with Trade Bars than Coalescent Wards. I like many others feared they might be using the new system to make acquiring C-Wards through the Trade Bar store much harder, but that’s apparently not the case (everything- is-subject-to-change-dev-rule applies, plus they didn’t say you’ll still be getting the same amount of Trade Bars from your lockboxes). I additionally thought a “massive rework” is not simply adding / removing items or change prices, but that Trade Bars as currency would work in a completely different way, but initial comments suggest otherwise. In terms of the Masterwork Professions I don’t think they’ll just add more levels on top of them, they just did that in Module 7, but rather introduce a new system within or for professions. Like specializing in one or two professions and be able to get time or quality bonuses, maybe even a feat system.

Interesting times guys, make sure to post your theories about the new Module in the comments or our forum.

[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDlyUHhvByw”]

j0Shi

j0Shi plays the Neverwinter MMORPG since the open BETA in 2013 and is a regular contributor to the blog and the whole UN:Project. Originally a Guardian Fighter, he has built up ALTs of all classes and plays on BIS/near-BIS level.

2 thoughts on “Neverwinter Underdark Countdown Begins

  • October 1, 2015 at 3:08 pm
    Permalink

    lol.. of course this will be just like every other mod. Not e even sure what they do there. I mean other game can create 1 new dungeon and a zone occasionally.. they dont even try. I am going to bet like posted above.. whispering caverns will get an extension and BAM! its the full Underdark. lolz its so pathetic to watch.

  • October 3, 2015 at 5:58 am
    Permalink

    “replayable vs repeatable”-seems like another mod 6

Comments are closed.