Fangbreaker Island: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

Neverwinter’s latest dungeon Fangbreaker Island (guide) has been live for a few months on PC and console players can test their resilience against Drufi as well since a few weeks. So I’d like to look at how the dungeon has fared so far. Are players having fun? Is the dungeon worth running? Let’s dig in!

The good

Let’s start with the positives. What separates the dungeon from earlier content are the unique mechanics. I still don’t think we’re quite there yet in terms of challenge, but this one is a decent step into the right direction. Especially the fact that you can no longer just DPS your way through mechanics is an infinite improvement. I also think it’s nice the devs introduced content that cannot reliably be completed by anyone. It’s not only the requirenments alone, you also need a competent group and a proper setup. This is a nice contrast to the other content that you merely farm to complete your daily routine.

The dungeon additionally is nicely integrated in the storlyine of Storm Kings Thunder. Too much group content feels oddly unattached to modules and doesn’t conclude in beating the big baddie at the end. I’m not saying I like Everfrost Resistance as mechanic, but at least you kind of work your way towards the point where you can confront Drufi and master Fangbreaker Island.

Fangbreaker Island Drufi

The bad

Talking about the boss mechanics something still seems to be off with the Turtle Slam. The groups that are able to comfortably beat the dungeon don’t have to care about it and all others need to live with some randomness. At least it seems that way. It’s especially annoying since all other attacks are easy to avoid or handle, but the slam a severe pain. Additionally companions can die while chasing the explosive runes, which makes the fight a complete mess. Not too sure what is intended and what’s not, but it still doesn’t feel too polished.

For the end boss, Drufi is too easy. The only thing you really have to care about is keeping some Permafrost alive and that’s it. I like the fight because there is a lot going on, but not enough of that matters. In my groups I often feel the tank and other players are generally not smart about drawing the fight away from the Shards. But even then we mostly don’t run into too much trouble.

The ugly

How silly is defending Ewan at the wall please? There’s literally no mechanic attached to that other than waiting. If holding off mobs would actually matter in some way it wouldn’t be so bad. But in the current form the encounter is obsolete.

And then you can’t possibly discuss Fangbreaker Island without thinking how bad the loot is. In terms of daily RAD and Salvage you are much better off running older content and it doesn’t help that the new Armor set is not desirable for everyone. Sea of Moving Ice allows upgrading the pieces to “vivified” which makes it best-in-slot even without empowerment. The amount of grind to get four pieces of gear to vivified state however might still scare off most of the players. All things considered it’s not great, but as much a problem of the general reward structure of the game as with the dungeon itself.


The pattern of earlier content continues with Fangbreaker Island. Cryptic is great at telling stories, which shouldn’t go unnoticed in a D&D game. The game design itself still lacks though and we’re not there in terms of overall challenge and boss mechanics.

How do you experience the dungeon? Share it in the comments below or visit the corresponding thread on our message board.

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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.

8 thoughts on “Fangbreaker Island: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

  • November 18, 2016 at 8:04 am
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    I just want to say one thing about Drufi.

    WHAT A FUCKING PUSSY! STOP RUNNING AROUND LIKE A HEADLESS CHICKEN EVERY 2 SECONDS YOU FUCK!

    • November 18, 2016 at 8:12 am
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      Yeah, its a nightmare for melee.

      • November 19, 2016 at 7:51 am
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        I lost so much DPS due to countless missed IBS when she decides to chicken out by running somewhere else.

  • November 18, 2016 at 10:04 am
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    mod 10 sucks donkey balls if you ask me, the grind is not only excessive but also super boring, skipping

    • November 19, 2016 at 7:52 am
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      Seems like mod10.5 is going the same direction. I did FBI only for the achievement and also skipping mod10.5, aka the fishing mod.

  • November 18, 2016 at 11:23 am
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    You can prevent the turtle slam from happening as long as the MAIN target is right in front of it. It will only slam if the tank is to the side of its head and the steam/bites can’t reach him OR the tank loses aggro and the DPS is now the main target and unreachable. It’s not really random.

    It is listed in the battle tactics of the boss in the journal.

  • December 14, 2018 at 1:06 pm
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    Excellent write-up. I know this article is old but it’s great analyzing in retrospect to get a better feel for the trajectory of the game. I think that, in many ways, MMO’s are generally trying to become more accessible. That means mechanics matter less over gear score, raw power, and, on occasion, good ‘ol teamwork. The big paradigm shift is probably due to the fact that these are games that are now on consoles, whereas the old PC MMO’s where more games for “thinking people” (no offense, but not much thinking in today’s shooters – look at Fortnite.. it’s all about reaction times and tactics, not really finesse and strategy).

    FBI today stands as one of the most fun and challenging dungeons. Some further reworks would be great but I think it’s a strong skill check overall, for those just breaking into the 11-14K IL range. I do agree that they fall short on what could have been really amazing, significant story beats. Defending Ewar has no gravitas. It would work better if he could be killed or knocked out… And there was a time limit. Something that requires you to peel enemies away, root/snare, or burn them down quickly before getting a hit in. We have this in the heroic encounters in Barovia (when they work) so why not apply the same mechanics on a greater scale?

    Rewards I believe will get better Mod 15 and onward. They’re trying to get people back into the queues. As it currently stands and has for a while, advanced and expert queues are just not worth it. The time you put in versus the rewards you get just don’t scale properly, so you’re better off spamming intermediate queue all day or joining some pre-mades.

    I like the current balance now between “overworld activities” and queue activities. That’s going away for us on the console side soon with Mod 15, as salvage runs will be a thing of the past.. Will drops be better? I hope so. Chest re-rolls will be very welcomed and I hope, in the long run, it gets people more open to running dungeons and perhaps helping newer players learn the ropes.

    Overall, I think all the design decisions are quite deliberate. The most vocal people are those who are at the bleeding edge of endgame and want more of a challenge but the majority of the players are either undergeared or more casual. As such, FBI still provides ample challenge… Then there’s CoDF, T9, and CRL, which can be scroll fests for their own reasons.

    You’re also absolutely right about the Drufi fight. It has potential to be amazing but most groups run tons of AoE and fight at the permafrost shards/icicles. When the team wipes, they just pop mass scrolls. It’s a shame because all it takes is a good coordinated team effort to get the fight away from the shards and keep them from shelter during the storm phase.

    Oh well.. The reality is that, as these games hit a more wide audience, you’re going to see more players concerned with massive DPS numbers and smashing things, not figuring out the nuances of gameplay. That is why everyone subscribes to the same cookie cutter builds and doesn’t try to make the experience their own: that requires more thought than some want to invest. No offense meant but it’s what I see a lot… Look at MPF: you’ll consistently see folks running ahead, ignoring objectives, just to get to the top of Paingiver leaderboard…. Until we see better rewards for team and objective play, it will always be about racking up big damage numbers and burning through content that should be challenging.

    It’s a shame but this is not a Neverwinter thing, it’s what MMO’s are devolving into: more action, less adventure. They want some of those Call of Duty and Fortnite kids in when they get bored of those obsessions briefly. I’ve seen it firsthand: these newbies want to jump straight to end game without any appreciation for the steps in between. They ask about legendary mounts and companions, essentially acting like our 13K+ IL is something we did overnight. They don’t want to work towards it. They just want to smash things.

    Sorry for the rant but one last thing: Elder Scrolls Online.. I played for a while when I took a break from NW. It’s a better game in many aspects (i.e. no real pay-to-win and crafting is WAY better). Sadly, the mechanics in boss battles suck their too and I find that game is even moreso about gear score and raw damage. There are some good team players but mostly it’s just about individual prowess. I’ve actually found NW more geared towards teamwork and skill synergy so, really, I can appreciate this game more now and have no real intention of getting serious on games like ESO, BDO, etc. Those are just games to goof around in, IMHO.

  • December 14, 2018 at 1:15 pm
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    BTW, in my specific example about newbies and the general attitude of gamers in this Fortnite “instant coffee” era, the kid was only playing for a couple of weeks very casually. He ran with my guildies and we carried him through Barovia and salvage runs. Essentially fast-tracking him to 10K IL in a single day. That’s not a big deal to us but for newer players who had to grind that out on their own, they know the struggle and appreciate the journey.

    Heck, those of us who played in the old days of NW remember how horrible refinement was.. And the endless grinding of dungeons. They have made the new and casual player experience 10x better but that is over-shadowed by the fact that some of us want more of a challenge and replay value so we don’t feel stuck.

    The point is: they are making smart business moves that don’t necessarily align with what the community wants. You have to cater for the autopilot smash-everything-hard players to keep the player base growing and offset the loss of players. I think they are still growing, in spite of the mass exodus due to unnecessary banning and other silly business. Considering how much content and “better” alternatives we have available to us, this is impressive.

    Overall, I think the game is in a good place but they certainly need to listen to the older players more so there is a balance between the old and the new. But we, in turn, need to temper expectations and realize we don’t rule the roost. Personally, I’m excited to see new players get into the game and stick around for a months, if not years, to come. It’s good for everyone if the game is thriving, right?

    Alas, these short attention span gamers need to realize that you got to take baby steps. I am hoping there are dungeons coming that purposely slow down the pace of groups. No more shortcuts, speed runs, glitching… None of that. Force dungeon delvers to actually work together, stop, think, and smell the damn roses! LOL.. Of course, we need more than 3000 RAD for our efforts. *smirk*

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