How Should a Transmog System Look like in Neverwinter?

Despite the newly released fashion inventory, I think we can agree that we’re still not quite there in terms of managing looks and outfits. One of the reasons surely is the transmute system. Luckily Thomas Foss hinted at an improvement in one of the more recent streams, which led to Youtuber Garlaanx pitching his ideas for such a system to the Neverwinter devs in a video a couple days ago. It’s certainly an interesting topic and I’d like to add my own opinion as well. But first and foremost, make sure to check out Garlaanx’s video as this article will build on what’s been said in there.

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Transmog vs. Transmute

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First of all, let’s get some definitions out of the way. In Neverwinter, we usually speak of a “transmute” system whereas other games or sites sometimes refer to “transmogs”. It’s slightly different terms for the same thing. A transmute/transmog system allows you to change the visual appearance of your gear without losing the stats. It’s a nice feature because it separates look and utility. Those that were around back in the day know how painful it was to be stuck with a certain Mount only because it featured a good equip bonus. The revamp in Maze Engine obviously took care of it and introduced a built-in transmutation feature for the Stable.

While the system for Mounts works great, the one for items has a few flaws. By far the biggest one is that looks are always tied to a certain item. That means if unequip you armor, the (transmuted) look is gone as well. It also means that to restore the original look of an item, you would need to obtain the very same item to transfer its look again. All of the above is not very convenient and pretty much what Garlaanx has pointed out as well.

Transmute Slots, Not Items

The solution to this problem is rather simple. A transmute system would need to be tied to slots, not the items. The proposed idea of Diablo III in the video is essentially just that. The look stays, independent of the item you actually use. That’s by the way also how the Mount system handles appearances. The mount skin is completely unattached to all other aspects of the Stable.

Everything else could actually stay the same. There could be a small AD fee for changing the look and transmute items consumed for example.

However, there could be even more improvements. As Garlaanx pointed out, it would be nice if you unlocked looks and could re-use them at will. Again, switching could still cost a fee, but that way you wouldn’t need to obtain the same transmutes over and over again. This is especially helpful with today’s loadouts. Depending on how important looks are for you, it might be annoying to keep one appearance across multiple loadouts that use different pieces of gear. I know I have the Savage Skull of the Many-Arrows stashed away multiple times just in case.

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Dyes

Another aspect of the discussion are dyes. There has to be a way to preview different combinations. Maybe I’m just dull, but especially if I haven’t used dye on a character for some time, I keep forgetting the color scheme I used. And if you mix bottles, the armor only shows “custom dye”. In that case you might need to actually apply multiple dyes and see whether it matches what you had. That’s quite annoying and a major flaw of the whole system. If we’re talking transmuting slots instead of items, then please let’s have a preview windows where you can assign Accent, Primary and Secondary colors independently and see the result.

Applying a dye then either also comes with a small fee or you still need to actually own the dye pack. Both is fine, key is that you don’t need to own the dye to preview it. The cherry on the cake would be the ability to save and load certain transmute/dye combinations and apply them to slots, but that’s not even as important.

I think these are small and simple conceptual changes that would make transmutation that much better. Not sure how much actual work would need to be put into this however. UI changes usually take time so I don’t think this is a short-term solution. But if the devs look for a complete overhaul, there you go. The flexibility and possibilities would be grand.

What would you like to see in terms of transmutation? Are you fine with the current system or do you think the system needs improvements as well? Share your thoughts on our social channels, in the comments below, or visit the corresponding thread on our message board!

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