Neverwinter: Another Heroes of Neverwinter Giveaway

Hey guys, sorry I'm slow on getting this to you, but there is another giveaway similar in nature to the one at Flames Rising. This one is at Geek Native, you can find out more here.

Sadly the giveaway ends tomorrow, so be sure to grab the goodies today. There are currently no entrants, stands to reason you will be chosen.

Neverwinter: An interview with the Director of Product Marketing and a Giveaway!

I dropped by the Flames Rising blog today to read their great interview with Peter Banks of Atari (Director of Product Marketing for Heroes of Neverwinter). Not only is it a great read with lots of information on the direction the game is meant to take and what Peter's favorite parts of it have been so far, but Flames Rising is also hosting a contest on the site to give away some great in game items.

You can read and interview and enter the contest at the Flames Rising blog.

Neverwinter: November Update

Heroes of Neverwinter received a new update on 11/23. 

*Several quests now have locked chests instead of dropping treasure via corpses, which increases the need to bring along a rogue.

In addition the stores have been refocused as follows:

* Mercenary Arms has been redesigned to focus on: armor and weapons, including implements
* Tarmalune Trade House has been redesigned to focus on: accessories (rings and helms) and magical consumables
* Beached Leviathan has been redesigned to focus on: food and drink, and the occasional Hero’s Commendation

Also several consumables have been revamped as well:

• Potion of Blessed Circumstance now grants a +2 bonus to saving throws for an entire adventure instead of +1.
• Refreshing Salve now grants a +3 bonus to saving throws for an entire adventure instead of +2.
• Sword Mountains Spice Cake now grants a +3 bonus to initiative for an entire adventure instead of +1.
• Neverwinter Spider Stew now grants resist 5 to acid and necrotic damage, in addition to its previous resist 5 poison benefit. All resistances last for an entire adventure.
• Conyberry Mead now grants +5 perception for an entire adventure instead of +3.
• Dwarven Celebration Brew grants +1 attack for an entire adventure and no longer imparts a -5 perception penalty.
• Ointment of Defense now grants resist 2 to all damage sources for an entire adventure, instead of resist 1.
• Zombie Juice now grants resist 5 to all damage source for an entire adventure and no longer imparts speed or initiative penalties.
• Vial of Dwayberry Extract now grants +5 damage to all melee attacks for an entire encounter and no longer inflicts damage to the imbiber.
• Frosted Mushroom now inflicts 5-15 cold damage and slows all enemies within a burst 3 area of effect.
• Glyph of Black Ice now inflicts 2-12 necrotic damage and knocks prone all enemies within a blast 4 area of effect.
• Vial of Slayer’s Sight now grants a +10 increase to critical strike range for 3 turns, instead of +1.

Neverwinter: Notes on the Rogue Class

Since the fighter in Heroes of Neverwinter is still incapable of holding aggro the rogue is my go to guy for controlling the aggro of my opponents.

Why the Rogue?

Because the rogue has moves that limit or outright deny the opponent actions. Attacks like Stunning Blow (which all rogues receive and which remains one of the best moves for them throughout the game) and Walking Wounded keep the enemy from advancing on my party or acting, which is very useful.

Below is my Rogue Defender Build, which should suffice to help you conquer enemies until your fighter learns how to aggro:

Starting Class: Obviously Rogue

Starting Race: Eladrin or Halfling for the +2 to Dex...preferably Eladrin for fey step, which will become all too helpful for this build.

Starting Abilities: You'll want as high a Dex as possible, pump it straight up to 20. As for the rest, meh, not as important to what you need to do here.

Powers: Make sure you up Dash, Dazing Strike, Walking Wounded, Battle Focus, and Knockout.

Equipment: Items which give you bonuses to attack rolls or speed should be equipped or stocked up on to ensure you can reach your enemy and deliver status effects.

The following tactics are what makes this build so useful.

Battle Focus+Stunning Blow

Use this combo when you really need to make sure someone doesn't take turns anymore. I use this move to incapacitate leaders and artillery before they have a chance to attack me. Controllers are also a good target, but usually their AC is so low that you can go without the +5 to attack from Battle Focus.

Walking Wounded/Dazing Strike+Fey Step/Dash

Got an enemy melee combatant, run up to the bastard and slam him with Walking Wounded or Dazing Strike. Once he is dazed you simply use your teleport powers to move back a space and he won't be able to reach you again. If you do this right you can keep your entire party safe by rushing melee soldiers and brutes before they have a chance to engage your party.

Knockout

No combo here, just the move Knockout. A powerful attack which slows your opponent. If you want you can combine it with Dash or Fey Step like the above moves, alternatively you can just use it on any idiot foolish enough to engage you in melee. Hit them with it at the start of your turn and just walk away.

Neverwinter: A Time for Giving...

Watch out or he'll gobble you up.

So this is the month of Novembeard...sorry, November...which means that Thanksgiving is coming up this month. To that end I figured I'd talk about giving thanks to your friends for all their hard work in providing you free PCs to party with. One way that you can give thanks, and it is simple trust me, is to give your friends a gift or two.

Each day in Heroes of Neverwinter you can leave your friends two gifts. You give them the first by clicking on the "Send Gift" button and the second can be left in their Chest of Wonder after visiting their house. Each option has a different set of items which you can send to your Facebook Friends, and you can unlock even more by leveling up your characters.

The following is a list of what items you can give your friends and at what levels they become unlocked. If you want to be really crafty I suggest linking your friends to this page and saying something like "Hey, look at what I found out on this blog about online Dungeons and Dragons games!" If they don't get the picture you can always hit them with a clue bat.

Send Gift Options

• Gift of the Day: This option is always random, but includes such wonders as Frosted Mushrooms and Hero's Recommendations.
• Helm's Hold Journeybread: You can't go wrong with the gift of HP, plus this one is available from level one.
• Thieve's Tools: Also available from level 1 is this sucker which gives a bonus to thievery checks.
• Spider Egg Souffle: You unlike this +3 to attack for an encounter item by earning the Traveler achievement.
• Amber Brew: You can give your friends this Elemtental Resist 5 item (duration 3 rounds) after you've gotten the Sellsword achievement.
• Traveler's Feast: Like I said, you can never go wrong with the gift of hp heals. Unlocks at level 2.
• Conyberry Mead: Help out your rogue friends with this +3 to perception item, unlocked at level 3.
• Sword Mountain Spicecake: +1 to initiative for the adventure with this item unlocked at level 4.
• Crag Mushroom: All those heals can only go so far. Extend their usefulness by giving the gift of increased Max HP for an adventure with this item unlocked at level 5.
• Dwarven Celebration Brew: I'm actually not a big fan of this item, which gives a +1 to attack for a -5 to Perception. Unlocks at level 6
• Enchanted Thieve's Tools: This item, unlockable at level 7, is three times better than normal Thieve's Tools.
• Incense of Ferocity: The final item on this list unlocks at level 8 and gives a +1 bonus to all damage for the adventure.

Leave a Gift Options

• Free Gift of the Day: Like the above, this is usually what I give. The variety keeps my gifts from getting stale I think.
• Dwarven Celebration Brew: On the leave a gift list, this doesn't even need to be unlocked.
• Potion of Blessed Circumstances: A +1 to saving throws for the encounter, why yes, I don't mind if I do. Available at level 1.
• Kobold Incense: This item gives a +3 bonus to your defenses against traps, unlocks at level 2.
• Ointment of Defense: This item, available at level 3, gives the user resist 1 against all damage for an entire adventure. A level 3 unlockable.
• Refreshing Salve: +2 to saving throws until the end of turn, for when you just HAVE to stop taking ongoing damage. Available at level 4
• Enchanted Thieve's Tools: Once again we have one that is available earlier than its "Send Gift" counterpart. This one can be given at level 5.
• Incense of Warding: One of my favorite items. All allies in close burst 3 get a +1 to their defenses for 3 turns. Available at level 6.
• Amber Brew: Resisting elemental damage is always nice. Unlocks at level 7.
• 10 Gold: This is the most useless option available to you. Almost anything else you could give is better than this junk, which is only available after level 8 anyway.
• Leviathan Ale: One of my favorite gifts to give, this refills 3 points of the energy meter when received. Unlocks at level 9.
• Potion of Healing: Like I said, you can go wrong with free heals. Available at level 10.

Neverwinter: Something Wiki This Way Comes

It took awhile but I finally found a wiki for Heroes of Neverwinter. The site hosts some dedicated people and is regularly updated (including updates from me now). Some of the great features the wiki has includes advice and full write ups on each class, confirmation of what loot can be gained from each quest, individual pages for those items which details what they do and where they can be found or purchased (and for how much in the latter case). The site is still coming along and could use more hands to quicken the pace, but even if you don't help out it is a great resource for planning out your character and playing the game. Check it out here.

Here are some example pages:

Cleric Write-up
Assault on Kobold Keep Write-up
Fist of the North Item Write-up

Neverwinter: Something is a Mask Here

Well, as you may remember from the post on the October Update there are new items and new quests to be played in Heroes of Neverwinter. Problem is, there aren't many days of October left. Hence I suggest you go out and finish these adventures and reap the rewards before they possibly go missing:

Bones, Thugs, and Sorcery

This cool little adventure which takes place in Neverdeath contains has you facing off against the Pretty Faces gang as they steal corpses for Thayan necromancers. The Pretty Faces gang is a rough and tumble group of humans who wear various masks to cover their identity. Each one of these masks can be gotten as a reward for completing the adventure. Each mask gives a +3 to damage against the opponents it represents and they are as follows: Kobold Mask, Ogre Mask, and Zombie Mask.

Trick or Trap

Looking into your one lead from Bones, Thugs, and Sorcery finds you in the Illefarn Woods at the underground lab of the mysterious "Jack". As his voice telepathically welcomes you to his home and gives you insights into each room it doesn't take long to discover this madman is using you to collect data on his creations. Slay him for a chance at the Pumpkin Mask for a +1 to AC and +1 to Max HP.

Monster Mash

Taking the mysterious papers you found in Jack's lab back to Doomguide Volahk to be deciphered earns you the location of The Menagerie, a strange zoo where Thayan wizards are experimenting on various creatures to enhance them with necrotic powers. After clearing it out you can earn the Trick or Treat ring which gives clerics and wizards a +2 to spell damage as long as they are at full health.

Hurry and get these items now just in case they disappear at the end of the month.

Added After Publication: I found out after the fact that there is also a ring in Monster Mash if you are a rogue or fighter called the "Full Moon Ring" which does the same thing as the Trick or Treat ring, but for weapon damage.

Neverwinter goes free to play!

Well, it is official, Cryptic Studios revealed that Neverwinter will be a free to play MMORPG. Cryptic, which is responsible for another popular tabletop to MMO game by the name of Champions Online, made the announcement to IGN earlier this month. *sighs* I know, I know, I should really stay on top of this stuff, but I still wasn't sure whether I wanted to cover other free to play DnD games on here or not. However, I feel there is plenty of room to do so.

So, how does this affect the blog? Well, right now, not by much. DDO will still get content added every Monday and Friday at 9am as usual...however I'm looking at covering Heroes of Neverwinter on Tuesdays and perhaps Thursdays as well...with news like this being posted in lieu of Thursdays posts when appropriate. At least for now.

When the game comes out I'll shift the schedule around a bit, seeing what works best for everyone.

Cryptic has still yet to reveal what classes will be available in the new game, but I'm sure more will be leaked between now and the release date in late 2012.

I can't wait. What about you?

My Life in Neverwinter: The October Update

DDO isn't the only free DnD game out there--I've been playing a lot of another one lately called Heroes of Neverwinter. Heroes of Neverwinter is a game on Facebook utilizing 4th Edition rules. You adventure in the city of Neverwinter, playing a turn by turn roleplaying game that is a lot more like tabletop DnD than DDO. It is a lot of fun. So, be sure to check it out, after all its free.

In case you haven't guessed I'm going to be posting about it occasionally on here...however, I wouldn't worry if you come here to hear about only DDO. I won't replace a Monday or Friday post with stuff on Heroes of Neverwinter (or possibly when it comes out Neverwinter). Instead I'm planning on just writing more. Right now I'm tentatively planning these for Tuesday posts.

With that out of the way, let's get to the core of today's post: The October Update of the game.

The October Update to the game seems to have added some cool new things to the game.

1) The Initiative Tracker is much easier to read. Using square dock icons and showing not just the health bar but also full HP in clear text underneath each icon.

2) I'm pretty sure the outlines on things are clearer now...or maybe I'm just imagining that.

3) It added a cool little quest arc dealing with Thayan Wizards. I did the first new quest in Neverwinter, and it had a pleasurable little story and tons of chances to get unique helms.

4) Speaking of new helms, there seem to be a whole slew of new items, though I'm not sure if they are permanent or just part of the October event. Be sure to check your Chest of Wonder for a +1 to HP for one character.

5) I'm not sure if this is on purpose or a glitch. But while spectating on someone else's adventure the situation was a lot more dire on my end than his. He was gliding through the adventure just fine, but the game showed me images of his party getting the crap beat out of it. Probably a glitch, but hey, still cool.

6) The most notable change is the look of Neverwinter itself, which is decked out in Halloween decorations and colored with a much darker palette.