Hi Folks
I recently watched a video of the newest campaign in Neverwinter which is called Dragon Bone Vale.
The first thing to catch my attention was that all the high level characters were only lv20 and not 80 which is what the level cap was last time I played over 2 years ago.
After a little research I found out that back in July they released a module called Jewel Of The North which completely revamped the levelling process and squished the level cap from 80 down to 20 to be more in line with the tabletop version of D&D.
Intrigued by this I decided to check out this new levelling progression for myself. After 4 hours of patching updates I rolled up a Dwarven Barbarian.
The Barbarian is a 2 handed weapon fighter that specialises as either a Sentinel or Blademaster at level 11 when you choose a Paragon Path.
Sentinel is the more protective tank option and Blademaster is area of effect dps.
The levelling flow now starts in Neverdeath Graveyard rather than the Black Lake District.I never thought it made sense to start in Black Lake.
The games opening cutscene shows Valindra Shadowmantle's undead army attacking Neverwinter and instead of fighting undead new players used to get sent to deal with bandits in Black Lake.
This is no longer the case, right away we are in the thick of it helping Doomgaurds deal with undead in the Neverdeath graveyard from level 2-5.
Now key levels are locked behind quests, you cant just power level with dungeon queue's like you could previously.
You need to play through each zones storyline ,learning about key characters and lore as you go.This is a very welcome change and I have been enjoying levelling this second character alot more than I did with the first.
Each zones story has been rewritten ,all of them culminate in a Dungeon crawl and a boss fight. I think the devs have done a really good job here.
Dungeons & Dragons has an endless amount of cool storys to tell and the way the game flows now keeps players engaged and intrigued with many epic story's right from the start.
After reaching Lv5 and finishing the Neverdeath storyline the player is sent to Vellosk to help the Barbarian tribe fight the Netherese Werewolf's. This storyline takes the player from level 5-8.
From there its of to the Ebon Downs where we are back to fighting more powerful undead mages in a storyline that culminates in a fight with a powerful Necromancer.
In the video above we have just completed the quest and storyline in the Ebon Downs which awards level 11 and made the Paragon Path choice to become a Blademaster.
We have been sent to Icespire Peak to aid the Icehammer Dwarves in their fight against the Winterchill Goblins and The Frost Giants. Icespire Peak is one of my favourite zones in Neverwinter. I love a snowy mountains Dwarven landscape in rpgs. I was excited to find out this is where level 11 leads us, previously this zone wasn't reached until around level 45.
The Icespire Peak storyline starts in the Dwarven town of Toruneder. One thing I have always loved about Neverwinter is the lore updates you get in your journal when you discover a new area or main character.
D&D lore is deep , I love learning more about The Forgotten Realms.In the video above I make a point of reading out each piece of lore we encounter.
Our first mission in aiding the Icehammer dwarves is to reclaim stolen mining supplies from the Winterkill goblins and free some captive Dwarven Laborers.
The Barbarian has a rage ability which puts him in Berserker mode. This increases his attack speed and dps , combined with the Blademasters AOE slash makes for some fun times hacking and slashing up groups of goblins.
The Dwarven captives are free to return to Toruneder.
We get some new lore about the nearby Frozen Waterfall.
For the next step we are sent to clear out a Winterkill Goblin warren and slay one of their chieftains Murgul Mawcram.
The Blademaster is probably the most hack and slash style character I have played in any rpg. In the goblin warren we get to destory groups of goblins with our epic axe...good times :)
After wading through swarms of goblins we finally make it to their chieftain..
These mini boss fights are pretty easy we just need to dodge the big spells and traps and hack away at the boss.
With the Chieftain dead its time to return to Toruneder.
The next quest sends us to the triage camp.
We arrive to find it over run with Ice trolls...
A book gives us some more lore about the history of the Icehammer clan.
I decide to rest a while by the campfire and save the troll slaying until the next video.
And so begins my journey to level cap in the revamped Nerverwinter.
This Dwarven Blademaster is only the second character I have ever played in Neverwinter. Previously I played a Oathbound Paladin who was speced as a healer and mostly ran dungeons.
The Blademaster is much more fun to play than The Paladin , its pure hack and slash fun which is easy to pick up and play.
I'm loving the new levelling flow and the engaging D&D storyline ,it feels good to be back in Neverwinter.
I will probably start streaming my progress with this character fairly regularly here.