tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20292755.post607351242054340504..comments2024-01-04T02:49:23.470-08:00Comments on Blessing of Kings: Neverwinter First ImpressionsRohanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09090769681887119989noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20292755.post-79194898055242365442013-05-07T07:47:08.884-07:002013-05-07T07:47:08.884-07:00I had not heard anything about this game, and have...I had not heard anything about this game, and have been very down on WoW recently, so I may give this a shot. Sounds like fun, and the Foundry sounds like potentially the best part.Darraxushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09290390808933294129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20292755.post-49791603681213260162013-05-06T14:22:57.242-07:002013-05-06T14:22:57.242-07:00One thing that you really notice as you get up lev...One thing that you really notice as you get up levels as a Cleric is your "ability" that reduces heals on yourself by 40%. I presume it is a balance factor to offset the fact that the heals affect the cleric on the side, but it means as you get up levels you really notice how inadequate they are.<br /><br />If you want to help out low level friends, note that you can buy companions for them - the quest may come at level 16, but they are available at any level if you have them (2G for the basic companions).<br /><br />The worst thing about the Foundry is trying to find interesting things to solo, when all the group XP grind quests are so high rated. I actually did that Foundry quest you mentioned and would agree with your comments. It was probably one of the better solo ones.Solnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20292755.post-34063033669062288362013-05-06T13:24:20.519-07:002013-05-06T13:24:20.519-07:00The game for all classes changes once you get comp...The game for all classes changes once you get companions. A tank companion is truly something to see. <br /><br />I personally like the simplistic take on combat, similar to DCUO. That game suffered from horrible UI, otherwise I would have stuck around. I am extremely surprised that Cryptic could launch at this level of polish - admittedly less than triple A. Still, it's not being sold at that level either. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20292755.post-58020952625745499582013-05-06T09:52:56.969-07:002013-05-06T09:52:56.969-07:00Really? I find the Cleric very good for soloing. I...Really? I find the Cleric very good for soloing. It's a bit slow, but relentless.<br /><br />The key I found was realizing that the level 5 Encounter HoT you get doesn't require a friendly target, despite the description. You can cast it and get the self-HoT any time.<br /><br />Then if you make sure to keep the HoT on you always, most content is a lot easier.Rohanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09090769681887119989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20292755.post-74212805004524372242013-05-06T09:42:03.429-07:002013-05-06T09:42:03.429-07:00Yeah, after L10 you can get a lot of diamonds from...Yeah, after L10 you can get a lot of diamonds from dailies (1000 for Skirmish, Foundry, PvP, 3000 for Dungeon. These go up as you increase in level, as well; at around L30 you get 2000 each for the Skirmish/Foundry/PvP dailies, but it requires you to do 2 of them), and there's bonus diamonds for doing the Skirmish during it's bonus hour. There's probably more ways to get them once you hit max level, which is the way STO handles it's similar mechanic.<br /><br />But as my dailies currently stand, I can get 9000 out of the 24k daily diamond cap just on the dailies, and you can probably run 3 or 4 Skirmishes during the bonus hour. I imagine that when I hit max level these dailies will be able to cover at least half the daily limit.<br /><br /><br />Some friends and I have been really enjoying the game so far, though some classes have a few serious problems in some situations.<br /><br />Great Weapon Fighter, for example, seems to be really hard to play until you get to L30, because it doesn't deal quite enough damage (but will probably get all the last-hits due to it's AoEs), and can't take enough damage. Once it gets it's Paragon tier stuff, though, it apparently picks up steam quickly. If it's tab ability charged faster and drained slower, it'd probably go a long way towards making it's early levels more manageable.<br /><br />One of my friends rolled a cleric, and has problems doing ANYTHING alone. He'll probably have a lot better time soloing after L16, when the game gives you your first companion, but getting up to that point can be really rough. We've been helping him level that character since we made a set of characters for group play, but we have more then 5 people, so sometimes he's not able to play along with us and needs to catch up.<br /><br />I have a wizard as my primary character for the moment, and after a time where I could SEE it's mechanics, but I wasn't really grasping them well, I finally unlocked it's daily power where you summon a black hole, and started using the Shield spell, and suddenly the class just clicked for me. It's really a class focused around the idea of using CCs to hold your foes in the range of your AoE attacks.RJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10492971146589461692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20292755.post-5932490818087631912013-05-06T09:20:06.656-07:002013-05-06T09:20:06.656-07:00@RJ, that's interesting. I missed the part wit...@RJ, that's interesting. I missed the part with the zen/diamond exchange. I thought it was a straightforward purchase.<br /><br />Heh, I'm only level 12 at the moment. I earned 1000 diamonds by participating in a skirmish at the right time, and then gave 50 as a tip to the author of the scenario I played. That's the extent of my involvement with the diamond market so far.Rohanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09090769681887119989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20292755.post-40628181420234568732013-05-06T09:12:35.675-07:002013-05-06T09:12:35.675-07:00There are several D&D races, including humans,...<i>There are several D&D races, including humans, elves, half-elves, dwarves, half-orcs, halflings, and tieflings. There are also Drow (dark elves) but I think you have to buy them.</i><br /><br />Drow are a time-exclusive unlock for Founders. There'll be a "normal" Drow race available for everyone in a few months, but the Drizzt version will remain for Founders (for now).<br /><br /><i>To make an analogy, it's as if you could buy Valor points in WoW with real money. You can still earn them normally, but the standard weekly cap applies. However, you can ignore the cap if you use real money.</i><br /><br />To be more accurate, it's as if you could use real money to buy <b>someone else's</b> Valor points. The diamond exchange is a system where players who have zen, but want diamonds can exchange them with other players who have diamonds, but want zen. Cryptic has no control over the market, beyond setting limits on how much and how little a player can offer in exchange.<br /><br />The system only works because there's people on both ends. And I think it's really great; it does a good job at striking a balance between the idea of being able to earn everything in-game, while still offering the same things on a cash shop.<br /><br />The diamond system, like dilithium in STO, also allows them to explicitly control the idea of time->purchase. Since there's a limit on how many diamonds you can get a day, there's a very direct relationship between the cost of an item and the time investment required to get it. And by direct relation, the value of time-to-currency. It's like a combination of the Valor caps and EVE's PLEX.<br /><br /><br />The Foundry is also a great thing. Cryptic has had problems with it over all their games, but when it is not being abused it has the potential for some really amazing things. It's also been great that Cryptic has been very active in promoting well done Foundry missions, in both STO and Neverwinter. If STO is any indication, they'll continue to support the Foundry a lot, if nothing else then because it's an almost never-ending pool of content that players are making for them.<br /><br /><br />@Helistar: To be fair, STO and Neverwinter are both made by Cryptic, so the similarities are pretty intentional.RJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10492971146589461692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20292755.post-77923262849972001762013-05-06T04:18:58.886-07:002013-05-06T04:18:58.886-07:00Many things remind me of Star Trek Online, the nam...Many things remind me of Star Trek Online, the name@account and the Foundry and the 3-tier currency (zen/dilithium/credits). On STO the Foundry is quite limited, and it's only by extreme abuse that some authors managed to create some really nice missions.Helistarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01435861741164342377noreply@blogger.com