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Neverwinter sheds light on Dread Ring zone
The Neverwinter community is buzzing over the upcoming Shadowmantle module, and today Cryptic is giving us a closer look at one of its core features: the Dread Ring campaign. The Dread Ring is a new zone in which Valindra Shadowmantle and her motley crew are attempting to resurrect a mighty dragon in order to make it the world's biggest dracolich. The zone has many significant landmarks amidst the bones of this long-dead dragon, but Valindra's Tower, an epic dungeon, will be the one everyone will be eying. The dev diary gives some of the lore behind the region, but of course all preservationist players have skipped past that to see which rewards might be worth the risk. Cryptic assures us that these will be "more plentiful and more powerful" than anything seen to date. The studio is also tweaking its daily quest system, promising more variety in the themes, instances, and rewards that it offers.
Dawn of the Hunter Rangers: Touring Neverwinter's Shadowmantle module
Considering all of the exciting reveals of Neverwinter's second module, Shadowmantle, I think it's prudent to start with the unknowns. No, we don't have a specific date of release (although it will be "by the end of the year"). No, we don't know whether Druids or Warlocks or any other Dungeons and Dragons classes are in development for next year. And no, we can't tell whether there's a massive honey badger conspiracy in the city of Neverwinter. With that said, there's plenty that Lead Designer Andy Velasquez had to reveal to us for this upcoming module. For starters, it's 100% free, just in case you were wondering. Sure, Cryptic will continue to run a robust store (and doesn't seem to have any inclination to rein in the lockbox invasion), but all of the content of Shadowmantle will be available to the entire playerbase on day one. It's shaping up to be an even meatier update than Fury of the Faewild, believe it or not. The big star of Shadowmantle is the first new post-launch class: the Hunter Ranger. But this flexible fighter won't be hogging the entire spotlight; Neverwinter will also be adding a new zone, additional paragon paths, and a spiffy artifact skill system. So read on and prepare for the stampede of players rushing to be the next online Legolas-slash-Drizzt.
