Developer Blog: Frost Giants & Other Enemies

strumslinger · August 2016

This is Tradd “Dreadnaught” Thompson addressing the Neverwinter community in my first developer blog to date, where I’ll be talking a bit about the Frost Giants (among other foes) you may expect to encounter in the newly explorable regions of Icewind Dale.

http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/neverwinter/news/detail/10108763-developer-blog:-frost-giants-&-other-enemies

Unknown · August 2016

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vida44 · August 2016

How does that first giant turn his head around? The horn from his helm is stuck on his shoulder skull as far as I can see.

ghoulz66 · August 2016

Ok, giants are top tier enemies...

But why are demons, devils, Illithids, dragons, and liches gutter tier baby trash....?

Really, why has Valindra, the main advisory been reduced to such a pitiful role for endgame?! VT should have been one of the top T2 dungeons, not Blackdagger bandits!

Hard to feel immersive and grasp the roleplay aspect when dragons are factory made slaughter houses and other nonsense, and expect one should be murdered so easily by a tattered bandit with a rusty sword after we slaughtered the likes of a dozen mindflayers at once and eat liches and dragons for breakfast.

tripsofthrymr · August 2016

I'm really glad to see more challenging mechanics find their way into the current generation of foes. Keep up the steady improvement!

tripsofthrymr · August 2016

ghoulz66 said:

But why are demons, devils, Illithids, dragons, and liches gutter tier baby trash....?

Because of the power escalation in the game.

ghoulz66 said:

Really, why has Valindra, the main advisory been reduced to such a pitiful role for endgame?! VT should have been one of the top T2 dungeons, not Blackdagger bandits!

When VT was released, it was really, really hard to beat. It was good that way. I suspect if a group of item level 1600ish players attempt the dungeon (without insanely OP guild boons), they will still find it really hard. It is very easy for a newish player to find at least a few highly geared players willing to run VT with them. I have been on runs where 3-4 newish players were dead near the end while 1-2 geared players melt Valindra.

The mechanic with the coffins is interesting and unique within Neverwinter. It's sad to see that mechanic routinely bypassed by a few players just zerging her down. I'm not sure what the best solution is. Players tend to protest when their hard-earned powers are synced down to content, or when content is synced up to match player power (rather defeats the point of power progressions). It might be worth biasing the loot table based on player power so that parties nearer the minimum item level have a (much) greater chance at desirable loot. Of course you have to property account for all sources of power (transcendent weapon enchants, guild boons, other boons) and recalculate the loot table if any player increases their power during the run (gear switches).

ghoulz66 said:

Hard to feel immersive and grasp the roleplay aspect when dragons are factory made slaughter houses and other nonsense, and expect one should be murdered so easily by a tattered bandit with a rusty sword after we slaughtered the likes of a dozen mindflayers at once and eat liches and dragons for breakfast.

Alas, I agree. I can easily find a party that can kill Tiamat (Queen of Dragons, no less) in a single round. I often take my well-geared toons into groups with 3-4 newer players and just my one geared toon almost always ensures success of the run (I do hold back and let the group attempt the content with only modest help, only using my full powers to avoid a loss at the end). If I run with people I have known in-game for a few years, we are all so geared that nothing at all is a challenge.

Unknown · August 2016

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zekethesinner · August 2016

tripsofthrymr said:

The mechanic with the coffins is interesting and unique within Neverwinter. It's sad to see that mechanic routinely bypassed by a few players just zerging her down. I'm not sure what the best solution is. Players tend to protest when their hard-earned powers are synced down to content, or when content is synced up to match player power (rather defeats the point of power progressions). It might be worth biasing the loot table based on player power so that parties nearer the minimum item level have a (much) greater chance at desirable loot. Of course you have to property account for all sources of power (transcendent weapon enchants, guild boons, other boons) and recalculate the loot table if any player increases their power during the run (gear switches).

There really is no problem, or should not be. Just scale here to l75, make her hp x10-20, hit power x5 too, add r8 to coffers, guarantee old legion armour as transmute drop + some cool new weaps transmutes, call it t4 and close your eyes on scrubs crying coz they cant farm her.

I would also add 1 more mechanice, like crucifying top DD for 30 every 25%.hp lost.

And just like FBi make here 3.1k or higher. Ofc old t1 val should stay..

(Sin)cerely
Kain

ilusiphur · August 2016

Is that a pirate scarecrow I see?

ilusiphur · August 2016

tripsofthrymr said:

ghoulz66 said:

But why are demons, devils, Illithids, dragons, and liches gutter tier baby trash....?
Because of the power escalation in the game.
ghoulz66 said:

Really, why has Valindra, the main advisory been reduced to such a pitiful role for endgame?! VT should have been one of the top T2 dungeons, not Blackdagger bandits!
When VT was released, it was really, really hard to beat. It was good that way. I suspect if a group of item level 1600ish players attempt the dungeon (without insanely OP guild boons), they will still find it really hard.

I can confirm, as a fresh lvl 70 <2k IL toon, it IS hard to beat Valindra. Sometimes impossible. If a language barrier, or a personality conflict prevents players from sharing information about the mechanics of the fight, (coffins, rotating red bands of death, the grarping hand) it can lead to a quick wipe.

Developer Blog: Frost Giants & Other Enemies

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