Dev Blog: Stronger Enemies, Stronger Equipment

nitocris83 · June 2017

Check out and discuss the new Dev Blog by Systems Designer @asterdahl on upcoming changes to Enemies and Equipment!

http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/neverwinter/news/detail/10538713

kalina311 · June 2017

time to gear up again lol new armor pen cap : D
people are going to get wrecked again in all the comfty zones they know and love... Q Rage in 3 2 1
gear up and dont be a scrub lol

Unknown · June 2017

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scathias · June 2017

I guess this is a done deal and all since there is no way cryptic would listen to players about something like this, but it really makes me upset that masterwork gear is pushed as the Endgame of crafting and yet it consistently is lagging behind in strength.

Why on earth should I go through the effort of creating or buying masterwork ilv 480 gear for myself if next mod it is going to be obsolete?

I understand that vivified relic armor has been around since mod 10 and in that sense it is time for an upgrade, but the masterwork armor isn't even a mod old yet and it is already worthless.

@nitocris83 @asterdahl can you please ask for or provide some information on what is going to happen with masterwork armor in mod 12? buffing it to ilv 500 would make the most sense so that it remains competitive. I imagine that the mod 12 armor will have a set bonus so there it will remain BIS... I just want a reason for masterworks to exist

tanais58crane · June 2017

Good, my axe has been aching for a challenging foe since besting Svardborg and Drufi became as easy as doing a daily.

rickcase276 · June 2017

Hopefully the seal armor will be like those in the past, and we will be able to buy it for alts.

zeatrex · June 2017

So we fighting dinosaurs now.... Seriously?!

asterdahl · June 2017

xuuul#9903 said:
what similarities can we expect between module 6 and module 12?

@asterdahl

We are not increasing the player level cap, we are not increasing the level of enemies, and we are anot removing existing content, we are not increasing the item level of artifact weapons, we are not adding new profession ranks.

Of course, there will be new enemies that are stronger than enemies you've yet faced, and there will be new equipment to earn, but we've increased the item level on equipment and added stronger enemies in many modules that did not include a player level cap increase, so you could say that Module 12 does not share a lot in common with Module 6.

As a bonus, as I imagine this will be asked: we are not adding any sort of charging mechanic akin to black ice or voninblod to new equipment in Module 12.

scathias said:
I guess this is a done deal and all since there is no way cryptic would listen to players about something like this, but it really makes me upset that masterwork gear is pushed as the Endgame of crafting and yet it consistently is lagging behind in strength.

Why on earth should I go through the effort of creating or buying masterwork ilv 480 gear for myself if next mod it is going to be obsolete?

I understand that vivified relic armor has been around since mod 10 and in that sense it is time for an upgrade, but the masterwork armor isn't even a mod old yet and it is already worthless.

@nitocris83 @asterdahl can you please ask for or provide some information on what is going to happen with masterwork armor in mod 12? buffing it to ilv 500 would make the most sense so that it remains competitive. I imagine that the mod 12 armor will have a set bonus so there it will remain BIS... I just want a reason for masterworks to exist

During planning for Module 11B, it was a tough call for us whether we wanted to add new masterwork recipes as we knew we would be adding new sets of equipment in Module 12 that would compete with it directly. However, in the end, as we were adding a lot of new Stronghold content, the time seemed right.

However, this is why the new recipes in Module 11B are easier to unlock and easier to build than the original recipes. Additionally, 480 will still be a very strong item level, the new non-masterwork recipes coming in Module 12 will only produce 420 and 430 equipment. You can imagine the recipes added in 11B as intermediary recipes, expect masterwork to continue to see support in the future.

I would like to dispel the notion that current masterwork items have no place though. People are buying and selling those items right now, and will continue to do so. Obviously the prices will be affected by news and the eventual arrival of more equipment options, but this is the economic nature of the system. If you're only interested in making sure you have best in slot for yourself, I would not recommend pursuing masterwork, but instead purchasing those individual masterwork items when they happen to be best in slot for you. Masterwork is a system for those who enjoy professions and would like to make a profit.

However, your profit margins are going to fluctuate wildly based on how quickly you unlock new recipes, how you obtain your materials, how well you collaborate with others, etc. There is no world where the return on investment ratio for masterwork remains static continually. And that is not something we're going to attempt to pursue to the detriment of the game's progression overall.

Unknown · June 2017

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Unknown · June 2017

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minotaur2857 · June 2017

No @Asterdahl, mastercrafting is a necessity for those who don't enjoy the gimmicky mechanics of FBI and mSVA and find them buggy as hell. I haven't even tried mSP although I have unlocked it. Constantly being hit by one shots from red areas I'm not in that only appear after the damage has gone in is not my idea of fun (and this is all over SKT, giants charging and throwing rocks for example red areas, timing and damage are way off although that's not a one shot).

I spent about 25M ADs getting MC3 all crafts, and it feels like that's been a complete waste of hundreds of hours and a lot of money by having much of the armor rendered obsolete 2 weeks after I got mastercrafting finished. I don't do it to make ADs, I do it to help my guild.

danpio1217 · June 2017

"As a bonus, as I imagine this will be asked: we are not adding any sort of charging mechanic akin to black ice or voninblod to new equipment in Module 12."

<3 u bro

sw1tchstar · June 2017

Minoooooo! Mino has worked very hard on mastercrafting stuff. he was excited that it finally had it's place. It's kinda lame that in just a couple weeks u have just made him obsolete.
He has been crafting for the guild almost exclusively, making armor and weapons for us. What a freaking slap in the face for him, and others like him.
Additionally... I am really curious @nitocris83 @asterdahl what exactly happens with the salvage now. An unrestored relic weapon gives next to nothing if salvaged. So are we essentially no longer going to be able to buy salvage for all of our time we put into runs? will the seal costs reflect this? will the elven/alliance armor still drop in dungeons? This is sounding like a massive hole in our pixel pockets, and for those of us with crappy rng's... sounding quite disappointing.

Unknown · June 2017

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sh00termcl0vin · June 2017

@asterdahl

Is there any plans in releasing a new PvP set with mod 12 to match the new updated pve armor in item lvl?

skuggros1 · June 2017

Well am looking forward to mod 12. I do hope we will get to explore the whole or a large part of the island of Chult, and not just a tiny bit of it.

scathias · June 2017

Asterdahl. Ok, so you have a choice between spending about 6-8 million AD on buying masterwork armor (perhaps 4-6 after the price changes happen due to the drop in demand) or you spend some time doing actual fun stuff like content and dungeons to get seals to buy ilv 480 gear, or even just get ilv 480 gear from the dungeon itself.

People with more AD than time (and a desire to be maxed) are going to buy the masterworks gear, and then as soon as they have played enough to get the brave seals for the ilv 500 set they will get that and drop masterworks like the subpar stuff it is.

You design rewards for the top end, which is great. And the new armors and rewards systems you have hinted at are all excellent things that I like the sound of. I just really dislike the fact that you guys keep falling back on the argument that masterworks keeps getting bought and sold at reduced prices in order to make it sound like its ok to wreck your own content. You went from a potential consumer base of everyone who wanted to save up and buy the masterwork gear who didn't like the idea of relic gear down to a consumer base of people who have AD already and for some reason are willing to spend it on a set they will be replacing as soon as they finish the mod 12 content.

So since mod 12 launches on august 1 (the lone 2x XP weekend scheduled then gives it away) (edit - apparently I missed that it is coming on july 25th) and we figure a month to progress through the campaign. People should have full ilv 500 gear by october at the very latest. That is a pretty crappy amount of time to have something you paid 4-8 million for.

I am well aware that masterworks will get more recipes in the future, its just that the future is going be mod 13 or 13.5 probably. aka, 2019 I would expect.

I was really looking forwards to buying some masterwork gear, but i don't know that I can justify it now, and so so many other people will feel the same way

ambisinisterr · June 2017

asterdahl said:
During planning for Module 11B, it was a tough call for us whether we wanted to add new masterwork recipes as we knew we would be adding new sets of equipment in Module 12 that would compete with it directly. However, in the end, as we were adding a lot of new Stronghold content, the time seemed right.

@asterdahl Have you guys considered implementing a system to improve equipment so those with professions? Say using materials to add extra armor pen to an item, etc.

Such a system, if possible, might serve to alleviate the frustrations of those who invested time in professions when new equipment is released. Afterall then there will always be a need for their services (if tradeable) or at least a reward for their invested time (if not tradeable) whenever gear more powerful than crafted items are released.

darkstarrfoff · June 2017

scathias said:

So since mod 12 launches on august 1 (the lone 2x XP weekend scheduled then gives it away) and we figure a month to progress through the campaign. People should have full ilv 500 gear by october at the very latest. That is a pretty crappy amount of time to have something you paid 4-8 million for.

Uhh, it was already announced as July 25th for PC.

Anyway, the thing that concerns me about this is that you seem to be replacing our salvage gear with trash. Am I to understand all T1 content will now give protector seals? What will those dungeons, both T1 and T2 drop as salvage? Elven is being dropped as is Alliance gear but we can buy unrestored Relic to salvage, that seems like it will drastically reduce our salvage AD. If that is the case you're flat out punishing those that run the dungeons for salvage across multiple characters. Will the seal cost of the unrestored relic be the same as current or drastically reduced?

I make the vast majority of my AD running dungeons and gathering salvage, both via seals and drops. This would remove a huge portion of that.

treesclimber · June 2017

@asterdahl this seems a very exciting module specially the weekly quests instead dailies to release the stress of getting everything done in time.

"New non-masterwork profession recipes", does this mean i need to be in a guild to purchase the recipes? And if not can i produce equipment for my other characters or for selling?

If i remember correctly unrestored relic equipment is only salvageable for 1k rough ad, consider not remove elven from the seals vendor for 2 reasons, it's a unique transmute and some people (like me) prefer salvage equipment and get the AD right away instead of sell the restoration items in the AH even if they sell for a higher price. Alliance gear same story even tough draconic gear has the same visual, there are barely any draconic piece of gear selling on AH.

Two last questions:
What is the future of Black Ice elemental infusion? Will here be any updates/changes?
Will there be any way to obtain lionsmane gear? Since....well you know nobody or practically nobody runs siege.

darkstarrfoff · June 2017

treesclimber said:

If i remember correctly unrestored relic equipment is only salvageable for 1k rough ad, consider not remove elven from the seals vendor for 2 reasons, it's a unique transmute and some people (like me) prefer salvage equipment and get the AD right away instead of sell the restoration items in the AH even if they sell for a higher price. Alliance gear same story even tough draconic gear has the same visual, there are barely any draconic piece of gear selling on AH.

Two last questions:
What is the future of Black Ice elemental infusion? Will here be any updates/changes?
Will there be any way to obtain lionsmane gear? Since....well you know nobody or practically nobody runs siege.

I agree, who says we can even sell the relic restoration HAMSTER? It could be acc or even char bound. It would be preferable to simply keep the items for the transmutes. I use some myself and will miss them should they be removed. And as I mentioned before it will massively hurt salvage. Heck, make the old gear non salvagable if you want to remove that AD source from them and make them 1 seal or something to buy from the store as transmutes.

Black Ice Infusion appears dead. I wish it was usful in some way, maybe as a way to somewhat tailor our armor to our char like you can a little with drowcraft?

I do wish there was a way to get lionsmane as well, even if it was transmute only. Currently it's impossible to even get in any kind of realistic manner.

asterdahl · June 2017

sh00termcl0vin said:
@asterdahl

Is there any plans in releasing a new PvP set with mod 12 to match the new updated pve armor in item lvl?

Not with Module 12, but we do have plans for new PvP equipment in the not too distant future.

treesclimber said:
"New non-masterwork profession recipes", does this mean i need to be in a guild to purchase the recipes?

You will not need to be in a guild.

treesclimber said:
If i remember correctly unrestored relic equipment is only salvageable for 1k rough ad, consider not remove elven from the seals vendor for 2 reasons, it's a unique transmute and some people (like me)

You will also be able to purchase Ostorian rings which may be salvaged directly, so you won't need to restore relic equipment for salvage. Alliance equipment may already be earned in dungeons and elven equipment will be still be available to earn for transmutes, just not with seals.

minotaur2857 said:
I spent about 25M ADs getting MC3 all crafts, and it feels like that's been a complete waste of hundreds of hours and a lot of money by having much of the armor rendered obsolete 2 weeks after I got mastercrafting finished. I don't do it to make ADs, I do it to help my guild.

The required item level to enter new dungeons and earn the newest equipment will be high. There will still be some demand for masterwork items, and you can still make them to help your guild mates gear up. We'll continue to watch the market and if necessary make adjustments to material drop rates. Module 12 is not out yet. In addition, even after Module 12's release, the current masterwork equipment will still be the highest item level equipment that can be traded or sold by a notable margin.

This will remain true for the foreseeable future, and when it is no longer true it will be because new recipes became available. All I can say to the concerns about masterwork is that the notion that masterwork equipment will be replaced by equipment that may be earned from difficult endgame content is not going away. We have no plans in the foreseeable future to support "upgrading" masterwork equipment. We will add new recipes and materials when the time is right.

clonkyo1 said:
why not just bring back some kind of "Fallen Dragon Set" mechanic into "professions" for now guilded players which should compete with some Masterwork pieces but BoP?

We have no plans to add Bind on Pickup equipment to professions. The reason for this is that we have no desire to push players who are not interested in professions into using professions. At one point upgrading equipment required special professions like black ice shaping. We know that this was tedious and clunky. We understand professions are not for everyone and that the for many that are interested the appeal of professions is making cool items you can sell or use to help support your friends.

eolee · June 2017

minotaur2857 said:
No @Asterdahl, mastercrafting is a necessity for those who don't enjoy the gimmicky mechanics of FBI and mSVA and find them buggy as hell. I haven't even tried mSP although I have unlocked it. Constantly being hit by one shots from red areas I'm not in that only appear after the damage has gone in is not my idea of fun (and this is all over SKT, giants charging and throwing rocks for example red areas, timing and damage are way off although that's not a one shot).

I spent about 25M ADs getting MC3 all crafts, and it feels like that's been a complete waste of hundreds of hours and a lot of money by having much of the armor rendered obsolete 2 weeks after I got mastercrafting finished. I don't do it to make ADs, I do it to help my guild.

Exactly that.

Unknown · June 2017

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kacezet · June 2017

Since @asterdahl is responding to our questions I'm gonna ask the most important ones...

How cool are the new armors?
Will all 5(?) of them have an unique appearance?
Can we expect some new weapon transmutes in m12?

eolee · June 2017

The new gear at 500iL that we can get through a dungeon gated by days or weeks of campaign, caped weekly with seals, is also gonna be obsolete as soon as people will get their set. Why even bother? The whole scheme of gating a dungeon that drops gear behind weeks of grinding, then weeks of grinding to get the gear is getting old. Specially when its replaced 1 month after you finally get the last piece. Just my opinion. Are we doing that to complete collection points or what?

I gave up on farming fbi gear because of the chest in the chest, the loot in the loot, the gear that needed to be restored, the waste of legendary keys, the waste of time. Dont you guys think we're sick enough of grinding weeks of content on a new campaign, to finally enter a new dungeon? And then spend how many unrewarding thousands runs trying to get this chest piece or those arms? All that when finally complete, starting the grind on an other set?
And now justifying this new gear by the fact that enemies are stronger?

Unknown · June 2017

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lwedar · June 2017

asterdahl said:

xuuul#9903 said:
what similarities can we expect between module 6 and module 12?

@asterdahl
As a bonus, as I imagine this will be asked: we are not adding any sort of charging mechanic akin to black ice or voninblod to new equipment in Module 12.

Please pretend we will be asking that question with any further release and the answer should be no @asterdahl. Lets move forward not backward

silverkelt · June 2017

Well , A. I'm super exicted, this is exactly the sort of grind that I love, run dungeons, get gear. Not run around in circles getting stuff, after doing a bunch of hes, then rng factor into runs. that sort of grind is horrendeous to players.

And b. for new players, you can get tradebar armor at 460 I level.. updated. Or you can get relic if you so choose, then work forward. Or buy masterworks gear 2, + stronghold gear combos.

Thank you for this! Its been around a year, since ive been excited for a module (well more then that.. because everything about mod 10 and the grindfest surrounding it, drove me away from the game for awhile)

This is more on par with the orginal idea of the game and something we haven't seen since mod 6 drop really, since dragonflight armor wasn't tied with dungeons really .

I'm just now hoping that implantation, will done correctly and its not something like.. ah.. now that you have your armor, we forget to tell you to go dig up 5000 dino bones to restore it (gawd please no)

cilginordek · June 2017

asterdahl said:

Not with Module 12, but we do have plans for new PvP equipment in the not too distant future.

Best PvP set is 435 IL and there are already 500 IL items coming out. Soon™ better be soon.

Edit: There has always been a PvP variant of the tradebar store armor as well. Why stop it now?

treesclimber · June 2017

asterdahl said:

treesclimber said:
If i remember correctly unrestored relic equipment is only salvageable for 1k rough ad, consider not remove elven from the seals vendor for 2 reasons, it's a unique transmute and some people (like me)
You will also be able to purchase Ostorian rings which may be salvaged directly, so you won't need to restore relic equipment for salvage. Alliance equipment may already be earned in dungeons and elven equipment will be still be available to earn for transmutes, just not with seals.

Ofc alliance gear can be obtained.

I just hope this is not a nerf to seals reward.

Dev Blog: Stronger Enemies, Stronger Equipment

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