NWO: The Redeemed Citadel

Competitive grinding.

Hot on the heels of Path of the Fallen, players are now tasked with helping celestial forces in reclaiming their stronghold which surprisingly simply entails killing a boat load of devils and demons, and occasionally retrieving lost angel gear.

It's not much to look at.

The type and number of rats to kill vary per immediately repeating quest though you will gain more currency by doing the one off weekly challenges (or relentlessly hunting the BHE apparently).

There is a leader board that will show how far from the top 100 you are - all those players at the end will be getting a shiny vorpal enchantment in addition to whatever tier of support/favor reached. Theses are spaced out in denominations of 7000. Having played around six hours, I got 1600 for two characters so... yeah. Guess I'm missing out this time!

Insight: If you are serious about the ranking stuff, you'll need to chase that Avernus BHE down regularly.

August 2020 Review: Lack of Sleep

Some drunk women decided to drive their car into my office building this week, at 8:45 AM - I guess they stayed up all night? No one was hurt as they managed to get their handbags to walk away, abandon their ride and harass other people nearby. Thankfully those morons were taken away by the cops. I too am suffering a lack of sleep but for a different vice: gaming.

With another low-key Blaugust participation done, my work stress continues as does our progression through GTFO which regular readers would have noticed my writeups of. We're in the R3B level now... and I thought the top floor was hard! Haha! Getting lots of gaming done besides that, including Neverwinter with its Avernus related modules. Probably should switch out some of that gaming this month for sleep. Lastly, for those interested in the results of "the music war", here's where its at.

   End 2020 with less weight (-1 kg from last month, running total: +4 kg)
   Make 1 web comic page (nope)
   Make a board game (nope)

BACKLOG
Just Cause 4 [free from Epic Games]
Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms [free on Steam] (had enough)
Zombie Army Trilogy [gift]
GTFO [gift] (Awesome! Still playing!)
Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop [free from Steam]
Dishonored 2 [gift]
Resident Evil 2 [gift]
Metro Exodus [gift]
Metal Gear Survive [gift] (done)
Killing Floor 2 [free from Epic]
NWO: Path of the Damned [2/2]
Warhammer 40k: Rites of War [free from GOG] (had enough)
Tacoma [free from Epic Games] (done)
+20XX [free from Epic Games] (had enough)
+Barony  [free from Epic Games] (had enough)
+Sword & Sworcery [free from Epic Games] (done)
+3 out of 10: Chapter 1 [free from Epic Games] (done)
+Wilmot's Warehouse [free from Epic Games] (had enough)
+Remnant: From the Ashes [free from Epic Games]
+The Alto Collection [free from Epic Games] (had enough)
+Troy: A Total War Saga [free from Epic Games]
+3 out of 10: Chapter 2 [free from Epic Games] (doesn't start)
+God's Trigger [free from Epic Games] (done)
+Enter the Gungeon [free from Epic Games] (had enough)
+Hitman [free from Epic Games]
+Shadowrun Collection [free from Epic Games]

Board games:
Zombicide: Black Plague (11/11)
Mice and Mystics: Heart of Glorm (6/6)

BLOG STATS

One Year Ago

I was admiring impromptu player made content while also bashing Cryptic and Neverwinter a little bit while playing Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2.

Five Years Ago

I was doing my creative writing experiment. Actually I've been doing a lot of story type stuff lately: while I have a few more ready to deploy I'm going to try cut down on that so that I can use more creative power on other stuff, like that comic I never started! :P

Most Viewed Posts last Month

Pokemon: Detective Pikachu
Neverwinter Online: Fiery Pit Vigilance Guide
GTFO: R3A2 - Purification

Top Search Terms last Month

osrs inferno cape
osrs infernal cape black mark   

This old school Runescape cape seems to be netting a lot of views again, must be in demand! As for the most viewed posts my guides again are taking high ranks, only being outdone by Pokemon! :P

Neverwinter Online: Path of the Fallen

Introduces cars to D&D.

Continuing on from the hell-bound Vallenhas Stronghold, players can explore more of Avernus is this mod which supposedly has the blood war between devils and demons raging. What's it like? Surprisingly a lot like Borderlands 2 actually, especially when it comes to the design of vehicles, wasteland and domiciles.Yes. Vehicles. Soul-powered vehicles.

 You get a car, you get a car, everyone gets a car!

It's not as terribly genre breaking as I initially feared and it's quite fun to race around the wastes. They do take it a step further with the radio though. Yep. Hell radio has talk shows, ads, and a lot of heavy metal music. Devils have electric guitars apparently.

What they don't really have is the blood war, instead letting the player base dictate which side "wins" per cycle by just keeping track of the type of mobs they camp. I do like that there are a bunch of quests that you can accomplish without combat though, or easy enough combat to progress the campaign. Big plus for that.

Also, I agree with Shintar that while most of the campaign is ho hum story wise the finale is pretty good. All up this mod isn't great but it isn't too bad either (unless you are trying to win the blood war to get a rare boss to spawn, in which case happy grinding).

Insight: Try to kill cambions first as they summon those very damaging flame circles.

---

Blaugust Bonus: "If you could change anything about one of your core fandoms, what would it be?" -Belghast

Despite it not being too bad, I still would have preferred it if cars and more modern stuff didn't get shoved into the realms of Dungeons and Dragons.

Neverwinter Online: The Rage of Bel

Some like it hot, but this is just confusing.

Since the hell spawn are experiencing continued failure at Vallenhas (and most likely in the Hell Pit), Zariel the lord of Avernus has sent her best general - the titular Bel - and his legions to turn the tide... which results in a ridiculous failure, not just for the demon army but for the programmed design. Every two hours you can enter a dark rift to fight his troops.

That section currently lasts around 10-20 minutes (thanks to today's patch as it was much shorter previously), afterwards it closes and you can fight Bel himself for an hour (there's a handy timer on the top right part of the Avernus map to help you plan your day). The hardest part of his fight is basically not stepping on any spot you or your team have previously stepped on. Melee centered characters need not worry too much, as the idiot will teleport to you if you move far enough away but ranged DPS will certainly have an easier time in his last phase.

Don't like a team? Bel is quite accessible for solo players too. His only "tricky" part is the catapult section, where he patiently stands still while waiting to get shot. If you have a blue flame on your head, you are the one that needs to find a magic rock and bring it to the catapult which is easy enough. If you are in a team and don't have the blue flame, your job is to keep clear of any loading zones and catapults which often means slow lazy circles while evading the sky fire.

Casually strolling with blue boulders while Bel waits patiently.

Oh well, as usual its a bit short on the story and quite heavy on the grind for the new upgradable buff item. There's also a bit of waiting thanks to somewhat moronic design but I wouldn't expect anything better from Cryptic. Thumbs up though for once again jumping straight into the boss fight. I quite like that!

Insight: Load up on some demonic overloads from your stronghold gem shop if you have it to make your life easier. Probably a good idea to have them for the hell pit too!

Neverwinter Online: Infernal Descent

Hell introduces the Hangry Meter.

With the Vallenhas Stronghold pulled down to Avernus, the first layer of Hell, it has become the staging site of great battles between man-lings and demon kind as well as the best place to hunt a giant gorilla with a mace for a hand. Most importantly it now holds one of the best vendors in the game, Juma, who you will find conveniently locked away in the courtyard, instead of on the jumping puzzle rooftop where he was initially.

For new comers this place is tough! Special attention has to be given to the little pips/dots on enemies too which is their new difficulty rating - what I like to call their Hangry Meter. The more dots, the tougher the fight. As an example well fed Hell Hounds have 1 while ravenous hell hounds have 4. Juma's surprise bags will eventually drop the gear you need to thrive.

Even the blue dragon wants a piece of the ape!

I also quite like that there are a lot of evadable patrolling groups which adds some life to the place and the teleport glyphs save lots of travel time to the heavily modified stronghold map. For squishy characters, remember to use cover as there are a lot of ranged enemies - they won't shoot if they can't see you and they like turning corners blindly. In addition, try keep all fights in a small area to avoid extras from joining in.

Infernal Descent is a tough mod but one that gets my tick of approval.

Insight: If you are under geared, chase the +ape for a bit for the currency to buy Juma's bags. With luck, you'll get the stuff you need in short order. Also, don't be afraid to use zone chat to let people know an ape is on your channel to get reinforcements.

The Cursed: A Previous Victory

[Part of the Cursed story line]

The team catch up to the reverend and he reveals himself to be the demon Belhifet! He explains the whole Kuldahar threat was simply a ruse to weaken Easthaven as it is here that he needs to open the portal to hell (not sure why he needed to wait till -now- to do that, guess he's an idiot). Unwilling to let him do that the squad rushes him and his remaining cronies for one last epic combat!

Providing ranged support, Reise is suddenly squished into a mist of fine blood by an iron golem who then proceeds to kick Iholikan around, severely wounding the elf. Meanwhile Belhifet hacks Wylfdene to pieces and then quarters Cristiana before finally being put down by Farcol and Sofie. His defeat also powers down the iron golem, and the threat is finally over!

I needed... a bigger... army...

Belhifet, being a demon, rematerializes in Avernus - upset at the loss of his Northern gambit. All his hopes now ride with his servant in the South... Hephernan. As for the three survivors, they are now trapped in a frozen town with no where to go till spring. Fortunately there is plenty of food in the form of cyclops meat. All they have to do is wait.

Insight: Belhifet wisely opens with a dispel so pop a bless and haste as your opening moves.

Neverwinter is going to Hell

Isn't it already there? Lol.

There's a new event up in Neverwinter Online called the Hell Pit which is likely the precursor to the next module: Infernal Descent (which in turn I assume will be loosely based on Baldur's Gate: Descent to Avernus, but maybe without the Mad Max cars).

You must survive the solo level 80 arena for a few days to be able to buy some nifty rewards, one of which is a legendary mount which is awesome for free players like myself! The bad news is these wins are tracked at the account level, so only one character per account will have enough time to earn it. Also the horses bonuses aren't great compared to other legendary mounts available but hey, beggars can't be choosers right?

Update: Looks like Cryptic made a devilishly sneaky adjustment... now if you want the horse, TOO BAD! Only 1 Token of Achievement will be awarded during Hell Pit. Subsequent events throughout the year will each reward 1 Token of Achievement for minimum participation PER event. 

Yeah, and it's anyone's guess how far apart those events will be time wise... so that's a massive "F-U" to your alts! Nice one Cryptic, showing once again you are the king in stupid design decisions as this has pretty much killed all my excitement for doing this event!

Just to clarify, that's like doing 75 days of work (split up into 5 across the year, without any pre-warning of when they are) in which you will only get paid after all 75 days of work are done. You miss even one and tough luck buddy! No main reward for you!

Oh well, I've survived without a legendary mount this far, and it doesn't look like I'll be getting one from this bullshit either.

Insight: If you are still interested, you'll need 15 wins to earn the "main" token.

The Cursed: Avernus

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Avernus, the first layer of hell. With no way but forward, Catharina and company help the quickly diminishing crusader forces against hell cats, lemures, imps, and a variety of colorful devils. They eventually catch up with Caelar, who is facing off against the treacherous Hephernan and his actual master - Belhifet. Catharina offers to assist, and Caelar joins the team for this battle! Good thing too since she's really strong.

Yeah, she'd win against that in game.

Hephernan is taken down first, but then Glint is gibbed by Belhifet and Jaheira and Khalid are KOed by demonic reinforcements. Fortunately between Caelar and Party Girl, Belhifet is destroyed (haste and ultra magic arrows) and Caelar uses the greater demons blood to send the survivors out of hell while she herself has to remain to seal the portal.

Khalid and Jaheira are taken to the medics while Catharina and Party Girl are celebrated as heroes... for one night. This is because Catharina has a bad dream coming from hell and all, and in a sleepwalking state murders Skie. She is immediately detained by the Flaming Fist and sent back to Baldur's Gate in shackles... (and onto Baldur's Gate 2)!

Insight: Caelar is a fantastic tank, especially if you toss her some health pots.