Dipped my toe back into Neverwinter Online recently as the Hell Pit event is back on and has been adjusted back to levels where I can actually participate (unlike Dragonslayer, but that's currently end game so it's fine for now), which is a good sign. It had previously become too costly to be worth doing (because some moron thought the enemies needed to scale for power creep) here's hoping more things are toned down back to fun levels.
I was also surprised to find Rothe Valley had made a return having previously been removed. What's new? Other than the extra dragon area being gone and two new heroic encounters which are pretty tough, it's actually exactly the same as before - right down to the campaign path. They are getting more foot traffic through it at the moment thanks to the "battle pass" going which give some currency from those aforementioned heroics, but once that's done what are they going to do? Close the area again? Yeah, probably.
Showing posts with label Hell Pit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hell Pit. Show all posts
Wednesday, 5 October 2022
Neverwinter Online: The return of Rothe can Hell Pit
Wednesday, 20 May 2020
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.
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!
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!
Thursday, 14 May 2020
Neverwinter Online: Hell Pit - Lazy Rogue Guide
Are you not entertained!?
The Hell Pit event is back as a prologue to the nextmodule episode: the Rage of Bel. Since it seems this is going to happen quite frequently, I thought I'd put a quick guide of how I go through it as a "lazy" rogue. By that I mean my free to play build and gear is nowhere near BiS and while I'm currently at 22k iLevel, the event drops you down to 20k anyway so it shouldn't really matter. I'll just be going through the basics here which is enough for me to get by so, let's get started!
The objective in the Hell Pit is to survive a number of rounds which last 2 minutes each. To be precise 2 minutes of devil or demon mobs endlessly spawning until you can wipe them out when time is over. During the first seven days it is 5 rounds. The next set adds bonus rounds with harder enemies that literally turn most of the ground red and eventually you get boss rounds too. Every round a random power up is dropped into the arena. When invoked they each last 30 seconds (other than the Nuke which is one shot):
-Speed looks like a boot. If you don't have anything better then use it as soon as you get it. Mostly worthless, but it fills up your action points fast for daily power spam.
-HP Regen looks like a heart. Another use ASAP if you have nothing else - don't expect the regen to keep you alive.
-Nuke looks like a skull. More useful than the two above as a crowd cleaner, but takes time to channel and aim. Be in stealth when you use this.
-Invuln* is a shield. It is the best power up and one you should save for the later rounds. Feel free to use it if another shield power up shows up.
*I call it invuln as it certainly makes you feel that way. On the bonus and boss rounds though, it'll help keep you alive but you still need to be on your game.
Required "BYO" Gear: Health stones or health pots. Being lazy I don't dodge everything. If you play the game for long enough (and don't go into dungeons - I'm lazy) it gifts you with enough free health stones to have a decent supply. Health pots are cheap enough with gold but obviously aren't as good. Ideally you always want to heal early - around half health you should be spamming that quickslot heal button. And yes, I mean spam. Lag will sometimes miss a keypress that can lead to your demise. Spamming works just fine as there are cooldowns on all those items preventing you from double drinking.
My basic strategy is: kill the ranged guys. You want to drop your attacks on them or in their vicinity. If your powers are on cool down, feel free to stealth/dodge/run away without attacking to simply heal up until you are ready again. Mobility is key here - you are a fighter plane doing strafing runs. You don't want to get stuck attacking in one spot for too long.
Abilities I use (Executioner path):
Sly Flourish - used sparingly as a finisher, avoided for most of the fight as it roots you in place
Cloud of Steel - ranged "pew pew pew" attack. Useful for attacking at a distance, especially when safe inside a smoke cloud
Smoke Bomb - enemies in it cannot attack, making you safe from most melee guys. Ranged foes can shoot into it though so drop this beside the ranged scum!
Blade Flurry - decent damage to the area around you, best used when mobbed within smoke bomb
Path of Blades - AoE attack that keeps going while you move and/or are stealthed. Perfect as mobility is key.
Shocking Execution - when you want something dead, but I rarely use it in favor of...
Hateful Knives - not the best daily power for rogues but what it has greatly is RANGE. Need to get out of a melee swarm or a sea of dangerous red zones? Target the ranged dude half an arena away and watch as you effectively teleport to him and stomp on his face.
That's really all there is to my method. I'm sure more "pro" players can do it without using any heals of power ups but this way suits me just fine.
The Hell Pit event is back as a prologue to the next
The objective in the Hell Pit is to survive a number of rounds which last 2 minutes each. To be precise 2 minutes of devil or demon mobs endlessly spawning until you can wipe them out when time is over. During the first seven days it is 5 rounds. The next set adds bonus rounds with harder enemies that literally turn most of the ground red and eventually you get boss rounds too. Every round a random power up is dropped into the arena. When invoked they each last 30 seconds (other than the Nuke which is one shot):
-Speed looks like a boot. If you don't have anything better then use it as soon as you get it. Mostly worthless, but it fills up your action points fast for daily power spam.
-HP Regen looks like a heart. Another use ASAP if you have nothing else - don't expect the regen to keep you alive.
-Nuke looks like a skull. More useful than the two above as a crowd cleaner, but takes time to channel and aim. Be in stealth when you use this.
-Invuln* is a shield. It is the best power up and one you should save for the later rounds. Feel free to use it if another shield power up shows up.
*I call it invuln as it certainly makes you feel that way. On the bonus and boss rounds though, it'll help keep you alive but you still need to be on your game.
Required "BYO" Gear: Health stones or health pots. Being lazy I don't dodge everything. If you play the game for long enough (and don't go into dungeons - I'm lazy) it gifts you with enough free health stones to have a decent supply. Health pots are cheap enough with gold but obviously aren't as good. Ideally you always want to heal early - around half health you should be spamming that quickslot heal button. And yes, I mean spam. Lag will sometimes miss a keypress that can lead to your demise. Spamming works just fine as there are cooldowns on all those items preventing you from double drinking.
My basic strategy is: kill the ranged guys. You want to drop your attacks on them or in their vicinity. If your powers are on cool down, feel free to stealth/dodge/run away without attacking to simply heal up until you are ready again. Mobility is key here - you are a fighter plane doing strafing runs. You don't want to get stuck attacking in one spot for too long.
Abilities I use (Executioner path):
Sly Flourish - used sparingly as a finisher, avoided for most of the fight as it roots you in place
Cloud of Steel - ranged "pew pew pew" attack. Useful for attacking at a distance, especially when safe inside a smoke cloud
Smoke Bomb - enemies in it cannot attack, making you safe from most melee guys. Ranged foes can shoot into it though so drop this beside the ranged scum!
Blade Flurry - decent damage to the area around you, best used when mobbed within smoke bomb
Path of Blades - AoE attack that keeps going while you move and/or are stealthed. Perfect as mobility is key.
Shocking Execution - when you want something dead, but I rarely use it in favor of...
Hateful Knives - not the best daily power for rogues but what it has greatly is RANGE. Need to get out of a melee swarm or a sea of dangerous red zones? Target the ranged dude half an arena away and watch as you effectively teleport to him and stomp on his face.
I can teleport to the furthest guy behind the mob of cultists with Hateful Knives.
That's really all there is to my method. I'm sure more "pro" players can do it without using any heals of power ups but this way suits me just fine.
Monday, 6 January 2020
NWO: An Ode to the Forgotten Adventurer
There once was a man who helped those new to the shores of Neverwinter reach the city, but since the retooling of the intro quests he has been removed with Makos taking the spotlight, possibly having gone back through history to change the timeline.
While Cryptic would prefer this person to be forgotten, we will never forget Private Wilbur Winfred Wally uh... Dave. For those who don't know, Private Dave "the Dude" was an amazing ally. He heroically fell to Valindra about 5 minutes into the intro quest and would much later return as one of her officers since he managed to woo the lich despite being dead.
Everyone even remembers his favourite battle cry, "For the Nashers!" which he learned as a member of the Cult of the Dragon. It is a little known fact that he was a member of all the cults, and was a master of disguise, his favourite being a kenku as he mastered their "Cacaaaww!" cry, - even before being transformed into a tiefling when he equipped an unidentified item. As a result, all of Faerun (monsters and gods included) agreed to never have unidentified items ever again.
Wanting to lift his curse our favourite guy began studying magic under an alias starting with M. Marcos or Madros or something, and became a master of all the schools of magic. At one point he even became the Queen of the undead in Ebon Downs. Many look back fondly at fighting him in the Throne of Dave dungeon, which Cryptic has also removed, yet to no avail as it keeps coming back like some olden tales. Dave "the Dude" is now everywhere and everything. He is sometimes a five headed dragon, other times a charlatan named Elminster.
Dave's worst adversaries came in the form of Great Weapon Fighters though, and on more than one occasion he called them barbarians. Now everyone else calls them barbarians too! To train up against this threat, he's practiced their two handed ways and joined the recent Hell Pit event under his super secret alias "Wilfred". See Cryptic, you can never be rid of "the dude", because we know you work for him. The proof is with the Githyanki who still yell "For the Nashers!". I'm sure they learned it from Dave.
While Cryptic would prefer this person to be forgotten, we will never forget Private Wilbur Winfred Wally uh... Dave. For those who don't know, Private Dave "the Dude" was an amazing ally. He heroically fell to Valindra about 5 minutes into the intro quest and would much later return as one of her officers since he managed to woo the lich despite being dead.
"It is I... Dave the Dude!"
Everyone even remembers his favourite battle cry, "For the Nashers!" which he learned as a member of the Cult of the Dragon. It is a little known fact that he was a member of all the cults, and was a master of disguise, his favourite being a kenku as he mastered their "Cacaaaww!" cry, - even before being transformed into a tiefling when he equipped an unidentified item. As a result, all of Faerun (monsters and gods included) agreed to never have unidentified items ever again.
Wanting to lift his curse our favourite guy began studying magic under an alias starting with M. Marcos or Madros or something, and became a master of all the schools of magic. At one point he even became the Queen of the undead in Ebon Downs. Many look back fondly at fighting him in the Throne of Dave dungeon, which Cryptic has also removed, yet to no avail as it keeps coming back like some olden tales. Dave "the Dude" is now everywhere and everything. He is sometimes a five headed dragon, other times a charlatan named Elminster.
Dave's worst adversaries came in the form of Great Weapon Fighters though, and on more than one occasion he called them barbarians. Now everyone else calls them barbarians too! To train up against this threat, he's practiced their two handed ways and joined the recent Hell Pit event under his super secret alias "Wilfred". See Cryptic, you can never be rid of "the dude", because we know you work for him. The proof is with the Githyanki who still yell "For the Nashers!". I'm sure they learned it from Dave.
Thursday, 21 November 2019
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)