Categories:
Pros:
- The extent of character customization offered in this game is almost unheard of
- The ability to create your own dungeons at the Foundry
- Completely customizable HUD
- Fluid action-based combat
- Beautiful graphics and amazing voice overs
Cons:
- Gameplay becomes really grindy after level 60
- The game leans towards pay-to-win
- Matchmaking in PvP is atrocious
- Recent patch has broken quite a lot of in-game features and basic skills and removed a range of dungeons
Neverwinter is a very unique MMORPG that was designed based on the Dungeon and Dragon universe. Like the renowned board game, this MMORPG features an incredible amount of customizations. In fact, once you have the game installed and booted up, you’ll be given choices after choices to select from during character creation.
For instance, for race, you are spoiled for choice as you have a stunning 12 different races to choose from, including the reptilian-like Dragonborn, the demonic Tiefling and a huge range of elven races, such as the wood elves, moon elves and sun elves. Granted that some races are premium only, there are quite a lot available for the free-to-play player. Each race has their respective racial traits that add to the character’s starting stats and some are more immune to certain types of damage, for example, dwarfs are more resilient to knockdowns and stuns.
Once you’ve chosen race, you’ll then need to select a class. There are up to 8 classes available in Neverwinter. Depending on how you enjoy playing MMOs, you would want to choose a class that caters to your play style. Classes also have their respective primary ability and 2 secondary abilities (stats), and can even be specialized into 3 different feats later on. Appearance-wise, there are many presets available that you can further customize. There is even a character background part where you get to craft a story for your character.
Being the bread and butter of every MMO, the combat system is very nicely designed in Neverwinter. It is an action-based MMO where you’ll need to make every action you do count. There is even positional damage in which frontal damage can be blocked and attacking from the back will increase your chances of getting a critical strike.
Interestingly, with every hit you make, you’ll gain action points which will contribute to the charging up of your special, and very strong, power. Once the meter is filled, you can unleash devastation on your enemies. Combat in this game is also supplemented by the addition of a companion which you can later obtain at level 16. Companions have their own set of classes and powers, and they can be leveled up alongside you. You can even equip them with items.
In terms of questing and PvE, Neverwinter features a range of group dungeons as well as quest-based mini-dungeons that you can choose to complete solo or in a group. Dungeons in this game are unique in the sense that they are almost always riddled with traps, so by being watchful of your surroundings, you can avoid getting any unnecessary damage. For PvP, there are mainly 3 types of modes – the 5-vs-5 Domination; the 10-vs-10 Gauntigrym and the 20-vs-20 Strongholds. However, many players avoid PvP due to the game’s non-existing match-making system.
Besides PvE and PvP, you’ll also be able to level up your professions in Neverwinter as well. They include artificing, alchemy, tailoring, jewelcrafting and also the more unusual, leadership. Interestingly, unlike other MMOs where your character actually learns the skills associated to these professions, you’ll hire the craftsmen you need to help you get an item crafted. Crafting naturally takes time and you can queue up jobs while you wait for the processes to complete. Resources are also needed for crafting and for those, you’ll have to manually collect them yourself.
The most interesting aspect of Neverwinter is the foundry where you can build your own playable dungeon from scratch and design your own quest chain! There are some restrictions in place to prevent players from exploiting this content creation feature, but if you dutifully keep to the criteria, your dungeon or quests should be available for others to enjoy pretty quickly. By doing other players’ quests or dungeons, you can gain bonus experience points that will help you level up a bit more easily too since you won’t be running all over the place.
To sum it all up, Neverwinter is an incredible MMORPG that stands out from the usual MMO fanfare, such as its unique foundry and a craftsmen-hiring profession systems. Admittedly, there had been some problems regarding to its latest patch, but Neverwinter is, without a doubt, a solid MMO that offers hours of entertainment. So, do check out this game today and experience it for yourself!
I’ve been playing this game for years and they have ruined it and turned it into a complete pay-to-win. They virtually removed the ability to generate currency in the game so that you have to throw real money into it. With the recent addition of Xbox and PlayStation platforms, the game is geared only towards new players now and grabbing their money. Without the ability to make meaningful currency, it would take years to refine the enchants and obtain the companions in order to become best-in-slot if you want to play for free. It’s ridiculous, important items, if you were to pay real money, cost anywhere from $150-$400 on the auction house and you need about 20, fully-refined items to become best-in-slot. Then, every 6 months when they add new content, they typically make the previous gear obsolete…so more refining, more money.
There is no meaningful content that doesn’t require endless grinding. The foundry, where you can create maps, is a joke because it can’t be made challenging to even low-level players.
This game is one decent MMO away from being toast. All of the good players that have been around for a long time have either quit the game or are looking for something better to play.
By the way, the PvP is HORRIBLY mismatched and the devs do nothing about it besides continue to alienate people to the game. My PvP toon is BiS, but that’s because I’ve been playing for years. If you are a new player, you will get slaughtered in PvP unless you want to dump several thousand $$$s to obtain the dozen or so necessary enchants and refine the 5 pieces of artifact gear.
The only redeeming thing about this game is the PvP mechanics and controls, but they haven’t given us any new pvp maps in years. They gave us a couple of PvP zones over the last 3 years but no one plays them anymore because they are lame, unbalanced, and pointless…but you have to complete campaigns in those zones for the boons but there’s no one in those zones to play with.
They even removed 5 of our main dungeons over 2 years ago and haven’t brought them back yet. It’s dungeons and dragons…but without the dungeons. The questing is horribly lame and repetitive and simple.
A year and a half ago, they forced everyone to join guilds and donate to the guild coffer in order to improve it and get boons. I’m in a top-tier guild and if your guild has the manpower and resources to grind that hard, it still takes close to a year to level it up to 20. After 2 years now, average or casual guilds have only reached level 12. There is absolutely no point in creating a new guild, you have to join an established one.
A lot of us are now playing Black Desert, but that has it’s own problems. We were all looking forward to Everquest Next, but that tanked. Really, Neverwinter doesn’t bring anything worthwhile to the table anymore, it’s just there to sucker new players into spending real money.
People shouldn’t waste their time, or especially their money, on this game.
yeah never winter is a bs game now ,if you have items go missing they wont take care of it,and the ticket system is also bs ,i put in a ticket over a year ago and they haven’t taken care of it and i put in over 12 tickets.all they want is your money.the game has more bugs then a hooker has crabs.they should give this game half a star.
100% agree with this as a Beta Player. Sadly the game mechanics are amazing, but they are literally ruining their own game by making it near impossible to play. Throwing the occasional 20-50.00 at a game is fine, but it’s thousands of dollars PER toon to make this doable. They have decreased drop levels (although they will say they recently increased them, but it’s a joke) It’s literally at this point a gambling site that doesn’t give you the odds of the pay out.
100% agree with the player above, as a beta player. The economy in the game is nearly at critical failure status. The drop rate in dungeons has been so far degraded, new players have zero hope of ever playing solid end game content and competing. New guilds fail before level 2 and 3, because the grind is so intense, and the requirements are overwhelming. Throwing 20-50.00 here and there at a game is fine, because after all it is a business, but it literally takes thousands of dollars at this point to get a solid toon that is top tier. Most items cannot be moved from toon to toon on your account. With it’s drop rates in dungeons at an alarmingly low chance and it’s lockboxes and keys, it’s literally a gambling site at this point that doesn’t give you the odds. It’s sad, because it was an amazing game when it started, fun and inclusive. Now, the players that stay are just so invested LITERALLY, and they are angry. People don’t help each other anymore in the game because it’s just “too expensive” As a new player, I would stay clear….and like most seasoned players….I’m looking to spend my money elsewhere.
As of September 2017 Neverwinter has brought out the largest Nerf Hammer to date. Gear that players have worked for and or paid huge sums for is now being reduced in effectiveness by 30% “bonding stones anyone”. To say this game is free to play is a misnomer. It is a pure cash grab. As others have said this game is grindy beyond belief. New players will suffer the most. As of update 12b this game is best left alone, play something else.