Greetings Adventurers! The bustling city of Neverwinter is preparing to welcome new and veteran players to the upcoming module, Jewel of the North, launching August 24! In preparation for this, we’ve put together some tips for making your way through Neverwinter.
- Explore Protector’s Enclave – Once you’ve completed the initial quests, you will arrive at Protector’s Enclave (PE) where adventures can find various locations for all their needs.
- Know your Non-Player Character (NPC) contact locations – NPCs are integral in getting you started on your adventures. With the release of Jewel of the North, some NPCs have moved from their prior location. Sgt. Knox can now be found within the Adventurer’s Guild.
- Take Advantage of the New Training Room – A special demiplane has been created for adventurers to practice techniques and test their mettle! Access to this unique area is found within the Adventurer’s Guild.
- Make Contact With Your Events Contacts – Heralds for most events can be found in the large event dais on the ground level of Protector’s Enclave. These NPCs will provide adventurers with introductory quests and showcase the event rewards!
- Special Vendors and Traders – Certain merchants for special events such as Neverember’s Recruitment have stationed themselves in the Seven Suns Coster Market. Unique currencies can be used to trade with these vendors.
- Control the Bard, Don’t Let the Bard Control You – The new Bard class has special and unique mechanics: Perform and Free Perform. Notes C, D, E, and F are activated via the Cross, Circle, Triangle, and Square buttons. Notes G, A, B, C are activated via the directional buttons. Make more music with quickslots and octaves with the controller’s R1, R2, L1, and L2 buttons.
- A Rewarding Entrance – Make sure to stop by the Reward Claims Agent on launch day for some free goodies! The launch of Jewel of the North will also kickstart 20 weeks of different weekly gifts.
- Max Level Change – Feeling…younger? No, this is not your imagination! With the leveling changes introduced in this new module, the max level has been adjusted to 20. Characters who were level 80 will be set to level 20 and offered a free gear pack.
- Whistle While You Work – While Masterwork Professions will appear at a later date post-module launch, the profession and artisan levels have been adjusted to align with the new max level. For new adventurers, the quest “A Workshop Opportunity” will become available at Level 8.
One button covered three key attacks: a powerful strike at the battle’s start, a set of continuous attacks during, and a gorgeous Execution at its end. The functions and visual effects worked as one, giving the sensation of an arcade experience. We were very satisfied with it.
We spent more than two months producing a demo based on this system. Feedback from players who tried the demo at expos was positive, which convinced us that we are heading in the right direction.
The contradiction between streamlined combat and rich stages
Then, we started formal development. We defined F.I.S.T. as an easy-to-operate action game with more than 10 hours of main story playtime, an expansive and seamless map, and a large number of exploration elements. However, after completing the first stage, with more and more content and a longer overall playtime added in, the original combat system began to show some disadvantages.
The original three-stage combat experience involves charge, attacks, and Execution. Charge attacks take time to prepare, which is difficult when combat encounters happen suddenly. Execution is essentially a performance with little input beyond the initial activation. As a result, players have to press the same button again and again for combo attacks most of the time during the battle.
Such a combat system is a reasonable design for a 15-minute demo, but not quite as suitable for a game that lasts a few hours. It became boring.
Considerations while designing combo attacks
After rethinking the player experience when performing combo attacks, we decided to add one button into the combat system. The two attack buttons are to perform light attack and heavy attacks. Players will need to memorize combos, such as L(ight)L(Light)H(eavy), LHL, HLH to perform different skills.
But we don’t want to give up our original intention of developing an arcade-styled action game. If it’s necessary to memorize combos, how could we simplify it as much as possible? After several brainstorms, we developed th