Neverwinter Nights – Hordes Of The Underdark
Developer: Bioware; Publisher: Atari
Preview by Gunner (16 December 2003)
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THE SECOND EXPANSION PACK for Neverwinter Nights is due out in New Zealand any day now! It promises more of everything that made the original and Shadows of Undrentide so grand and promises to take players to new depths in darkness.
The world is ignorant. Most will sleep away the blackest night and awake to welcome the new light of dawn secure that the light always returns. Not for all. Deep under the crust of humanity and civility is a place where nightmares never rest. Where the light of day cannot shine and slithering horrors dwell in the pits only seen in the visions of a madman. An entire world waits to be explored. An entire world waits for a bringer of light. The Underdark waits.
The Neverwinter games are very much a work in progress. With each expansion Bioware introduce more of the Dungeons & Dragons rule set and pull players more into the complex and rich game play that continues to attract players to the table top games.
With character classes now allowed up to a whopping 40 levels of experience (as opposed to the original 20 levels in the first game) players are also treated to 6 new prestige classes.
Dwarven Defender
Trained in defence he is a defender of the faith, a champion of dwarven causes "Oh god – your worse nightmare a dwarf with a cause"
Pale Master
A necromancer who specialises in the undead. "You hang with the dead too much you start looking like them!"
Weapon Master
Uses only one weapon but it becomes an extension of his body and becomes one – "Well grasshopper, I understand it's your choice but specialisation of the Lance is somewhat unusual"
Champion of Torn
Defender of Holy Ground – "Don't get him and the Dwarven Defender talking – it will only come to blows!"
Shifter
Specialisation into shape shifting spells – "Here lad, can you shift my piano? – was the last words spoken by the Bard before he was turned into a bewildered but musical toad"
There are some 16 new monsters that will inhabit the areas (and yes, 4 new tile sets as well). They include:
- Slaad
- Harpy
- DemiLich
- Demon Flesh Golem
- Azer
- Mithral Golem
- Beholder
- Drider
- Mind Flayer (Oh Joy!)
- Spider Demon
The grab bag of magic spells has just gotten bigger with some 40 new spells to entertain and amaze your monstrous friends with. An amazing feat when you consider the amount of work that must have gone into giving each of them their own unique graphical effect. There are just too many to mention in this preview but here is a taste of the long list: -
- Ball Lightning
- Blade Thirst
- Bless Weapon
- Crumble
- Flame Weapon
- Glyph of Warding
- Great Thunderclap
- Healing Sting
- Horizikaul's Boom
- Infestation of Maggots
- Iron Guts
- Keen Edge
- Mestil's Acid Sheath
- Monstrous Regeneration
- Scintillating Sphere
- Undeath to Death
- Vine Mine
Added to all of this are 50 new feats that will provide players with unparalleled customisation. This has always been the main attraction for D&D. The ability to make your character your own has not been lost on the developer and is one of the reasons this game has been so popular.
All in all this is a huge expansion that will again re-energise the series and result in a lot more lost sleep for fans. Expect it here in New Zealand very soon.
Follow the link below and check out the excellent screenshots!
Check out the Official Site.
