Everything You Need to Know About the Heart of Fire Release
Neverwinter’s “Heart of Fire” is the 15th major update of the Dungeons & Dragons MMO and brings Faerun’s definitive adventuring brand to the Protector’s Enclave! “Acquisitions Incorporated” started as small podcasts of random dudes playing their favorite role-playing game, but has long grown into D&Ds biggest live show with several spin-offs. Now Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik headline the module in a lighthearted campaign and story with their characters Omin Dran and Jim Darkmagic.
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Additionally “Heart of Fire” updates all kinds of events, introduces multiple new ways of experiencing old group content, completely reshuffles class balance, and overhauls old Professions into a new Workshop system. No matter whether you’re a seasoned veteran that wants to get the latest information or a new or returning players that wonders what the update might have in store, this article serves all your needs! As always we’ve compiled all relevant information and walk you through the additions and features. Have fun with it!
Story and Campaign
The story in Module 15 is designed to attract new players and that’s why the campaign already picks up at level 15. It’s only the second one next to Tyranny of Dragons that can be started on lower levels and scaling content makes sure the challenge remains casual and steady throughout the quests. In a fun-first story players apply as interns at Acquisitions Incorporated’s new branch in the Protector’s Enclave and help their bosses to find the “Heart of Fire”. A brand-new event with bonus rewards makes sure new players get even more out of the latest story line. There certainly hasn’t been a better time to get into the game!
But that doesn’t mean Acquisitions Incorporated don’t have something in store for seasoned veterans. The campaign comes with a brand-new skirmish and a “hardcore” K-Team Challenge with endgame rewards! Will you impress Omin Dran or fail miserably?
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Acquisitions Incorporated Campaign
- [sc name=”info_png”] Bag of Tricks Vol. 74: Campaign and Patronage Cheat Sheet for Module 15
- [sc name=”guide_png”] Acquisitions Incorporated Campaign Guide
- [sc name=”info_png”] It’s a Shame You Only Get Six Quests out of the Acquisitions Incorporated Campaign
- [sc name=”info_png”] Is Acquisitions Incorporated What the Game Really Needs?
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Heart of Fire Achievements
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Quality of Life Improvements
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Manycoins Bank Heist Skirmish
- [sc name=”preview_png”] List of K-Team Weekly Dungeons and Alt Promo Event Preview
Workshop
The Workshop system might be the biggest system we’ve covered on Unblogged to date. It’s a full rework of the old Professions system that slowly but steadily lost viability and appeal over the years. Now all you crafters can rejoice and build up your own Workshop in Protector’s Enclave. Granted, it’s still no deeply immersive “go into the world and build stuff” crafting, but it has much more variance and possibilities than the old static Professions. Veteran players should have tons of fun figuring out new ways of utilizing the system and make profit! And new players are born into a much improved crafting experience.
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Workshop System Basics
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Workshop Vendors and Exchange System
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Workshop Artisans, Tools, and Supplements
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Workshop Crafting Products
- [sc name=”info_png”] Are Workshops Really Such a Big Improvement over Old Professions?
Salvage and AD Economy Changes
Neverwinter players had to go through many economic tweaks in the past and unfortunately Module 15 adds to it. The devs changed the way in which one of the major currencies, Rough Astral Diamonds, can be earned. Until Module 15, gear could be “salvaged” for a small amount of ADs. That’s no longer possible. Part of it is reasonable as the economy is easier to balance without gear and AD progression being tied to each other. But the devs also made it clear that that expect play styles and earn rates to change. So players will have to find the next best way to amass wealth.
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Cryptic to Severely Nerf Rough Astral Diamond Income in Module 15
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Salvage and AD Economy Changes
- [sc name=”info_png”] Have Alternate Characters Gotten a Sneaky Upgrade thanks to VIP Re-Roll Tokens?
- [sc name=”info_png”] Salvage Nerf Might Look Bad for Now, but Could Turn out Decent in the Future
Class Balance
Module 15 comes with a complete balancing pass that affects all classes. The devs overall tried to make lesser used powers and paths more viable, but also swung the nerf hammer hard on classes that they thought were overperforming. Certain builds of Devoted Clerics are getting the boot as well as the little stabbers known as Trickster Rogues. Other than that, most classes should experience a little more choices for the roles they are trying to fill. We’re not going to lie, balance will remain an issue in the game, and the devs already announced more changes for Module 16. So the stuff that we detailed in-depth below in most cases is only a step towards the intended goal.
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Control Wizard Balance Changes
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Devoted Cleric Balance Changes
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Guardian Fighter and Oathbound Paladin Balancing Changes
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Great Weapon Fighter Balancing Changes
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Hunter Ranger Balance Changes
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Scourge Warlock Balancing Changes
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Trickster Rogue Assassination
- [sc name=”info_png”] Will This Knee-Jerk Nerfing Ever End?
- [sc name=”info_png”] Should Neverwinter Substantially Rework the Paragon Path System?
Rewards and Premium Items
Nerfed or buffed, all classes can grab one of the new rewards that the module throws at players. Gallant Armor sets go as high as item level 600, there’s new Artifacts, Artifact Sets, Enchantments and much, much more thanks to the Workshop system. The ZEN Market as always will get updated as well with some premium goodies. And yeah, new lockboxes, who would have thought? The devs however don’t just introduce new boxes, but changed the whole reward structure to make it a little more transparent what you can get. We’ve previewed everything in the links below. So make sure to click through!
- [sc name=”preview_png”] ZEN Market and Premium Item Additions
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Lockbox Changes and New Opportunities Lockbox Preview
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Reborn Lockbox Preview
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Full Gallant Gear Visuals and Stats
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Workshop Crafting Products
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Datamining and Event Updates
Event Updates
One focus of the “Heart of Fire” was to bring old events up to speed. The devs updated old content with new rewards that will show up over the course of the module. There’s some intriguing stuff included like exclusive Enchantments, and even an Artifact Weapon set! So make sure to pay attention to upcoming event announcements much closer than you’re accustomed to!
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Neverwinter Heart of Fire Datamining and Event Updates
- [sc name=”preview_png”] Datamining Bonus Edition: Tales of Old Event
We certainly hope our collection of articles will help you during the first days in the Heart of Fire module and beyond! Have further questions or remarks? Share them on our social channels, in the comments below, or visit our message board! And now, get to work interns!
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The coverage on unblogged is starting look like it has more marketing spin than the Arc News articles.
5$ sellout. Easy fix: Contact us, write articles yourself. Cheers!
Nah. My VIP is up in a week then I am off. Only time will tell whether your gushy coverage matches the general mood or is well off the pace.
Looks like your lockbox analysis turned out to be accurate. So now instead of being able to sell the packs inside (which are only worth their full value when opened in bulk to smooth out the rng), we’ll now have to open them ourselves and get mostly junk. And when someone mentioned that not having refinement packs meant hoarding the entire lockbox until a 2x event, a dev jumped in and said “nope! 2x events won’t affect the new boxes”. The campaign better be a home run because all of the other system/economy changes feel like a middle finger.
Oh wow. We’ll try to confirm but that would obviously be a huge nerf unless they upped the drop rates significantly.
The “asset exchange” is a complete joke, all you can get from it is white items that CAN BE MADE using the profession system itself, and random artisans that might or might not suck (most likely will). The new good assets will be in lockboxes again, just wait.
I’m pretty sure selling all your junk on the AH is a better investment than converting it into credit.
I really appreciate all your work, but you are absurdly positive about Professions changes. Did you really sell out to be a Cryptic Shill for $5? 😉
This Mod looks like a lot worse than a Big Middle Finger. And the update is more than 4 GB, but the Launcher no longer says how large the update is, it just says how much has downloaded. I worked it out from the 1% already completed.
And did you see what happened with Griffon’s Wrath? ROFLMAO! These devs can’t even get the Pumpkins to work so it took five times longer than it should and I still only got to 700 Masquerade Tokens in the last 3 hours. Oh, OF COURSE!! I can BUY 300 Tokens from the Zen market for 375 Zen to get my Empowered Mask! How silly of me!
I did get 3 lots of 45k rAD from level up rewards before being kicked off the server, though! Didn’t have time to do the last two characters.
🙂
if true then old boxes for the win every time?