GWF, PVP and Guinea Pigs: A Chat With Icydrake of Synergy

In today’s post we introduce something that we hope will become a stable feature on the site. Any online game is all about the community – Any game in fact is all about the community. Without the community there is no game. That’s why Irfaan Khan, who runs a channel at Youtube, would like to showcase some community members by doing interviews.

A secondary focus is to get more players to understand the content and make it easier for them to navigate the game by reading through the experience of others. Additionally Irfaan plans to include a video submission with every interview article, a montage or something similar. Youtube plays a big part in a games’ well-being and the stronger the video community, the better it is for the game.

Have fun with it!

Icydrake of Synergy

I chose Icydrake of Synergy (PC – Dragon) as my first interview champion – simply because I have always been a major fanboy, him being one of the strongest PVP GWF’s on the server. He was a very willing participant and wants to help the community out in any way that he can.

When and Why did you start playing Neverwinter, what drew you to the game?

Back when I was in high school in the late 90s, I spent 2 to 3 years playing AD&D with a bunch of really close friends (yes the traditional paper-based game!). Sword, magic and fantasy stories has always been one of my favorites. The experience with a few other AD&D games in the past has proven to be both very interesting and exciting (such as “Advanced Dungeons and Dragons – Tower of Doom” and “Runescape”). In March 2014 I came across Neverwinter and being a PvP-focused player for over 15 years, the combat system instantly hooked me into this game. I enjoy both the story and the combat system this game has to offer and would really recommend everyone to try it out!

Why a GWF, was it the sword – lol?

Back when I was playing WoW (World of Warcraft), I was a little undead Rogue. I never really bothered which class/race to choose as long as they are adequate for PvP. However, one day one of my buddies obtained a Thunderfury (legendary weapon). I looked at his toon and realized just how freaking awesome a BIG weapon looks on a heavily-armored toon, and guess what, weapon’s size scales with the character’s size too! So why a GWF? Yes it was the BIG weapon! Badass look, and demoralizes your enemies too!

If you hadn’t chosen a GWF – what other class would you rather play?

Probably a TR, melee-bursty classes have always been my favorites 🙂

With PVP: the Halfling race is quite rife because of the extra Deflect I reckon. Why did you choose a Dragonborn?

Halfing does have some advantage in PvP, the size certainly makes it harder for your enemies to target you, but a GWF’s job is to demoralize your enemies with your reckless attacks AND to tank for the healers/teammates. So covering your enemies’ screen with YOU just helps your healer/team to survive better! Its a teamwork thing! 🙂

Not trying to start up any beef but do you have any sort of ingame rival, someone that boils your blood when you see that name popup?

Yes and no, because most of the most challenging “rivals” ingame are generally my guildies. We practice, have fun and enjoy the laughter together. If we are ever in opposite teams in a match, it’s always just another good sparring! I would however like to give special thanks to Ryu (GF), Tardii (TR), Groot (GF/SW), Sophi (SW), Lancer (GWF), Hexaptance (HR), Minerva (HR), Relixuzz (HR) for teaching me how to counter their own classes. The countless sparring sessions has always been one of my best moments in Neverwinter. 🙂

Can we find you busting heads in other games too?

Not currently playing other MMORPG, one is enough to occupy my free time. It would be nice though if Diablo 4 can be released in the next year or two! 😀

Other than Neverwinter what else do you get up to in your spare time? Tell the community a little snippet about yourself!

Working two jobs, pampering two guinea pigs and listening to my wife talk ten hours a day has probably taken up most of my time (okay maybe not ten hours…). But other than that I do rock fishing on weekly basis and enjoy cooking different stuffs (if my food ever appear in Neverwinter, it will probably be called Major Unstable Food!). I love to travel, explore and learn different things but more importantly, spend the precious moments with friends and family. (Damn, I didn’t think it was that hard to hold myself from mentioning p0rns… oh wait… I didn’t say that….)

Quick Fire questions: (meant to be answered within 5 seconds)

• Favourite Dungeon – Spell Plague
• Favourite Mod – 3
• Favourite Power – Battlefury, key to speedy/reckless attacks!
• Favourite Boss – Spell Plague’s last boss, whatever the name is. Because when he changes the phase, the platform collapses, and it’s always amusing to see people falling into the water! 😀
• Favourite Companion – Cleric, been my life saver when I was lowly geared back in mod 2~3
• Favourite Mount – Champion Armored Bulette, simply BIG!

Lastly – Any tips for upcoming PVP’ers and PVE’ers?

The key to a successful GWF is to cancel your attacks’ animation swiftly, learn different classes’ Encounters/strength/weakness and learn to counter them effectively. With the right gear and build, you will be able to become just another monster GWF! Feel free to check out my GWF guide from the official GWF forum. Additionally you can also visit my Youtube channel to find out how to maximize this build’s performance.

Oh yes – If we wanted to meet you in the arena or anywhere in game, what are your most active ingame times?

I am currently most active around US/EU prime time. that’s after I fed my guinea pigs and pampered my wife to bed…

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That’s it guys! We want to thank Irfaan for the interview and Icydrake for the availability! Do you like the format, have any suggestions for future questions or anyone you’d like to see featured here? Share you thoughts in the comments below or visit the corresponding thread on our message board!