Neverwinter Ravenloft Preview and Guide: Artifact Gear and Weapons [UPDATED]

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As part of our massive coverage of Neverwinter’s Module 14, Ravenloft, I’m going over the new artifact gear pieces today. Ravenloft features two new weapon and four new artifact sets that partially integrate pre-existing items. In contrary to new armor pieces, the mod doesn’t raise the item level bar here. The gear caps at item level 500/520, the artifacts are 320 on mythic quality.

[su_box title=”More on Ravenloft!” radius=”0″]Want all the latest on the new Ravenloft update? Click here for the full coverage![/su_box]

Vistani Weapon Set (Item Level 500)

The Vistani Weapon Set is a free set that every toon gets by completing the introductory storyline. It has a relatively weak set bonus that only grants +500 Defense and Movement, but as catch-up this absolutely works. The weapons can be refined using the usual reagents and refining points.

Sunset Weapon Set (Item Level 520)

In contrary to the Vistani Weapons, the Sunset set does match the item level of Mod 13 Exalted gear. It features 520 on legendary quality, but is harder to acquire and restore. At the end of the Ravenloft campaign progression players pick up a quest “The Devil’s Due” that hands out the unrestored weapons for the first completion of the “Castle Ravenloft” dungeon. Similar to the process in Modules 10 and 11, players then have to farm some special reagents from the zone and dungeon to restore the weapons. I’ve attached a video below in which you can see the necessary materials. That part starts around the 12:00 minute mark.

There are four different reagents, from which the Barovian Nightcrawler is the most basic to farm since it drops from HEs in Barovia. Phosphorescent Moss comes from the campaign shop and the Sunset Shard from Castle Ravenloft. Well and then there’s Wychwood, which is a weekly reward from those random merchants that also sell the Vampire Kit ammunition. I’m sure you’ll have a fun time finding them… In case you’re wondering: We unfortunately do not have any kind of map with possible merchant locations. I personally know two that I just randomly look up. If you can help out with something here… anytime!

The set bonus makes the weapons “best in slot” in Mod 14 content, including the new dungeon. Everywhere else however you should be rocking whatever was best for you in Mod 13. You have to decide for yourself whether you want to switch to a new set that’s of situational use.

[su_youtube_advanced url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGg-F-cQGy4&t=12m2s” https=”yes”]

[su_box title=”Theorycrafting Hint”]Before we get to the Artifact sets, I’d like to give a shout-out to Viral, who has done extensive testing on the Mod 14 items. If you’re interested in a little more information on how the bonuses work, make sure to check out the link![/su_box]

Ravenloft Set

The Ravenloft Artifact Set consists of three completely new items. The artifact drops from the Castle Ravenloft dungeon and the neck and waist pieces can be obtained through the campaign store for 2,500 Barovian Coins each. Thirst features nice stats and a debuff, which should make it viable for endgame content. The Cummerbund additionally fits a DPS Great Weapons Fighter or Guardian Fighter quite nicely, but depending on your setup and class you might have trouble maintaining the set bonus.

Apocalypse Set

The Apocalypse Artifact Set is interesting because it builds on the pre-existing Apocalypse Dagger that can only be obtained through the Day of the Dungeon Master event. People have already started calling for more options to obtain the Dagger, but I think this is a nice way of giving the event a bit more significance. It’s returning regularly, so nobody should have major trouble getting the artifact eventually. There’s a rather big misconception however. The Dagger cannot be reclaimed once discarded. Some veteran players have used it as feeder back in the day because and now cannot complete the set.

Those that can still get or own the Dagger get a set with nice stats and a debuffing bonus. The waist and belt pieces are available in the campaign store for 2,500 Barovian Coins each.

*** UPDATE *** For an extended amount of time, the set bonus was bugged and debuffing the caster instead of the target. That has been fixed.

Vistani / Tarokka Set

The Vistani Artifact Set is the second one of the mod that builds entirely on new items. The acquisition of the Tarokka Deck Artifact is described in our corresponding preview article and the waist and belt pieces can be bought in the campaign store for 2,500 Barovian Coins each. Just like the Apocalypse Set the bonus features a 5% debuff, but is limited to single target situations and selected powers. You obviously need an AoE (Icy Terrain, Weapon Master’s Strike, Villain’s Menace) in your rotation to utilize this one. Players also will probably be scared off by all the Movement on the gear. For most builds the Apocalypse Set should be superior.

Set of the Dead

The Artifact Set of the Dead which includes the existing Thayan Book of the Dead is a very nice offensive set with the one flaw that its set bonus has a fairly severe cooldown. The belt stats fit Control Wizards nicely by the way and depending on your base power you might get more out of this one than out of the Apocalypse and Vistani Set, because their debuffs suffer from diminishing returns. That’s probably why the devs felt they had to include a cooldown here. Otherwise this set would have been considerably better than the rest. The waist and belt pieces are available in the campaign store for 2,500 Barovian Coins each.

Conclusion

Overall Ravenloft seems to finally re-introduce viable set bonuses for DPS toons. If you couldn’t utilize the Demon Lords’ set, then you’ve probably just used the slots to min/max your stats and add attributes that make sense. Most stuff being available in the campaign store also means that players will have an easy time getting the pieces they want.

I’m not quite as fond of the weapons sets. The Vistani one for alts and casuals is for free, but why would you pick it over Pioneer of Mod 13, which features the better set bonus in groups? The same kinda applies to Sunset, which is situational “best in slot”, but doesn’t offer as much as earlier sets outside Ravenloft content. Refining weapons is not an issue any longer and loadouts makes switching easy, but using the Sunset Weapons is probably for those that want to max out in every possible area or completely stop farming older content. Otherwise the investment feels unnecessary.


That’s our preview of the Artifact Gear and Weapons of Mod 14! Do you like the options that Ravenloft will introduce? Share your thoughts on our social channels, in the comments below, or the corresponding thread on our message board!

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j0Shi

j0Shi plays the Neverwinter MMORPG since the open BETA in 2013 and is a regular contributor to the blog and the whole UN:Project. Originally a Guardian Fighter, he has built up ALTs of all classes and plays on BIS/near-BIS level.

6 thoughts on “Neverwinter Ravenloft Preview and Guide: Artifact Gear and Weapons [UPDATED]

  • June 12, 2018 at 8:47 am
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    Yeah would have been nice if the day of the dungeon master was not bugged and not giving the correct currency . It prevented me and many others from getting apocalypse dagger when it was first released. And after wasting so much time due to the bug i know i never wanted to go back later if or when it was fixed?

  • June 12, 2018 at 6:00 pm
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    I thought the apocalypse set could be good on DO since most DOs are high crit. but no wisdom and several not ideal stat make it another meh.

  • June 14, 2018 at 4:15 am
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    I can see Conqueror GFs using the Apocalypse Set: +2 STR +2 CHA are the main attributes to invest, also 2k+ crit and a damage increase of 5% that will proc almost instantly. I know I’ll do it!

  • June 19, 2018 at 1:16 pm
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    What about those who maybe discarded the Dagger? I believe you can’t complete the Dungeon Master game more than once on the same character, so unless you kept it, you can’t ever hope to complete the set.

  • July 15, 2018 at 4:30 pm
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    Which set should I buy for paladin (prot)

    • September 9, 2018 at 6:29 am
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      I use the barovian set from ravenloft. If you do not have it yet then you can buy it from AH for less than 500k total on xbox. Not sure about other platforms. With shields or temp hp you get 1k power which is shareable and should be permenant on pally. The stats are good. It gives constitution (good) / strength (not bad since cradle/crl/etc. Aoe hit hard) / armor class. Highly recommend it. Plus the artifact thirst increases the damage a target takes by 16% for an entire 8 seconds.

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