I've just finished up with Whispering Caverns, the last of the original levelling zones of Neverwinter. So before I move on a look back at the ones I did this time, and the ones I didn't, starting with...
Blacklake
Blacklake is really an extension to the tutorial sequence – a tutorial zone that concludes the Crown of Neverwinter storyline from the first quests you get after the actual tutorial. It's a small zone and goes by quickly, and is mainly notable for me in that it's where the Rogue class and Drow racial questlines begin – both of which are fun.
Tower District
I've
enjoyed Tower District in the past, but this time I only did the
first half of the zone, partly because I was killing everything
in seconds but mostly because I didn't want to out-level the Plague
Tower story arc, which is excellent.
Blackdagger Ruins
One of my least favourite zones in the game. It's not bad exactly, just boring. Boring scenery and boring enemies. I stayed here long enough to get my Drow quest done but as soon as I had levelled up enough to open it up I went straight on to...
Neverdeath
I like this zone a lot. It has a good layout, great visuals and atmosphere, and some fun questlines, including the excellent finale in the Clockwork Tomb. This time around it was a little too easy, but I still enjoyed it.
Helm's Hold
I was only in Helm's Hold long enough to get an extra level to make the second half of Ebon Downs a little less deadly. I'm not sure what it is about this zone but I just don't feel it. The second half of the zone, I more or less recall, is okay, but the first half, with its seige engines scattered over green hills, reminds me unduly of the early human zones of Guild Wars 2, which bored me senseless some years ago. At least there's no centaurs.
Ebon Downs
The first place that actually felt dangerous. I wrote a while ago about how the removal of the Throne of Idris dungeon has left the zone storyline feeling unfinished, but Ebon Downs makes up for that with good atmosphere and a swathe of interesting mini-dungeons.
Vellosk
There's a level 60+ story arc that, at one point, sends you to Vellosk during the day, and I have to say it looks better when the sun is shining. In the regular Vellosk zone it's always night* and it results in a rather bland looking zone that feels a lot less visually distinctive than many of the others. I played through it, but I don't remember much about it.
*This game gets more of a pass from me on this than some other MMOs that don't utilise day/night cycles. What Neverwinter does right (most of the time) is give zones a strong visual identity that is enhanced by the choice of lighting. It feels like an intentional part of the design, rather than laziness.
Pirate's Skyhold
Is there an enemy group in the game less characterful than the Lizardfolk? Even the bandits of Blackdagger sometimes show some personality with their nice hats. Anyway, once they're out of the way the second half of the zone is all about undead pirates, skyships and a mountain carved into the shape of a skull. Somehow none of this is as interesting as it sounds.
Icespire Peak
This time around I've only been to Icespire Peak for the dragon slaying. Aside from that I remember it as an unremarkable and extremely linear zone, and I was more interested in moving on to...
The Chasm
Probably my favourite of the 1-60 zones. The Chasm's shattered terrain and uncanny monsters give a real sense of danger, driven by a great soundtrack that drives home the idea that this is a scary, desperate place. The plaguechanged have a visceral sense of wrongness to them and are some of my favourite enemies to fight.
Rothe Valley
This was my first time doing Rothe Valley and I found it a somewhat awkward zone. There's a lot of tight spaces in the villages and the tunnels that don't really mesh well with the kind of mobile combat that Neverwinter excels in. At least I made some progress toward the Drow Slayer title.*
*I don't often chase titles, but Drow Slayer is too good to pass up, for a Drow. Even the Drow racial questline is all about killing other Drow.
Mount Hotenow
Striking scenery and good boss fights, but I skipped it altogether this time so I would be on-level for...
Whispering Caverns
The final zone of 1-60 is also one of the best. After working some more on my Drow Slayer title it was on to the forges of the duergar. I actually feel almost sorry for the duergar – their cry to protect the masters when aggro'd is memorably creepy – and you're left in no doubt as to the malevolence of the Illithids.
That's before you enter the Upper Vault, where the unsettling and alien terrain of the inner sanctum of the Mind Flayers makes the Chasm feel cosy by comparison. The atmosphere of the unknown is enhanced by the way the quests are laid out, in that there's a small camp of explorers and vendors at the entrance to the Vault, but as you travel deeper into it the only non-hostiles you encounter are an insane former adventurer and a tortured captive of the Illithids. This is not a place that anyone in their right mind – literally – stays for long.
Whispering Caverns is also really well laid out, with several cleverly devised shortcuts that avoid the amount of backtracking and going over old ground that some other zones are prone to. Viewed in its entirety I'd rate it just below The Chasm, Neverdeath and Ebon Downs, and it's a deserving finale to the 1-60 experience.
So I'm now level 64, which means I'm ready for the Temple of Elemental Evil and Sharandar. My levelling has slowed from the first 24 hours – and thinking about it I don't think it's due to any increase in the time it takes to gain levels in this game. It's more that I raced through most of the earlier zones, only really slowing down in Ebon Downs, whereas this time the Chasm, Rothe Valley and Whispering Caverns have all required a greater degree of caution and focus.
I've also, through gritted teeth, been spending some time working on advancing my crafting, which remains at odds with the pace of everything else in the game.
So I won't make it to 80, but I do think I'll make it to 70. I'm anything but a speed leveller, but when I'm so close to a milestone like that even I want to go just a little bit faster than usual to hit the target.
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