14 DAY TRIAL // Cryptic Studios plans to release yet another content update for their massively multiplayer online role-playing game Neverwinter, further exploring the Dungeons & Dragons universe the title is based on with a free update called the Curse of Icewind Dale, due out on May 13.
The company has so far revealed some of the content additions in the upcoming expansions, with two new adventure zones, a new Hunter Ranger Paragon path, and a new kind of open PvP zone, with two opposing factions being the main points.
The expansion draws heavily from the Dungeons & Dragons lore, as the newly released trailer shows, outlining the conflict revolving around the corrupted black ice and the factions vying for control over the substance.
Last month, Cryptic Studios boss Craig Zinkievich stated that the choice of setting was a direct result of feedback gathered from Neverwinter players, as Icewind Dale is one of the best-known settings from the Forgotten Realms campaign, showing up in various novels as well as in a computer role-playing game of the same name.
Its notoriety and interesting storyline have made it a popular setting among Dungeons & Dragons fans, and as such it will be the focus of Neverwinter's third free expansion, Curse of Icewind Dale.
The expansions is primarily designed to expand PvP interactions, with the addition of faction-based battlezones, leaderboards and matchmaking systems, as well as new PvP and PvE campaigns.
Users will be able to elect which side of the conflict they will support, either the Ten-Towners or the Arcane Brotherhood, and they can also switch sides if they like. The two factions will have no consequence outside of the Icewind Dale regions, and each one will have its own line of contracts to fulfill, mainly fending off the opposing team.
Players will be able to band together and venture into the far reaches of the Icewind Dale region, which has been corrupted by the evil undead wizard Akar Kessel and has been overrun with Black Ice.
The substance is imbued with powerful magic and is used to craft some of the game's most powerful items, so players will have to engage in various PvP challenges in order to earn their share of the spoils.
In addition to the focus on making PvP more enticing, the expansion will also add the usual new bosses and encounters, as well as new locations to explore, a brand-new Hunter Ranger Paragon Path for players to explore, and also some post level cap advancement options.
Neverwinter: Curse of Icewind Dale is currently scheduled to go live on May 13, allowing all players to join in the action and engage in open world PvP and craft new powerful items from the mysterious Black Ice for free.
