pdate Five for Dungeons and Dragons Online has been here for a few weeks now. This means guild leveling, traps and grenades for rogues, a set of new dungeons focusing on another Dragonmarked house, a Christmas-in-July type of holiday, and the required complement of bugs.
First, the bugs. There were some issues with the Auction House, and I'm still unable to pick up one of the new quests from the designated non-player character. A few occasions of quests refusing to finish properly, and some items refusing to display their statistics under some circumstances have also cropped up.
The Festivult holiday is partly enjoyable because it does not provide any further in-game obligations to participate. Coins are retrieved through normal dungeon activities and can be turned in for various foodstuffs that mimic the effects of potions, along with the occasional grenade or lump of coal.
The Festivult holiday is partly enjoyable because it does not provide any further in-game obligations to participate.Given that many of these effects are useful and valuable, there seems to be a demand for the coins on the market. Personally, I'm torn between naming the Beholder cookie or the cupcake as my favorite item so far.
Traps and grenades provide another way for rogues to contribute to the party, and the addition of instructions provided by the material vendor assists with understanding the new system, and the components required.
With the game's previous update focusing on the Dragonmarked House Deneith, Update Five provides more activities related to House Phiarlan, and includes some lovely areas that take advantage of Phiarlan's skill with illusion magic. Ethereal creatures and soldiers guarded the various rooms, and multiplying golden dragonmarks provided a puzzle that my group solved by destroying every one within range.
As for the guild leveling, the opportunity to obtain an airship is motivating, along with the various small perks available for reaching different levels of renown. Given that many of the buffs seem available on an individual level for certain reputation levels, I expect them to be more of a form of minor assistance than any form of unbalancing reward.
