Dungeons & Dragons Online: Menace of the Underdark Previews

We weren’t the only ones who were given a chance to take Menace of the Underdark for a spin, as indicated by several new previews of the Dungeons & Dragons Online expansion pack that have popped up on the web.

Massively:

From there we took the people-mover through the first set of quests and zones that lead from Eberron to the Forgotten Realms. The first step will be an instance called The Rift Between the Worlds, which has you stepping into a colorful abyss. If you look to the left, we were told, you can see the giant pink nest of evil Lolth. Over here to the right is a guy named Elminster. You’ve probably never heard of him.

Following that was a jaunt into the giant Underdark, a cavern system that reminded us strongly of Lord of the Rings Online’s Moria. Once we were through, we rescued a number of villagers, including an important NPC named Ana. Apparently, once you’ve gone through this quest, you’ll be flagged on that character so that you can jump between worlds on a whim.

Ten Ton Hammer:

DDO players will be able to gain Epic Destinies once they hit level 20 and talk to a Fatespinner, an NPC trainer. From that point onward, their xp will be dumped into two separate pools: general xp, which goes towards increasing your epic level, and Epic Destiny xp, which goes towards increasing your levels in your Epic Destiny. Each of the ten Epic Destinies have five tiers of abilities in which you will spend action points accumulated from leveling that Epic Destiny. Each Epic Destiny has a grand total of 50 points of abilities to purchase, but you’ll only get 24 total so a lot of decision making will have to go into your selection. The smaller icons at the bottom of an Epic Destiny tree are unlocked if you fully gain an entire tier of an Epic Destiny.

Once you hit level three in an Epic Destiny, you can choose to pick a different Epic Destiny to begin leveling in, but the new Epic Destiny must be picked from a linked Epic Destiny (as seen on the Map View tab). However, you can only have one active Epic Destiny at a time. Any previous Epic Destinies that a player has picked up will not be able to be used while that specific Epic Destiny is inactive. There is a way to get around this though by using Twists of Fate (as seen on the bottom right of the Tree View tab). DDO players will get Fate Points as they gain levels in Epic Destinies, which they can use to purchase Twists of Fate, which allows players to select an ability (tier level 1 or 2) of an inactive Epic Destiny and be able to use it. These Twists of Fate can be pulled down to a player’s hotbar for easy use. Players will also be able to unlock the ability to pick higher tier level abilities by spending additional Fate Points.

Games Radar:

Druids have been requested as an addition to Dungeons & Dragons: Online since day one, and Turbine is happy to finally be adding the popular class in its expansion. We fought alongside one, and really liked their unique abilities. During out time we were shown a few different shapeshifting forms the Druid can swap between, including a fire elemental; two sizes of wolf; and a massive, powerful-looking bear (that had an awesome dance).

Each form comes with its own bonuses and synergies to the Druid’s other skills and abilities, too. The fire elemental form, for instance, gave the Druid more powerful fire spells, though it weakened his ice and water spells respectively. The wolf also had a few tricks up its sleeve, including a dash attack that let it effortlessly and almost instantly sprint massive distances.

And then there’s this eight-minute video preview on GameBreaker.tv coupled with a text-based overview:

We got to play through the Underdark Arena, which finds you standing on a platform in a field of lava, beating back waves of enemies. You’ll receive a score depending on how well you do, and that score will determine how much loot you receive. In the Underdark Arena, if you can beat all the monsters back and look good doing it the arena’s master will take you on.

And by (arena’s master,) we mean a giant red dragon that will breathe fire, knock you around like a rag doll, and squash you flatter than a black pudding. Using my leet skilz, I managed to get my hit points down to -3,500 three cheers for eternal-life dev cheating!