Dungeons & Dragons Online Update 7 Preview

Ten Ton Hammer has slapped up a hands-on preview of Turbine’s next content update to Dungeons & Dragons Online, which will see the addition of both a new adventure pack and a 12-man raid. It’ll be interesting to see how challenging the medusa is on epic difficulty:

The deed completed, it’s time to close the loop by confronting and dispatching Hesstess, who has undiplomatically turned the guards and Coin Lords to stone. An optional quest involves freeing the Coin Lords from their stone prison. One of the mysteries before us is how Droaam forces found their way into the palace, and the kobolds with explosives strapped to their back in the library offered some clue. Exploding these nasties activated the library’s fire suppression system, which in addition to adding a nice atmospheric touch made things a little difficult to see. Our objective was to find a blue strongbox with stone to flesh potions, and this box has been hidden by the Stormreach researchers (just in case of such an event as this) in any one of six locations (the location is shuffled with each playthrough).

Potions in hand, we slink through back passages and hallways into the Coin Lords sleeping quarters, where four of the petrified patriarchs were guarded by elementals of each type. The key to these encounters, of course, is to try to attack the elementals with the opposite element fire to water, etc. With the Coin Lords free, players will find out how the Droaam entered the Palace, then explore the upper levels of the Palace (which offers never before seen views of the Marketplace).

On to a climactic showdown with Hesstess in her quarters. Being that she’s a medusa, and this time in a less than accommodating mood, I figured this would be a tough time. I was right. Waves of Droaam mercenary adds proved quite a challenge, all the while dodging the cone of effect of Medusa’s stone gaze. The stone gaze is powerful indeed, but even when paralyzed, players have a constant chance to save and eventually players break free. A little knowledge of the weapon Jason used to defeat the original Medusa proved useful. As for how, we’ll leave you to figure that out.