Neverwinter's New Zone, The River District, Is Built For Player Choice
In a new developer blog, Cryptic Studios divulged new details about Neverwinter's upcoming zone, the River District. Unlike some of the game's other locales, both the River District and the campaign that takes place within it were "designed with player choice in mind." This, of course, could mean a number of things, but in the case of Neverwinter's River District, it means that players are free to explore the zone at their own pace and complete key campaign objectives in whichever order they so choose.
In Neverwinter, the River District is under siege by a cabal of wizards that previously vanished during the Spellplague. They now have "newfound powers and allies" and want Neverwinter for themselves. However, the locale is also Lord Neverember's latest foothold in his attempts to "reclaim and rebuild the city."
Over the course of exploring the zone, you will need to investigate members of the aforementioned cabal of wizards. In order to do so, you will be required to "speak with characters your hero worked with in the past and [...] visit iconic locations throughout the city." The will have the choice of investigating and taking down each member in any order.
As you venture through the River District, you will also find various guard posts that are defending dig sites that are being used to "[recover] the lost riches beneath the district." Minions will attack them from time to time and they "can be overrun and destroyed." Should that happen, you can rebuild them using various "Reclaimed Resources" that you have stockpiled over the course of defeating the district's various enemies. Furthermore, once rebuilt, you can upgrade the guard post and the dig site, which will be necessary as "active dig sites serve as entry points to a series of underground maps that have randomly determined enemies guarding them." The entire process of taking back dig sites, rebuilding the guard posts that defend them, and upgrading both dig sites and guard posts can be completed at any time and there are no restrictions on which dig sites can be attacked, taken back, or upgraded.
You can find more information about player choice in Neverwinter's upcoming zone, the River district, on the official website.
