By Jordan Hall (ApocaRUFF), OnRPG Journalist
Dragon’s Prophet is one of the most recent games to enter SOE’s library. It features stylized action combat, dragon taming, and an in-depth housing system. This article is all about the recent Open Beta GU 0.2 update – AKA Wintertide – that recently made its way into the game. Some highlights include a whole new zone, a massive increase in number of dragon storage slots, and four new dungeons to explore and beat with your friends. This looks to be a very promising content update for Dragon’s Prophet NA.
What’s New
The biggest thing to come with this update is the Wintertide continent. Located in the North, it has been in a constant state of warfare for hundreds of years, ever since the Second Dragon War. It is home to the graves of many massive Elder Dragons, and their bones can be found throughout the land, sometimes playing home to a village or town. And it isn’t only the permafrost that makes this place so inhospitable. With the hordes of trolls, Ice Giants, and the Torran Dominion around, it’s unlikely that Wintertide will find peace anytime soon.
One of the new dungeons, and the one I got to see first-hand thanks to SOE, is the Ironfang Fort. This dungeon is home to Ice Giants, has five bosses and can be played at three different difficulty levels. What I liked the most about the dungeon was how interesting some of the bosses were, such as an old she-giant that surrounds herself with food and attacks anyone that threatens her meat-hoard. King Kabbal the Insatiable – who also has an eating disorder – is another incredible boss who will ride into battle with his giant chariot. It will take a lot of strategy and precision to take these guys down, sometimes using objects around the dungeon to help you defeat them.
For King Kabbal, you will need to make use of spears that are impaled into the ground. Taking careful aim, you will throw them at his chariot until he is eventually forced off and must fight you on foot. Be careful while he is on his chariot though, as he might just impale you with his spear and take you for a ride. And you can’t let your guard down even after he is on his feet because while he may be a bit clumsy, he hits like a train. I love interactive dungeons like these where you can make use of props to take down the bosses.
The content does not stop there, either. Along with the four new dungeons (one of which is a Legendary dungeon!), twelve new Public Quest have been put into the game. These are quests that happen in the local zone (non-instanced) and anyone can join in and complete. Depending on how well you do, you will gain access to a bunch of goodies. New achievements have been added in so that you can show your participation, and Emotes are available so you can congratulate and cheer for those that helped you out.
With all these new quests to do in Wintertide, it’s only natural that a level cap increase has come with it. Crafting and Adventure level caps have been raised to 70. This has unlocked a whole slew of new talents and abilities to make use of. One of which, for the mage, is a super-powerful AOE. Another recent change to the Open Beta is the addition of dodging, something that a lot of people (including myself) wanted in the game.
Winteride has brought new dragons to tame with it as well. Including two new rare dragons. Now, the guys at Runewaker and SOE are listening to the players and they realized that the original storage limitations of the Dragon Lair were a bit lacking. Because of this, they have added the Dragon Chamber that will allow you to store up to an additional 96 dragons. This is a fantastic addition as the whole point of the game is to capture dragons, often getting multiplies of the same kind while trying to find the perfect set of stats or dragon abilities. Gotta Catch’em All!
Besides PVE content, new changes and additions to the housing system have also come. Housing has received a price modification, something that is quite welcome and makes it more accessible. Guilds have gotten the Dragon Sanctuary. Progressing your guild will allow you to unlock the Dragon Sanctuary, and you can even upgrade it for certain bonuses. One of the neatest features of the Sanctuary is the ability to spawn bosses by placing special items you can loot onto an altar. These bosses will grant experience points and even drop loot! If you’re not yet in a guild, it’s probably time to start looking.
Conclusion
This is one massive update and so many new things have been added to the game. If you haven’t tried the game yet, or quit because you didn’t like something about it, now would be the time to give it another try. More updates are promised to be on their way, so keep an eye out. Also, the release date for Dragon’s Prophet NA will be announced at the up-coming SOE Live. Auratia is going through some exciting times with the new addition of Wintertide.
