A Day In Stormreach

A Walkthrough of Dungeons and Dragons Online Module 7

By Darkgolem

Earlier this month I went on a walkthrough of Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) Module 7: Way of The Monk with DDO Executive Producer Kate Paiz and many of the developers of DDO.  What a great time it was.  Module 7 has a very crafted feel to it, as if each part is meant to go well together, with something for everyone, soloer, raider, low and high level player.  The adventures operate very well, from what I can see, and I expect that the release will go very seamlessly, with little or no patching.  The features that come with the Way of the Monk are fantastic!

The Monk

Naturally, as soon as I had access to a monk character, while waiting to start the walkthrough, I went and practiced my Kung Fu. The animation for the monk in combat is amazing, even for the normally smooth animation of DDO.   I spend several minutes watching my Kung Fu (or whatever style of martial art the monk uses) from various angles.  The animation is great, and there will be no complaints from the inhabitants of Stormreach.  The only concern I had was the monk bow, which is the usual stage bow.  Personally the monk should bow from the waist in my opinion, but that is just my personal opinion.

In combat the monk lives up to your expectations, being very hard to take down, being effective in combat, having great saves.  There will be a lot of pleased players when the monk is released, and  so many monks will be made that Stormreach will be better named  “Monkreach” or a similar catchphrase, the fun will be well worth it.  The monk abilities are well done.   I note that some of the monk abilities are missing, and have been replaced with similar abilities.  These abilities blend seamlessly with the concept of the monk, not being out of place of feeling artificial.  I can't go into too much detail, but trust me, your going to love it.

Three-Barrel Cove

This infamous den of scum and villainy has been completely redone, and looks great.  Some of the landscape of Three-Barrel Cove looks like Ataraxia's Haven, but not enough to be a carbon copy or anything similar.  The bays are a deep azure, the ships are more detailed, and the architecture for the buildings here are gorgeous.  The mobs in Three-Barrel Cove have been updated, including orcs, and other humanoids.  The monsters look more “piratey” and more varied.  The newest creature here is the Sahuagin, and they look great.  They even change color when they get angry, which is a neat touch.

The Quests

The quests I have seen are awesome.  One room I entered made me cry.. filled with levers, targets and traps, both on the floor and ceiling!  The people who love these traps are going to love this area.  There are a few interesting jumping and similar puzzles (not as bad as some quests, but definitely interesting) which your more nimble guild members will have fun with.  Some of the architecture is reminiscent of the lair of the marilith, but a bit darker.  The underground areas are a great representation of a hellish place inhabited by extradimensional, evil, and truly powerful creatures.

The Creatures

The creatures found in the Way of The Monk are neat.  The living spells are great, and pretty much any of the spells you most use are now alive… and hostile.  Make sure you bring your healing, your going to want to have it.  They hurt, and there are going to be some very painful moments ahead for the brave adventurers of Stormreach.  You will love them anyways, but they will be painful.  The devils are truly scary, and you are going to need to stock up on the appropriate weapons for fighting them.  Be truly afraid of the devils you will see in module 7.

There are other creatures.  In one raid there are tiny (but dangerous) beholder-kin, there are more of the deadly rats and bats you have seen in previous modules and other creatures I won't mention.  The Sahuagin previously mentioned are great too.

The Raids

Oh the raids, how they will be infamous.  When in the raids, the amount of foes, action and activity there was incredible.  I predict a massive controversy regarding the raids in Module 7.  They will be both hated and loved, even more so than the warforged titan.  There are many, many creatures here, and pretty much every baddy you have faced in upper levels will present.  Make sure to say hi to the fiendish troglodytes!

On the whole the raids are going be great, but they will be a lot of work and require a lot of preparation.  Make sure to go into these quests with the understanding that they are going to be a challenge.  Some of the rooms, with the many traps and deadly foes are amazingly interesting and challenging.

Module 7 Overall

The good and bad things with Dungeons and Dragons Online do not change with module 7.  If there are things you love about DDO, they will still be present, and reinforced in The Way of The Monk.  If there are things you don't love about DDO, your going to see the same problems in Module 7.  Little things have been changed, and the new content; revamped content is great.  The new monsters are awesome too, and your going to find yourself highly entertained with all that you see in Module 7.

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