From the outset, Neverwinter is an MMO that was destined to truly shine on current consoles. The game may have originally found its home on PC, but the combat system and many gameplay mechanics have always been directly inspired by classic console action games. Since its release on Xbox One earlier this year, the Neverwinter community has grown by leaps and bounds, and the game has brought an excellent slice of MMO gaming to the platform.

Neverwinter has been a staple of my gaming diet dating back to the original PC beta, and it is an MMO I have no problems recommending to pretty much anyone with even the slightest hint of interest in the Forgotten Realms setting for Dungeons & Dragons. While I’m lagging a bit behind when it comes to the Xbox One client for the game, that’s also been par for the course when it comes to client versions and expansion releases.

On the subject of expansions, the good news for Xbox One players is that the massive and masterful Elemental Evil expansion is set to release this September. Having learned quite a bit about what works and resonates best with its players from previous expansions, Cryptic Studios certainly honed in on a winning formula with Elemental Evil.

For Xbox One players, this will be a significant upgrade to your Neverwinter experience for a number of reasons. A new class, increased level cap, and more will be coming to the game soon. In fact, the feature list looks something like this:

• Level cap increase from 60 to 70
• Oathbound Paladin playable class with two paragon paths – Oath of Devotion and Oath of Protection
• Eight new adventure zones
• Open world player versus players combat in iconic Icewind Dale
• Four end-game campaigns taking players to areas including Sharandar and Dread Ring
• Two dungeons where adventurers fight against King Malabog and Valindra Shadowmantle
• Minsc & Boo join adventurers in the fight against the Cults of Elemental Evil
• Three new epic skirmishes
• Increase in companion quality cap from epic to legendary
• Maximum level increase for all professions

In terms of the overall impact on the Neverwinter experience, the folks from Cryptic offered up the following thoughts in the official announcement:

“Neverwinter: Elemental Evil brings massive changes to our Xbox One version since its launch in late March,” said Rob Overmeyer, executive producer. “As our community continues to grow on consoles, we have continued our support with content including six expansions worth of dungeons and heroic encounters with dragons within six months. Our team is ecstatic with the continued support and can’t wait to give our Xbox One players control of their own strongholds with our next content update coming later this year.”

I would certainly argue that this will be the most impactful update for Neverwinter’s Xbox One players to date, and imagine it will be just as well received as its initial PC release. The included end-game campaigns are one of my favorite answers to combining end-game progression and daily questing in an MMO to date, so I’d wager they’ll go over quite well with console players.

Be on the lookout for more info on the Neverwinter: Elemental Evil release for Xbox One in the coming weeks, and in the meantime you can learn more about the release on the official Neverwinter website.