In anticipation of the Undermountain expansion launch, Neverwinter took us on a trip behind the scenes on how it made one of the premier NPCs: Halaster Blackcloak, the Mad Mage. For centuries the Mad Mage wandered Undermountain building it and shaping it to his desires. He’s been doing it for so long now, even he‘s forgotten the reason he started.
The blog post inserts quotes from Lead Character Artist Jonathan Nascone on how his team designed a robe with teeth (yes, teeth) and insights from Systems Designer Chantelle Tatum on how the character was rigged. The robe design was a fairly simple design but it was embellished with masking to fray the edges and stitching to help age it. The rigging design helps represent his inner turmoil as it’s always blowing in its own magical wind. Also, there is a short dance video.
PC players can step into Undermountain tomorrow April 23rd, and if you’re looking for a refresher on all that you can expect from this massive update, then we have that for you right here. Look for major class changes in the form of paragon paths, modular randomized expeditions, giant purple snakes, a companion system overhaul, and of course, a dungeon for the Mad Mage himself. You can find the full list of articles below.