Castle Ravenloft...ready...set..go!

Hey all, by now most adventurers have heard and ventured to the new land of Barovia..Dungeons & Dragons newest edition! I wanted to prepare a blog after I had been thru to the end of the new dungeon Castle Ravenloft! Some are my opinions and alot of helpful facts to help you prepare to defeat the evil Strahd von Zarovich in which the land is ruled and cursed.

You will begin by taking the quest from Lord Neverember in Protector's Enclave. Any level 70 can venture, upon completing the introduction all characters are given a set of Vistani gear..this gear is not BIS but if you have alts that need a little upgrading it's a fast way. The Barovia quest are not extensive and don't require the huge grinding as such back in SOMI. The area is dark..if your into wolves, vampires, zombies, witches and killing trees...so if you like that, your going to love Barovia! The campaign is quite short and as you progress you can upgrade your weekly haul of omens. If your in a hurry to get to CR (castle raventloft) then you will want to avoid doing boons until last and go straight up the route to the dungeon. Be weary, a new aspect in the game of Barovia is daylight and night! You can tell which atmosphere by the circle around your map in the upper right hand corner...daytime not to much worry, been when the night time comes and the moon is full be watchful as Night Terrors can strike out of no where and hes pretty strong. If you can defeat him he normal drops a epic Cowl of the Dead. Also in this new area are hunts, you will receive a quest and get your first wanted poster..there are star 1, 2, and 3 posters where you enter into the land of Barovia and hunt down your victim..you collect tarot cards and use them in hunts to up the stakes but higher stakes..mean higher rewards!
Barovia Hunt Map

Barovia Hunt Review

Tarot Card Review

Now on to Castle Ravenloft!

After you have reached the end of your campaign you will be able to make a new Strahd key and join your fellow adventures to attempt to defeat the evil Strahd von Zarovich. Not a easy task and your gonna need some tips and a pretty good team and set up to succeed! This castle has 3 bosses to defeat and mobs along the way! So what team do you need? Well your going to have to have very strong DPS (TR,CW,HR) , tank, DC(buff/debuff), SW temp for heal, GWF. Some groups have taken 2 DC's, one for heal, one for buff/debuff.  My opinion but the GWFs got needed in a whole different light this dungeon. It's not their DPS but their ability to stay alive that's more important. I've been several times and no matter how big TIL they were if they didn't have the stamina to stay alive they fell over like flies >.< Also the GF and Paladin must shield up when 10 stacks of your Thief of Vitae have been reached or one hit equals death!

Also note that Stacks wear off when you use your "default shift" key (dodge/run/shield).  The first boss will bring you into a great court yard where you will be faced with the dreaded 3 sisters!

These 3 sisters witches are high in health and strength..one player will have to take the tome and occupy one while the other players attack the other two. The main idea is to get and keep them separate. It takes quite a bit of DPS but the sisters have their own little tricks..one..the cesspools will take down your health pretty fast..so when you see those on the ground, avoid them. You will want to make sure your sound is on and you will hear one of the sisters tell them to attack, this will send red chains around one of the sisters and one of your team. When you see chains, don't attack! All the DPS that is done while chains attacks the player, not the sister. After two are deceased, the last sister you attack will bring on tons of mobs. ..Once defeated your off to boss #2!

Wondering into a beautiful ballroom with couples dancing..music playing...and a Arcolith! Your second boss enters here and he's a big one..hes got some strong blows and more cesspools...but he only goes for so long until he goes into a hateful swirl. During this time he's totally immune and you should hide behind the pillars. The tank will take the aggro here and have the boss knock down these pillars one at a time. You need extreme DPS with DC's buff/debuff. This boss is done with the trick of time..you only have 4 spins to kill this monster before he spins out of control and no one walks away! On to Strahd von Zarovich!

Strahd von Zarovich is one unhappy man by the time you reach this end..you will regain the sword here with it's special encounters, each player has to pick up the sword and release it back onto the ground by pressing the tab key after which the preferred holder is the tank..entering in its very important to stick together along side the wall and let him come to you when attacking..between there will be a curse and one player will be taken to another room to defend for themselves, while this is happening there are 4 enemies along the walls to kill, when dead your teammate will return...they must stay alive in the other room as well where there is a mob waiting for them. Strahd von Zarovich will come to you along the wall, attack..he has a fairly large health line so it takes awhile...at the end this floor like object will appear and the character with the sword has to go out to the middle and use the sword to break it. The boss has long immunity phases, which makes timing buffs and DPSing really difficult.  Once defeated Castle Ravenloft features two end chests, one that can be opened with the normal chest keys and one that requires a new key from a corresponding campaign task. The dungeon introduces a new type of seal, the Seal of the Crown. It’s used to buy item level 550 armor sets. All bosses, drop ten seals each and both chests 20 each. The end chests additionally feature Seals of the Brave, pieces of Legacy Transmute Gear and Refining Points. In terms of rewards it’s worth noting that the dungeon can drop shards of a new Prominence Enchantment. These shards have been selling for a pretty good price on the AH.

Now for a bunch of my personal opinions, I totally love the new area..it's laid out nicely and you can tell its new content not just a repeated repainted landscape..first time there i got hit by a Night Terror and freaked out. The aspect of the tarot cards adds some excitement to the game as to where if you collect them all you earn a special artifact. Also note there's the new Sun artifact set which looks nice. I am wondering why though only 5% increase in damage where there is 10% with primal so not really sure if that is BIS, guess it depends on what you need for your character.  Castle Ravenloft is amazing. The details of the new castle and the surrounding land is truly a piece of artwork. Sometimes when you go in the gate will not open and I've heard alot say it's a bug but I've also read that you are not always invited in and may be a magical spell to get you across..this I have to look into and will update if I find out ^_^ I have posted a youtube video with a very fast 30 CR run below. I hope you've enjoyed this blog and if have any comments or further helpful ideas post them below, happy hunting!

Ideisa♥