The MMORPG Neverwinter launched its latest expansion Jewel of the North on August 24 for Xbox and PlayStation. It introduces a new class, the Bard, who does exactly what you expect from a Bard: entertain teammates. In the “free performance mode,” you can actually play whatever you like as a Bard, and surrounding players may (or must) experience it.
What is Jewel of the North? The free expansion for the MMORPG Neverwinter was already released in July for PC. Now you can finally play your favorite songs on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, as the expansion has also been available on consoles since August 24.
Jewel of the North brought the Bard class into the game along with the associated performance modes, which can only be activated as a Bard.
What can the Bard do? The Bard in Neverwinter is inspired by the archetype from the 5th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. As a Bard, you are a daring hero who can combine melee with magic. You play music to strengthen and heal allies or to confuse your opponents with your songs.
Exclusively as a Bard, you also have access to the new performance mode, in which you can play various songs. They not only sound good, but can also damage your opponents. However, the real highlight of the Bard in Neverwinter is the free performance mode.
Jewel of the North turns you into a medieval rockstar
What is the free performance mode? In this mode, you can unleash your inner musician because with the instrument of your choice, you can play whatever you want in free performance. You not only have access to the eight basic notes but can also choose accidentals and octaves, that is, different “versions” of the basic notes, which vary in height and depth, among other characteristics.
This gives you complete freedom to play well-known songs or, of course, create entirely new compositions and show them to other players at any time when you are not fighting. You can literally be a medieval rockstar and present your pieces to an enthusiastic audience.
The MMORPG Guild Wars 2 has a similar concept when it comes to its instruments. Music guilds can regularly gather hundreds of players for their performances. The free performance mode in Neverwinter feels even more refined and makes us excited about what will be possible with it.
Salim Grant, Senior Designer of Neverwinter and heavily involved in the free performance mode, says:
With the Bard’s free performance mode, we want to enable a lot of creativity and musical enjoyment for players; just like playing Ocarina in Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. […] The performance mode was specifically designed for players who want to unleash their inner Bard and entertain their allied adventurers. With the Bard, we primarily wanted to allow as much customization as possible for Dungeons & Dragons players, so they can become the Bard they’ve always wanted to be.
How does the mode work? As long as you are not in combat as a Bard, you can activate the mode at any time. On PC, you can do this with the F12 key; on consoles, it works with the L1 trigger and R3. Once in the mode, you can now freely play ahead. You change octaves on PC with the arrow keys and on consoles with the trigger keys.
The community gets musical
How are players reacting? The Bard, especially the free performance mode, is gratefully received by fans. Players share their creations on reddit, essentially distributing sheet music so that all Bards can play their favorite songs (via reddit.com).
Among the players’ songs are classics like “Happy Birthday” as well as titles from “Pirates of the Caribbean” or “Game of Thrones.” But it wouldn’t be the Internet if it ended there. The famous song “Never gonna give you up” by Rick Astley (the “Rick Roll Song”) has also made its musical way into Neverwinter, just like the Twitch insider “Darude Sandstorm.”
In this video, one of the PC Bards plays the “Coffee Dance” by Vicetone & Tony Igy:
The community celebrates its rockstars: Among the videos of practicing Bards, the player base enjoys the artists.
- SundanceWolf writes (via YouTube): “I love this stuff! Really good work.”
- Lars Harsch writes (via YouTube): “Awesome! Please, more music!”
- User Ivan is also thrilled (via YouTube): “Oh man, don’t tell me you play all that with numbers and arrow keys? Epic!”
What do you think of the feature? Have you already tried the mode on PC or are you now diving onto the consoles to pick up the instruments? If you haven’t played Neverwinter yet, are you now interested? Feel free to leave us a comment.
MeinMMO author Benedict Grothaus also states clearly: “Bards are the best class ever, and anyone who says otherwise is lying!”
