Dungeon Delving

by Michael Kirchhoff

For the past several weeks, I have been spending most of my time deeply sunk into the dungeons of Entrath, which explains why my complexion is pale, my eyes sallow, my clothes old and tattered, and I smell vaguely of Doritos. (No, wait, sorry, that’s how I always am.)

Our dungeons are the primary source of storytelling in the PVE half of HEX. This is where you will meet characters that will help you on your journey, as well as others that plot your demise. There are some NPCs that join you for a single mission, and others that you encounter in multiple stories.

We use the term “dungeon” as a catch-all for the PVE scenarios in the game, but only a few of them take place in actual dungeons. In your adventures you will visit the dense and deadly jungles of Monsagi and the massive, ancient forests of the Feralroot Woods. You will journey to volcanoes, gothic castles, gnome villages, and abandoned robot factories in search of whatever motivates you: reputation, gold, glory, or plunder.

During the Kickstarter campaign, a lot of you begged to see some of the PVE content in action. I understand your plight, but all I can say is … BEG MORE!! Kidding, kidding. I really wish we could show you what we are doing for the dungeons, but they are not quite ready to reveal to the waiting world quite yet.

What I can do is give you a quick preview of some of the dungeons we’ve been working on. All three of these dungeons are experienced early in your adventuring career.

THE AMBUSH

This is one of the first dungeons that Ardent characters will play through. Yes, we have a few dungeons that are specific to the two warring factions of Entrath, which help to expand the story of the global conflict and how your character plays a role as a champion of your people.

In this adventure, one of the orc High Clerics has been kidnapped by the vennen. The orc High Cleric is being taken to the vennen city of Nazhk, where he will likely be tried for heresy and executed. You, along with an orc scout named Tezozo, must move quickly, delving into the web-infested subterranean tunnels of Zin’xith in an attempt to catch the raiding party before it reaches Nazhk.

Tezozo himself is an excellent scout, but not much of a conversationalist. Is he quiet because he is dedicated to his job and solely focused on rescuing the kidnapped High Cleric, or is he hiding some kind of secret?

WILD HEIST

Now to give the Underworld some much-needed attention (I don’t want a bunch of angry shin’hare hacking at my shins with katanas). This is a low-level dungeon that only Underworld players can access.

The dwarves are building a new Heal Bot, but they seem to be having trouble with efficiency issues. What they need is a supply of pure wild magic, which they have no access to. The best source for pure wild energy would be the Genesis Pool, which sits directly in the middle of the elven woodlands.

Your task is to infiltrate the Feralroot Woods, nab a vial of magical water from the Genesis Pool, and escape without getting impaled by a thousand or so elven arrows. The only way to accomplish this, according to the dwarves, is to approach the woodlands from the one place the elves won’t be expecting it: from underneath the ground.

WOOLY BULLY

The woolvir have been running amok in the highlands. This time, they have invaded a gnome archeological research camp and thrown the pudgy scientists into primitive cages. Both Ardent and Underworld players will be able to play through this story, though your respective motivations may differ. You are given the assignment to travel to the camp and deal with the woolvir … but will you free the gnome scientists to return to their villages, or abduct them for your own purposes?

Either way, you’re not going to be able to escape the camp without confronting the leader of the woolvir raiding party, an ornery ruminant named Baa’Baa the Black.

…AND MANY MORE!

Don’t worry if these dungeons don’t seem appropriately epic. The dungeons will certainly scale up in craziness and complexity as your character progresses. We haven’t told you anything about the main story campaign, which is a series of connected dungeons that you begin early in your adventuring career and takes you all the way through a massive confrontation at max level. We want to keep that story as spoiler-free as possible (though you may find some hints in the artwork we have released so far).

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