In our last Dev Blog on character customization, we highlighted the nearly unlimited options available to customize your character’s appearance, race, class, gender, core stats, and background. But, this is just the beginning of your customization choices in Neverwinter.

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After perfecting your character’s appearance and background, you can embark on your adventure through the Forgotten Realms. However, the Forgotten Realms is a harsh and unforgiving place for the uninitiated and unprepared. Without a trusty blade or an enchanted crystal orb by your side, escape and survival is nearly impossible.

In addition, equipping the right armor greatly improves your chances of survival or even walking away unscathed. With multiple armor slots, you have many ways to protect yourself from harm during battle. The most important slots are Head, Armor, Arms, and Feet to protect you from absolute fatal blows from foes. Other slots are necessary to enhance your effectiveness such as Neck, Waist, Shirt (under Armor), and Trousers. It’s essential to equip yourself with the best available equipment for your character level – don’t leave any slots empty!

Armors also provide a chance for you to fine-tune your character to match your playstyle. While armors are class-bound and level-restricted, each equipment slot still provides ample opportunity to experiment. Are you a natural aggressor who prefers to finish a skirmish quickly? Or, do you only fight when you have the tactical advantage? Choosing the right armor and stat bonus combination is another way for you to customize your character in Neverwinter.

Which stat bonuses are available, you may wonder? Some warriors prefer to stack Power to increase their damage output or heal abilities. More experienced fighters prefer to boost Armor Penetration in order to ignore their enemies’ damage resistance while deadly rogues prefer burst damage from additional Critical Strike stat bonuses to resolve a conflict. All classes can benefit from stacking Recovery bonuses to rapidly refresh their Encounter abilities – reducing cooldown rates of some of their most potent powers are all they need to finish off an adversary. In desperate times, Life Steal is an invaluable stat to carry on gear – few things are more satisfying than watching your enemy’s life drain away!

If you are more defensively-minded, protect yourself by adding Defense to increase your damage resistance. Also, Deflect is an important stat to increase your chances of ignoring large amounts of incoming damage! For those who prefer to be evasive, Movement is an invaluable stat bonus to add for increased movement speed – why needlessly fight? Finally, battle-hardened veterans know that rest and respite are necessary before their next quest. Therefore, they take full advantage of Regeneration stat bonuses to regain full health in a shorter time.

Above and beyond their inherent stat bonuses, higher value armors sometimes includes enchantment slots, allowing you to further tailor your gear toward your preferred playstyle.

With a vast number of armor sets and stat combinations to choose from, you will always have a choice in how you look and play in Neverwinter. Do you have your ideal character in mind? Make it a reality when Neverwinter launches!