Warriors of Waterdeep Announced, Interview

My busy lifestyle means that I no longer have time to play the tabletop version of Dungeons & Dragons, but that makes me particularly susceptible to the occasional D&D video game fix. I’m sure most of us prefer that fix in front of the PC, but if you’re also looking for some mobile dungeoneering, you should know that Wizards of the Coast and Ludia are bringing us a party-based RPG for mobile devices entitled Warriors of Waterdeep. You can’t go wrong with a Forgotten Realms title set in the city of Waterdeep, and it comes packed with a dozen character classes and nine different races to choose from, which makes it an ambitious offering regardless of platform. The announcement trailer:

For a bit more information, I’ll also send you over to this article-style interview over at VentureBeat:

Warriors of Waterdeep’s turn-based combat is on a grid, as you can see in the video. Ludia is using an adaptation, and it will include classic aspects of D&D combat, such as spells and monsters like the gelatinous cube (it’s a monster that’s basically a giant cube of Jell-O, and it eats everything in its path). Players choose a character from one of 12 classes and nine races. Wark said the roster right now includes:

Shevarith — Human Wizard
Halbenet — Elf Cleric
Tommus — Halfling Fighter
Naomlen — Dwarf Rogue
Saarvin — Dragonborn Ranger
Farideh — Tiefling Warlock
Raika — Half-orc Barbarian

And yes, fans of the Brimstone Angels books, that is indeed Farideh, the warlock hero of author Erin Evans’ stories. Wark said she’s a loose adaptation of Farideh from after The Devil You Know, the series finale.

Warriors of Waterdeep will make money off selling players packs of cards. However, this isn’t a card-battler such as Hearthstone (which leads its $1 billion-plus market). You use cards to customize characters and upgrade equipment. You do earn packs from completing chapters in the Story Mode, Wark said, as well as from beating leaders and bosses and from “certain level-up thresholds.” You can also merge duplicate cards for better effects. Characters have up to six weapons, 12 different pieces of armor, four class items, and four wondrous items, which Wark said players can select “to create individual and team synergies.”

You can’t break cards down for crafting materials, but Wark said you can trade extra cards or those you don’t want for new packs.

Durnan’s inclusion, sadly, doesn’t mean that Larael will be sending adventurers down into Undermountain, one of the most infamous dungeons in the Realms. At least not at launch.

“The Yawning Portal is indeed the home base. It’s the heart of adventuring action in Waterdeep, and the perfect place for Laeral to find the heroes she needs to rally to the city’s defense. There are no plans to explore Undermountain at this time,” Wark said.