Hail*NOR/

This past month saw the Neverwinter branch rise to the challenge of the much more difficult revised epic dungeons and skirmishes of Mod 6. Most of us now have at least one character at level 70 and have begun collecting the level 70 gear necessary to have at least a fighting chance in there. We have also had to revise our strategies thanks to the much higher difficulty and the introduction of the Paladin class -- the old days of steamrolling everything are over, and each fight now requires careful strategy and close coordination.

We have now cleared all of the "new and improved" epic Tier 1 dungeons (which were the latest and most challenging dungeons back in Mod 5):
- Lair of Lostmauth (April 28, 2015)
- Valindra's Tower (May 18, 2015)
- Malabog's Castle (May 24, 2015)

We also cleared the Kessell's Retreat epic skirmish on May 22, 2015.

While we have had guild groups make it to the very end of some of the "new and improved" epic Tier 2 dungeons, so far nobody has been able to knock off the extremely difficult boss fights. But that just means we still have a common goal to work towards!

In other news, Cryptic has begun releasing tidbits about the next mod, Strongholds, and it looks like it's going to be a very guild-friendly mod, with a strong focus on cooperative play and everyone in the guild contributing time and resources to capture, restore, and expand a fortress for the guild's very own!

Best regards,
Baron Tyrandil
*NOR/BA:NW

Hail*NOR/!

Many exciting things have occurred since our last newsletter! First and foremost, we are uber excited to announce the promotion of our esteemed branch leader, Duchess Zyera, who has been promoted to Lady!  Lady Zyera works tirelessly to take care of each and every one of us in NOR and we greatly appreciate her! Congratulations Lady Zyera!

If you haven’t heard yet, Knights of the Fallen Empire has been announced as the new expansion!  This expansion is free for subscribers, yes you read correctly, free!  And, to make it even better, you’ll have the opportunity to create a new toon already level 60!  There are many more great things about this expansion.  Check it out here and let us know on the forums what you think!  www.ign.com/articles/
Feeling lucky? If you fancy yourself a lucky person, visit Nar Shaddaa for the Nightlife event that runs from June 9th through August 25th.  Head to the Club Vertica Casino/Star Cluster Casino and get ready to lose your money, uh, we mean, win big!  Should you find yourself unable to push away from the slot machines, one of your fellow NORbies will be happy to come to your aid!  We have several Sages on standby that will come to your rescue!  Feel free to talk with Knight Vasniar who knows firsthand how, ahem, helpful, a Sage can be.  ;)

Ziost is in full swing, and if you’ve not yet had the opportunity to join us for the now weekly 16 person Monolith run, it’s scheduled for every Wednesday at the normal raid time.  We don’t always have enough NORbies on to run, but enjoy it when we do.  Great loot drops, including set pieces and decorations, and we plan to continue running this until everyone has gotten a chance to reap the rewards! 
We’ve been making the most of the 12xp for class missions and enjoying the experience of repeating the story lines, or running one we haven’t gone through yet!  Run into a difficult class mission boss? Let us know and we’ll happily come and annihilate them for you!  Unsure of how to gear your newly leveled toon? We can help!  Our resident experts are: DMG group members: DM Valikk and KP members Zyera, Intisar, Windemere, and Velkeri.  All are very knowledgeable with gearing and getting the most out of a class.
Been thinking about raiding? We raid often, even on unscheduled nights due to increased participation!  If you enjoy raiding for fun, sign up for our Friday and Saturday night raids.  These raids are storymode and don’t require great gear or knowledge.  We’re happy to show you the ropes and keep you alive along the way!  We’d love to have enough NORbies logged on to run 16 person raids, so don’t be shy, sign up and log on if you are available to raid! 

On to Promotions and New Recruits!  Congratulations to Deus, Cullucut, Jayish, and Derrial who were promoted to squire!  It’s been great getting to know you and we look forward to more runs together!  We welcome our new recruits Jariik, Dabulamanzi, Maishka, Eratic, and Vokinn!  We look forward to running with our new recruits and hope you love it here as much as we do!  If we have inadvertently left someone out, please bring it to our attention as we want to recognize all our NORbies!

As the Branch moves into the next exciting phase, we invite everyone to keep contributing in whatever ways you can. The NOR Spirit is flourishing here, and we hope that together we all can continue to pull together and take the Branch to new heights. Good luck in your gaming adventures and we hope to see you in game! May the Force be with You!

Baroness Galaxiya
*NOR/BA-swtor