The event is an update to the Hell Pit event, and seems to make a few changes to the format and slight tweaks to the rewards. The rewards are still great, so this is likely a good event to do.
Event: harvester of Nightmares
Lore and Overview
Introduced in October, 2020, Harvester of Nightmares updates the Hell Pit event, applying the theme of Ravenloft/Barovia.
"The Harvester of Nightmares has invaded the dreams of the citizens of Protector's Enclave. Are you brave enough to enter the nightmare realm and stop it?"
You must be level 80 for this event and IL 18,000.
To start, head to the PE event area and talk to the Vistani Recruiter. Rewards are given by the Dream Collector, an NPC in the same area.
Event Format
There are 21 days worth of challenges, split into 3 tiers of difficulty. Every 7 days worth of success will increase the difficulty level and unlock bigger challenges.
Every day, if you beat the base challenge you will receive 2 Token of Participation.
Unlike Hell Pit, you use the queue system, and it can be found under the Event category. You can queue with a party, and it is a fast furious event.
During the first tier/week, the event has three parts. The first two consist of waves of foes from some theme (fey, undead, etc.). The final part is a single boss, which is a foe from other Neverwinter content. In week 1, the waves and boss are all very easy for a full party.
Repeating the Event: You may repeat the event, taking a special "Inception" quest that is exactly the same but grants a chest called Cache of Echoes containing RAD and gemstones. The Inception repeatable quest can grant up to 2 more Tokens of Participation per day.
At the second tier (which you could unlock after 7 days), you gain a chance to earn an extra Token of Participation via an optional bonus round. So, with the bonus you get 3 total.
To do the bonus, don't exit through the normal portal back to PE. There will be another rift near the portal. Enter the rift for the fourth bonus round. You will face 2 bosses at the same time, though it is not particularly har.
If you can complete 14 daily challenges, you get a Token of Achievement.
During the third tier of difficulty, you will face "the most difficult challenges" and earn up to 7 Token of Challenge. This is not much harder than usual, but the second wave is now what had been the final boss wave, and the third wave is now two bosses (similar to the bonus). There is no bonus in the third tier, and each wave is harder than they would have been before. With a 5-person random team, it should all still be fine.
At the third tier you get usually 1 Token of Challenge and 2 Tokens of Participation. As before, you can repeat the Inception quest, which could have up to 2 more Tokens of Participation per day.
On the final day, the first wave is 1 boss. The second wave is 2 bosses. The 3rd wave is the Harvester of Nightmares, and they fight and then summon 1 boss, when defeated they return and summon 2 bosses, and then they finally will summon 3 bosses and finally you can defeat them! That final battle is a worthy challenge.
Rewards
The event has three primary types of rewards.
Token of Participation
- Blood Ruby - 1 Token
- Companion Upgrade Token - 2 Tokens
- Mount Upgrade Token - 2 Tokens
- Box of Astral Diamonds (20k RAD) - 4 Tokens
- Stone of Health - 10 Tokens
- Mark of Potency, Rank 4 - 5 Tokens
- Mark of Potency, Rank 5 - 15 Tokens
- Mark of Potency, Rank 6 - 20 Tokens
- Mark of Potency, Rank 7 - 25 Tokens
- Enchanting Stone, Rank 5 - 10 Tokens
- Enchanting Stone, Rank 6 - 15 Tokens
Token of Challenge
- Powerful Overload Enchantments: Rage of Flames (+5% Physical Damage Bonus), Demonic Empowerment (+5% Action Points), Resiliency of Depths (+5% Physical Damage Reduction), Bulwark of Brimstone, Unholy Protection, Devils Precision. - 1 Token
- Legendary Insignia Choice Pack - 3 Tokens
- 10x Pack of Preservation Wards - 1 Token
Token of Achievement
- Golden Warhorse - Account (legendary mount, attack deals +2k dmg to target, equip is +10k Crit Avoidance) - 5 Tokens (Account-wide unlock!)
- Runic Bag of Holding - 2 Tokens
- Greater Bag of Holding - 1 Token
- Coalescent Ward - 1 Token
Tips and Exploits
So far, the first week is very easy, so no special tactics are needed.
Always form a group and then queue. You can find people in PE looking for a group. With a full party (or even 3-4 and the private queue) you can immediately queue into the event. If you just queue solo, the system tries to balance the party and you may have to wait a very long time to get in.
Because the repeating quest grants RAD and refinement, and is fast, it is excellent for relatively new level 80 players to get the AD and Refinement to upgrade equipment. It can also be worth doing until you get the 2 extra daily Token of Participation, since those can be cashed in for good rewards.
Tip: When you complete the daily quest, always take the Inception repeat quest. The next day, take the daily quest. When it completes you will receive rewards for both the daily and the repeat (even though you took the repeat the previous day).
