# Neverwinter Neverwinter: Monoliths of Madness is now live! - Product: Neverwinter (https://whatsnew.fyi/product/neverwinter) - Vendor: Cryptic Studios - Date: 2026-09-01 - Original notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/109600/view/670626757615813378 - Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/neverwinter/releases/2026-09-01-neverwinter-monoliths-of-madness-is-now-live What's New is an index, not a publisher: every entry below links to the vendor's own release notes, which are the authoritative source. Entries are labelled where they are hand-curated sample data, pre-releases, or drawn from a secondary source such as a developer blog. Reuse: the summaries, labels and curation here are © What's New. Quote freely with attribution and a link back; wholesale republication of the corpus is not permitted — terms: https://whatsnew.fyi/terms. The vendors' own release notes remain their publishers'. --- - **added** — New Monoliths of Madness event running for 12 weeks with rotating weekly focus on Menzoberranzan, Northdark Reaches, Narbondellyn, and Dragonbone Vale - **added** — Players are downscaled when a zone is active in the Monoliths of Madness event - **added** — New Monoliths of Madness Campaign with four phases of three weeks each featuring daily and weekly challenges - **added** — Shards of Madness currency used to progress through the Monoliths of Madness Campaign and unlock milestone rewards - **added** — Campaign milestone rewards include Warden's Caches, Insignia Powder, Tradebars, Legendary Dragon Keys, and Mount and Companion Upgrade Tokens - **added** — Staring Cat of Uldun-Dar Legendary Companion obtainable during the Can you hear him phase - **added** — New roaming world boss Maxare'xek the Mad that grants temporary buff for extra damage in zone when defeated - **added** — Server-wide Nightmare Progression global progress bar that fills based on player contribution with phase completion rewards for all participants - **added** — Global rewards include Burning Hope Artifact, Umbral Widow Mount, Brimming Bountiful Bag, and Peeper Keeper - **added** — Two corrupted altars per zone that can be activated with Lesser Abyssal Lures and Greater Abyssal Lures to defeat spawned creatures - **added** — Corrupted Heroic Encounters with additional mechanics such as fire damage, movement requirements, disease cleansing, and meteor dodging - **changed** — Existing Heroic Encounters in active zones have been impacted with new mad monolith mechanics _The contents in this article are taken from a test version and could be subject to change for the final version. When this happens, we will inform you._ Strange monoliths have appeared across Faerûn, spreading madness and twisting nearby creatures into monstrous servants of a dark power. The Emerald Enclave has begun a desperate campaign to destroy these mysterious monuments, but they need every willing hero to stem the tide of corruption before it spreads. Madness is spreading across Faerûn. **Strange Altars** have appeared throughout the land, corrupting nearby creatures with madness and unleashing dangerous magical anomalies in their wake. One of these Madness Altars recently showed up in Menzoberranzan. The Madness Altar located there has started causing ambient decay, and the number of victims rises by the hour. This affliction cares not for whom the drow swore their allegiance. It targets indiscriminately. The drow are no strangers to madness in the City of Spiders, yet it would behoove you to act quickly. Tis a grim task, but must be done. The brand-new ‘Monoliths of Madness’ event brings you back to **Menzoberranzan, Northdark Reaches, Narbondellyn, and Dragonbone Vale**. For **12 weeks**, each week, one of the zones will feature as the mainstage for a variety of new quests. To ensure that this event isn't too easy, **players will be downscaled** when a zone is active. Go to Protectors Enclave and speak with **Master Arcanist Viorel Amakiir** to start the Monoliths of Madness Campaign, then travel to the active zone, indicated with a modified map icon. Tip: if you haven't played the Campaign related to the active zone yet, you are able to progress in both that Campaign and this new content! ##### **Requirements to participate** - The Monoliths of Madness event is only available to players who have reached **level 20**. - To participate in the event weeks tied to Menzoberranzan, you must have access to its zone. Talk to Sergeant Knox in Protector's Enclave and complete ‘Whispers in the Dark’ and ‘A New Ally’. - To participate in the event weeks tied to Northdark Reaches, you must have access to its zone. Talk to Sergeant Knox in Protector's Enclave and complete ‘The Call of the King’. - To participate in the event weeks tied to Narbondellyn, you must have access to its zone. Talk to Sergeant Knox in Protector's Enclave and complete ‘Whispers in the Dark’ and ‘A Discreet Meeting’. - To participate in the event weeks tied to Dragonbone Vale, you must have access to its zone. Talk to Sergeant Knox in Protector's Enclave and complete ‘Forging the Shield’. - For global rewards granted by progressing through the Nightmare, at least **500 Shards of Madness** are required to be eligible. ##### **Monoliths of Madness Campaign** By completing the new daily and weekly challenges, both global and individual progress will be reflected in the Monoliths of Madness Campaign. The Campaign has **four phases**, each lasting for three weeks, including three of the four zones. The Zones offer a variety of quests that can be completed to gather Shards of Madness, a currency that grants you progress within the Campaign to unlock a variety of rewards through milestones. Rewards for the milestones include **Warden's Caches**, Insignia Powder, Tradebars, Legendary Dragon Keys and Mount- and Companion Upgrade Tokens. During the ‘Can you hear him?’ phase, the new **Staring Cat of Uldun-Dar Companion (Legendary)** can be obtained. Quest objectives include: - Complete Heroic Encounters - Defeat Enemies - Defeat Named Encounters - Purify corrupted altars - Earn points - Complete Skirmishes - Complete a specific Dungeon or Trial A final objective is to defeat the roaming World Boss, **Maxare’xek the Mad**, who pops up every few hours. Defeating the boss grants you a temporary buff that lasts an hour, allowing you to deal extra damage within the zone. Besides all that, we need **everyone**'s help to try to conquer this nightmare as a wh _[Truncated at 4000 characters — full notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/109600/view/670626757615813378]_