From Laylaih on the EQ2 Forums:

We’re getting close to the launch of GU 100! This Members-Only content is planned to be released on Thursday, April 28th, and we’re continuing to preview the exciting new and updated content that will be available in it. If you missed the first two, you can read them here and here.

Now it’s time to venture in to Scourge Keep!

From Chris “Chrol” Garlick on the EQ2 Forums:

Deathfist Citadel. It was once the stronghold of the great orc emperor, Fyst, and his savage Deathfist clan, who held sway over all the lands known as Zek, the Orcish Wastes. But that was the past. The grip the Deathfists had upon the land has been completely severed by the coming of a new breed of stronger, more intelligent orc, known simply as The Scourge.

After rising up from what was once known as Blood Ore Valley, The Scourge spread devastation throughout the wastes, swiftly taking the citadel for themselves and renaming the fortress Scourge Keep, and the valley from which they were born The Siege, where their leaders machinate against anyone who would oppose them.

This would include the Green Hoods, who have been at the forefront of the battle against the Deathfist Empire. With the aid of heroes from throughout Norrath, they kept the Deathfist contained within the wastes. Now, with this new orc threat, the Green Hoods look again for help from beyond the wastes, and know that this time – if gone unanswered – not only will their time on Norrath be at an end, but so too could the rest of the world with the release of the Scourge horde.

From Carlos “Gninja” Mora on the EQ2 Forums:

Remember going into Ruins of Varsoon and making that leap into one of the side tunnels? Lace up your boots, as this is one of the zones we are giving the “Fabled” treatment this time around. The dungeon will be leveled up to current content of level 95+ and given new and exciting loot to chase. Chamber of Immortality, Temple of Cazic-Thule, and Sanctum of Fear are also being made available as “Fabled” versions.

This new content should have some of your favorite parts of the dungeons made appropriate for the most seasoned adventurers. Even Venekor himself is rumored to make an appearance within the Fabled Temple. Ruins of Varsoon and Temple of Cazic-Thule will both be contested dungeons set to low minimum limits to spin up new instances, so that if the zone gets too crowded you can enter a new one where you might have more luck hunting down those specific named creatures you are looking for. Chamber of Immortality and Sanctum of Fear will also have interesting new boss loot waiting to be discovered. All of these zones will be available to subscribers with the upcoming GU100 release.

US Servers: 7:00~9:00am PDT | 10:00am~Noon EDT | 15:00~17:00 BST | 16:00~18:00 CET

EU Servers: 9:00~10:00pm PDT | 12:00~1:00am EDT | 05:00~06:00 BST | 06:00~07:00 CET

From the EQ2 Forums:

Yesterday’s EverQuest II Spring Update Livestream is now viewable on YouTube. You can learn about Zek, The Scourged Wastes, the new Signature quest, the three heroic instances, and the x4 raid zone all coming on April 28th.

From the EverQuest II YouTube channel:

From the EQ2 Forums:

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
Thalumbra

• All collectibles within the Glittervein Mines should be reachable now.

Icy Keep Retribution

• The Icy Sledge is no longer Appearance only, and can once again break past the ice barrier.

ABILITIES / ALTERNATE ADVANCEMENT

• Reduced the damage Devastation of War deals to named heroic encounters.

ITEMS

• “Aura of Immolation” no longer resets the ability “Transfer Contagion” or “Divert Breach”.
• Spiked Dragonscale Aegis and Draconic Deflector shields have had block chance added to them.
• Corrected stats on the Dwarven ringmail Tunic.

US Servers: 7:00~8:00am PST | 10:00am~11:00am EST | 15:00~16:00 GMT | 16:00~17:00 CEST
EU Servers: 7:00~8:00am PST | 10:00am~11:00am EST | 15:00~16:00 GMT | 16:00~17:00 CEST

From the EQ2 Forums:

US  & EU EverQuest II Live Servers will be brought offline on Wednesday, March 9, 2016 at 7:00AM PST* for an update. Estimated downtime is approximately one hour.

From Caith on the EQ2 Forums:

From the EQ2 Forums:

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
Maldura: Forge of Ashes [Raid]

• [eq2u]Signet of Pure Terror[/eq2u] now correctly requires a Stone of Ashenfell Power or Stone of Greybeard Power as a purchase requirement.

ITEMS

• Psionist Crowns can now be upgraded through crafting using either original crowns or newly dropped crowns. Required component is now any crown of that armor type.
• Psionist Helms that were previously upgraded using the Mindstone Crystal can now be crafted into the new version of the crown. The recipe book has had the new recipes added.
• New armor drops* now have a descriptor added to their name for clarity.

Caith added:

ITEMS

• The potency and crit bonus of Echoes of Faydwer dropped and quested rewards have been adjusted to match new progression.

* The new raid and heroic drops added on February 17th are having their names changed slightly so they can be viewed side-by-side in game (and as a side benefit, they will no longer conflict on EQ2U).

The purpose of New Content in any MMORPG is to provide additional length to the “treadmill” so that players who revisit heroic dungeons or raids always have new things to do. New zones provide new rewards that raise the bar and keep that loot chase going. It is totally expected that when a new content update or expansion is released that previous items will be trumped by new ones. However we’ve seen something new and unexpected since the release of the Terrors of Thalumbra expansion.

In an update on January 20th, existing Weapons and Jewelry items were removed from the loot tables of current enemies in raid zones and then newly upgraded Weapons and Jewelry items were added. These new weapons and jewelry had new names.

In an update on February 17th, existing Armor pieces had their Crit Bonus and Potency slightly upgraded, then removed from loot tables while newly upgraded Armor items were added with hugely upgraded Crit Bonus and Potency. This new armor had the same names as previous items.

There is no doubt that the Terrors of Thalumbra raid gear at launch was hardly worth getting out of bed for. Clearly something had to be done to itemization and we’ve been assured that this was the best way to do it with the time available. However there are several concerns with this approach of replacing rather than upgrading items inline.

From the EQ2 Forums:

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
Maldura: The Forge of Ashes [Raid]

• Changed the message given when triggering the Forge Golem.

LIVE EVENTS
The Erollisi Day “Lovely Lacquer” achievement can now be updated by crafting the passionate and romantic filigree rugs.

QUESTS

• The Wind of Strife Blows Fickle – The update is now found in the truck at the foot of the bed in Viktor T’Hoth’s room, to better fit the description.
• Restoring the Underfoot Cathedral – Each of the tormented Serilian spirits can now only be seen by players on the appropriate step of the quest, and they no longer can be damaged lower than 3% of their health (thus allowing them to be updated by the “Serilian Spirit Gems”).
• A Mind of My Own – The quest journal now specifies that you can return to Talvrae if you ever lose the kobold pet.
• Mount Stations: Greater Faydark – Triggering the mount station updates will now be much easier, even if the player is mounted.
• Mount Stations: Greater Faydark – The Butcherblock Mountain station now properly updates the quest.
• A Time of Growth – Obtaining another sapling from Arbos is much more intuitive, if you have misplaced it.

ITEMS

• Corrected an issue that reduced ranged auto-attack damage.
• Heroic and raid Terrors of Thalumbra armor rewards have been upgraded [in place], and all new armor rewards will now drop in Terrors of Thalumbra Heroic and raid zones.
• Signature Rewards are no longer Relic, but are instead Prestige.
• Confidence will now grant the correct bonuses when grouped.
• Signet of Pure Terror no longer has an effect, and now grants base stats on the item itself.

Daalilama started a thread on the EQ2 Forums asking what we can expect as far as filling gaps in itemization as a result of the player power growth of the recent Terrors of Thalumbra expansion. Points of specific concern are Cyan Adornments, Quintessences, White Adornments, Food & Drink, and Poisons all of which remain largely untouched since 2015’s Altar of Malice expansion.

EQ2 Lead Designer Kander has had some interesting responses suggesting that we’ll see a content release this spring that addresses many of these issues. From the EQ2 Forums:

We’re saving a lot of this stuff for the content update that is coming soon. [TM] Most of this will be addressed with the new content push.

In response to how tedious it is to acquire Exceptional Jewels (non-War Rune purple cloak adornments which offer a nice set bonus)…

Also in new content coming soon.

on the subject of Fabled zones…

We have a lot coming soon. More info soon.

When the team is authorized to say more, we’ll post it.

Along with other line items in today’s Update Notes, it seems a number shifted on the damage ratings of Ranged Weapons in EQ2. For example, the popular Fai Thiss, The Ravager bow saw its Damage Rating drop from 298.5 to 158 with similar changes to the damage range (minimum – maximum).

According to Caith on the EQ2 Forums, this is an unintentional bug rather than a planned change:

Ranged weapons are using the incorrect formula for calculating DPS currently, they are calculating themselves as dual wield weapons instead. The bug should be fixed in the next hotfix.

US Servers: 7:00~8:00am PST | 10:00am~11:00am EST | 15:00~16:00 GMT | 16:00~17:00 CEST
EU Servers: 9:00~10:00pm PST | 12:00~1:00am EST | 05:00~06:00 GMT | 06:00~07:00 CEST

From the EQ2 Forums:

US Servers: 7:00~9:00am PST | 10:00am~Noon EST | 15:00~17:00 GMT | 16:00~18:00 CEST
EU Servers: 9:00~10:00pm PST | 12:00~1:00am EST | 05:00~06:00 GMT | 06:00~07:00 CEST

From the EQ2 Forums:

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
Persistent Instances

• Removed 30 minute lock-out when first entering a persistent instance.
• Killing any NPC in a persistent instance will now commit the lock-out.

Kralet Penumbra: The Master’s Chosen [Heroic]

• The Chosen Curse and the Yothshaval Curse should no longer kill players if it wears off after Golguth is slain.
• Health of bosses have been adjusted.
• Xal’Gilah’s Disrupting Tutor add should no longer disappear during his encounter.

Maldura: Bar Brawl

• Mages disarmed by Dalkuhm can now re-equip their weapons outside of a priest’s cure curse.

Terrors of Thalumbra has been out for over two months, and some players may just now be coming back to the game after a break, or have been playing the expansion but want to get better. With Terrors of Thalumbra, the token grind to add colored gems to gear has given way to dungeon dropped-armor, jewelry, accessories, and weapons which are then upgraded through Infusing.  Add that to Reforging, Adorning, and other game systems and there is quite a lot of “homework” just to play EQ2 these days. Before we go any further, I do not hold myself up as any kind of authority on game itemization or mechanics. Much of this information has been acquired through extensive discussions with other players or personal experience, which likely does not reflect “end game” EQ2.

US Servers: 7:00~8:00am PST | 10:00am~11:00am EST | 15:00~16:00 GMT | 16:00~17:00 CEST
EU Servers: 9:00~10:00pm PST | 12:00~1:00am EST | 05:00~06:00 GMT | 06:00~07:00 CEST

From the EQ2 Forums:

US Servers: 7:00~9:00am PST | 10:00am~12:00am EST | 15:00~17:00 GMT | 16:00~18:00 CEST
EU Servers: 9:00~10:00pm PST | 12:00~1:00am EST | 05:00~06:00 GMT | 06:00~07:00 CEST

Update from Caith:

Looks like a large part of the patch didn’t make it to the live servers in this morning’s hotfix, so this is still currently bugged. We’re working on getting it out asap.

and from Gninja:

We are working to get the parts of the patch that did not make it to live servers remedied asap. We are working on it as we speak. Thanks…

Here’s what got patched (from the EQ2 Forums), including that frustrating bug affecting the progression of numerous Zones such as Castle Highhold…

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
General

• Corrected an issue that prevented interaction with many objects and NPCs.

ITEMS

• Thalumbra fertilizers drop more frequently. [eq2u]bag of gypsum[/eq2u], [eq2u]flask of deep water[/eq2u], [eq2u]gnawed bone[/eq2u]
• Items with the ability “Soulfeast” will now properly upgrade from items with “Soulthirst“.

Like previous expansions, Terrors of Thalumbra includes shiny “collections of collections” or meta-collections. A number of the expansion’s collections reward a piece which is part of a larger collection. When the expansion launched however, some of these pieces were not being rewarded. This week, Caith went through game logs to award the correct items to the players who had completed the quests but didn’t receive the pieces. From Kander:

We have started reimbursing these missed meta collection pieces. If you haven’t been reimbursed for missed metas, Please email me.
KVALLEE@daybreakgames.com

Email me if you have collections you have completed and did not receive the meta reward. We will of course be verifying any claims via logs.

Second, the collection rewards need to be corrected to properly reward the pieces. This is still in progress…

From Caith on the EQ2 Forums yesterday:

Quick update folks, we’re working on the collection issues, they are not yet fully resolved. None of the collections that have been completed are the final collection for the expansion, so you have not yet seen the final reward. We are aiming at having the issues resolved for next hotfix, we’ll let you know if that changes.

Anyone that completed one of the collections that was fixed in December have been granted the collection pieces that they missed out on. The grants were completed today.

As for the Time-Locked Expansion servers, a significant effort was made to go through heroic and raid rewards for the Kingdom of Sky expansion to bring the items up to snuff. After numerous revamps left the raid gear untouched, it had fallen behind even HANDCRAFTED gear. As per Gninja on the EQ2 Forums, the effort to remedy this imbalance continues:

US Servers: 7:00~8:00am PST | 10:00am~11:00am EST | 15:00~16:00 GMT | 16:00~17:00 CEST

EU Servers: 9:00~10:00pm PST | 12:00~1:00am EST | 05:00~06:00 GMT | 06:00~07:00 CEST

• Stormhold & Deathtoll – Approx downtime three hours for Kingdom of Sky content prep.  We’re estimating that these servers will open at 10AM PST.
• Maj’Dul – Approx downtime three hours for server maintenance

Tonight is the last night of Frostfell until later this year, while tomorrow sees the unlocking of Kingdom of Sky on the Time-Locked Expansion servers. Meanwhile on live servers, in addition to a number of content fixes, we will also see a potentially significant change to AAs. Abilities that used to grant Crit Bonus will now grant Potency instead.

Finally we must say goodbye to a feature that has worked inconsistently at best for many years but must have proven too difficult to fix. With tomorrow’s update, the PvP Arena feature will be disabled in EverQuest II, with the rewards from that content, including unique house pets, being moved to the Loyalty merchant.

From the EQ2 Forums:

TIME-LOCKED EXPANSION SERVERS
General

• All encounters received a global balance update that can be adjusted dynamically by development.
• Level 20+ encounters now mitigate damage based on level and tier.
• All blue stats have been unlocked with the exception of crit bonus.

From the EQ2 Forums:

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
Maldura: Forge of Ashes [Raid]

• The respawn point for Bereth’s Overlook should no longer be an available option for reviving unless Bereth has been defeated.

Maldura: Bar Brawl [All Versions]

• Priest can now cure themselves of Dalkuhm’s “Borrow Weapons” debuff.

Kralet Penumbra: The Hive Mind [Raid]

• The Psionists will now correctly react to those who attempt to drain their well of power.

ITEMS

• Wrist of the Great Forge is now correctly named Ring of the Great Forge.
• Ethereal Onslaught will now correctly reset Sniper Squad.
• Primordial Burnout will now trigger on combat arts and spells.
• Kiss of Life will now heal for the correct amounts.

TRADESKILLS

• “Malduran Mouths to Feed” should now update correctly for moussaka and bibimbap.
• Recipes from the Dhalgar Home Builder’s Kit recipe book are now flagged as building blocks for the purpose of house item count.

QUESTS

• Enemies in the Ever Deep will now award a random infuser or damaged spiritstone.
• The Event Heroic weekly mission, “Trail of Deceit and Death,” can now be completed.

US Servers: 7:00~8:00am PST | 10:00am~11:00am EST | 15:00~16:00 GMT | 16:00~17:00 CEST
EU Servers: 9:00~10:00pm PST | 12:00~1:00am EST | 05:00~06:00 GMT | 06:00~07:00 CEST

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

• The /summon_chest command can no longer be used while on a transport.

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
Maldura: Palace Foray [Heroic]

• Dragoon Z’Koz will always drop a treasure chest.

Kralet Penumbra: Temple of the Ill-Seen [Advanced Solo]

• Should now spawn shinies properly.

Kralet Penumbra: The Master’s Chosen [Heroic]

• Necromantic Concentration buff can now appropriately be dispelled.

US Servers: 7:00~8:00am PST | 10:00am~11:00am EST | 15:00~16:00 GMT | 16:00~17:00 CEST
EU Servers: 9:00~10:00pm PST | 12:00~1:00am EST | 05:00~06:00 GMT | 06:00~07:00 CEST

From the EQ2 Forums:

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
Maldura

• A Far Seas Trading Company representative has arrived in Maldura and will now sell Age of Malice blank runes in exchange for Coin of the Grand Artificer (they are still also available for far seas tokens from the original sources). She can be found in the Mushroom Bar and Grill.

Maldura: Algorithm For Destruction [All Versions]

• The electro-charged battery is now automatically placed in your inventory, when appropriate, during the encounter with X-O Arachmech.

Kralet Penumbra: Uzulu Deep [Event Heroic]

• Urzzra-Uzulu’s Thought Graze now drains more power.
• Urzzra-Uzulu’s Thought Overload is now limited to 20 meters.
• Fixed a bug that caused Urzzra-Uzulu to keep its stoneskin active throughout the encounter.

US Servers: 7:00~8:00am PST | 10:00am~11:00am EST | 15:00~16:00 GMT | 16:00~17:00 CEST
EU Servers: 9:00~10:00pm PST | 12:00~1:00am EST | 05:00~06:00 GMT | 06:00~07:00 CEST

Fr0m the EQ2 Forums:

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
Kralet Penumbra

• Reduced the random chance to get multiple scouts in Kralet Penumbra encounters which will reduce the overall amount Dark Assault is being cast.

Kralet Penumbra: Tepid Depths

• Reduced the damage on Mental Detonation and Aberrant Assault. Lowered spell dps on Mind-Rippers and Spell-Eaters.

Maldura: Algorithm For Destruction [Agnostic]

• Electro-charged reinforcements now drop electro-charged batteries.
• X-O Arachmech now drops an X-Electro-charged battery.

Maldura: Bhoughbh’s Folly [x2 Raid]

• When speaking to Bhoughbh to turn in his requested items the quest “G.W.A. Gnemlin With Attitude” should update for all members of the raid.

Maldura: Forge of Ashes [Raid]

• Kyrus will no longer death touch players who are returning to collect their soul shard.
• The Forge Golem has been increased in difficulty.

From the EQ2 Forums:

CENSUS

• Added infusion stats to census output.
• Added prestige flag to census output.
• Added infusable flag to census output.
• Added relic flag to census output.

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
General

• Beastlord and Channeler Trainers have returned to Freeport and Qeynos.

Table of Contents

• So what’s new in the expansion?
• How do I get started with the new expansion content?
• What do I get for completing ALL the quests in the expansion not just the Signature line?
• What is there to know about Tradeskills in the expansion?
• What’s up with the new Harvesting materials/rares?
• Help! There was some really important information on the Terrors of Thalumbra beta forums but they’ve disappeared!
• What itemization changes have there been in the ToT expansion?
• What are RELIC and PRESTIGE items?
• What’s up with Weapon Delays this expansion?
• What is the new Deity window in Terrors of Thalumbra? Are there any new Deities we can worship?
• What’s Infusing?
• Can you really spend 500,000 Platinum to Infuse one character’s items?
• Are there any new Adornments in Terrors of Thalumbra?
• Have you got a list of Heroic Dungeons arranged by Difficulty?
• Is there a Contested Heroic Zone? What’s the best way to level?
• How do I get to Terrors of Thalumbra Zones?
• Is there a labeled Zone Map for Thalumbra?
• Is it true that Quest Regions of Interest no longer marked on the map?
• Which UI Modifications are still compatible with Terrors of Thalumbra?
• How do I see what expansions or account features I’ve got on my account?
• Where can I download a high resolution version of the Terrors of Thalumbra poster art?

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

• Fixed an issue causing houses to think you have less house vault slots than you should.
• Fixed a bug where the three center deity window abilities would overlap slightly with the gold rings around them.
• The stack count now shows on infusers in the infusion window.

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
Thalumbra

• Aberrants in Thalumbra no longer drop Amygdalan loot.