Breaking Down Transmuting

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News, Game Updates & Maintenance

I’ve gotten a lot of questions about what changes we’ll be seeing to Transmuting come February 16th. So I thought it was worth a rehash as Transmuting is changing quite a bit.

The Way It Was

Transmuting started out as a secondary tradeskill. It granted the ability to not only break down unwanted Treasured, Legendary, Mastercrafted, and Fabled gear, but also make certain adornments. But the drawbacks have been many.

Transmuting could only be skilled up to 100 by breaking down items. Reaching 400 skill could only be achieved by crafting (at great expense) hundreds of worthless low level adornments. And because the adornment recipes were spread over all 9 primary tradeskill classes, as well as transmuters and tinkerers, there has never been a great demand for Transmuters.  Really, only 1-2 Transmuters have been needed in any one guild just to break down unwanted No Trade group/raid loot.

Transmuting in Sentinel’s Fate

Domino, lead tradeskill developer, took a lot of player feedback at Fan Faire and on the EQ2 Forums in order to revamp Transmuting and the art of making Adornments. In the process, the entire array of adornments has received attention as well. A lot of gaps have been filled and more options opened.

The biggest change is that Transmuting has been split from Adorning. They are now two separate skills. Transmuting becomes just another harvesting ability which all players get like Mining, Foresting, Trapping, and Gathering. By breaking down items, you can skill up your Transmuting ability from 1-450.

transmutingskill

Where the rubber meets the road, so to speak, is in the new Adorning skill. Adorners make EVERY player-made adornment in the game. Instead of adornment recipes being spread out through all of the tradeskill classes, Adorners will be the only game in town for getting your favorite adornments. Adorners can only skill up their ability by creating adornments.

Best of Both Worlds

As we have reported, with Sentinel’s Fate, you will now be able to be a skilled Tinkerer and experienced Adorner on the same character. Both skills can be raised to 450 on the same toon!

The Transition

Those who have already mastered the art of Transmuting will find their skill carries forward in Sentinel’s Fate. If you have a Transmuting ability of 362, then when you login on February 16th, you will find that your character has skills of Transmuting 362/450 and Adorning 362/450. You’ll probably need to pick up any new recipes for new adornments that have come out, but you don’t have to start over!

Since a lot more people are going to be Transmuting, I’m going to link to the Transmuting FAQ. Figuring out which items can be transmuted is tricky at first.

   

Primary Character Stats Changes

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News, Game Updates & Maintenance, Itemization

Everything you know about the main Character Stats is about to change.

For the past 5 years, in addition to the primary stats that each class uses:

  • Predators have focused on STR to do melee and ranged damage and INT to increase poison damage.
  • Druids have focused on STR to do more melee damage.
  • Crusaders have focused on INT for spell damage and WIS for healing.

These are just the most obvious examples, but all 24 classes had some unique benefits from the different Stats. Starting with Sentinel’s Fate, each class now benefits significantly from just ONE statistic, even if they are considered a “hybrid” class.

Sentinel’s Fate Beta Tour

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News

From EQ2Players:

You’re invited to SOE’s first ever Ustream Beta Tour, on Friday, February 5, 2010, hosted by Alan “Brenlo” Crosby, Senior Producer of EverQuest II.

Beginning at 4:00 p.m. PST (7:00pm EST), tune in to SOE’s Ustream channel to get an exclusive guided tour of EverQuest II: Sentinel’s Fate, through the eyes of the game’s producer.

Sentinel’s Fate, the sixth expansion of the groundbreaking EverQuest II franchise, transports players into a universe of legend and lore where adventures are just the beginning. The fabled lands of Odus, filled with epic quests, magnificent dungeons and limitless content provide the ultimate MMO experience for new players and seasoned veterans alike. Sentinel’s Fate presents the next chapter of the EverQuest II legacy which will be written by the passion of players and fueled by the hunger for adventure.

Halas Slips to GU 56?

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News, Game Updates & Maintenance

We’re now less than 3 weeks from the release of Sentinel’s Fate. There has been no sign of Halas on Test. We’ve already been told that Halas is important to SOE, that they want it to be a starting zone to win new players. And I just don’t see them adding a starting zone with 20 levels of content with less than 2 weeks of testing. So at this point, EQ2Wire is now ready to call Halas for for Game Update 56 a few months after the Sentinel’s Fate expansion. This is purely speculation on our part until there’s an announcement, but we feel confident enough to post it.

sad_puppy-med

I understand there are folks who are nostalgic for Halas after playing it in EQ1 and have really been looking forward to starting new characters there. I know I was looking forward to seeing what the Art department could turn out after seeing preliminary artwork at Fan Faire.

But Halas not being in-game for the expansion won’t ruin my life. Timorous Deep and Darklight Wood are still excellent options for leveling toons from 1-20. Really that level range is pretty saturated. The Golden Path we’ve been hearing about will be a polishing of existing zones (the changes to Sinking Sands were the first part of that) to make a smooth progression from 1-80.

More news on Battlegrounds and Sentinel’s Fate as we have it… This has been a busy news week and next week will probably be even busier!

Preview: Erudin Royal Palace

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News

Kiara is continuing to give us detailed previews of every zone we’ll be seeing in the Sentinel’s Fate expansion. Today’s preview is the third of the Erudin zones — Erudin Royal Palace.

The last of the Erudin group instances is the Erudin Royal Palace. It is the central stronghold of the corruptive influence on Erudin and Odus as a whole.

Stephanie Young is one of the artists who worked on the Erudin zones. She [has a history with these zones as]  also worked on Erudin in EverQuest and EverQuest Online Adventures.

Najena’s Ring of Readiness

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News, Itemization

From Fyreflyte on the EQ2 Forums:

Post expansion-launch, the useable effect on Najena’s Ring of Readiness will give a flat +2000 spelldamage buff. The cooldown and duration will remain the same. I realize this effect has been available to you for over a year now, but due to the way it scales, it can not be left in game as-is. Without a rating system to curb its effects, the item would have only become more powerful with each expansion, crippling our ring itemization for sorcerers.

I understand this will be an upsetting change for those that spent countless hours running the Hollow Tower in order to acquire one, but it is absolutely necessary for the health of the game. I know this information is coming fairly late, but hopefully it will save those who are still farming for it further frustration.

Why the item wasn’t changed when it was realized how powerful it was, or why this change wasn’t announced last summer when Gear Scaling was cancelled, we may never know.

Closing the Book on Void Shards

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Commentary, Expansion News, Game Updates & Maintenance, Itemization, Tradeskill

When Commission crafting was altered in March 2009 to prevent crafters from using their own Void Shards and other NO TRADE/HEIRLOOM materials for other players, it closed the book for several crafters on this highly profitable market.

However it was quickly discovered that a crafter could still use their own shards if the customer had at least the requisite number of shards in their own inventory to make the item. This was accomplished by swapping out ingredients in the Commission Materials window.

Today’s Hotfix marks the closure of this exploit:

Patch Notes January / 26 / 2010

GENERAL
You can no longer swap no trade and heirloom items given to you in a consignment trade.

Patch Notes January / 26 / 2010
GENERAL
You can no longer swap no trade and heirloom items given to you in a consignment trade.

Mentored Shards

Further, EQ2Wire is now hearing rumors that it will be impossible to run mentored “grey” void shard runs in Shadow Odyssey dungeons once the Sentinel’s Fate expansion launches. This likely will take the form of either being booted from the zone or a forced mentoring if a “trivialized” condition exists (mobs are grey).

It seems a concerted effort is now being put forth to restore the logical progression of gear in EverQuest II:

  • Treasured/Mastercrafted — solo gear
  • Legendary — group gear
  • Fabled — raid gear

The Problem

1) Some players have no interest in getting into any sort of group, and play EQ2 entirely as a solo game, yet they are currently getting exceptional gear.

2) Some players are husband-and-wife or trio setups. Either they don’t want to do a full group and deal with the personalities, or they are undergeared and not able to get into a group.

3) And some players already have several main characters and are leveling an alt, possibly an alt that is not always desired (summoner, druid, brawler, etc.).

One of the biggest problems players of The Shadow Odyssey faced is that all 20 dungeons were targeted for level 80, and if more than one mid-70’s character joined the group, then zone rewards were scaled down (no chest, no shinies, level 67 gear).

The Solution

1) Treasured and Mastercrafted gear in Sentinel’s Fate will be much better gear comparatively than level 72 gear was for level 80 characters. Considering how powerful the T1 and T2 void shard armor are, for many solo players, it will likely last them well into the 80’s until they replace that gear with Mastercrafted and quested rewards.

2) The Hole offers a large sprawling open dungeon ranging from level 82-90. Most of it is tailored to 3-4 players. Instead of waiting for hours, trying to build the “perfect” group, I expect players will simply show up at the entrance and jump into whatever ragtag groups are running through. Also, a variety of quests and large number of named encounters exist within the zone.

3) We haven’t heard much word on Class Balance, but hopefully with the changes, and the fact that Sentinel’s Fate dungeons range from level 82-90 means that people will actually get to group up with mains AND alts throughout the level range. With the AA slider, it should be possible to earn AA just as easily this way as solo questing.

With the dungeons in Sentinel’s Fate not being locked to level 90 (The Hole is 82-90, and the first instance is accessible at level 83), players won’t be pressured quite so bad to “solo quest grind to 90” before being able to play the group game.

EQ2Wire Escape from Qeynos Beta Contest Concludes

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Commentary, Expansion News

Saints be praised! (No, not those Saints)

As I was ducking in and out of Fish’s Alehouse and Inn, trying to keep out of sight, not one, but 13 parcels of mail addressed to one “Feldon @ EQ2Wire” (that’s me!) arrived at the front desk. After bribing tipping the innkeeper, I opened the packages to discover that each contained a detailed illustration of an escape route to South Qeynos!

With the navigational guidance of my enterprising readers, I was able to avoid the Qeynos Harbor guards and use my tinkered spring shoes to make it to the secret exit! Further, my operative was able to smooth things over with the Queen. 🙂

The winners should soon receive their Beta access and be able to hop on the next wizard spires transmat to the Halls of Erudin to explore what remains of Odus. Of course they’re reminded not to tell anyone about their encounters in Odus until the NDA has been lifted. 😉

EQ2Wire BETA Contest — Complete

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News

It seems after imbibing a little too much jum jum mash, I let slip a disparaging comment about Queen Antonia within earshot of a Qeynos Guard! Now I’m a wanted man and I need your help!

beta_sqeynos01

I’m stuck in Qeynos Harbor, but I can’t risk traveling by boat or carpet. As you can see, the exits are surprisingly well-guarded. My best chance is to high tail it to South Qeynos and meet a well-connected politician who can smooth things over with the authorities.

Legend tells of a secret entrance to South Qeynos. Can you help me find it?

If you find this hidden portal to South Qeynos and send me a picture of yourself (with your name visible) in front of it, I might be able to use that same route of escape. As a reward, I will give you a different sort of key, which I acquired from a travelling merchant marked “Sentinel’s Fate Beta”.

This contest is now closed.

Preview: Erudin Library

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News

Check out this new zone preview from the Sentinel’s Fate expansion at EQ2Players.

The Erudin Library is designed for levels 87-89. You’ll need to rely on cunning to track down and bring a killer to justice.

This is the easiest of the Erudin zones, and has a very unique flavor to it: The zone was built as a Clue-style murder mystery. In order to get the best possible rewards (and complete some quests), players must search the zone for clues and accuse and defeat the guilty Scholar Primarch.

[We] set up the murder mystery such that each time through, the details of the murder are randomized. The murder weapons are part of a [shiny] collection [as well].

   

BREAKING NEWS: Digital Download on Feb 16 for International

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Commentary, Expansion News, International

It seems sanity has prevailed at SOE. From EQ2 Forums:

The status of retail distribution for Sentinel’s Fate at launch internationally is still uncertain. However in an effort to properly serve our international community we have partnered with several digital distributors who will be providing the expansion to our international customers only starting on Feb 16th 2010. The digital downloads will be IP locked so that only the international community can take advantage of this.

When it became apparent that whoever at SOE Marketing signed deals with Amazon, GameStop, and Best Buy forgot about the rest of the world, this should have been immediately addressed.

Instead, we’ve had 2 months of fear, uncertainty, and doubt about whether players in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Rim would even be able to play the expansion before late February.

I’d just like to personally thank whoever was SOE Marketing Dept‘s secret santa and got them this great gift:
worldmap

Sentinel’s Fate Patch Times

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News

There have been some questions popping up on the EQ2 Forums as well as EQ2Flames about whether the Sentinel’s Fate expansion will be pushed to European servers at the same time as North American servers. Kiara has this to say:

All the servers will patch at the same time.  I’ll be posting a schedule closer to release day, just so everyone knows what to expect.  But the plan is that the servers will be up and ready for folks to begin patching their games by 8am PST.

And just to clarify, we have confirmed that just as with previous expansions, most of the updated files will be sent out as downloads through the Launcher (or Station Launcher) days in advance of the expansion so that only minimal patching is required on February 16th.

Also, we are continuing to track the current situation with European customers having limited options in acquiring Sentinel’s Fate on February 16th. If we have more to report on this subject, we’ll let you know.

Tumbling Down the (Rabbit) Hole

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Expansion News

A zone I have been anxious to get a look at is the contested “The Hole” which will encompass an area over twice the size of Sanctum of Scaleborn, and a level range from 82 all the way to 90. We are thrilled to present the first screen shots of this zone:

Around the web, others have posted new screen shots this evening including:

EQ2 Zam | EQ2 Traders | Ten Ton Hammer | MMOQuests | Shattered | MMORPG-Infokithicor.org | LoreLibrary | Archive of Ik | EQ2 Daily | TheBrasse.com | EverSeek.com

Stonebrunt Highlands Preview @ EQ2Players

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News

EQ2Players has been updated with a expansion zone preview covering the Northern half of Odus — the Stonebrunt Highlands. This is a level 85-90 overland zone with solo questlines.

Adam “Zaphax” Stephens was lead designer on this zone and answered some questions with his thoughts on the design of the zone. Check out the new writeup as well as some new images and wallpapers of Sentinel’s Fate at EQ2Players.

EQ2Players Preview of The Sundered Frontier

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News

EQ2Players has as new preview available of The Sundered Frontier, which is one half of the overland area of Odus. This includes some screen shots and an interview with gninja, leader designer of this zone. You can also find some wallpaper sized screenshots which have not previously been posted. All of this after the jump:

First Screens of The Sundered Frontier

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Expansion News

EQ2Wire is thrilled to present some more screen shots from the upcoming Sentinel’s Fate expansion. These images are taken from the first part of Odus players will encounter, the Sundered Frontier.

It seems many things have changed, and many others have stayed the same. Odus seems to have been scooped from out of the earth and is now scattered across the Norrath sky. Visitors will likely arrive by Spire or Airship!

Check out these screen shots (Scroll down to get a clickable grid of thumbnails):

Also check out this exclusive Sundered Frontier screen shot available only on EQ2Wire:



EQ2Wire Exclusive Screenshot (Large Version)

The complete set of images available in this round of screen shots is available below:

Hope you enjoy these great snapshots!

Sentinel’s Fate In-game Armor and Highland Stalker Video!

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Art, Appearance, Housing, Expansion News

>> Download Highland Stalker Preview HD Video [22.5MB WMV]. <<
>> Download Highland Stalker Preview SD Video [13.8MB WMV]. <<

robes_learned_and_reasonedGuarding of the Reasoned and Guarding of the Learned

The Guarding of the Reasoned (right) comes with the retail boxes
The Guarding of the Learned (left) comes with the digital downloads.

PvP Battlegrounds in Sentinel’s Fate

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News

While there is still a lot we don’t know about the PvP Battlegrounds feature first mentioned in October and slated for inclusion in the Sentinel’s Fate expansion in February, we have sussed out a few details.

Battlegrounds will be cross-server. Specifically a shared instance or instances accessible by players from different servers where you can meet in battle.

Battlegrounds will be available on both PvE and PvP servers.

It is currently unknown if these Battlegrounds will be the full PvP Ruleset (which is quite different than dueling on PvE) or a hybrid. PvP gear is quite powerful compared to the PvE gear that most players have.

It is currently unknown if these will be free-for-all or include campaigns such as capture the flag, etc.

It is currently unknown if European, Russian, and North American servers will be able to connect together, as they often have different Game Update schedules.

Brenlo reports in with this preliminary info:

This is still going through mid development so we are locking down details.  We are working on maps, rewards, gameplay styles etc. . . We will have lots of details soon. However just one quick note.  This will be for all servers, not just PVP.

Yes it will be cross server. =)


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