Feldon Shards of Destiny (Game Update 53) goes live tomorrow, Wednesday September 23rd.
Most notably absent from the Game Update 53 notes are whether the Avatar Gear changes are going live, and whether the Racial Traits received any changes based on the significant feedback posted on the forums.
If you want to read the full Gu53 Update Notes you can read them by clicking right there. I did some significant cleanup for readability and a few clarifications. It’s worth a read, even if you’ve read the official notes.
HOWEVER… we do understand that the full Update Notes are a lot to read and some folks might want just the key points. I can’t guarantee it’s much shorter, but maybe it’s more pleasant to read. So we present them here…
Shards of Destiny (Game Update 53) Summary
- New Achievements System — similar to XBox Live, this new system recognizes in-game accomplishments, such as killing 5,000 orcs, visiting every Discovery location in Antonica, or clearing Veeshan’s Peak. Some of the more difficult Achievements award clothing, house items, and more.
- The redesigned Quest Window is where you will find this new Achievements tab, but that’s not the only change. Popular EQ2 interface replacements like ProfitUI and Fetish have long presented a split Quest Window with Quest List and Quest Details presented side-by-side. Rothgar has seen the wisdom of this approach, and so now the built-in EQ2 Quest Window has a similar layout.
- Miragul’s Planar Shard — a new x4 difficult raid zone starring Miragul himself. Located (naturally) in Everfrost, sharing the same zone as Crucible.
- The Shard of Love — this casual group zone can be done with 3-6 players and provides answers to the mystery of Erollisi Marr’s absence from Norrath. Rewards from this zone are primarily appearance and house items.
- An access quest is required to visit the Shard of Love zone between now and November which will see the introduction of Game Update 54. Afterwards, the access quest will no longer be required. We might expect further developments in February.
- Racial Traits — Racial Traits have been completely redone to match “packages” for Scouts, Mages, Fighters, and Priests. More Details can be found here on EQ2Wire.
- Chronomagic — If you would like to experience some of the lower-level content in the game, previously this has required having a friend to mentor of the appropriate level. With Gu53, a new NPC has been added who will gladly mentor you down in 5-level increments to whichever level you wish. Furthermore, his cousin/nephew/brother has a series of 37 quests which take you through these older dungeons and provide additional rewards for vanquishing the bosses of those zones.
- AA XP Slider — Players can now redirect some or all of their adventure and quest XP into Alternate Advancement (AA) XP through the use of the new AA XP Slider.
- Quellithulians Spire Rebuilding Event — This new Live Event will see the restoration of four ruined Spires throughout Norrath. Players will have a hand in rebuilding Wizard Spires in Zek, Everfrost, Lavastorm, and the Loping Plains.
- Player Housing Upgrades — Residents of Kelethin, Qeynos, Freeport, Neriak, and Gorowyn will discover that they have been given an extra room! Furthermore, Kelethin housing now has windows presenting a majestic view of Kelethin. And finally, housing in Maj’dul has been substantially improved, with the tier 3 housing (Affluent housing) receiving 2 more rooms, and a skylight providing a beautiful view of the Tower of the Moon.
- Low-Level Named Bosses have received substantial attention. Many have had spawn timers decreased, placeholders removed, Fabled drops increased, and some Epic x2 and x3 mobs which had no Fabled loot table have been downgraded to Heroic encounters.
- Gorowyn — This sometimes baffling home city has received additional ramps and lifts to aid in navigation.
- Updated Quest, Raid, Claim, and Recipe book windows.
- Outdoor Ring Events found throughout the Shattered Lands (the launch zones) have always been a curiosity to me. I did not realize it was possible for them to spawn anything but a Shrine which, when clicked, gives the player a small persistent buff. It turns out there are also very rarely merchants which can appear with some unusual items. Well, this has been completely revamped so that completing the ring event will always spawn a merchant with these items, plus he will allow you to mend, and also buy items from you.
There’s a lot more, but you wanted the short version…
And as I said there has been no official confirmation, but I am about 98% certain that nearly every Avatar loot item has been reduced in effectiveness. Most of it is now inferior or equal to instance raid rewards from Ykesha’s Inner Stronghold, Palace of the Ancient One, or Munzok’s Material Bastion.