Feldon When the Chains of Eternity expansion was announced, the Collector’s Edition goodies were revealed to include Krivix Honorclaw, a Werewolf Mercenary, a healer. Then at SOE Live, players suggested that it would be great to have a choice of healer or tank for the CE, and so the decision was made on the spot to offer a choice of Paladin or Templar for each person who claims the merc.
Today, Holly “Windstalker” tweeted a screenshot of Krivok Honorclaw the Templar, who is a new Werewolf-like race, the Lujien:
Before SOE Live we had received a screenshot of his brother cousin relative Krivix Honorclaw, who is a Paladin:
These mercenaries could make for an interesting Collector’s Edition choice, especially in light of Holly’s further tweet:
Our CoE Collector’s Edition mercs (Templar & Paladin) are significantly “better” than the mercs in Freeport and Qeynos, but cost the same.
One player has already expressed concern about “pay to win” with the idea of CE purchasers have a leg up over other players. I suggested Elite mercs which are, admittedly extremely rare, but which are still the top dogs in player power and as long as you only Suspend them but never Dismiss them, you can keep them forever. The Ancient mercs in Skyshrine provide further choices, but they are, for the most part, a different body for existing merc classes.
Over the weekend, Holly tweeted a picture of the Chains of Eternity: CE Tapestry of Firiona Vie:
SOE Live Upgrade to CE?
As with last year’s Fan Faire, it looks like attendees will be able to upgrade their free Chains of Eternity expansions to the CE for a fee. From Windstalker‘s tweet:
Just wanted to verify that at launch you will be able to upgrade the standard Chains of Eternity to Collectors for #EQ2 .
Age of Discovery?
Finally on a point that has painted the EQ2 team into a bit of a corner, Age of Discovery is required to use any of these Mercenaries. So is it included in Chains of Eternity? From Dexella‘s tweet:
Chains of Eternity includes Destiny of Velious. Age of Discovery will be sold separately.
Perhaps we’ll see a discount on Age of Discovery after the release of Chains of Eternity. Considering it contains Beastlords and Mercenaries, it’s a good value at $20, if not $40.
SOE Live In-Game Merc
Also if you’ll recall in the SOE Livecast just prior to SOE Live, the in-game item for event attendees was announced. Since then, we have gotten more details about this Vampire merc. It’s a Shadowknight named Dashenti Lasheris which can be picked up in either Qeynos or Freeport. Here’s a screenshot:
Regarding the Fan Faire upgrade; I wonder if the upgrade will be the pre-order price (i.e. $20 dollar difference instead of $50). Also, is the Fan Faire edition considered “pre-order” thus receiving that bonus cloak?
So with these CE mercs, does anyone know if its 1 per toon or 1 per account?
Per character, with a choice of Templar or Paladin.
Awesome that so makes it worth getting CE then.
If they cut AoD ill invest in it and CoE for my bot account.
Well, thats good news that it’s not one per account! they have showed a tendency for per account lately….. supposedly its “always been done that way” with promotions, where as i have 7 different promotion items that are one per character.
Makes me wonder new player race on the table?
Will the werewolf Templar be better than my Kenny mystic merc? Will Kenny scale to 93, 94, 95 as I level up? Curious if the werewolf may be “better” than Kenny.
You have to ask yourself, are templars ever better then mystics?
btw, the Lujien are a race of werewolves created by Drinal and devoted to him. We never heard of them because they dared not show up while their god was still minor, but they can speak about it now that Drinal has risen from sub-deity to full deity.
Concerning deity altars in GH’s…Will “favor” be like a filling station for any characters that follow that particular deity?
Wonder if you will still have to pay the hourly fee for running the Merc?
Also if i get another Merc will i be able to get this Merc back if i am not happy with the in-game Merc ?
Sorry if this has been mentioned, but will we be able to buy Chains of Eternity with station cash?
No.
Heh they look like buffed up gnolls.
Also I’m really disappointed with how mercs are being distributed. There’s only three rare mercs out there, and then there’s three mercs that you can’t get unless you attended SoELive or buy the CE edition (or two if you want both pally and healer). Really wished they held off on giving exclusive mercs for certain things until there was a bigger variety, especially with rare mercs.
Did anyone see where you could buy this “upgraded” copy of the CE? When i go into my account it still says full price?
I do not want to NOT buy it and miss out on the pre-order stuff (meagre as it is this year)
All right, who was the wise guy who suggested making the merc a templar? 😛
Well, not being able to buy the expansion pack with station cash is a game-changer in many senses of the word.
When, after paying for two accounts for more than two years, SOE decided to go to FTP, nerf most of my gear, and start selling for station cash all sorts of skills and abilities that in the past people had to earn and work together for, yet still charge me $30-$40 per year for each expansion pack, only two things kept me from cancelling my accounts outright —- they changed the subscription accounts to include 500 free station cash per month, and expansion packs could be bought with station cash. Okay, I thought, so if I save 8 out of each 12 month’s 500 SC allowance (instead of blowing it on useless appearance fluff ), then I can actually afford the expansion packs. After all, with two accounts, they’re getting $30 per month from me, $360 per year, what’s a $40/year discount, right?
Now they want to nickel and dime me for that too?
No, I don’t have to buy it. I’m seriously beginning to question whether or not I even want to keep my accounts as subscription. What’s the point? I don’t use the SC for fluff, it’s not worth it.
My sons and wife have lost interest in the game, so maybe it’s time to trim this part of the budget. Times are hard, and if SOE wants to nickel and dime me, I’ll go play LOTR for free. My sons are excited about The Hobbit movie, and would love to play in Middle Earth.
Great timing, SOE. Did you think there were no other games in town?
Times are hard. Times are harder if you’re stupid.