Feldon
From the EQ2 Forums comes a recap of what we can expect in April. With the exception of a Double XP weekend over Easter, there’s little new to of note except some vague comments about bug fixes. And no word on DOV Dungeon Timers being Reduced to 90 Minutes, which was promised for March. Here are the April Update Plans for EverQuest II! The Skyshrine update (GU 63) is taking the lion’s share of the team’s focus right now (launching in mid-April), but other things are still happening as we continue to smash bugs, improve systems, and look to...
Grouping
A recurring controversy in EverQuest II is the ability to sell or gift looting rights to a player who was not present at the time the mob died. This could be an alternate raider who was sitting out, a player who went linkdead at the crucial moment during the fight, or it could be a player who “buys” the item in auction. Last night two forum topics were created on the EQ2 forums suggesting that SLR had become impossible on Test, and that only players who had been present at the time of the kill could loot items from...
From the EQ2 Forums: GENERAL Fixed a bug where some NPCs were still critting on players. Charmed players will no longer crit at all.
From Gninja on the EQ2 Forums: We understand that some creatures are still critically hitting. Seems we missed a file or two for the integration to live. We are working to get it resolved asap! We are indeed going to be emergency hotfixing this today. Shouldn’t be too long of a downtime. However we did find one small issue that we are working on fixing but is not as high of a priority we felt it should hold up the hotfix. Just as a heads up if you are in battle with an NPC and it puts of dot...
From the EQ2 Forums: CRITICAL MITIGATION REMOVAL Critical Mitigation (the stat) has been removed from the game. NPCs no longer use Critical Bonus to add to critical damage. Buffs and debuffs that had Critical Mitigation elements to them have had those elements replaced with other elements instead, so that those buffs/debuffs do not lose effectiveness. Critical Mitigation values on adornments have been replaced with maximum health bonuses. NOTE: This change has no effect on PvP game play. The “PvP Critical Mitigation” stat is still useful for game balance in PvP play and is not being changed.
From Holly “Windstalker“ on the EQ2 Forums: Hey folks, I noticed there had been questions on exactly when Critical Mitigation will be removed from PvE items and Crit Bonus removed from NPCs. We have decided to push the change live with the Hotfix tomorrow. If anything changes on this front, I’ll stop in, but tomorrow’s the day! P.S. PvP Crit Mitigation will still exist on items.
Dethdlr
SOE has laid their cards on the table for Game Update 63. First up, a level cap raise to level 92. No, that’s not a typo. As of April 17th, players will be able to gain 2 more levels, as well as a new form of player advancement called ‘prestige points’. GU63 brings the promised Destiny of Velious content of new group and raid instances, a variety of solo content includind a new overland zone and more! Also Age of Discovery owners will be able to tame new Beastlord warder types. Game Update 63 hits Test on Thursday, March...
Here is your Update Note for Thursday, March 8, 2012: Public Quests Cloudy Velium Jewels should now be heirloom. Remember, you can get up to two Cloudy Velium Jewels per day, per Public Quest, per character. So 2 from Ring War, 2 from Storm Gorge (if you are a glutton for punishment) each day per character. Once you have 40,000 faction with Thurgadin or Ry’Gorr, you can buy an Heirloom faction token to give 50,000 faction to all your alts. There is no equivalent token for the Othmir, Snowfang, or Thurgadin Crafters.
With the upcoming reduction in lockout timers from 18 hours to 90 minutes for Destiny of Velious group zones, players will be searching for the best “bang for the buck” dungeons where they might seek item upgrades. Assuming you have already farmed the Public Quests, specifically Ring War and Storm Gorge, you’ve probably moved on to the Velious Dungeons. Game Update 61 introduced Rare Names which have a 25% chance of spawning after certain conditions are met (usually killing at least one named). Furthermore, the rare loot is shared between the rare names making up a dungeon “group”.
After allusions by EQ2 Senior Producer Holly “Windstalker” to a “very detailed list” of issues and bugs and indications that today’s March update would “answer several of the substantive questions“, EQ2 Community Manager Piestro has revealed EQ2’s March Update Plans which contain many things we’ve heard before, but one interesting surprise: There are lots of activities and events to participate in this month! And while you?re busy playing, the Dev team is preparing for the Game Update 63: Skyshrine launch. We are already playtesting internally and excited about this release. As we write this, development is wrapping up and...
From EverQuest2.com: What’s better than the amazing Dungeon Maker system introduced with Age of Discovery? Cheaper Dungeon Maker items, of course! Whether it’s getting the boss pack of spawners – reduced from 1800 DM (Dungeon Marks) to 150 DM — or one of the many cool Glass Weapons available from 100 to 750 DM, we want to make items purchased with Dungeon Marks more accessible to you! It doesn’t matter if you are looking for a specific consumable or a decorative piece of armor, there is something for everyone available via Dungeon Marks. So starting today, February 27, 2012...
From the EQ2 Forums: GENERAL This update includes a speculative fix for the issues causing some assets, like NPC quest icons, not to appear correctly. Update: Alas, this has not resolved the problem. MERCENARIES Mercenaries using the spell “Solar Flame” should no longer cause players to not be able to cast “Solar Flare” ZONE PROGRESSION / POPULATION Fixed a bug where an NPC could “double cast” a spell. Vallon’s Tower [Challenge] During the final Vallon Zek fight, only 2 Vallonite Aces will spawn per wave of adds. Fighters will no longer be hit with Tactical Dilema during the fight. ...
If nobody in your guild wants to run the Tower of Frozen Shadow progression quests, especially killing Tserinna in the Haunt of Syl’Tor for your access to the Tower of Frozen Shadow x2 raid zone, you’re not alone. The Quests If you aren’t REALLY paying attention and doing things in a certain order, it is almost a guarantee that you will get gated on pretty much EVERY quest in the 3 Tower of Frozen Shadow zones. I spent one night doing all the quest updates in sequence, and we had to repeatedly tell people “Wait don’t click that item...
From the EQ2 Forums: ZONE PROGRESSION / POPULATION Vallon’s Tower [Challenge] Players should get the correct message when entering the blue shielded dome in the Vallon Zek fight. During the final Vallon Zek fight, only 2 Vallonite Aces will spawn per wave of adds. Fighters will no longer be hit with Tactical Dilema during the fight. DUNGEON MAKER Fixed an issue with vitality not applying correctly in dungeon maker instances. ITEMS Gnomish Anti-Camo Goggles can now be equipped by any class. LIVE EVENTS Erollisi Hearts a’Flutter: Antonica – The Essences of Erollisi should no longer spawn within unreachable tree...
From the EQ2 Forums: GENERAL Travelling from Great Divide to Eastern Wastes via the Griffon mount should no longer drop players randomly into the water. Travelling to Kylong Plains using the Global Travel Bell should no longer drop players randomly into the water. Fixed a bug where the client could get stuck in a “sending mail” mode making it impossible to send additional mails until restarting the client. ZONE PROGRESSION / POPULATION Vallon’s Tower [Challenge] Adds that spawn during the final Vallon zek fight spawn less frequently and have less health. Warlord’s Fury and Siphon cast during the final...
While the EQ2 team continues to test allowing players to use their regular characters in Dungeon Maker dungeons, additional changes are planned to make Avatars (nee Adventurers) more interesting and dynamic. Recently, a new mechanic for Avatars went to Test, namely a “power” bar which can be built up to unlock more powerful abilities. At first, we compared it to the Beastlord Savagery bar, but Testers universally knocked this analogy, with less favorable comparisons. In light of this reaction, Lyndro has indicated that existing Avatars won’t be changed to the new system — instead, a new line of Avatars...
As we reported last night, Dungeon Maker Avatars (the limited NPCs we’re supposed to ‘drive’ through player-made dungeons) will be getting a new mechanic where combat builds power, which unlocks more powerful abilities, akin to the Savagery and Primal abilities introduced with Beastlords. From Bunji on the EQ2 Forums: Hello Testers! Changes to the Dungeon Maker Avatars are headed to test and we definitely want your feedback! Please feel free to post bug reports and feedback in this thread, though remember that you can also /feedback and /bug. As for the changes, our goal has been to improve the...
After getting called to the carpet for a revised Game Update schedule that won’t see new level 90 content coming to EQ2 until April, nearly 9 months since last year’s Game Update 61, SOE has laid out a gameplan for February events. From EverQuest2.com: February Publish Plans – More to Play, Your Way! February is here already, and the team is hard at work on Game Update 63! We’ll have some “behind the scenes” videos for you in the coming weeks to give you a sneak peek at the art of some of the exciting new zones coming up,...
From EverQuest2.com: GENERAL You can now access your mail without a mailbox! You can either click the mail buff in your buff window, select mail from the EQ2 menu, or use the /start_mail command! (NOTE: You will only be able to send and receive items and coin by actually clicking on a mailbox in the world.) ZONE PROGRESSION / POPULATION Tallon’s Stronghold [Challenge] Players have more time to defeat Decorin Deathbringer in the Tallon Zek fight before Tallon empowers him. Vallon’s Tower [Challenge] Players have more time to defeat Kulaxis in the Vallon Zek fight before Vallon empowers him.
The announced removal of Critical Mitigation will coincide with the conversion of Yellow and Red Crit Mit adornments into Health adornments. So why will the replacement adornments have less Health (less than 250 points each) than White health adornments? According to Omougi, it’s because the EQ2 team thinks we should have other viable choices, like DPS. Adornments should be about choice! From Omougi on the EQ2 Forums: Our goal with these adornment and spell conversions is to give you guys something in the place of nothing essentially. Before, you were playing a zero-sum game if you had enough crit...
From Silius on the EQ2 Forums: Just to clarify some confusion. Crit mit as a mechanic is being removed. NPC crit bonus was countered by crit mit and we are reducing crit bonus to 0 across the board. Critical avoidance is staying around. Critical avoidance is an NPCs way of contesting your chance to critically hit them. Replacing the adornments with HP is not to compensate for anything. Since the critical mitgiation stat is no longer useful we are converting to a stat that benefits all players. The goal is for this change to not change the difficulty of...
In what may go down as the best decision in EQ2 history, or a total overreaction to a problem that could have been solved with a 15-20% reduction across the board, Dave “SmokeJumper” Georgeson has announced that in the very near future, the Critical Mitigation stat will be COMPLETELY GOING AWAY. First introduced in The Shadow Odyssey, greatly expanded in Sentinel’s Fate, and then becoming the most important stat within Destiny of Velious as an alternative form of progression to raising the level cap (which is technologically challenging), here’s the announcement of this revelation from the EQ2 Forums: We’ve...
Here are your Update Notes for January 31, 2012: GENERAL Fixed a bug where some characters wouldn’t show on character select. ZONE PROGRESSION / POPULATION Tower of Frozen Shadow (Raid) Tserrina’s spell “Wing Buffet” should no longer cause priests to become knocked back. Adds spawned from shadow doors should no longer spawn quite as quickly. The number of adds that spawn from shadow doors has been slightly reduced. Tower of Frozen Shadow: Umbral Halls Demanti Sheda should no longer have issues resetting his encounter. Demanti Sheda’s spell “Paralyzing Fear” should now stun instead of fearing and has been reduced...
From EverQuest2.com: Come take another look at Dungeon Maker, one of the awesome new features in EverQuest II’s Age of Discovery Expansion. Host Linda “Brasse” Carlson (Director of Global Community Relations), a huge fan of Dungeon Maker, will interview Akil “Lyndro” Hooper (Lead Designer). They will chat about Extra Dungeon Mark Days, tips on how to spend your rewards, and information on our Test Server initiative that allows you to play your characters in Dungeon Maker. We may even give you a sneak peek at a new dungeon that is in the works. Join us on Thursday, January 19th,...
Raiders continue to wait for a fix to the double-casting of AoEs first reported shortly after the release of Game Update 61 in August 2011. This issue has been discussed here here and recently here. We got a We’ll look into it from Kander on October 27, 2011 but have received no further communication on the issue. Meanwhile, there are a few tweaks coming to the difficulty of Drunder Raid Zones. These changes are currently on Test will likely go live next Tuesday. ZONE PROGRESSION / POPULATION Vallon’s Tower x4 (Tower of Tactics) [Challenge] Ambassador Grindstone will no longer...