From the EQ2 Forums:

All US EverQuest 2 Servers will come down on July 1st, 2014 at 7:00 AM Pacific Time for an update. The expected downtime is approximately two hours. EU servers will come down beginning at 9:00 PM PT (6:00 AM CET July 2nd, 2014) for the same update. Downtime is anticipated to be approximately two hours.

WEEKLY FEATURE

• The city status merchants now have many new items for sale, including special house guests, as well as many upgraded adventuring items.
• Consumables purchased from the status merchant are now stackable items.
• Status merchants no longer require players to have a particular guild level or be in a guild to purchase their wares.

From the EQ2 Forums:

From EQ2 Buildmaster Bunji on the EQ2 Forums:

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
The Fabled Deathtoll

• Fabled Deathtoll’s minimum lockout timer has been reduced to 18 hours.
• [eq2u]Secrets of the Doomwing, Volume IV[/eq2u] no longer has a chance to drop from Yitzik the Hurler and Fitzpitzle.

Temple of Veeshan: Dreadscale’s Maw

• Adds in the Telkorenar encounter should now despawn when he is defeated.

ITEMS

• Corrected an issue with Primordial Vengence and Voracity that prevented the effects from stacking.
• Many one-handed weapons have been made usable by more classes.

PVP
Bruiser

• Wild Beating should now correctly trigger Vicious Combination in PvP combat.

Existing Lockouts

In a separate thread on the EQ2 Forums, it was reported that existing lockouts for Fabled Deathtoll will also be reduced from 4 days 20 hours to 18 hours.

EQ2 has a history of challenging contested heroic zones, and Contested High Keep is no exception. My guild has had some success there and we intend to go back for more. There are some choke points where things are tougher than they should be.

First up, certain mobs are immune to specific damage types, requiring the player to equip an item that transforms their damage to spells or melee as appropriate. However these items do not work for Rangers which first and foremost use ranged weapons, so a special arrow type ought to be made available that converts its damage to spell damage. According to Kander, a such arrows are incoming:

We’re looking at fixing the issue so we can make these arrows again.

Players have been reporting that a particular cluster of enemies in High Keep Contested tend to get pulled through walls, resulting in a quick and surprising death for unlucky groups. Also, damaging the chunks of rock which fall off the named Tunnelgorger’s barely make a dent, resulting in a painfully long battle with this encounter. According to Chrol, we can expect the following fixes soon:

Coming soon!…

• Several undead orcs and dark elves have chosen to haunt other areas outside the hallways leading to Captain Boshinko.
• The chunks of rock that fall off the Tunnelgorger now decrement his stoneskin twice as much as they did previously.

Some really powerful items drop from HKC so it’s worth a visit for well-geared groups.

Kinya, webmaster of the Polish multi-game fansite Babagra, has posted a summary and notes of the second EQ2 Insider webcast which was held last Wednesday.

What happen recently in EQ2:
– weekly updates;
– dreadscale maw – new raid;
– high keep contested;
– June promotion Gear Up, Level UP;
– heroic characters are on sale;
– discount on expansion if bought in June;
– new Loyalty items added to MarketPlace.

Team is focused mostly on the things which are coming to EQ2:
– fabled Deathtoll (around 20 July);
– big unnamed event in July;
– new challenge duo coming in August;
– lore and legends for Aerakyns (June/ July).

Ethereals and Artifacts – current items will be available until mid of July then comes another set of items: weapons.
Not all the Artifacts were discovered so far on all servers. There is around only 15 of them in game currently (11 servers x 4 artifacts = 44)

June Dev Picks (from 10:30): Magic Kingdom by Sairalindie on Antonia Bayle and Meta’s Enchanted Island Tours by Metamarra on Butcherblock.

Collectors edition ToV winners (selected from ppl watching stream): Psycha, Ladylove4, DonRipper

From the EQ2 Forums:

GEAR UP, LEVEL UP (June promotional program from June 3 to July 8)
All Access members will receive the following bonuses and discounts:

• Double-Double Etyma in Tears of Veeshan (4x the rewards)!
• 25% XP Bonus
• Tears of Veeshan Expansion discount (15%)
• 25% Off Heroic Characters

Free players receive the following bonuses:

• Double Etyma in Tears of Veeshan (2x the rewards)!
• Also eligible for a Tears of Veeshan expansion discount (15%).

WEEKLY FEATURE

• Loyalty items have been added into the Marketplace to make searching and purchasing them more convenient. These items are still for sale on the merchants.
• [Ed Note:] As seen in the Producer’s Letter, over 100 new Loyalty items are being added.

From the EQ2 Forums:

WEEKLY FEATURE

• The first round of Battlegrounds matchmaker fixes is live!
• Teams will now be more fair numbers wise. No more 24 reds against 3 blues!
• NOTE: teams could be a little off if not everyone picked to be on your team accepts the match. However, backfills will go to the lowest team first so as more people queue to fill in the backfills it will work to even up the teams.
• The getting dropped into Champion’s Respite instead of going straight to your match from your home server is still not fixed.
• If you are chronomentoring on your home server when you accept a battlegrounds match, you will have your chronomentor session restored to you when you return at no cost.
• When you enter a battlegrounds match you will get put into your team’s respawn instead of being dropped in the middle of the map.
• Backfilled players will be put on the team with the fewest total number of players.
• Players who queue as a group will all be placed on the same team. However, the order in the group/raid window will not be maintained.

From the EQ2 Forums:

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
Temple of Veeshan: The Dreadscale’s Maw

• Zoning a raid force into the zone should no longer put players into their own separate instances.

Izshrah’Khar: Stratum of the Protectors

• Shazzak now only spawns five Fragments per phase in order to address an issue that was causing certain characters to crash to character select. The Fragments’ damage has been increased to compensate for fewer Fragments.

ITEMS

• Experience gain on the Tear of Veeshan Spiritstones [ed. note — green adornments] has been tripled.

Servers will be coming down for an update – from the forums:

The US EverQuest 2 Servers will come down on May 13th, 2014 at 7:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time for an update. The expected downtime is approximately one hour.

EU servers will come down beginning at 9:00 PM PT (6:00 AM CET May 14th, 2014) for the same update. Downtime is anticipated to be approximately 2 hours.

Patch notes after the jump.

Looks like we can expect the Fabled Kingdom of Sky zones to be rounded out with Deathtoll some time this year. From Tuesday’s EQ2 Dev Team Ask Me Almost Anything…

Q: “I have heard rumors about a fabled deathtoll, which I know you cant confirm or deny.”

A: “RUMORS! You’re right. The design team is working on a fabled version of Deathtoll. :)”

and for those who want to put 2 and 2 together about Deathtoll being this year…

1. We won’t be doing a big Fabled release again this year, but at least one dungeon will be released.

Further down the road, a player (Meaghan Stormfire) asked on the EQ2 Forums:

I always thought it would be cool if you took all five Guk zones and stitched them together into one massive contested zone. That would be awesome.

To which Lead Designer Kander responded:

I think that would be pretty awesome too. In fact we have talked about it several times.

AT which point players started asking about Echoes of Faydwer dungeons and raid zones such as Emerald Halls to which Kander replied:

Next year will be Fabled Echoes of Faydwer stuff.

From EQ2 Build Master Bunji on the EQ2 Forums:

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
High Keep: The Bloodless Incursion [Contested]

• Ruptured Vein will do significantly less damage.
• Lowered the assist radius of non-boss encounters.
• Undead Army will drop off raid members properly.
• Increments of Undead Army will lower when NPCs are charmed.
• Experience gained will be increased.
• Removed the restriction of all revive points in the zone.
• Tremorax the Unearthed will wait a few extra seconds before surfacing from its sinkholes.
• A guild achievement for defeating Exarch Lorokai the Unliving has been added.

High Keep: The Bloodless Incursion [Warzone]
This zone mirrors Highkeep: The Bloodless Incursion [Contested] with the following exceptions:

• Faction alliances are no protection within this Warzone. Players of any city alignment can attack any player outside of their group or raid.
• Boss encounters have a chance to drop PvP currency writs which can be used to purchase PvP equipment.

Reddit, that last bastion of 1990’s internet look-and-feel, hosted an “Ask Me Almost Anything” with the EQ2 developers and designers this morning and Cyliena of EQ2 ZAM has summarized the most interesting questions which received responses from the team. Here are a few of the more interesting responses:

Q: “Any hints on the next expansion’s theme? Will the level cap finally raise to 100 with it?”

A: “You may want to tune into the next EQ2 Insider livestream on http://www.twitch.tv/everquest2. 😉 It’ll be May 7th, 2014 at 2PM PDT! (We’ll have a YT vod up if you can’t watch it live.)”

A: “We gave you hints last year at SOE Live! We showed pictures!”

Followup: The teaser pictures shown during last year’s SOE Live expansion panel were of dinosaurs(another here from the art panel).

and..

Q: “Hello, can you give an update on the improved Dungeon Finder / Group Builder? Including when it might make its way to the live servers?”

A: “As I mentioned above, we have Dave Kish working on the matchmaking code now. The first task was to create an environment to adequately test and evaluate the issues that are reported on Live and we have tracked a lot down. We will let the community know anytime we have something to report, like when we’d help to test new code on Beta, etc. This is one of our highest priorities.”

Continue reading EQ2 AMAA on Reddit Notes at EQ2 ZAM for a whopping 7 pages of questions and answers!

Coinciding with today’s transition of all Gold subscribers (either Krono, 30-day Game Cards, or with recurring credit card) to All Access, there are also a number of update notes for EQ2:

HIGH KEEP
High Keep: The Bloodless Incursion [Contested] is now live and offers new challenges for groups of heroes brave enough to explore its halls! This contested version of High Keep can be accessed through the portal on Karak Peak in Vesspyr Isles. This zone is exclusively available to [All Access] members until May 13 2014.

Heritage Quest
Blood lines the hallways of High Keep, much of it the result of one man. Was he a hero or a traitor? Learn the truth and re-acquire a bloody weapon lost to the annals of time in the new heritage quest found within High Keep: The Bloodless Incursion!

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
General

• Zordakalicus Ragefire, the Dragon Ancestral Champion, now drops rare items from any current heroic zone boss, in addition to his normal loot.

Accursed Sanctum

• The minimum lockout has been reduced from 5 days to 3 days. The maximum lockout has not been changed.

Temple of Veeshan: Guardian’s Edifice

• The power damage shield on Kelana in the Fire & Ice dragons encounter should no longer affect fighters.

Chelsith

• Ground mounts can now be used in Chelsith.

From Holly “Windstalker” Longdale‘s twitter:

We are bundling High Keep Contested & Bloody Shank heritage quest for the 23rd update. No hotfix next week, but a major leap ahead… #EQ2

— Holly Longdale (@WindstalkerEQ2) April 11, 2014

On Wednesday, April 2nd, 2014 at 2:00 PM PDT, EQ2’s new community manager Margaret “Luperza” Krohn (aka PurrfectStorm), hosted the first EverQuest II Insider livecast on Twitch. This 1 hour broadcast included EQ brand manager Adam Key, Holly “Windstalker” Longdale, Akil “Lyndro” Hooper, Chris Garlick, Gary Daugherty, and Nathan “Kaitheel” McCall.

Alas, a recording of the livecast was not preserved either by SOE or Twitch (due to a settings glitch), so this episode joins Doctor Who and other vital shows as missing presumed wiped.

That said, a few resourceful players who watched the Livecast were good enough to take notes and so we can paraphrase them below:

• Holly and Akil talked about current topics including Bristlebane Day, as well as previewing some Player Studio items that will be coming soon, including a very nice looking yacht or fishing boat with oars and other gear. Luperza mentioned that Player Studio topics will be covered in their own livesteam.
• We got to hear the ‘April Fool’s intro music’ (archived for posterity on Zam) and the new meatbeast vid was also shown (if you haven’t seen it then look here).
• Holly talked a little about All-Access (subscription, Krono, or Prepaid cards)
  • All Access players will get access to new zones / heritage quests 1-2 weeks earlier than other players.
  • Those with new All Access account will have double xp weekends.
  • More All-Access exclusive items on the loyalty merchants.
• The schedule for updates will be more public so that we can see how Smokejumper’s weekly/monthly update idea is working.
• EverQuest II Roadmap/Blueprint — Upcoming plans for EQ2 with feedback from players.
• Contested HighKeep Previewed
  • new skeleton models like crawling, one legged and some even use their head as weapon [IMG]
  • quests: drop quests, quests from items, daily missions for etyma (2 mission givers: 1 at entrance, 2nd at the entrance to picklaw part)
  • plunderable loot which you can place in your house
  • some items might be marked with our name (there is special achievement for marking all of them: Vandal title)
  • achievement for killing all nameds in the zone
  • hidden rare trophies in the trash – if you gather all you get Body Snatcher (?) title
  • new armor appearances
• New High Keep Guild Hall
• Player Studio will open up (later this year) to submissions from Germany, UK, France for players with an SOE Station account.
• Developer picks for Housing Leaderboards — returning soon.
• New Raid zone (ToV Wing 3) — Next Month
• 10 More AA points (requires level 95)– next week.

Thanks to Sambril, Kinya of Babagra Polish EQ2 fansite, and Errrorr for their note-taking!

From the EQ2 Forums:

From the EQ2 Forums:

All EverQuest 2 Servers will come down on March 20th, 2014 at 7:00 AM PDT for an update. The expected downtime is approximately two hours.

WEEKLY FEATURE
Two new Heritage Quests are now available for players to pursue:

• Speak to Loremaster Dorondal in icy Thurgadin. He has many treasures to offer, and among the most valuable lies Zlandicar’s Heart. If you can find what he’s looking for, the Heart will be yours!

• High among the cliffs of Steamfont, a gnome sits, wondering at his fate. Unable to descend the sheer rock wall, he puts pen to paper to ensure his story is told before the elements – or worse – take him from this world. To follow in his footsteps is to put oneself in grave danger, but the pull of the Hero Bracers cannot be denied!

Note: Portions of these quests will require the Tears of Veeshan expansion to complete.

Editor’s Note: These quests can be completed through grouping, although raiding may provide a chance at a better version of the reward.

Dave “SmokeJumper” Georgeson, along with the producers for EverQuest, EverQuest II, and EverQuest Next/EverQuest Next Landmark have all given updates on what’s coming this March and a peek into April.

At the 1:35 mark, Holly “Windstalker” Longdale, Senior Producer for EQ2 gives a quick recap on the new content cycle, what we’ve seen, and what’s to come. A bullet point summary after the jump…

From the EQ2 Forums:

All EverQuest 2 Servers will come down on March 11th, 2014 at 7:00 AM Pacific Time for an update. The expected downtime is approximately two hour.

Time Zone Conversions

• PDT: March 11 @ 7:00am ~ 9:00am
• EDT: March 11 @ 10:00am ~ Noon
• GMT: March 11 @ 14:00 ~ 16:00
• CET: March 11 @ 15:00 ~ 17:00
• AEST: March 12 @ 12:01am ~ 2:00am

From the EQ2 Forums:

WEEKLY FEATURE

• Weapon Damage Bonus and Spell Weapon Damage Bonus are now displayed under the Autoattack category in the character sheet window.
• Max Health % is now displayed in the tooltip for Health in the character window.
• Physical Damage Reduction % is now displayed in the tooltip for Mitigation in the character window.
• The Etyma Merchant Delvakin in Falinpol has several new consumables that may be purchased to assist you on your adventures.
• Those that have completed the quest ‘Putting the Rage in Ragefire’ may now purchase upgrades to some crafted consumables from Delvakin in Falinpol area of Vesspyr Isle.

From the EQ2 Forums:

All EverQuest 2 Servers will come down on March 4th, 2014 at 7:00 AM Pacific Time for an update. The expected downtime is approximately two hour.

Time Zone Conversions

• PST: March 4 @ 7:00am ~ 9:00am
• EST: March 4 @ 9:00am ~ 11:00am
• GMT: March 4 @ 15:00 ~ 17:00
• CET: March 4 @ 16:00 ~ 18:00
• AEST: March 5 @ 12:01am ~ 2:00am

Here are the update notes:

Since EQ2 is going to have weekly updates going forward, we might as well get an acronym going for it. So… This Week In Norrath, we can expect:

This week Lvl. 85 Heroic Channelers are coming as well as bug fixes! Brew Day, Chronoportal, and Bristlebane Day holidays in March too! #eq2

— Holly Longdale (@WindstalkerEQ2) March 2, 2014

Oh hey, there was an update today. A big one for PvPers. Got some personal stuff going on but will be back to 100% soon enough.

From the EQ2 Forums:

From the EQ2 Forums:

WEEKLY FEATURE
Loyalty Merchant

• Noble Tark Validus has a new item to assist gold members who wish to change their city alignment or betray their adventure profession.
• Noble Toowik Mclure has new adventuring equipment available for sale.

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
The Fabled Halls of Fate

• Knockbacks should occur much less frequently.

Temple of Veeshan: Guardian’s Ediface [Raid]

• Corrected a bug in the Pyrelord and Controller fight in which the same target was selected every time for the red and blue ground AEs. Targets are now selected randomly, as intended.

TRADESKILLS

• All Player crafted Round Shields should once again be scout usable and grant agility.

ITEMS

• Uplifting Procs no longer clear off the entire raid when a user dies or removes the item.

PVP

• Legacy PvP adornments can now be used in PvP combat again.

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL
New Achievements available for dedicated collection hunters!
Health Percentage will now show with the Detailed (Arrows) version of the target window if you have the option turned on.
Players’ preferred auto attack mode will now be restored after their possession of a target has concluded.

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

• The Target Window now has an optional Health Percentage numerical display that can be toggled in Options > User Interface > Name and Chat Bubble > Show Health Percentage of Target.
• The bonuses granted to Spell Doublecast and Flurry chance obtained by exceeding the Ability Casting Speed and Attack Speed caps will now be displayed in the tooltips for the relevant stats in the character sheet window.
• Added option User Interface > Game Features > Default Double Click to Examine Effects to allow you to bring up the examine window of effects by double clicking on their icon.

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION

Ancestral Champions

• Zordakalicus Ragefire – Adds have had hit points lowered. Bolt of Storms now does substantially more damage.