Here are your Update Notes for Thursday, December 13, 2012. This update is expected to take 2 hours. From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

• Mounts will no longer show the locked icon on them when you can use them.

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
Harrow’s End x4

• Bastion’s pillars should regenerate energy nearly equally as fast as they get drained. The draining should also be slightly lessened.
• Drinal should no longer be casting his curse repetitively while the curse is already active on a raid member.
• Drinal’s Power Over Death curse should once again be at the appropriate duration.
• Oligar should resummon his protective golems regardless of the order they are killed if he feels he is not adequately protected.

Altar of Abhorrence x4

• The Enraged Imp should be a bit more forgiving with his DPS checking.

• Mark of the Ireblind should no longer persist through death.

So while we’re crossing our fingers that EQ2U will get access to Loot Tables someday soon, I wanted to take our new Item Popups for a spin and put together a collaborative loot article. We’ll be covering loot from Advanced Solo, Group, and Raid Zones, and even Collections as I know there are some good reward items out there.

What do I do?

Please post item names below and who the item is from (as well as any adornments that are bundled with the item), which zone, and whether it was the EM or HM version. I’ll be reading through the comments and updating this article.

Surround each item’s name with {eq2u}and {/eq2u} (replacing the { and } with [ and ]) and it will automagically turn into an item popup.

From EQ2’s Twitter:

The US Servers will come down on Thursday, December 6, 2012, at 4:00 pm Pacific* for a hotfix. The expected downtime is one hour. [Dexella]

— EverQuest II (@everquestii) December 6, 2012

Time Zone Conversions

• PST: December 6 @ 4-5:00pm
• EST: December 6 @ 7-8:00pm
• GMT: December 7 @ 0:00-01:00
• CET: December 7 @ 01:00-02:00

Full Update Notes after the jump…

Dethdlr and I have been patiently (well, Dethdlr at least) waiting for Chains of Eternity data so we can add Experimentation, Refining, and Spirit Stones (green adornments) to EQ2U. Looks like DrumsUI author Drumstix got tired of waiting, broke out a calculator (and some Optical Character Recognition) and has calculated out the max level of every Spirit Stone currently in-game.

VISIT: Spirit Stones at Max Level @ DrumsUI

If you haven’t checked out DrumsUI, it is one of the best “full replacement” UI themes for EQ2. Virtually every window is nipped, tucked, or tweaked to dramatically increase functionality and accessibility to the important information.

As awesome as it is that Raiders, Group, and yes Solo players get to experience the entire Drinal Signature Quest line which takes players through the entire Chains of Eternity storyline, the requirement to do this 8-12 hour quest on every Alt character just to gain access to the group zones, as well as loot [eq2u]Obol[/eq2u] and [eq2u]Greater Spirit[/eq2u]s was a bridge too far.

From EQ2 Lead Designer Akil “Lyndro” Hooper on the EQ2 Forums:

We’re going to remove the entrance requirements from all of the dungeons and raids in the expansion except for Harrow’s End. For Harrow’s End you’ll be able to get a Heirloom key from Drinal’s Steward that you can give to other characters on your account to gain access to the zone.

UPDATE from Lyndro about [eq2u]Obol[/eq2u] currency and [eq2u]Greater Spirit[/eq2u]s:

We’ve been chatting about this some, and it makes sense to allow your alts to collect the Obol and Spirit drops if you have a character that has completed the signature line. The “Key” for Harrows End will allow for you to start gathering Obols and Spirits (Which are Heirloom). You’ll still need to complete the signature line to see the merchant version of the Steward, but since the Obols and Spirits are Heirloom and the equipment that you buy from the Steward is all heirloom, you should be able to get the benefit on all your characters.

The Thanksgiving holiday falling just after an expansion is always a pain. Just when we need those Tuesday/Thursday updates the most, the fixes start to thin out, or are postponed. But for those who have been waiting patiently (and even if you haven’t), the time is finally here for the post-Chains of Eternity Mega Patch. Tomorrow’s update contains a ton of fixes to issues that have been brought up repeatedly in /bug, here, and on the forums.

The updates include:

• [eq2u]Call of the Veteran[/eq2u] is back working as it was before.
• Jarsath Wastes Sokokar Trainers are back.
• Gathering Goblin produces less rares, particularly roots.
• Trichromatic Adornment Removers that will remove Yellow, Red, and Green adornments have been added as Tinkering recipes. This is in addition to the existing adornment removers which can remove yellow, red, or combinations thereof.
• Spirit Stones (green adornments) now have better in-game display.
• Items made with Refined materials, or which have been Experimented upon can now be linked in channel. Further, they now display correctly (instead of just showing the base item) when listed on the Broker.
• Numerous Fixes to Chains of Eternity Zones and Quests

The complete Update Notes after the jump…

Hark! The EQ2 team have relented and the Meatbeast will once again be tameable by Beastlords! Apparently there are also some other update notes as well. This update will has been announced to take 2 hours instead of the usual one hour downtime.

GENERAL

• Players in a group of 6 are now capable of getting the solo amount of experience.

MERCENARIES

• Krivix Honorclaw should now be using the correct buffs. Players should see a slight increase to tanking ability and max health.

ABILITIES / ALTERNATE ADVANCEMENT

Beastlord

• Invalid warder appearances have been re-enabled, but beastlords can now tame bovochs as an exotic warder!

[ Jump to our EQ2Wire Beastlord Warder Guide ]

EQ2Wire answers 20 Frequently Asked Questions about EverQuest II: Chains of Eternity:

• Help! All My AAs Were Reset! Is there a Backup?
• What about my AA Mirror?
• Can I Turn Off the AA Spending Prompt?
• What is this Chains of Eternity: Touch of the Steward item? Can I get 280 AAs for free?
• What is the Level cap for Adventuring, Tradeskills, and Guilds? Did they increase the AA cap?
• Have there been any changes to Adventure XP in this expansion?
• How come I’m not getting Veteran Bonus anymore for having Max Level Characters?
• Help I’m not getting any XP!

From the EQ2 Forums:

Chains of Eternity is EverQuest II’s 9th expansion! In Chains of Eternity, adventurers will travel to the realm known as Ethernere in their quest to stop the siphoning of souls from Norrath. Here, the heroes will fight to save not only the mortals of their world, but prevent the imbalance in Ethernere, as well as meet the God of the afterlife, Drinal, the Silver Reaper. They may yet find the answer lies not in fortunes and portents, but deep in Norrath’s past. Adventurers will also uncover all new areas in the mortal realm of Norrath.

The fate of the living and the dead are in your hands, heroes! Are you up to the challenge before you?

I don’t want to misquote anyone, so I am transcribing the most clear-cut questions and answers. Anything else will be in the transcript video.

Question about tradeskillers making kilts and getting more styles.

Q: Freeport and Qeynos lets anyone do writs. Neriak is more picky. Gorowyn is selective as well. Can this be made more consistent?

Q: A Krono is $17.99. Why is it more than 30 days sub costs at Walmart for $14.99?
A: We don’t endorse the selling of cards in-game, but it’s a completely supported in-game method of trading in-game subs.
Q: Are you going to try to stop selling cards for plat?
A: No.

Sorry for the late start. I am videoing this panel as well.

Just typing the most important stuff:

* Remove Adornments from items
* Adjustment to Mentor Experience
* Group XP Penalty is gone – must be on hate list
* 280 AA reward with the expansion
* Guild Chronomage
* Guild Deity Altars
* Guild Standards more

From the EQ2 Forums:

ITEMS

• Hoop of Draconic Fervor – fixed an issue with the heal/ward increase portion of this proc not applying.

• Vallon’s Chestplate of Cold Determination now has Wisdom additionally to its other stats.

• Sullon’s Rage Imbued Greaves of Slaughter are now chain armor. Classes that can use them remain the same.

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

• Fixed the double-click buying and selling functionality within the merchant windows.

ABILITIES
Paladin

• Paladin Faith Strike I and II will now properly heal the caster rather than the target.

QUESTS

• Holgresh See in Withered Lands now has better rewards for brawlers and scouts.

From the EQ2 Forums:

Sleeper’s Tomb, Chapter 1 Begins!

Norrathian’s will find Jorlak, an aged Dracurion chronomage, outside of the Sleeper’s Tomb in Velious’ Eastern Wastes. He will launch a quest that gives adventurers access to world-changing events in Norrath’s history, including the rituals of the heralded warders who kept the great prismatic dragon, Kerafyrm, asleep for many ages.

Start Your Chains of Eternity Adventure!

Level 92 players should be on the lookout for a message from Erus Dal’viv, the Swordbearer. He has a mission for adventurers that will help the Duality’s research into the Age’s End Prophecy… a mission that could take an unexpected turn.

If I was a bit harsh in my “Let the Sleeper’s Tomb Testing Begin! Group & Raid Zone” article, it’s only because I believe content should be thoroughly tested before it is pushed to the Live servers. Players have memorized every pixel in Skyshrine and are thirsty for new enemies to “punch and take their stuff”, so it seems smart to get Sleeper’s Tomb so bug-free, balanced, and itemized smoothly that players feel the wait for new content was worth it.

Holly “Windstalker” Longdale has posted a news update about when we can expect Sleeper’s Tomb, and the first wave of Contested Avatars.

Good day intrepid adventurers! Next Tuesday we are bringing you a big update that we lovingly call “Sleeper’s Tomb.” This is the first chapter of our expansion, Chains of Eternity, releasing in November. We have some additional content releasing with Sleeper’s Tomb that is definitely worth getting ready for! Check this out:

Here are today’s update notes from the EQ2 Forums.

New options have been added to the Merchant window:

• You can now ‘Hide Unusable’ items, ‘Hide Outleveled’ items, and show ‘My Class’ useable items within any merchant window via checkboxes.
• A text field has been added which allows you to filter items in a merchant’s list.
• There is now a ‘Double Click to Sell’ checkbox in merchant windows that once checked will allow you to double-click on items in your bags to quickly sell them.  You can also auto enable ‘Double Click to Sell’ in the options under User Interface – Game Features – Default Click to Sell.

From EverQuest2.com:

Death is rampant across Norrath. Citizens are suddenly falling dead as their spirits are torn from their bodies. No one on Norrath seems to understand why the souls are being pulled from the mortal plane, but all signs point to a massive disturbance within Ethernere, the realm of the dead. The heroes of the world must travel to Ethernere to find the cause of the unbalance in the Grey Wastes, and discover what has become of its caretaker – the mysterious being known as Drinal. If the heroes can return balance to Ethernere, the siphoning of souls may be halted. Should they fail, both the living and the dead will suffer a dismal fate.

Introducing EverQuest II: Chains of Eternity! This is the 9th expansion of the revolutionary EverQuest II franchise. This expansion contains must-have features such as level increases, prestige abilities and new game items only available with this expansion, such as adornments that become more powerful with your character. Also, explore new content in two spirit-realm versions of familiar lands, and experience adventure with new dungeons and quests. Put right the imbalance in the Ethernere!

From Holly “Windstalker” Longdale on the EQ2 Forums:

Greetings Norrath!

The time has come! We are very proud to announce our next expansion, EverQuest II: Chains of Eternity!

The team is hard at work developing our ninth – yes, our ninth – expansion and implementing the finer details, several of which I will go into here.  When the expansion launches, Norrathians will pass into Ethernere, the realm of the afterlife, where all spirits pass after death on their way to their final resting place.

Recently, something has gone horribly wrong in Ethernere and it is bleeding through in the mortal plane.  Over the summer months, evidence of ripples between the realms was in evidence as items with ethereal energy appeared upon the dead.  As the tears between the realms widen, it will be up to the heroes of Norrath to save the immortal and mortal realms from collapse!

The adventures in this expansion will be great ones! The team is spending a lot of time ensuring that you experience the story, rather than merely read it, so I won’t give it all away in this letter.  As for features and details, we’ve got a lot to crow about.  We hope players enjoy it as much as we’ve enjoyed weaving it together.

Cross Over to More Content

In two re-imagined Ethernere overlands inspired by Feerrott and Loping Plains, players will find a region in chaos.  The natural ebb and flow of spirits passing through the Ethernere to each spirit’s final resting place is corrupted and on the edge of destruction, threatening every mortal’s life and afterlife.  Through the trials of nine new instanced dungeons, players will attempt to mend the end of all things.  Prelude content and dungeons give insights into the threat from the other side while telling all new stories – including advancing the story behind the Ages End Prophecy.  Players meet new creatures from the beyond and face a whole host of new challenges.

As was hinted last month, players will see new raid content in the month of September, specifically the Sleeper’s Tomb. It’s our understanding that the difficulty of this zone will stop short of the Plane of War. Meanwhile, there have been sightings of new ETHEREAL Charms over the long weekend. It’s unclear if the charms have replaced or simply augmented the ETHEREAL weapons which first appeared in August. Remember folks, Ethereal items have an equal chance of dropping from any enemy — they do not have a higher chance of dropping from named encounters.

From the EQ2 Forums:

It’s a start of a new month, and a lot is happening in our beloved Norrath. Here’s a peek at just a few of the new features and events that will be happening this September. More will be revealed in the coming weeks!

Ethereal Charms (NEW!)

The ethereal winds have shifted in Norrath. In the month of August, mysterious and powerful weapons were randomly appearing across the land. This month, new items with similar power are beginning to appear. What could their presence mean?

Sleeper’s Tomb

What rests within this tomb? Only the bravest of adventurers should dare to enter this new zone in mid-September for new group/raid content!

Continue Reading Norrathian News ~ September 2012

From the EQ2 Forums:

ITEMS

• Many NO TRADE adornments are now HEIRLOOM.

• Forged Claws of Drelkuma now have a 4 second delay.

• The Rift Guardian armor set for Wardens now has wisdom in place of strength.

• Plane of War: Blade of Universal Conflict – Indestructible Being now procs 15 crit bonus instead of 15 potency.

• Plane of War: Petrified Skull of a Bygone Emperor now has the appropriate amount of multi-attack.

• Plane of War: Writ of Destruction now has the appropriate amount of multi-attack.

• Ethereal Charms: Rallosian Warforged Axe Shard is now tradeable.

• Ethereal Charms: Rallosian Warforged Shield Strap is now tradeable.

QUESTS

• The quest icon for baubles should no longer show on every mob in the zone during the quest Broken Bones.

All In Moderation

The official support forums for any product must, by their very nature, present a good impression to potential customers. The forums should put the company’s best foot forward. The EQ2 forums have had their fair share of technical issues. But if customers criticize the product, this should be seen as an opportunity for Community Management, Developers, Designers, and Management to respond to these issues and show that customer feedback is valued. To avoid misunderstandings, Community Management can be a great liaison between developers and players.

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

• The Auto attack Timing window can now be resized.

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION

Withered Lands

• Talapatook’tei should no longer get in a state where he is completely damage immune if damaged too quickly.

ABILITIES

• The effectiveness of riposte damage now diminishes as it gets higher and is now a rating stat rather than a direct percent increase.

ITEMS

• Solidified Blood of Rallos Zek now grants 50 crit bonus instead of 100 Multi-attack.

• Focused Will of the Warlord now grants 50 crit bonus instead of 100 Multi-attack.

QUESTS

• The Crushbone Water should now have its empty water jug show up as a quest bauble in the tracker window.

• Counting Their Blessings will no longer show quest target icons on all mobs in zone.

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

• Fixed an issue that prevented voice overs working with socials.

SOEMOTE

• Added a video input device selection dropdown for SOEmote in the Options (Advanced) – SOEmote.

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION

City of Freeport

• Vhishall, Freeport furniture merchant, now offers a selection of paintings for those that have completed particular quests in the city of Freeport.

Plane of War x4 Raid

• In the general Teku fight warboars have less health and run slower, war wraiths will turn to face attackers sooner than before.

• Eriak the Fetid – Echo of Terror adds will no longer cast demonic flames as soon as they spawn.

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

• An Auto Attack timing window has been implemented into the default UI.  You can enable / disable this feature under User Interface – Game Windows – Show The Autoattack Timing Bar.

• Fixed an issue with the age slider for male / female humans.

• Fixed some customization issues with Darkelves.

• Fixed an issue with skirts on humans and elves.