Feldon
Players on the Nagafen server have had little to celebrate over the last year. Between a number of unpopular mechanics changes, and the popularity of Battlegrounds continually nibbling away at ‘proper’ PvP, it’s been a long time since there’s been any good news. But as if the forthcoming Game Update 64‘s substantive changes to PvP and Battlegrounds weren’t enough, tonight Nagafen players are celebrating the server first kill of Vyskudra the Ancient. If you haven’t heard about this, you’re not alone. Observers of GuildProgress may be puzzled to learn that this enemy has been defeated at all on Nagafen,...
Itemization
Itemization of any MMO is a thankless job. If I had my way, EQ2 Itemization would be a Senior Designer position with foot massages, baskets of fresh fruit, and refreshing margaritas. Instead, it seems to be the hot potato job that everyone prays they’re out of before the music stops. A systemic problem we’ve been talking about for years with EverQuest II is that even the most obvious Itemization imbalances tend to take months to straighten out, all the while players spend hours farming and working towards items that will eventually be nerfed into oblivion. Four months after the...
From the EQ2 Forums: DUNGEON MAKER Corrected an issue that caused some buff objects in Dungeon Maker to reduce NPCs hit points by too much. POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION Withered Lands Daerlina and Swampmaw will now return to battle more frequently after a defeat. Plane of War x4 Raid Commander Goreslaughter and Corpsemaul – The diaku war riders will spawn near commander goreslaughter instead of on top of random players. Commander Corpsemaul no longer has Unbridled Fury of the Shadows. Mauler’s Affliction no longer interrupts casting. QUESTS The quest “Etch the Stone” is now properly repeatable.
From the EQ2 Forums: GENERAL Updated Awesomium browser files to fix some compatibility issues. Fixed potential crash on exit. POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION Plane of War x4 Raid Commander Goreslaughter and Corpsemaul ? The crystals of death and destruction now have unique appearances and spawn close to the commanders, in 2 sets of 2. There are only 3 diaku war riders per wave and they no longer knockback.
Buried in the update notes for the forthcoming Game Update 64 (and reiterated in the GU64 Webcast) was an interesting detail: Elemental, Noxious, and Arcane Resists would be folded into player-selected Character Traits, but Physical Mitigation would not. These days, most players select Physical Mitigation as a Character Trait choice rather than Resists. Physical Mitigation usually works out to be a better bang for your buck. Further, a number of players have already reached the hard limit on resists and so don’t benefit from it at all. So the idea that players would login after Game Update 64 and...
Game Update 64 “Qeynos Rises” has arrived on Test and Test Copy and the Notes for this update have been posted on the EQ2 forums. GU64 is expected to hang around on Test for about a month before going to the Live servers. Among a number of other changes, GU64 sees Qeynos rebuilt as two zones. North and South Qeynos become the Capital District, Elddar Grove and Qeynos Harbor become the Provinces. Changes to Battlegrounds, PvP, and Fighters are all headlines, with the curious change that Plane of War has been opened to all.
From the EQ2 Forums: POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION Halas and Darklight Wood Newbie experiences in New Halas and Neriak have been updated to make them more rewarding and fun. Neriak’s Darklight Wood got a much-needed art overhaul which adds to the ambience of eeeeevil. New and better armor sets are available to level 20 and we will be recommending players opt for New Halas or Neriak upon entering the game their first time.
Xelgad (by way of Ashlanne) has posted some additional information about the upcoming Fighter changes that come with Game Update 64. But first, Piestro has some comments about rushing to judgment: Obviously this is a change that we knew people would be passionate about. Of course until people see the actual changes any evaluation of their impact is premature. The best way to move forward is to write down your concerns, and then formulate a test plan based on those concerns. That will give you the best possible start to actually testing the changes, and seeing what their actual...
From the EQ2 Forums: Hey all, Xelgad here! I wanted to explain some of the improvements to our Character Development window that you will be seeing on Test Server soon. The biggest change is that class foci from armor will instead be granted through the Character Development window. Carried over from tier to tier for years, these foci have become part of the standard class more than a reward for acquiring high end gear. You can choose one bonus every nine levels, starting at level nine. (Do you really want this? Of course you do!)
On June 21, 2012, Dave “Smokejumper” Georgeson (Executive Director of Development) discussed the upcoming Game Update 64, specifically PvP, Battlegrounds, and Fighter changes with Akil “Lyndro” Hooper (Lead Designer), Mike “Xelgad” Ganz (Associate Game Designer), and Brian “Omougi” Ferguson (Associate Game Designer). Game Update 64 will be hitting the Test and Test Copy servers next Tuesday. NOTE: Make sure you’ve got your volume turned down as the video opens with a loud throat clearing.
From the EQ2 Forums: GENERAL The in-game browser files have been updated. If you experience any problems with the in-game browser, help UI, or customer service petition functions please post your details here: http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?topic_id=519345
From the SOE Forums: Changes are coming to PVP and fighters class for EverQuest II. Host Dave “Smokejumper” Georgeson (Executive Director of Development) is going to discuss the upcoming changes with Akil “Lyndro” Hooper (Lead Designer), Mike “Xelgad” Ganz (Associate Game Designer), and Brian “Zuglash” Ferguson (Associate Game Designer). They have lots of details to share about PVP, fighters and more. EverQuest II fans do not want to miss this webcast. Join us on Thursday, June 21, 2012, at 4:00 p.m. US Pacific Time* on Twitch TV! The webcast is expected to last about 20 minutes. For PVP fans and fighters...
File this under better late than never, but Game Update 64 will be rolling out much-needed changes to the Itemization of Drunder raid zones. New items are being added throughout the Drunder raid timeline which will more closely resemble what players have come to expect in Skyshrine zones. In addition, some of the items that people still desire out of Drunder, specifically the insanely rare Mythical weapons will become more common. From Kander on the EQ2 Forums: Sullon’s Spire [Challenge], Tallon’s Stronghold [Challenge] and Vallon’s Tower [Challenge] Raids will have new itemization with GU 64. Item scope will be...
From Holly “Windstalker” Longdale on the EQ2 Forums: Another month has zipped by already! We wanted to wait until after E3 to share a few more details about what we’re up to and what’s coming up this month. By now you may have heard about the SOE corporate initiative called SOEmote(tm) that will launch in EQII later this month. SOEmote uses a webcam and microphone to project your facial expressions, including talking and voice, onto your character in real time! It’s used in groups and also allows you to broadcast to your guild, almost like a webcast. We’re all...
In today’s update for June 13, 2012, EQ2 finally ditches its ancient Mozilla web browser in favor of the Awesomium browser, powered by Webkit (Safari/Chrome). EVE Online recently adopted this browser. This should resolve numerous problems with viewing complex websites in the in-game browser. Armor distribution in Skyshrine zones have been rebalanced to match group/raid distribution. Some Skyshrine group mobs will start dropping Primal Velium Shards, while Skyshrine raid encounters will hand out Pure Primal Velium Shards. And finally, today marks the introduction of Quest Target Icons. If you enable this setting, you will be able to see an...
We didn’t get a Game Update this week, partly due to E3, but we can now look ahead to Test to what’s coming next week. Highlights from the Test Update Notes on the EQ2 Forums: POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION Withered Lands Named within Withered Lands should all respawn correctly now. Challenge Mode Raid NPC?s (x4 epic) Challenge mode raid NPC’s have had their max health reduced.
While they aren’t glamorous, Content and Itemization are the meat and potatoes of the modern MMO. The thankless job of adding and maintaining these core items may not elicit splashy E3 announcements or garner press attention, but neglect them for a moment, and players will arrive at your gates brandishing pitchforks. Players have been unable to ignore the skewed armor distribution of Skyshrine. In particular, the new solo, group, and raid zones all seem to heavily slant towards priests and fighters. Normally we would be able to confirm this data using Zam’s drop information statistics which they periodically receive...
Dethdlr
Here are your update notes for Thursday, 17 May 2012: POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION Mount drops in the Underdepths and Betrayal in the Underdepths have been made less rare. Dracur Prime: Sevalak Awakened Sargon the Destructor text messages won’t go to the entire raid anymore, just the person about to be cast upon. The duration of the red text messages has been shortened. Dracur Prime: Vyskudra the Ancient The player who slays an energized storm elemental and those closest to the slayer will receive the Elemental Storm Energy Buff. The Elemental Stormstrike buff will no longer generate hate taunting...
Some exciting news for players who have been wanting a setting for Autoattack during combat in EQ2! On the Test server, a new option has been added to the Character/Persona/Inventory window under the Options panel: This option should allow Rangers to set “Forced Ranged” and never need to use kludgy macros to ensure they are always doing ranged autoattacks. A ranger never wants to be doing melee autoattacks and we have relied on macros with the command /auto 2 for years. Further, this will be a sigh of relief to Mages and Priests who will now be able to...
A few days ago, I finally got around to doing some updates to Dethdlr’s Adornment Calculator. Thanks to everyone who sent in bug reports over the last several months. I think I’ve gotten all of them taken care of now but there may still be a few in there somewhere. Also, I’ve added a second white adornment dropdown for each slot since a lot of the Skyshrine items have two white adornment slots. Some two handers even have three white slots but I didn’t add a third dropdown. Just use the secondary dropdown for those cases and make sure...
Here are your Update Notes for Tuesday, May 15, 2012 from the EQ2 Forums: POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION Skyshrine: The City of Dracur Malicor Kehrn will no longer fight his partner in crime Nefari Kwol. PLAYER HOUSING The Vale of Halfpint Delight door will now display the correct destination.
Here are your updates for May 10, 2012. The quest All You Need is Time in Withered Lands should now be fixed as well as the ratio of Tier 10 precious metal rares. POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION Withered Lands Hexapola: players outside the raid should no longer cause the raid to reset if they agro raid insects. Skyshrine x4 raid zones, challenge mode Belkreiz Blazeclaw will no longer spam messages about reckless adds unless an add actually spawns due to the Time Vortex Curse. Belkreiz Blazeclaw will no longer spawn Ancient Dracurian Seer’s if there are already 3 or...
Here are your update notes for 8 May, 2012. There is a fix for the quest “All You Need is Time” currently on the test server but it hasn’t made it to the live servers yet. If you are stuck on that quest, Gninja says to /petition it. He has given customer service steps on how to fix it. POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION Skyshrine x4 raid zones, challenge mode Belkreiz Blazeclaw will no longer spam messages about reckless adds unless an add actually spawns due to the Time Vortex Curse. Belkreiz Blazeclaw will no longer spawn Ancient Dracurian Seer’s...
From the EQ2 Forums: GENERAL Fixed a client crash that could happen when trying to examine an item in certain situations. Skyshrine: the Claws of Veeshan faction will now be in the Destiny of Velious category along with all other DoV factions.
If you’ve bumped into those three new mercenaries in the old Skyshrine city who just won’t give you the time of day, Gninja has some spoilers for you: The [elite mercenaries] in Skyshrine require a “Key” which you get access to after you have completed the heroic questlines. Through those same questlines, you get a portal to appear in the contested (near the solo zone entrance portal) that will take you back to the city back in time at will. UPDATE: We have some first-hand player notes from Techno: There are 3 “elite” mercenaries in Skyshrine, Inquisitor, Monk (uses...