From the EQ2 Forums:

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
Lost City of Torsis: Reaver’s Remnants [All Versions]

• You should no longer be able to kill the Spirit Flames in the Tzirathk encounter.

Kaesora: Tomb of the Venerated [Advanced Solo]

• Icicle Storm no longer reduces potency.

All Servers: 7:00~9:00am PST | 10:00am~Noon EST | 15:00~17:00 GMT | 16:00~18:00 CET

From the EQ2 Forums:

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
Obulus Frontier

• Sarnak Infiltrators are no longer quite as hearty.
• Players who have not completed “Kunark Ascending: Opportunity ‘Noks” will now evac inside the Crusaders’ Cave.
• Banker, broker, collector, and other service NPCs in the Greenmist Crusader caves no longer require you to speak sathirian.

From the EQ2 Forums:

KUNARK ASCENDING

Norrath remains in danger from Lanys T’Vyl, God of Malice, and her pursuit of power! Return to Kunark and adventure through unexplored lands full of strife as a powerful force of iksar plan to overthrow the lich emperor, Venril Sathir. Uncover dungeons long sealed or lost, amassing power and piecing together the history long buried, in an attempt to keep the last Chaos Stone out of Lanys’ evil clutches!

It will take great courage to stand against the coming darkness and stop her from ushering in a new age of dominance by the gods. When the Tenets of Hate ascend to godhood, will you stand against them?

Kunark Ascending is the 13th EverQuest II expansion and brings new and exciting adventures to Norrath.

Journey to Obulus Frontier in North Kunark where you’ll explore the ruins of Kaesora, fight through the Crypt of Dalnir in Warslik Woods, traverse the City of Mist, and adventure through more areas both familiar and undiscovered!

From the EQ2 Forums:

ZONE POPULATION / PROGRESSION
Veeshan’s Peak [Raid]
Adjusted Silverwing’s script to account for charmed targets in regards to memwipes.

BATTLEGROUNDS
Fixed a bug that allowed some players to enter with a mount activated.
Handcrafted food and drink no longer give blue stats in Battlegrounds.

ITEMS
Fixed the DPS amount on several Rise of Kunark era weapons.

Players on the subscription-required Race to Trakanon and Stormhold (Time Locked Expansion) servers have been requesting changes to itemization which would bring Heroic and Raid gear (specifically the iconic Mythical weapons that conclude the Kunark storyline) above the level of Solo and Crafted gear. We got an answer of sorts on that question today from RadarX on the EQ2 Forums:

You are taking a few liberties with this statement but to reiterate Kanders post and to ensure there aren’t concerns this hasn’t at least been communicated, there are no plans to do further itemization on current content. As with each expansion the team will work on what they feel is the most important and impacting gear but a complete overhaul is unfeasible.

While we can appreciate the concern and passion, but our next itemization focus will be on the next expansion.

Acquiring Mythical weapons and the defeat of Trakanon on the Race to Trakanon server seems designed to dovetail into this EverQuest II’s thirteenth expansion — Kunark Ascending — expected this November — which is rumored to include an Epic Weapon 2.0 questline.

From EverQuest2.com:

Hail, Norrathian!

Are you seeking an adventure? One that both feels somewhat familiar, but also offers exciting challenges? Then today is your day! With today’s update, the following have been added to EQII:

Fabled Fallen Dynasty
A portal awaits you in The Village of Shin that will take you to new fabled versions of dungeons from The Fallen Dynasty. You must be Level 100 and have a membership to access these zones.

Public Quests
New, limited-time Public Quests are available throughout Norrath. Check your map to find these battle regions!

US Servers: 7:00am-1:00pm PDT | 10:00am-4:00pm EDT | 15:00-21:00 BST | 16:00-22:00 CET
EU Server: 7:00am-1:00pm PDT | 10:00am-4:00pm EDT | 15:00-21:00 BST | 16:00-22:00 CET

From the EQ2 Forums:

From EverQuest2.com:

New adventures await you, Norrathains! GU101 is scheduled to release on Tuesday, August 23, 2016, and there’s something in this update for players of all levels.

New Fabled Content to Explore From The Fallen Dynasty!

These new Fabled dungeons can be accessed through a portal just off the docks in The Village of Shin. This content is intended for level 100 characters, and a membership is required to enter these zones.

The Fabled Fallen Dynasty is made up of The Fabled Nizara, City of the Nayad which will have both Heroic and Advanced Solo versions! Also available will be The Fabled Cavern of the Crustaceans Raid for groups of 12 players and The Fabled Xux’laio’s Roost Raid and The Fabled Antechamber of Fate Raid for groups of 24 players.

The EverQuest II team are working full steam ahead on the thirteenth expansion due to hit this November, but in the meantime, they’re getting ready to drop a whopper of a Game Update which should keep us plenty busy this summer.

First up, the much beloved Public Quests first introduced in Destiny of Velious are making a return in current tier content. The EQ2 team have been given new tools to create PQs in weeks instead of months. In addition to faster development, the new tools promise to exhibit less server and client lag as the battles are underway. Game Update 101 will bring us more level 100 content in the form of Fabled Zones from the The Fallen Dynasty adventure pack. Nizara returns in Advanced Solo and Heroic versions, while x2 and x4 raids have both been added.

Five new Level Agnostic Dungeons have been added to Dungeon Finder and they can be played by characters from level 10-100 with content scaling appropriately. Finally some quality-of-life tweaks have been made, and healers who cast Wards will want to check out some changes to how these mechanics have changed.

US Servers: 7:00~9:00am PDT | 10:00am~Noon EDT | 15:00~17:00 BST | 16:00~18:00 CET
EU Server: 9:00~11:00pm PDT | Midnight~2:00am EDT | 05:00~07:00 BST | 06:00~08:00 CET

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

• Fixed an issue causing the command /loadui to hang.

ZONES / POPULATION
Agnostic Dungeons

• Reduced the damage on several attacks from mobs in agnostic Kralet Penumbra zones.

Zek, The Scourge Wastes: The Siege [Raid]

• Fergul’s Dust Blind spell no longer requires line of sight to Fergul to be cast.

AMENITIES

• The druid ring hireling is now available in the Highhold Guild Hall.

US Servers: 7:00~9:00am PDT | 10:00am~Noon EDT | 15:00~17:00 BST | 16:00~18:00 CET
EU Server: 9:00~11:00pm PDT | Midnight~2:00am EDT | 05:00~07:00 BST | 06:00~08:00 CET

From the EQ2 Forums:

ZONES / POPULATION
General

• Veeshan’s Peak, Chamber of Destiny, and Venril’s Lair no longer require flagging to enter if on a non-TLE server.

Stygian Threshold [Heroic] and [Agnostic]

• Killing either of the two fairies, Diurna or Nocturna, while they are casting their shield spell will no longer keep the remaining fairy invulnerable for the remainder of the fight.

Maldura: District of Ash [All Versions]

• Gavitzle will always retreat regardless of the rate of damage inflicted upon him.

Kunark

• Raid encounters in Kunark which were previously invulnerable can once again be damaged.

There was no downtime notice, but…

US Servers: 7:00~8:00am PDT | 10:00am~11:00am EDT | 15:00~16:00 BST | 16:00~17:00 CST
EU Servers: 9:00~10:00pm PDT | 12:00~1:00am EDT | 05:00~06:00 BST | 06:00~07:00 CST

From the EQ2 Forums:

US Servers: 7:00~9:00am PDT | 10:00am~Noon EDT | 15:00~17:00 BST | 16:00~18:00 CET
EU Servers: 7:00~9:00am PDT | 10:00am~Noon EDT | 15:00~17:00 BST | 16:00~18:00 CET

From the EQ2 Forums:

ZONES / POPULATION
The Siege [Raid]

• Sanctifier Goortuk should now have lower resolve when fought in normal mode.

Barren Sky

• The 3 Princes have had their encounter level lowered

ITEMS

• [eq2u]Spine of Ancient Terror[/eq2u] now has the correct 14 resolve.

and…

MARKETPLACE

• Legends of Norrath loot card packs are now available on the marketplace. Specific campaign packs will be available for a limited time and will alternate after a set period. When opened, each Legends of Norrath loot card pack will grant a single tradeable reward bag. Once that bag has been opened the item contained within will be bound to that account.

MMOs like EverQuest II can’t help but include a loot chase. While EQ2 offers many different styles of gameplay from crafting to decorating to soloing, those players who elect to group or raid find themselves on the loot treadmill and want to be able to point to forward progress. In recent years, the EQ2 team have scattered a few best-in-slot items throughout the content so that crafters and soloers get some “Whoa!” items. Still, most Progression items come from extremely difficult content that requires substantial coordination. There’ll always be that one ridiculously difficult heroic zone. There’s always that Wing 3 of raid content. With Terrors of Thalumbra as well as Altar of Malice (after some post-launch tuning), the heroic content has been made accessible so that more people get to enjoy it. But as with any organized sport, the tolerances between success and failure shrink the higher you go into more challenging fare.

I don’t envy game developers who are forced to create enough content to last a year. What has concerned me about Ethereal runes, Ethereal weapons, Mythicals, and Ancients is that they are acquired almost entirely based on the luck of the dice roll, not player skill or effort. It saps the sense of accomplishment when you say “This item took me 374 heroic runs!” after the person next to you says “I got it the first time through. Now what?”

EverQuest II players have a long memory. The unpopular Critical Mitigation stat was removed from the game over four years ago, yet player suspicion towards progression stats seems to have hardly faded in the intervening years. Buried amongst the update notes for GU100: The Siege of Zek came a new stat, Resolve. Even though the stat is thus far confined to the five strongest raid targets and does not affect Heroic content at all (at least until this fall’s expansion), players have responded strongly.

Over the years, Crit Mit, Crit Avoidance, and Resists have all been used to stratify content and provide a steady treadmill for players to consume dungeons and vanquish raid content. However in the absence of one unifying progression stat, developers have fallen into a vicious cycle of compounding player power at an astonishing rate. Player damage output has grown by a factor of 5,000 in recent years. Whether we want it or not, we need a progression stat to keep growth of the other stats in the realm of sanity. Resolve, rather than a guaranteed death or failure, has been described as a kinder, gentler mitigation stat in our interview with the EQ2 team. The stat affects incoming damage for both players and enemies. With exceptional healing, a shortage of Resolve can be worked around, while the reduction in damage received by the enemy may be an even bigger obstacle.

On April 28th, EverQuest II launched its level 100 content release “The Siege of Zek“. The update takes us back to Zek, the Orcish Wastes and a lot has changed in 12 years. While the original level 35-appropriate zone can still be accessed, players may now choose to travel to the new level 100 Scourge Wastes. The update contains updated versions of classic Zek zones in Advanced Solo, Heroic, Event Heroic, and Heroic Contested versions as well as a Raid zone. Rather than a simple up-tiering of existing zones, the Designers and Art Team have put a lot into this All Access-only update with totally redone Orc models and many other touches that make this content feel fresh.

As it had been a couple of weeks since the release of the Siege of Zek, we had an opportunity to peruse the official EQ2 forums for player questions and concerns. The EQ2 team are already working flat out on EverQuest II’s thirteenth expansion slated for later this year, so our interview focuses on the few questions that I submitted about itemization and some of the new systems in the update including Heartbound, which is an in-game celebration of the real-life bonds that players have developed, and the new progression-tied Resolve stat.

After the jump, our interview!

US Servers: 8:00~10:00am PST | 11:00am~1:00pm EST | 16:00~18:00 GMT | 17:00~19:00 CEST
EU Servers: 8:00~10:00am PST | 11:00am~1:00pm EST | 16:00~18:00 GMT | 17:00~19:00 CEST

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

• Fervor will no longer apply twice when damage is being duplicated from another source.

ZONES / POPULATION
The Siege [Raid]

• The Weapon of War’s “War” buff can now be properly removed. Hardened By War remains unable to be removed.

Scourge Keep [Both Versions]

• Prime Vigoth Ansleborg’s flanking order should be less strict to follow for fighters.

US Servers: 8:00~10:00am PST | 11:00am~1:00pm EST | 16:00~18:00 GMT | 17:00~19:00 CEST EU Servers: 8:00~10:00am PST | 11:00am~1:00pm EST | 16:00~18:00 GMT | 17:00~19:00 CEST

From the EQ2 Forums:

GENERAL

• A new Prestige Server Poll has been launched, check your in game mail for details!

ZONES / POPULATION

• The lizardmen in The Fabled Temple of Cazic-Thule will now drop Thulian Puzzle Boxes.
• Pork Chop should no longer barrel through walls when running in fear in Scourge Keep.

The Fabled Sanctum of Fear [Heroic]

• Golem hearts are no longer needed to spawn Dread, Fright, or Terror.

US Servers: 8:00~10:00am PST | 11:00am~1:00pm EST | 16:00~18:00 GMT | 17:00~19:00 CEST

EU Servers: 8:00~10:00am PST | 11:00am~1:00pm EST | 16:00~18:00 GMT | 17:00~19:00 CEST

From the EQ2 Forums:

ZONES / POPULATION

• Fixed a bug where characters logged out in membership only zones would not be playable if your membership lapsed.

Scourge Keep [Heroic]

• Added a gong to the arena which can be struck periodically after the arena starts to summon a single enemy combatant a time.
• Undead orc combatants will enter the arena at a slightly increased rate.

US Servers: 7:00~9:00am PDT | 10:00am~Noon EDT | 15:00~17:00 BST | 16:00~18:00 CET
EU Servers: 9:00~10:00pm PDT | 12:00~1:00am EDT | 05:00~06:00 BST | 06:00~07:00 CET

From the EQ2 Forums:

ZONES / POPULATION

• Lowered the hit points of monsters in Level Agnostic dungeons.

The Siege [Raid]

• Durtung should no longer be immune to the same damage types as his adds are immune to.
• Required resolve for all bosses have been lowered to compensate for duplicate classes in raid makeup.
• Sanctifier Goortuk should no longer kill players when logging in from a linkdeath due to assumed low power level.

Scourge Keep [Both Versions]

• Some things required to spawn something are now stackable.
• Qulkor’s dungeon key should be much more visible.

From Laylaih on the EQ2 Forums:

The moment we’ve been talking about for months has finally arrived: it’s the launch day for GU100! Are you ready to voyage to the Scourge Wastes and take on terrifying new adversaries? Will you be scouting for shinies to complete over forty new collections? Is your heart ready to connect itself to its true mate? All this and more awaits you with the launch of GU100!

Access to special zones is one of the perks of having an All Access membership. In GU100 we’ve added Zek, the Scourge Wastes and Scourge Keep. Also, Fabled versions of Ruins of Varsoon, Temple of Cazic-Thule, Chamber of Immortality, and Sanctum of Fear that have been updated for level 100 players. You’ll need an active membership to adventure in these zones.

US Servers: 8:00~10:00am PDT | 11:00am~1:00pm EDT | 16:00~18:00 BST | 17:00~19:00 CEDT
EU Servers: 8:00~10:00am PDT | 11:00am~1:00pm EDT | 16:00~18:00 BST | 17:00~19:00 CEDT

* fan-made logo

From the EQ2 Forums:

THE SIEGE OF ZEK
The Orcish Wastes have been invaded! The Green Hood and Deathfist clan have been routed by a new breed of orc, The Scourge, who are preparing their armies to advance beyond the wastes. They must be stopped, or Norrath will be ruled by the tyrants of The Hounds of War!

• Zek, the Scourge Wastes [Heroic]: Story Progressed Heroic Overland Zone
• Zek, the Scourge Wastes [Solo]: Story Progressed Solo Overland Zone
• Signature Quests – Special quests for max level Adventure players! Check your mail for how to get started!
• Level Agnostic Shard of Love – Version of Shard of Love: Moment in Valor dungeon that scales for players 20-100!
• Heartbound: Become heartbound to that special someone to gain a nifty new title and bonuses for playing together!
• New stat “Resolve” which NPCs and players alike can raise. Matching your opponent’s resolve will keep you from incurring added damage from the adversary and make it easier to keep your outgoing damage at its full potential. All Terrors of Thalumbra items have gained the resolve stat to help get you started!
• Equip 2 Relic Items AND 1 Greater Relic item

Game Update 100 “The Scourged Wastes” has been under invite-only beta for the last three weeks and tonight it will hit the Test server to allow for a bit of public testing prior to its April 28th launch. Bugs should be reported on the EverQuest II Bug Tracker. The full Test Update Notes can be read here, but we’re going to cherry pick a few interesting points…

This update is heading to test later tonight, ETA ~10pm PST.

GENERAL

• GU 100 is now available on Test server. Level 100 players should expect to receive an in game mail directing them further.
• Removed the embedded Legends of Norrath (LoN) client from the EverQuest II client. If you wish to continue playing LoN, please download and use the standalone client available at www.legendsofnorrath.com.
• Characters on Thurgadin have been granted legacy server titles.
• Fixed a bug where it would take a long time for your Daybreak Cash balance to show in the marketplace window.
• Fixed a bug where players could lock other players out of Kralet Penumbra.

Because we have awesome devs, and through some game archaeology, the EQ2 team have been able to bring back one of the original Avatars to coincide with today’s unlocking of the Echoes of Faydwer expansion on the Stormhold Time-Locked Expansion server. If this devilishly difficult Avatar  proves popular, additional avatars of that era might conceivably be brought back as well. The initial versions of these avatars were complex, requiring a tightly coordinated strategy. From the EQ2 Forums:

Do YOU have what it takes to defeat the Avatar of Growth, Tunare? This contested raid is now available on Stormhold, our Time-Locked Expansion server!

Note: This is the only avatar that is currently available on Stormhold.

US Servers: 7:00~8:00am PST | 10:00am~11:00am EST | 15:00~16:00 GMT | 16:00~17:00 CEST EU Servers: 9:00~10:00pm PST | 12:00~1:00am EST | 05:00~06:00 GMT | 06:00~07:00 CEST

From the EQ2 Forums: