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I’m not the first to have visited this zone. Indeed I was in beta and I did not run it, so hundreds have done it first. I guess wanted to be “surprised”. Well, I was surprised alright! We wiped on the first trash not once but twice. We got knocked around, stunned, blurred vision, burned, frozen, and all sorts of nastiness. Agro problems were surprising considering the ballyhooed “tank balance” which was supposed to go in with TSO. Some of the positional taunts (+1 hate position) just flat out did not work properly at all. We went in with...

4 hours early, The Shadow Odyssey is now open for business!

What do Tradeskillers have to look forward to in The Shadow Odyssey expansion? Quite a lot actually! Tradeskilling in The Shadow Odyssey Starter Quest in the new Moors of Ykesha zone (77-80 adventure level, accessible from the Airship dock in the Sinking Sands). New Grobb and Tupta factions in the Moors of Ykesha. Far Seas Supply Division — a new faction with a ton of rewards including mounts (a white unicorn), jewelry, belts, clothing, etc. A Gathering Obsession — Harvesting Signature Quest (rewards a cloak with Featherfall, etc.) And the most exciting addition (in my opinion) are the new...

Prepared by Calaglin (Illusionist of Confirmed on Unrest) who posts online as Pinski. First 2 named in Tomb of the Mad Crusader. First named in Palace of the Ancient One. Next 2 named in Tomb. Next 4 named in Palace. First named in Ykesha’s Inner Stronghold. Final named in Tomb. Final named in Palace. Zarrakon (in Zarrakon’s Abyssal Chamber naturally) Rest of Ykesha’s Inner Stronghold. In response to this list, there has been some conjecture that Zarrakon is slightly easier than the final named in the Palace. Ykesha in Ykesha’s Inner Stronghold is considered to be the hardest mob...

Thanks to Cyberlink for posting this on the EQ2 forums!! The Ruins of Guk Access: Moors of Ykesha, take the balloon from Firmroot to the Entrance of Guk. Moors of Ykesha is the new 77-80 zone accessible by Airship in Sinking Sands, Druid Rings, Mage Spires. Halls of the Fallen (Level 80) The Lower Corridors (Level 80) Ykesha’s Outer Stronghold (Level 80) Raid: Ykesha’s Inner Stronghold Miragul’s Phylactery Access: Everfrost (Within the new GU47 tunnel) Scion of Ice (Level 50 – 80) The Anathema (Level 50 – 80) The Crucible (Level 50 – 80) Najena Access: Lavastorm (head left...

Regular Void Shard armor can be CRAFTED. Advanced Void Shard armor MUST be CRAFTED. Recipe Books drop in Tradeskill Group Dungeons. According to information posted by Xalmat and Whilhelmina on the EQ2 Beta forum, Void Shard armor is now craftable. The Regular Void Shard armor can be created by your friendly neighborhood level 70+ crafter IF they have the recipe book from the appropriate Tradeskill Group Instances (there are 3 of these being added in TSO). If you have a crafter make your Regular Void Shard Armor, you are getting a 1 shard discount on hand/feet/legshead slot items, and...

D.I.R.T.Y. quests end when the servers come down for The Shadow Odyssey. You’ve got until 11:59pm PST Monday, November 17th to get your carpets, clothing of Imperceptible Beauty, etc.

Allakhazam has done a preview (including a cool video) of the Dire Bears, or so they thought. Actually they reviewed heretofore unknown uber Void Shard Bears: 65% Run Speed (if level 80 or higher) EITHER: Increase Melee Weapon Range of caster by 1 OR: Increase Reuse Speed of Caster by 3 Increase Max Health of caster by 250 Not to be confused with The Shadow Odyssey Dire Bear (retail box): 1-19: Summoned pet (not a mount) 20-39: 20% run speed 40-59: 30% run speed and armored appearance 60-79: 45% run speed and increased armor appearance 80: 52% run speed...

Here is a fantastic article written by Victer (guild: Perdition, Server: Oasis) . I’ve shamelessly borrowed it from here. Diminishing Returns means that when you reach certain level of any skill, (mitigation, slashing, defense, etc…) you will start to get minimal benefits from raising its value. Soft Cap: referred to as the Break Even Point, is not an actual cap, but the value at which you start seeing less return from adding more points to a given stat. Hard Cap: The definite value at which you will no longer see a benefit from adding more points to a stat....

From Ilucide (SoE Dev): Some other things you may or may not know… There’s basically a super mission that will be available once a day for a random instance that will be worth 2 shards. In addition, all dungeons will have a chest with a void shard for every member of the group… if you can find the guy carrying the key. So each day, 1 dungeon is potentially worth 4 shards: 1 shards from the regular mission 2 shards from the Daily Double 1 shard from the chest

KeeperOfDarkMatter has posted some snapshots of Fighter and Mage AA abilities. He intends to post snapshots of Scout and Priest AAs soon enough. KeeperOfDarkMatter @ Flickr

There are two sets of Void Shard armor. Both are Legendary. The lower end is an upgrade from Kunark legendary sets (instance dungeons like CoA, MC, Chel, Char, and VoES). It is much more specialized and tailors closer to the individual classes. There’s chain healer stuff, plate healer stuff, shadowknight armor, paladin armor, solo scout stuff with a bit of survivability added to it, solo fighter stuff with the same, and more specialized gear including full brawler set, full assassin/ranger set, etc. The higher end Legendary set has stats that most will realize is essentially low Fabled. This is...

The NDA is officially lifted! Everyone is now free to run amok and talk about beta all they like! Start keeping your eyes open for articles from your favourite news and fan sites as well! http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?topic_id=434314

In some fantastic news, instead of the expected 4 hour download on November 18th, we will start receiving files for the new expansion over the next few weeks. Starting this week you may notice extra files being downloaded when you patch EverQuest II from either the Launchpad or the Station Launcher. These files are both from our upcoming expansion and from previous expansions and adventure packs. By making these files available early we hope to make November 18th and future updates a more pleasant experience for everyone logging into EverQuest II. After November 18th we will return to our...

The exact details of the Dire Bear mount/pet in The Shadow Odyssey have been revealed. Available as a summoned pet from 1-19, after that, becomes a mount. Becomes a mount at level 20 – 20% run speed. Increase in run speed at level 40 – 30% run speed and armored appearance. Increase in run speed at level 60 – 45% run speed and increased armor appearance. Increase in run speed at level 80 – 52% run speed and increased armor appearance. Scaling Mounts: Called to the Carpet! With this mechanic in place, it seems even more obvious to me...

EverQuest II’s fifth expansion, The Shadow Odyssey, will be available for pre-order starting Tuesday, October 14th, 2008!  EverQuest II: The Shadow Odyssey is an all-in-one compilation pack featuring five expansion packs and three adventure packs.  New players and veterans alike can journey through a massive amount of exquisite content unlike anything ever before seen in EverQuest II.  The Shadow Odyssey stretches well beyond the fantasy realm and propels the EverQuest II world into a new era of excitement and adventure.  The latest expansion provides content for players level 50-80, including more than 20 new zones and an achievement point...

I’ve added a Purple Shinies page to EQ2 Wikia. You can check it out here: http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Trinkets:Excavation_Trinkets

Guild Halls are now live, as are the D.I.R.T.Y. quests. Walkthrough of D.I.R.T.Y. quests. The D.I.R.T.Y. Crafters

Some further notes: The Harvesting Supply Depot has gotten some improvements since FanFaire and currently allows 2,000,000 resources with 100 stacks of 20,000 items each. The Magic Door to Guild Hall item which can be purchased from City Merchants works instantly. Players do not need to have visited the Guild Hall first. The mailboxes amenity has been updated to allow up to 5 to be placed in your guild hall. This still counts as 1 amenity. The Courtyard Landmark statues (300p) require Guild Level 80. All other statues require level Guild Level 75. The Mariner’s Bell: Kunark ports the...

In line with the merging of the Status Executor Hireling and Commodities Exchange Hireling being into one NPC who BUYS status items, etc. from players, we are now getting a Relic and Signet Peddler who is like a City Merchant that sells Signets, Charms, Relics and Symbols. They do not sell any of the other status items like crafting tables or formal wear.  More importantly, they do NOT sell the Magic Door to the Guild Hall. In other news, the Harvest Supply Depot now feeds into the Tradeskill Tables (if the player is of sufficient permissions in the guild...

Ok folks, SoE has taken our gripes to heart and adjusted the upfront and weekly maintenance costs on the various Guild Hall amenities, especially the ones that most guilds will use. Screen Snapshots from the Test Server show the reduced costs which work out to about 33% less plat and 66% less status up front. Also the upkeep works out to about 40% less gold and 70% less status per week. Check those screen snapshots out here. Travel Guild Translocation Beacon “Call of Guild Hall” Purchase: 1p, 250k status (-9p -1.75 mil status) Upkeep: 2g 1,250 status (-8,750 status)...

Now that Guild Halls are on the Test Server, we’ve got some more details about amenities. The Bell to Shattered Lands takes you to: – Antonica – Everfrost – Lavastorm – Nektulos Forest – The Commonlands – The Enchanted Lands – The Feerrott – The Thundering Steppes – Zek, the Orcish Wastes The Spire to Overrealm takes you to – Bonemire – Tenebrous Tangle – Barren Sky The Stable Hand gives a 5% speed bonus for 2 hours.

Some unconfirmed info comes to us from Vulkoor of Antonia Bayle. Since I have seen the model first hand, I can verify that the pic[ture of the bear] is in fact the new Dire Bear model, well one of them. Like the Warg, there are armored and un armored version of the mount. Also as Valk stated, the crafters mounts aren’t new models per se, but old horse models with saddlebags added to them.

Pre-order Notes are revealing some more information about The Shadow Odyssey! From GameStop some juicy new details and even a screen snapshot of a new mount — Dire Bears! Gamestop Pre-Order for TSO Synopsis: In an age long passed, a band of extraordinary heroes embarked on an epic journey to free Norrath from the clutches of a shrouded threat. Their everlasting quest would take them to the far reaches of the globe, delving deep into the most dangerous dungeons and undertaking many daunting trials. This was the Shadow Odyssey, and the heroes were known as the Ethernauts. In their...

A quest seems to have snuck in under the radar, namely a skeleton you can place in your house and which has 50 rent status reduction. Check out the elf outside of Blackburrow.