Feldon
While we wait the last 1 1/2 hours for the EQ2 servers to come back up, I thought some of you might like to check out a few more tidbits expected to come in Game Update 53 at the end of the month. I’ve focused on new features here. If you want, you can read the full EQ2 Test Update Notes courtesy of EQ2 ZAM. GENERAL Runic Deflection should proc slightly more reliably. House layout files now properly save the scaling of an object. The save_layout and load_layout commands now properly save and load positions of NPC amenities. ACHIEVEMENTS...
EQ2 is undergoing maintenance for a few hours, so here’s a free kitten… Remember folks, EQ2 (and all SoE games) will be going down starting at Midnight (3am EDT) tomorrow for Server Maintenance (This is not Gu53). All games will be down for 12 hours (that’s 3pm EDT). [Read More] However all is not lost, the Allakhazam EQ2 Chat on IRC will be up and running and you might see a few SoE folks popping in from time to time. Check it out! For instructions on how to connect to the chat using mIRC, Trillian, or other chat client,...
Contrary to our last post, Hot Zones (increased chance of Fabled drops in level 80 dungeons) are on a rotation schedule. So far, we’ve seen all 3 Guk zones. It changes out each night at Midnight, so check it out tomorrow on Labor Day. 🙂 The rotation schedule will be up at EQ2 Wiki as soon as the entire rotation has been determined.
We’ve now got more details on the new “Hot Zones” feature. These have been active on the European servers since last week and will be hitting U.S. servers at 2pm PDT (5pm EDT). There is no server downtime expected for this feature to be enabled. Every day, a level 80 dungeon will have an increased chance of FABLED loot drops. This is on a rotation like the Daily Double. The selected zone will change for all U.S. servers at midnight. Read the Announcement at EQ2 Forums Just as you have been able to determine the Daily Double by looking...
It’s time for a server defrag. From the announcement at the EQ2 Forums: There will be maintenance on the Session databases across all games on Wednesday September 9, 2009. It will begin at 12AM PDT and is estimated to last until 12PM PDT. All game worlds will be unavailable for the estimated 12 hour maintenance, as well as the Station Store and all commerce avenues. This may affect the performance of the forums and any or all accounts’ abilities to log in. We apologize for the inconvenience and will update the information as we are able. The Community team...
Niami Denmother has checked in her extensive Crafting Preview for the Shards of Destiny (Gu53) update. There’s a lot to see here, so check it out at EQ2 Traders!
I have to admit, I have not dedicated as much thought to the races I play in EQ2 as perhaps others have. My Ranger was human because that was my first character and I guess I didn’t want anything too fantastic (in hindsight, I’d go for the wood elf). My Guardian was born around the introduction of Kunark, so is naturally a Sarnak. And lately I’ve been having a lot of fun developing my Ratonga Dirge. While I’ve never chosen a race because of the benefits, I have really enjoyed the unique (but not overpowered) traits of the Sarnak...
So what exactly does 150 Void Shards get you these days? So you were frugal with your void shards and hired a tradeskiller to make your T1 set [38 shards] and T2 sets [112 shards]. You traded in more shards for Jewelry, Charms, Cloaks, and Baubles. You needed a few more shards for that shiny new T3 pattern that dropped out of Ward of Elements. And after all this, you’ve still got 150 shards or more just burning a hole in your money purse? Have we got a deal for you! As you may or may not know, almost...
Some breaking news for you! As we’ve reported, in Game Update 53, almost all LEGENDARY and FABLED instance dungeon/raid loot except patterns will be picking up the new LORE-EQUIP flag which, along with the HEIRLOOM and ATTUNEABLE flags will allow instance Fabled and Legendary loot items to be looted and transferred to alt characters on the same account. timetravelling clarifies: -We do not currently have plans to change the looting options (by adding an Alt Need option between Need and Greed). However, it is something to monitor and we’ll keep an eye on it. -This change is intended to...
In a previous post, I postuled that the the EQ2 Achievements system is “just the beginning”. While it may be, when I checked out the Achievements listed over on Test for my account, I saw only the low numbers — 25 Werewolves, 20 Heritage Quests, etc. Turns out, these are just the lowest numbers in each series. Rothgar has chimed in on the EQ2 Forums to inform us that the Achievements go up to 10,000 kills for Slayer titles, 50 Heritage Quests, etc. The slayer quests do go up to 10k for all types. Since the slayers are all...
Kudos to Xalmat who worked overtime the moment Gu53 hit the Test Servers to create an Comprehensive Guide for the new Achievements system that EQ2 will be receiving. As mentioned, this will be a way to track all kinds of in-game tasks such as killing 10,000 undead, completing 20 Heritage Quests, clearing Veeshan’s Peak, crafting 1,000 combines, Discovering all the locations in Lesser Faydark, etc. For some of them, the journey is the reward, for others there are more concrete rewards like Titles, Clothing, House Items, etc. This is also a replacement for the Slayer Title system. P.S. This...
Within hours of our reporting on some drawbacks to the otherwise fantastic revamp of housing throughout Norrath, Haohmaru chimed in indicating that he agrees with some of the concerns folks had both with the size of the Qeynos addition, as well as the loss of space in the Kelethin acorn. He’s already posted screen shots of some additional changes he’s made on the EQ2 Forums. The additional room in Qeynos is quite nice, and the changes in the Kelethin 3 room acorns should go a long way towards addressing some of the issues. Sorry I didn’t get this posted...
There have been mixed reactions to the additional rooms which have been added to housing throughout Norrath. They say no good deed goes unpunished. 🙂 Seriously, I do understand the plight of owners of 3-room acorns in Kelethin who took advantage of the unique geometry of these houses to craft some truly fantastic homes who are now affected by how the 4th room was added. Specifically, the ceiling was lowered, and a ramp was added where there was previously space. Fortunately, Art Lead Haohmaru has been quick to respond on the EQ2 Forums that this is something he will...
With the Racial Trait changes in Game Update #53, each race is consigned to being the best at one or two specific class archetypes. Aeralik has weighed in on EQ2 Forums exactly which race corresponds with which archetypes: Scout package – Arasai, Fae, Dark Elf, Wood Elf, Gnome, Ratonga, Halfling Mage Package – Arasai, Dark Elf, Gnome, Ratonga, Iksar Priest Package – Fae, Wood Elf, Halfling, Dwarves, Froglok, Ogre, Barbarian, Toll, Sarnak Fighter Package – Sarnak, Ogre, Troll, Barbarian, Iksar, Froglok, Dwarves Well Rounded Pack ( combination of all 4 ) – Human, Kerra, Half Elf Priest/Mage Specialty( specialized...
Think you’ve seen all there is to see in Antonica? Think you’ve explored every ice floe of Everfrost? Now you can be sure! The new Achievements system coming with Gu53 will allow you to, at-a-glance, determine if you have discovered every Location there is to discover in Norrath. This is broken down by Zone. One of my top requests over the years has been a means to figure out if we have already toppled the reign of a specific enemy, or named monster. We saw improvements here, with the addition of a white star above the name of any...
If you have not read the EQ2 forums much, you might not know Rothgar. He has been working very hard on improving the User Interface of EQ2. Specifically cleaning up and improving windows. It was a pleasant surprise to me that the oft-forgotten Claim window has been rebuilt using existing assets, namely the Station Marketplace. It’s a lot easier to navigate and can be browsed by Expansion, special Events, and you can easily view which Claim Items you have already acquired. New Claim Window Although some alternate User Interfaces have existed which provide a more advanced Quest Journal such...
Alrighty, you want it, we got it. Here are the Racial Traits we will be seeing in Game Update 53. It’s a huge change, and provides a ton of options. Everyone gets a free respec, and honestly, we’ve gone from traits that make each race have an obvious class associated with it, to being perhaps a little too Cut-and-Paste and not daring enough. I know some people will always choose race for lore reasons. They like ratongas, they like high elves, etc. Just like min/maxers will always choose race for the bonuses (and then use illusion totems). So I...
Now that the Norrathian Health Department has certified that beasts of burden may be housed in Guild Halls and Personal Homes alike, many citizens have been having a tough go at corralling and feeding their 4 legged friends. Fortunately, carpenters have discovered a variety of recipes that will aid in this endeavor and perhaps keep the mess to a minimum. 🙂
Shards of Destiny (Gu53) appeared on Test just moments before midnight last night. This update is expected to go live in late September (the initial date was September 22nd, but this was an internal target). Here are the Test Update Notes: Test Update August / 27 / 2009 FEATURED Achievements The new achievement system gives players a fun new way to track their accomplishments! Most achievements will award players with achievement points that can be used to compare their progress against other players. Some harder to complete achievements will offer non-stat item rewards. The basic categories are General, Quest,...
EQ2 Housing is getting an upgrade! The biggest changes include the Faydwer acorns which have received a nice window which looks out into Kelethin. And the Maj’dul apartments which have been lacking in charm have really opened up with skylights and the like. Here at EQ2Wire, we’re anxiously awaiting Gu53 being pushed to Test (scheduled for today) so we can go grab screen shots of all the new housing options. There have been some unconfirmed reports that existing spaces were reduced to make room for the new areas. We’ll be checking this out Preview at EQ2Players
An unintended effect of the August 26th Hotfix is that Quest Sharing is now completely broken. With the exception of daily Missions, quests of any kind and any level cannot currently be shared. The window appears for the other player, and they can click Accept, but the quest never gets added to the Quest Journal. UPDATE: This issue will be addressed in a hotfix Tuesday morning.
Alan “Brenlo” has chimed in on the EQ2 Forums with the news that GU53 will be appearing on Test servers tomorrow. He’s also spilled the beans on Hot Zones and what this means for you. Tomorrow morning, Shards of Destiny is going to the Test server! Woo Hoo! We hope you are as excited as we are to see the new content and try it out for yourselves. I encourage you, if you have time in your busy schedules, to jump onto Test and try the new content out. We would love to hear your feedback and the more...
We’re now less than 6 months from EverQuest II’s Sentinel’s Fate expansion and Domino, EQ2 Tradeskill Developer, is starting to dig deep into Transmuting. If you’d like to see her preliminary ideas and give feedback on the EQ2 Forums, you should check out the EQ2 Tradeskill forums. And here’s a completely unrelated Fan Faire photo:
Rothgar brings us an update on Game Update 53. The EQ2 Team wants to get Gu53 on the test server soon, to allow 1 full month of testing. However Shaders 3.0 won’t be ready within the next few days. As a result, Shaders 3.0 are slipping to Gu54 expected in November. If you attended our last Fan Faire or have been following the forums you’ve probably heard about a major overhaul to the EverQuest II rendering engine where we are upgrading all of our existing shaders from version 1.x to version 3.0. This upgrade will result in a performance...
Here are your EQ2 Patch Notes for August 26th: ACHIEVEMENTS Fury Enhance: Hibernation should trigger properly when falling below 15%. ITEMS The focus effect on the Robe of Shifting Visions will increase the damage properly now. MISC The Welcome Screen now lists the current Daily Double. Rothgar reports further at the EQ2 Forums: Also, the Welcome Screen has been updated to include information about the current Daily Mission as well as support for upcoming Hot Zones.* My understanding is that Hot Zones will be a rotation of zones that offer extra XP, AA XP, or other rewards.