Feldon
Hirofortis has posted a thought-provoking thread on the EQ2 Forums regarding Critical Mitigation on raid gear and pondering just how much Crit Mit is needed to proceed in raiding. Just looking at the Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 raid gear available in-game, a player can acquire critical mitigation amounts of 110%, 127.8%, and 141% respectively, not including any critical mitigation achieved by having high numbers in the necessary stats. Critical Mitigation from Raid Armor Sets T1 T2 T3 Head 10.00% 12.00% 15.00% Chest 20.00% 20.00% 20.00% Shoulders 10.00% 12.00% 15.00% Forearms 5.00% 9.60% 12.00% Hands 5.00% 9.60%...
sentinel’s fate
An interesting topic has popped up on the EQ2 Forums asking the question: Is there Raid Progression for Small Guilds? The Shadow Odyssey ended up offering many choices for Casual Raid Guilds. Sentinel’s Fate has not been quite so generous with such progression choices. Game Update 56 will add two raid zones, but both are intended for 24-person raids. We compare the expansions in today’s commentary.
Today, we reflect on a dungeon that I had high hopes for when it was first announced, but which underwent dramatic changes within 72 hours of its launch. 3 months later, there are no clear answers on the current intended audience of this zone, whether we’ll see any rollback of those changes, and going into the next expansion — EverQuest II: Destiny of Velious — will these lessons in design and balance be learned from?
From EQ2Players: We’re making it easier than ever to try out EverQuest II’s most recent expansion, Sentinel’s Fate. For three days, May 12th through May 14th, everyone who doesn’t already have Sentinel’s Fate can try it out for free. Also, there is a $5 discount off the cost of the expansion for active players, and an additional $5 discount off the cost of the 1st month’s subscription for inactive players. Finally, all players can claim the Rose Quartz Inlaid Golden Armband for free from the Station Marketplace! So make sure you log in between now and 11:59pm on May...
Here are some end-of-week news items which I’ve noticed on the EQ2 forums that readers may find useful… Scale of Flame Players have been having trouble advancing/completing the quest Scale of Flame. In response, Gninja has responded: I found the issue causing the spirit to not spawn and have corrected it. You should see it come to live server early next week with our next build. Breaking Combat on PvP/Battlegrounds Rothgar has made some further adjustments in how combat is broken on PvP/Battlegrounds. It has been tweaked so that you must be at least 1000m from the other player...
If you read our coverage of Game Update 55 including Consolidated Stats and Primary Stat Changes and have checked out the EQ2Wire Mega-FAQ, you’re probably fully up to speed on the changes to Stats, Stat Consolidation, etc. But if not, or you want to hear it from the source, timetravelling has posted a thread which covers these topics. He’s received several questions after the fact, so it’s likely that his writeup will continue to evolve.
Several players have reported that Xilaxis the Explorer in the new Labs x4 raid zone is not dropping any loot other than small wooden chests of plat (not a bad reward, but some armor would be nice). Fortunately, timetravelling is on the case: I found the issue with both his normal- and challenge-mode item tables and corrected them. Should be hotfixed soon, apologies for the frustrations! No words on those pants though.
You’ll remember that one of the biggest complaints about the Rise of Kunark expansion is that combat XP was so minimal that hours spent in a dungeon barely budged the adventure level meter. The only means to level was to Solo. In an ironic twist, players are reporting that it is not possible to level from 80 to 90 entirely by soloing in Sentinel’s Fate. At level 86 or 87 with mastercrafted or T1/T2 gear, the first wing of the Hole should be no problem for 2-3 casual players. And you’ll earn enough XP to reach 90 in just...
What I have noticed in the last 3 days is that folks have a LOT of questions — more so than we saw with the release of The Shadow Odyssey. Between itemization changes, stat consolidation, AA revamps, tranmuting/adornments changes, the number of factions, etc. it seems what’s really needed is a central Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) which points to the resources out there on the web to help you get quick answers to all these questions. So here we go…
Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. 🙂 There are some fantastic writeups and coverage all over the web regarding Sentinel’s Fate and Game Update 55. However I do see an opportunity to answer some of the questions I have been receiving in-game over the last 2 days in a sort of Mega FAQ. Let me tell you, I have been having a LOT of fun in The Hole. Although at first glance the quests and faction earning are a bit confusing. It will undoubtedly become old hat for people, but I’ll see about providing some more information...
EU Servers have actually been up for some time now, BUT nobody can get patched because the software on the EU Patch servers (3 different servers in 3 different languages) is not up-to-date. It is unclear why this download didn’t start earlier. The current estimate is that folks in the EU will be able to play roundabout 12:30AM GMT. More as we have it.
We were thrilled to notice that Kanga‘s awesome EQ2 Adornments site is being updated for Sentinel’s Fate. Check it out!
These will likely be the #1 and #2 questions today. How do I get to Odus? By far the fastest way to get to the expansion zones is to take a Druid Ring to Antonica, and then run uphill to the Ulteran Spires and take the Spires to Sundered Frontier. Any Wizard Spires in the world will take you to the Sundered Frontier. You can also purchase the new Wizard Spires guild hall amenity. 🙂 What’s up with my AAs? When you login, your AAs will be completely reset. Helpful Hint: If you forgot to take a screen snapshot...
Sentinel’s Fate is now ONLINE on U.S. Servers. EU servers won’t be up for a bit longer.
From Kiara: US servers are Good to Go and should be coming up very shortly.
EQ2 ZAM has coverage of Game Update 55 including the Golden Path questline, revamp to Butcherblock, etc. And here are your massive Game Update 55 Notes from EQ2 Forums. After the jump…
DLGamer seems to have run out of Sentinel’s Fate product keys and Steam has not yet listed Sentinel’s Fate. Kiara is aware of both issues. More news as we have it.
In addition to the ~175 of us in the #EQ2 Chatroom I linked here, the UStream Sentinel’s Fate Launch Event is going on as well. There are nearly 400 visitors in that chat and live video event. You can find EQ2Wire in either chatroom as Feldon30. 🙂
The EQ2 Servers will be coming down shortly for the Sentinel’s Fate expansion and Game Update 55 patches. Servers are expected to come back up at 9am PDT. Also some of the people who purchased Sentinel’s Fate digitally from international websites will be getting their keys by e-mail at this time. Some people have reported that DLGamer.co.uk is now accepting orders from Australia. While the servers are down, you can chat with us online! We will be in the EQ2 ZAM chatroom. Kiara will be joining us as well and giving status updates. For instructions on how to connect...
Ryan O’Sullivan at AdventuresofTaas.com was able to obtain the Sentinel’s Fate Collector’s Edition and thought some might be interested in seeing the contents. His Sentinel’s Fate Collector’s Edition Unboxing.
From Kiara: On February 16th, EverQuest II’s sixth expansion: Sentinel’s Fate will launch the retail headstart! We’re all very excited, and hope that you share our enthusiasm. We want to give a brief overview of what to expect on the 16th. We’ll be bringing the servers down at midnight on February 15th to begin patching to the live servers. Fan Faire attendees will be flagged at this time. Starting at 6am PST and running until 8am PST, Zatozia will be running a Ustream event. Kiara will be on the Official Forums and in Zam’s IRC chat to provide updates...
Looks like SOE Marketing forgot that there are more countries in the world than the United States, Canada, the European Union, and Japan. Australia, New Zealand, Norway, and other countries are all reporting that they are unable to order the Digital Download from DLGamer and Direct2Drive. We have heard that on February 16th, Steam customers in these other countries will be able to order the Digital Download in these countries. At this point, we’re not taking anyone’s word for it. SOE Marketing Dept Strikes Again We here at EQ2Wire consider it a classy move for the SOE Marketing Dept...
Kiara has officially announced the Digital Download partners for International customers. Greetings! We’re pleased to announce the International Digital Download Distributors for Sentinel’s Fate. Our international customers will be able to digitally download the expansion and begin playing on February 16th! We appreciate your patience as we’ve worked out all the details. Accepting Orders Today DLGamer – £29.95 (34,95 €) ($46.88) English | French | German Direct2Drive – £29.95 (34,95 €) ($46.88) English | French | German Accepting orders February 16th Steam visit Steam International customers will be able to DD the expansion on February 16th and take advantage...
Sentinel’s Fate Digital Download We are getting reports that the Sentinel’s Fate expansion has appeared on Digital Download websites for customers outside the United States and Canada. If you hear of other sites, please let us know! We are still expecting a formal announcement at 9:30am PST today of the Digital Download partners. If you are outside the United States and Canada, you should now be able to purchase Sentinel’s Fate from these websites (of course we would be curious to know if any of you have trouble with these sites): DLGamer – £29.95 (34,95 €) ($46.88) Direct2Drive –...
Bonus XP Weekend! Kiara brings us news that this will be a Bonus XP Weekend!! All forms of experience (Achievement, Adventure, and Tradeskill) will receive a 30% bonus from Friday Feb 12th @ 3pm PST (6pm EST) until Monday Feb 15th @ 11:59pm PST (Feb 16 @ 2:59am EST) when the servers will be brought down to patch the Sentinel’s Fate expansion as well as Game Update 55. Retail Boxes Some players have reported seeing Sentinel’s Fate regular and Collector’s Edition boxes in retail stores. We’re glad to see this as it will make it easier for some players...