Posts Tagged ‘sentinel’s fate’

The Importance of Crit Mit in Sentinel’s Fate Raiding

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Itemization, Raiding

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% 12.00%
Legs 20.00% 20.00% 20.00%
Feet 5.00% 9.60% 12.00%
Sum 75.00% 92.80% 106.00%
Max from Gear and Adorns 110.00% 127.80% 141.00%
Max with Gear and Stats 120.00% 137.80% 151.00%
Increase Critical Mitigation (Red Adornments)
Head 5%
Chest 5%
Gloves 5%
Boots 5%
Shoulders 5%
Bracers 5%
Leg 5%
Total Crit Mit 35%
Critical Mitigation from Intelligence/Agility
AGI/INT 500 5%
AGI/INT 1000 10%

Critical Mitigation is a measurement of how much your armor (plus a small amount of innate protection from Agility (for scouts/fighters) or Intelligence (for mages/priests) reduces the Critical damage abilities of the enemies you are fighting.

There is a lot of useful information in this thread already — it’s worth a read.

   

Is There Raid Progression for Small Guilds?

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Commentary, Game Updates & Maintenance, Raiding

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.

Sentinel’s Fate: The Hole — 3 Months Later

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Commentary, Grouping

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?

Try Sentinel’s Fate FREE for 3 Days & Free Armband

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Live Events

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 14th to try out Sentinel’s Fate and to claim your armband.

We can imagine the armband color won’t be to everyone’s taste, but if you’ve been looking for a discount off the expansion, or to come back and play for a few days, check out the EQ2Players announcement.

March 5th End of Week News

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Itemization, PvP/BG/Proving Grounds, Raiding

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 as well as a timer based on activity.

Raid Mob Damage Calculations

There has been some wonkiness, to say the least, in how raid mobs have been putting out damage. Players have noticed these issues and been reporting in this thread on the subject. Rothgar has provided an update:

Yesterday’s patch fixed a bug that was causing many of a mob’s special abilities to not be applied correctly. So technically the code is working as it should be now and all buffs are being applied to the mob. However, this bug has only been in since the first hotfix after the 24th of February. So the mobs should be the same as they were on release, but unfortunately no one was probably raiding them that much during the first week or the people that did expected them to hit this hard.

I’ve spoken with our raid designer and he’s going to take a look at the mobs on a case-by-case basis and determine what needs to be changed. We don’t have any ETA’s on changes yet, but please continue to post your feedback on the ones that you think are way too hard.

Keep in mind we’re only a few weeks into the expansion and that mobs SHOULD be pretty tough until people get caught up on gear, levels and AA’s.

Battlegrounds Cloaks for Testers

For those folks who tested out Battlegrounds, there was an announcement that these players would be getting an appearance cloak. Kiara weighs in on the status of this item:

It hasn’t been entitled yet. Yes it will be very soon. The department that handles this particular sort of situation has been swamped under with another project.

Itemization Issues

We are continuing to follow a story about Itemization issues with the new EQ2 expansion. Players are reporting that Battlegrounds armor is far better than shard gear (Marks of Manaar), quest items are far better than Mastercrafted gear, and most notable, jewelry and charms from the Vigilant x2 raid zone have so far been far superior to the 24-person raid zones and contested x4 raid mobs introduced with Sentinel’s Fate.

We will be tracking this story to see how this all shakes out.

Stat Caps and Consolidation

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Game Updates & Maintenance

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.

Xilaxis The Explorer (Labs x4) has neither Pants nor Loot

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News, Itemization, Raiding

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.

Can’t Solo to 90?

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Grouping

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 a few hours of play.

If you are a questaholic, then take a look at using a Chronomage to adjust your level to 70 and do the ~50 new quests in Tenebrous Tangle, Barren Sky, and Bonemire. That, plus some of the easier quests in The Hole (which should be soloable at level 88-89) should get you to 90. I do understand some folks play EQ2 entirely as a solo game (I personally feel there are much better solo games out there, but I digress).

We feel that no one gameplay style should be the “only” way to level, so this is worthy of addressing. Hopefully it won’t take 2 years to fix.

The Sentinel’s Fate EQ2Wire Mega-FAQ

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News, Game Updates & Maintenance

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…

Mega FAQ Incoming

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News, Game Updates & Maintenance

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 on this subject soon.

EU Server Update

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News, Game Updates & Maintenance

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.

How Do I Get to Odus? What’s up with my AAs?

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News, Game Updates & Maintenance

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 of your AAs before the update, you can view your AAs on your EQ2Players Profile.

Kingdom of Sky AAs (Main Class – Enchanter, Cleric, Druid, etc.)

The Kingdom of Sky trees have changed substantially since TSO.

INT, STR, AGI, WIS, and STA are now folded into the top line. And you only need to spend 1 point in that top line to start spending points on abilities. You must spend 22 points to get the original KoS end-of-line ability. However instead of being limited to 8 points per, you can now spend 10 points per ability.

Once you have spent 70 points, you can start spending points in the new Sentinel’s Fate AA abilities. Although the Sentinel’s Fate AAs fall directly under the original lines, you do not need to spend points above those abilities to get them. After spending 16 points in the Sentinel’s Fate abilities, you can get the SF end-of-line ability.


lines added for effect

Echoes of Faydwer AAs (Subclass – Illusionist, Inquisitor, Fury, etc.)

Spend 70 points in the original Echoes of Faydwer AAs and then you may start spending points in the Sentinel’s Fate line at the bottom. Once you have spent enough points, you can get the end-of-line ability.

   

Server Downtime: Sentinel’s Fate Rollout & Chat

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Uncategorized

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.

mirc For instructions on how to connect to the chat using mIRC, Trillian, or other chat client, check out the fantastic instructions at EQ2 ZAM.
java If you are not able to run chat software at work, or you just want to jump into the chat through your web browser, you can chat here.

See you in the chatroom!

What to Expect on Launch Day

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News

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 until the servers come up.

We plan to have the servers back up and ready to go by 9am PST.

EQ2Wire will also be present in the EQ2 ZAM chatroom if you’d like to tug our ear on any issues or offer suggestions.

SOE Marketing: Oops We Forgot Australia

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News

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 to make it so incredibly difficult for loyal customers to purchase their product. I wonder if they got pay raises this year with exceptional skills like that.

Sentinel’s Fate DD International Announcement

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News, International

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 Digital Download
DLGamer – £29.95 (34,95 €) ($46.88)
English | French | German

digitaldownload_direct2drivecouk
Direct2Drive – £29.95 (34,95 €) ($46.88)
English | French | German

Accepting orders February 16th
digitaldownload_steam
Steam
visit Steam

International customers will be able to DD the expansion on February 16th and take advantage of the headstart offer.

They will receive the DD version of the game and the things included in that package:

  • These include:
    • 500 Station Cash
    • LoN Fall of Erudin scenario
    • 30 days free play time for new accounts
    • In-game armor piece – Guarding of the Learned

Continuing Coverage

EQ2Wire is continuing to follow this story. If you are unable to purchase the Digital Download through these sites outside of the United States and Canada, we’d like to know about it! If you find any tips or tricks on how to order the product through these websites, please let us know either by Comment or by sending us e-mail.

Breaking: Sentinel’s Fate DD Appears on International Websites

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News, International

digitaldownload_sfbox

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 Digital Download

DLGamer – £29.95 (34,95 €) ($46.88)

digitaldownload_direct2drivecouk

Direct2Drive – £29.95 (34,95 €) ($46.88)

Bad News for Amazon.com Pre-Orders

We’ve gotten a report that Amazon is telling its Sentinel’s Fate pre-order customers the following:

Severe Weather Alert: Due to winter storms on the East Coast of the United States, many packages will be delayed.

Bonus XP Weekend Feb 12-Feb 15 2009 & Retail Boxes

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Expansion News, Game Updates & Maintenance, Grouping, Tradeskill

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 to buy the game early if they are not able to get to a retail store on the 16thl. Frankly, the release date doesn’t really matter on an MMORPG. Until the servers themselves are patched, you cannot play the new content.

Kiara has encouraged players to NOT enter Sentinel’s Fate product keys into the system (Station.com) until February 16th. The system may get confused by a prematurely entered key. O.o


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