The “Forgotten” zones – Introduction, and other ramblings

Dasie, standing in Everfrost near the Numbnuts — er, Numbfoots

Traveling through Norrath yesterday, I was surprised to see such a decline in the population of certain zones. I’m sure a lot of it has to do with the fact that EoF offers content from 1-70, as well as the fact that a lot of people are already 60+ and are adventuring in higher end zones. Just as an indication, I ran through at about 4:30 EST and the populations were as follows: Nektulos Forest: 5 people in the zone. Enchanted Lands: 8 people in the zone. Thundering Steppes: 4 people in the zone, Everfrost: 0 people in the zone (besides myself).

Have the original zones to the game become obsolete?

I figure once a week (or more if I’m feeling up to it) I’ll do a feature post on a specific zone. Outlining a few of my favorite quests, along with screen shots of course. Maybe (if I can get my hands on any, I’m horrible for it though) some information on lore. I’ll keep it to the original zones in the game, the “forgotten” zones so to speak. I’m trying to work Dasie’ achievement points anyhow (ew, she’s sitting at 38, such a slacker compared to my other two level 70’s) so the travels through the zones will be a good thing, she can brush up on old quests and mentor down for turn ins. She’s the only one of my characters to have completed the prismatic 1.0 quest with Darathar, which I’m not even sure guilds do any more. That’s one bad thing about being able to ‘outgrow’ the content so to speak. Unless you have a large amount of people working on the quest, chances are the majority are never even going to see it once a few expansions have gone by. The gear gets out dated and is no longer of any value to have at that level, you can find crafted and dropped gear that surpasses the raid stuff.

Looking through her quest journal I was ashamed to see I only had room for two more. Not only that, but she had a level 18 quest from Antonica that had been there since July 2005. I hate deleting quests, I’d much rather complete them if at all possible. Especially if it’s to a chain or perhaps a quest that I may not remember to get again. I really wish SoE would impliment a system where if you chose to, you can see the quest icon (a yellow feather) over the heads of everyone who has a quest at all, no matter if the quest is grey or not. Maybe that’s a feature that they could add eventually, I know I have submitted it as an idea before.

So Dasie hit level 68 in jewel crafting, did an order for a few moonstone pieces, I didn’t charge for the combines because she still gets fairly nice experience off of them, I’d have wasted the coal on crafting a few apprentices anyhow. I also got her two aa’s, working on her Tunare deity quest. I had her mentored down for the earlier turn ins and netted about 20-25% experience each quest. There are 4-6 quests for each deity, so that’s always very nice.

Cancelled my station access, there was no need to pay $29.99 a month when I’m no longer interested in Vanguard at all. Maybe when the first expansion comes out and the bugs are fixed I’ll go back to it, but in the mean time EQ2 will remain my home. Especially because I’m already looking forward to the Kunark expansion. SoE will continue to get my money though, as I’m probably going to invest in purchasing a second account for myself (making this three total accounts for the household, since my boyfriend also has an account) and eventually transferring my 70 fury and my 52 necro (who is going to betray to a conj) over to that second account. Why bother? Well, number one my computer can handle boxing flawlessly, on balanced settings. So when I need a port, or a CoH (Call of the Hero) it’d be nice to be able to use it for my own characters. Plus then I can play a DPS or a healer or both to the 70 Shadowknight on the other account. One of my friends on Najena and her husband actually 4-box, and each have a second account that they play. It makes up for the lack of population or the desire to group with others.

Why bother playing an MMO if you’re not going to group up and be friendly? Easy, for the community. I don’t have the patience most of the time to deal with people. I hate waiting around. I don’t enjoy teaching the game to someone. That doesn’t mean I’m a bitch nor am I rude in game I’m actually quite nice, but I value my ‘alone time’ so to speak. I group with my guild mates and those I’ve met who know how to play their class. I do on occasion join a PuG or two, they’ve not all been bad, I will admit. But at the end of the day no one else pays for my subscription except me, and I should be able to play the game exactly how I want to. If that means not hanging out with a tank who couldn’t tank their way out of a wet paper bag, then so be it. I do like to chatter to people though (especially on the crafting channel) and I can be helpful when I put my mind to it.

So, we’ll see how things go from here.

A little sanctuary

A little garden sanctuary in Stargrace’ house, complete with fountain and roses

Yesterday being the first “real” game update of Vanguard and not just a build patch, I expected servers to be down for quite some time. I was not wrong, last night attempting to play around 6pm EST resulted in the message that servers were down. Around 8pm EST I began the longest download of all time to reinstall all of the graphics that were for some reason missing / needed to be replaced from their earlier patch. I didn’t log in for more then 5 minutes when the channels were flooded with people complaining, those threatening to leave for other games, and various random insults. So I logged off and headed to EQ2.

Above is a screen shot on the upper portion of Stargrace’ 5 room house. I decided she needed a little get away up there, complete with comfortable benches, roses, and a fountain for that quiet gurgle sound that we all adore. Banzai trees and bushes complete the little nook on the upper level. All I need is a few books placed I think, I did add a box of chocolates to one of the benches. After all, what’s more relaxing then curling up by a fountain with a good book and a box of chocolates hmm?

My mystic hit 26 yesterday, playing in the Ruins of Varsoon. I love that zone when it’s empty. Other wise it’s typically packed with farmers (not that I’m any better, running through the zone hitting as many named as I can). I was a little too small to handle very much, even though I was boxing a 70 shadowknight who was mentored down to her level. Trying to decide when I want to betray to a defiler. Probably not until T6-T7 I think, if I even get her that high. I bought the templar a buckler of blight, which drops from Obelisk of Lost Souls, I could have probably tried to get one myself, but there’s really not much to spend coin on in game, so I decided to splurge and drop the 5p on it. It’s a huge upgrade from her past one. Maybe later today I’ll do the final grind to level 70 jeweler for her.

Since they’ve added a bunch of new Lore and Legend books to the game, that’s one of my goals, each one of my characters actually need to work on it. The clockwork one is located in Steamfont Mountains close to the Klak’anon entrance, Werewolf is in Loping Plains, in a bookshelf in Somborn, Brownie is in LesserFaydark in a tent in the lower grove area, Minataur is in Steamfont in a bonepile near the southern crater in Smokehorn Baison, Bugbear was in Kaladim in a wheel barrel near some goblins, and Kobold is in Butcher Block in the same hut as the transmuting vendor. Sadly enough, my illusionist only has 10 of the L&L’s completed at all, there are over 30 in game right now. Ouch. Pieces are at a fairly reasonable price on Lucan D’Lere — except for the new ones. Or werewolves at least where the pieces can go for anywhere from 1p to 10p depending on what you need. Gives me a goal at least to work towards though, and something to do.

Hip hip hooray!

Not sure where this cheerful guy is from? Hint: In order to spawn some named, you place him and his friends

Yesterday was very much an EQ2 day, remembering all of the reasons that I fell in love with the game to begin with two years ago. It was nice to get away from the bugs and lag and just, everything, from Vanguard. My mystic (who’s going to go defiler eventually) got two levels from 23-25. She also got a tailoring level to 31. My jeweler (and 70 templar) Dasie has been sitting at level 65 forever, so I decided it was about time I at least get her to 70. Using some of the three year veteran crafting experience rewards, she hit 85% through 67. It’s about one potion a level, so I can hit 69 before I’ll run out. Of course now she’s out of vitality, so that really sucks. I figure I’ll wait a day or two before getting the last two levels. Then I’ll have the 70 illusionist / 70 provisioner, and the 70 templar / 70 jeweler. Next? The fury is level 70 in adventuring, but level 60 in woodworking, so I’ll try to get her to 70 as well. The sage (level 52 adventurer) is at 60 too. The alchemist (42 assassin) is sitting at 50, where she’ll stay for quite some time.

I did a run through the Shimmering Citadel, which is where the screen shot is from. It’s still one of the best zones to farm the high end T6 masters (which are still far too rare), even if you get no masters at all you’re guaranteed a platinum in vendor trash, and typically a few crafting rares (on very difficult setting, which lets face it, is not all that difficult at level 70). A level 58 defiler ancient teachings spell dropped, but there’s one on the market already for 8p, so mine’s up there for 5. The legendary robe also dropped, another 50g or so. If you’re looking for shinnies, specifically the ones for the moppet house pet, the roof top of shimmering citadel is fantastic, there are about 6-8 shinnies that spawn around the roof top where the mirror is for the citadel, and you can just run in loops farming them (everything is grey).

I also did a fast Acadechism run, nothing interesting dropped but it was fun none the less.

One huge difference between Vanguard and EQ2, is that when you run around from place to place in Vanguard, you get a sense that it is a world. It’s huge, and there’s huge spaces of running with nothing around. It can take you a real life hour to run from one place to another on the same continent. In EQ2, it feels like zones. Antonica is a zone, Thundering Steppes is a zone, Feerrott is a zone. It doesn’t feel like the world of Norrath, it feels like a bunch of zones of Norrath. It’s great that we can all buy these 50% speed mounts, but they’re hardly ever used, because there’s no real place that you need to run (with an exception of quick jaunts through zones). It’s one thing Vanguard really did right (in the mix of so much stuff that they did wrong).

Eenie Meanie Miney Moe..

So. Station access is getting bumped up to $29.99 a month American. x 2 for my house. Ouch.

Converted over that’s almost $100 a month to play video games, and only two of those games are played to any extent, Vanguard and EverQuestII. Worth it? I’m beginning to think not. So the new decision I have to make, is which game am I giving up. There are good and bad points for each.

EverQuestII is still a lot of fun for me, I have three level 70 characters, two raid geared, fully mastered, and a bunch of crafters. The issue with that game for me, is lack of players on my server specifically, Lucan D’Lere. If it merged, I wouldn’t have so much of an issue. The down side, well obviously a lot of my friends have left for Vanguard. The game is lacking high end content. If you’ve been there and done it all, why bother any more?

Vanguard is also a lot of fun for me. My highest level character is 20, meaning I have a lot of work left (if I were to stay). The game unfortunately is very buggy. Not that it won’t get fixed over time I am sure, but do I want to be paying full price for a game still in beta? How many people are going to stay around in Vanguard once LoTR and WarHammer and Conan and all those other MMO’s come out? At least in EverQuestII I know there is some sort of a player base. It’s just relatively small. If I were to spend some money and move to a more populated server, would that solve my issues? Najena for example is still thriving. Lucan can barely support one ‘real’ raiding guild.

It’s a shame that they’ve decided to raise the price. I feel even worse for those who had station access due to the free adventure packs, as well as the extra character slots. Why would you pay TWICE as much as one monthly subscription if you only play EQ2. I’d be mighty pissed off if that were the case. They should allow you to keep your $24.99 price if all you’re after is the extra characters and the free adventure packs (splitpaw, the village of shin, etc). I think this was a very unwise business move. Not only will Sigil lose money from those who were only playing Vanguard due to station access and the ability to play both games at a discounted price, but SoE will lose money from those who decide to give up their station access fully and move to Vanguard. It will be interesting to see how (if any) affect this will have on the populations of both games. I know I’m tempted to just throw in the towel and go play WoW again, just to not deal with this any more.

The price change goes into affect April 2nd, so they’ve given one months warning. Unless Vanguard by some miracle fixes the numerous issues that players face every day, I won’t be renewing my subscription. If the situation on EQ2 doesn’t improve with the decline in players (and so many servers that we’re all spread over) then they also will no longer have my monthly business. Does SoE care? Of course not, I’m one small subscriber. In the grand scheme of things it doesn’t make the slightest dent. If enough people do it though, they’ll see the change. I already know quite a few bloggers out there are talking about what they’ll be doing, which game they’ll be playing, and what’s next.

For further reading about the ideas and opinions out there, check out the following:

The Ancient Gaming Noob , CuppyCake , West Karana

Game Update #32 – EQ2

Game Update #32 February / 28 / 2007

*** General Gameplay ***

– The Fae Glide trait will no longer suspend when you zone into a dungeon while on a mount.
– Candle flames no longer go out on lower particle settings
– Items can no longer be looted into overflow using Tradeskill Harvest Bags.
– Adding items to collections now works when you also have that item in the bank.
– Fae should no longer be able to jump as high while wearing gnomish spring boots.
– Resolved some occasional time issues when switching zones (spell reuse timers, zone timers, etc).
– After years of humiliation the Boarfiend has been given some pants instead of just a loin cloth.
– Veil Hunters under the effect of Boon of the Veil will no longer continue to receive damage if they are killed in the Veil.
– You will now be asked to confirm leaving raid zones when you have a lockout timer.
– You can no longer queue spells while you are dead or knocked out. If you somehow manage to have a spell queued when you die, it will be cancelled when you resurrect.
– Using the /yell command in Emerald Halls, Inner Sanctum, Clockwork Menace Factory, and Freethinker Hideout will no longer break the encounter.
– To make his disciples more efficient in combat, Mithaniel Marr has reduced the size of the summoned Valiant Beast.
– Casting Escape in the ‘A Meeting of the Minds’ zone will now take you to Feerrott instead of Everfrost.
– The investigation skill should now only appear once you properly acquire it, which might take some investigation itself.
– Mentoring and deleveling should no longer cause you to go crash to character select.
– Mitigation adjustments from items and spells now offer protection and penalties much closer to the amount listed. Previously, lower level spells and items that granted mitigation bonuses would sometimes not offer any increase at all if the level difference was extreme enough. Now the bonuses scale properly by comparing the level of the item or spell versus the level of the player. For example: A level 70 Dirge casting the level 35 spell “Zander’s Choral Rebuff” will see an appropriate amount of mitigation decrease on the target now, whereas before that spell would have had no effect at all.
– Enemy Level is compared only once in determining mitigation adjustments and is now calculated before the mitigation diminishing returns curve is applied. This fixes situations where often plate armor’s longevity plummets much faster than lower mitigation armors against high yellow and low orange content.

*** Achievements ***

– Points spent in the Class achievement have been refunded.
– Achievement respec costs now start out at 10 gold, followed by 1plat and then cap at 10plat. 30 days after your respec the cost will reset to 10 gold.
– Obtaining the final ability in any Class achievement line will grant a new player title.
– Final abilities in the Class achievement lines have been reduced in point cost from 8 to 2. Point progression between rows of achievements have been adjusted to more evenly distribute the points between the rows and maintain most of the popular spec types that players had from before the update.
– The spell description for Cloaked Assault will now display properly after purchasing its enhancement achievement.

Bard:
– Coin Toss – Duration to trigger HO effect reduced from 3 to 1 second. Reuse time increased from 1 to 5 seconds.
– Harbinger’s Sonnet – Benefit is now directly tied to Selo’s without having to cast another spell, and slightly increase the non-combat movement speed.

Berserker:
– Perserverance will now double the in combat regen rather than adding 100.

Mystic:
– Enhance: Spirit of the Wolf – Reduced speed increase from 6% to 4%.

*** Spells & Combat Arts ***

General:
– Spells like Water Spirit that cause you to sink in water will no longer cause falling damage.
– Ammo will no longer be consumed when using a ranged combat art.
– Spell Casting time calculations will add/subtract modifiers before multiplying modifiers.
– Spell reuse will no longer exceed the amount it was prior to zoning or logging out.

Bards:
– Selo’s Speed of Sound, a new upgrade of Selo’s Accelerating Chorus is available at level 55.

Brawler:
– Increased defensive stance physical mitigation percent bonus from 20% to 25%
– Increased hybrid stance physical mitigation percent bonus from 10% to 12.5%
– Increased defensive stance minimum deflection chance from 7.5% to 10%
– Increased hybrid stance minimum deflection chance to 3.5% to 5%

Brigand:
– Double Up – Now works with Sinister Strike.
Conjurer:
– Plane Shift – Hydromancer pet’s size is increased. No more tiny water snake.

Dirge:
– Crypt’s Quiet – Increased triggered damage.
– Death’s Door – Increased triggered damage and percentage.
– Dissonance – Reuse time changed from 20 to 12 seconds.
– Noxious Chorus – Increased resist amounts.

Fury:
– The full description of the Fury spell Bristleskin will now display correctly.
Illusionist:
– Color Shower should now trigger procs correctly.

Troubador:
– Alin’s Keening Lamentation – Casting time changed from 3 to 2.5 seconds. Reuse time changed from 15 to 12 seconds.
– Arcane Chorus – Increased resist amounts.
– Elemental Chorus – Increased resist amounts.
– Performer’s Talent – Increased trigger percentage.

*** Items ***
General:
– The Spring Loaded Gnomish Stilts will no longer work while on horseback.
– Crude, shaped & worked versions of the Tailored Tranquil Dragon’s Breath Slippers now have the appropriate divine resist.
– The invisibility effect from Rhaondrilliis must now be activated to work, and can no longer be cast while under stun/stifle/mez. Casting time has been set to 2 seconds, with a reuse of 3 minutes.
– The tailored tranquil dragon’s breath blouse, shawl, pantaloons, mitts, cuffs, and cap should all now have the correct amount of divine resistance.
– The Circlet of Storms may now be transmuted or sacrificed.
– ‘Environmental’ is now spelled properly in the following items (and their effect text): Worn Arcane/Elemental/Noxious Environmental Suits, and the Full Body Arcane/Elemental/Noxious Environmental Suits.
– The worked version of the halasian boiling pot will now properly show the Handcrafted tag.
– The effect Dark Purpose from Band of the Chosen should now be functioning.
– The recipe for Ruinous Hesitation (apprentice) now consumes the proper number of rosewood and hanging root (5 each).
– You can no longer activate the Spring Loaded Gnomish Stilts while on horseback.
– Orb of Truth: When triggered, Healing Pulse will now heal the caster instead of adding additional healing to each heal cast.
– Orb of the Healer: When triggered, the caster of the spell is now the origin of Healing Wave.
– Dark Aura of Protection should now properly proc from Hoop of the Chosen.
– The ‘Arcane Feedback’ proc will now show the correct icon.
– The effect on the Blithe Bixie Cloak will now return power to the caster, instead of draining it.

Appearance Changes:
– Profession hats should no longer make you bald.
– The “Crested Mistmoore Shield” heritage item will now mount properly on the wall.
– “a small figurehead” house item should now place correctly against the wall.
– “a letter from the Dismal Rage” will no longer sink into the floor and table when placed.
– “a militia skull display shelf”, “a Coalition skull display shelf”, “a Dismal Rage skull display shelf” will now place properly when on a wall.
– ‘a Qeynosian wall sconce’ now places properly on the wall.
– The house item book ‘History of the Feir’Dal’ has an in-house appearance now.
– Many weapon drops in the Emerald Halls have been given unique appearances.

Tradeskill Related Items:
– All 1% tradeskill success modification items created through tinkering are now usable at level 20 instead of a range from 2 to 20. This will not impact characters who have the items, as to equip them, the character previously already needed to have the tradeskill class. This change, along with the two below should create a more level playing field for tradeskillers working through these levels.
– All 2% tradeskill success modification items created through tinkering are now usable at level 33 instead of a range from 33 to 41.
– All 3% tradeskill success modification items created through tinkering are now usable at level 54 instead of a range from 59 to 68.
– Tradeskill created Xegonite idols will now properly be equippable at level 62 instead of 67.
– Tradeskill hearths now have appropriate sounds when lit.
– The River Rock, Ashen and Sandstone hearths now all properly carry the ‘Handcrafted’ tag.
– The portable tradeskill devices may now all be used at level 41, rather than a range of levels from 41 to 47.
– Fixed a typo in the description for the Elaborate Stove & Keg prose.
– Crafting the pristine version of the Mechanized Platinum Repository of Reconstruction will no longer award one more xegonite than was required to make the item.
– Alder bookcases are now properly labelled mastercrafted rather than legendary.
– The last charge on the Gigglegibber’s Secret of Death will now work properly.
– The crude, shaped, and worked versions of the imbued adamantine warhammer now have the proper stats.
– Miscalibrated and Calibrated tinkered harvesting tools (such as automated shears) now require tradeskill level rather than adventuring level. This is consistent with the higher-level Overclocked tools.

Item Sets:
– The first bonus from the Necromancer Spirit Siphoning Set, Focus: Abate Life will now remove 200 power cost instead of adding.
– The Coercer EoF Force Itemset focus Impetus now adds 10dps, instead of haste.
– Coat of the Requiem – Focus: Luda’s Nefarious Wail II has had it’s damage modifier increased to 160.
– Robe of Dark Arts – Focus: Void Distortion II has had it’s damage modifier increased to 100.

Ammo:
– Ammunition just became less mysterious! Examining ammo will now show damage, range and accuracy modifiers.
– All store-bought ammunition now has a max stack size of 100. Previously it fluctuated between 99 & 100 depending on level.
– All tradeskilled ammunition now has a max stack size of 100. Previously it fluctuated between 99 & 100 depending on level.
– All tradeskilled ammunition recipes award 25, 50, 75, or 100 items depending on the tradeskill success.
– All tradeskilled ammunition should correctly show up as ‘HANDCRAFTED’ rather than ‘UNCOMMON’.
– Specific to arrows, the following changes have been made:
– Store-bought arrows have the lowest damage potential, range and accuracy.
– Ranger summoned arrows have mid-line damage potential, range and accuracy – these arrows have not changed from their current state on live.
Tradeskilled arrows now have the following properties:
– Broadhead arrows: High damage, low range, low accuracy, slashing damage type. (These arrows were formerly known as hunting arrows.)
– Bodkin arrows: Medium damage, medium range, medium accuracy, piercing damage type.
– Field point arrows: Low damage, high range, high accuracy, crushing damage type. (These arrows were formerly known as rounded arrows.)

*** Adornments ***
– You can now place adornments on imbued tradeskill weapons, armor and shields.
– No tradeskilled or store-bought ammunition may be adorned. All tradeskilled arrows should now have the ORNATE flag to reflect this.
– The initial damage on Flickering Molten Bindings has been slightly increased.
– Reduced the damage over time on the Sparkling Molten Bindings to be more in line with the other heat damage bindings.
– The effect on the ‘Xxxx of the Magi’ adornments will now properly state ‘Xxxx of the Magi’ rather than ‘Xxxx of the Pontiff’.
– Fixed an issue that was preventing adornments with procs triggered on casting from working.
– The Finesse of the Pontiff line of adornments should now properly reduce hate around the caster on successful heal casts. Note: The effect will only trigger while the caster is in combat.
– The Focus of the Pontiff line of adornments will now properly return power to the caster.
– The adornment ‘Reinforced Splint’ should now properly display as a legendary adornment.

*** Quests ***

New Quests:
– A quest line to go from Kelethin citizenship to Exile has been added. If you are level 10 or higher speak to Saelir Varryn in Greater Faydark.
– A quest line to go from Kelethin citizenship to Qeynosian citizenship without betraying has been added.This quest line begins with Duryo Valstat in South Qeynos.
– The first chapter of the Swords of Destiny quest line has been released.
– Shareth D’Frexin could use your help to retrieve something he lost in New Tunaria. He was last seen lurking about above the waterfall in The Greater Faydark.
– There is now a tradeskill tutorial quest for characters starting in Greater Faydark.
– New Lore and Legend Quests are available for Brownie, Bugbear, Clockwork, Kobold, Minotaur, and Werewolf.

Existing Quests:
– A goodly number of quests that involved heroic feats are now properly marked as heroic quests in the quest journal.
– Quests under level 10 will no longer give achievement xp.
– Greater Faydark (Kelethin): Whittier should now offer his quest again if you decline it the first time.
– Heritage: Cloak of Flames: Juna will now offer another Inert Leather Cloak at any time during the quest that requires it.
– Antonica: Attack of the Killer Bear: The Windstalker Grizzly will once again properly spawn.
– Beholders now count as Evil Eyes, as they are eyes… And evil… They will update the Evil Eye legend and lore quest and the mastery strike awarded from that quest will work on them.
– The quest items required for’The Heart of Gnome’ will now be removed from the player when the quest ends, as they should be.
– Bonemire: The Flame of the Corpse Candles: It is now possible to catalog the sated corpse candle for this quest.
– The quest “A Fallen Beauty” (both monk versions) may now be completed, even if the target NPCs have despawned. Simply speak with Jin Li again.
– The quest ‘Relics for Elurad’ is now flagged as heroic.
– Crystal and Stone golems now give auto update credit for Golem Lore and Legend quests instead of Elemental updates.
– All drakes in Kingdom of Sky are now considered drakota.

Tradeskill Related Quests:
– If a character deletes (accidentally or otherwise) any of the ‘Seeking a Profession’ (II to IX) tradeskill quests, they can now return to the questgiver and continue with their progress again.
– The quest ‘Seeking a Profession IV’ now requires a level 3 scroll be scribed (Light Strike) to match the quest level, rather than the level 5 scroll, Arcane Bindings.
– The tradeskill tutors for the Seeking a Profession IX quest will now properly tell players that they will need a Fashioned Lead Hoop instead of a malachite ring.
– Citizens of Kelethin may purchase the note to begin their tradeskill tutorial from Raclika. New characters will receive this note automatically upon logging in.

*** Tradeskills ***
General:
– The merchants Newman Hines and Garfa Gillgrinder will now properly sell incense for new crafters going through the tutorial.
– You will now get a failure message if you do not attempt to counter a tradeskill event.
– Numerous corpse items that claimed to be useable in crafting have had their description changed to remove this legacy data.
– You should now see an interrupted message when you move while transmuting.
– The tradeskilled cobalt hearths were renamed ‘ashen hearths’ to avoid confusion with needing cobalt clusters in their creation.

Commisioned Work:
– If a lore component is required for a recipe then the character commissioning work must provide it.
Recipes:
– The level 28 alchemist recipes (apprentice & adept) Essence of Barrage are now named Essence of Berserker Barrage to properly reflect the combat art they make.
– Fixed an issue where level 60 fighter spells created by alchemists wouldn’t properly return their rare components if combine completely failed.
– The recipe for Elddar’s Grasp is now correctly flagged as a level 64 recipe.
– Level 60 sage recipes in the volume 59 books for priest apprentice spells will now properly use 51-60 components/fuel instead of 61-70.
– Level 60 sage recipes in the volume 59 books for priest adept spells will now properly use 51-60 components/fuel instead of 61-70.
– Level 60 sage recipes in the volume 59 books for mage apprentice spells will now properly use 51-60 components/fuel instead of 61-70.
– Level 60 sage recipes in the volume 59 books for mage adept spells will now properly use 51-60 components/fuel instead of 61-70.
– Level 60 jeweler recipes in the volume 59 books for scout apprentice spells will now properly use 51-60 components/fuel instead of 61-70.
– Level 60 jeweler recipes in the volume 59 books for scout adept spells will now properly use 51-60 components/fuel instead of 61-70.
– Level 60 alchemist recipes in the volume 59 books for fighter apprentice spells will now properly use 51-60 components/fuel instead of 61-70.
– Level 60 alchemist recipes in the volume 59 books for fighter adept spells will now properly use 51-60 components/fuel instead of 61-70.
– The recipe for the Xegonite Wall Sconce now requires the use of a forge rather than a woodworking table as the other sconces do.
– The prose for the Metalworking art ‘Anneal’ now accurately reflects the effects of the spell.
– The prose for the Tailoring reaction art ‘Stitching’ now accurately reflects the effects of the spell.
– Tailor made crude/shaped/tailored/pristine woven etched leather armor now properly has a wisdom bonus instead of an intelligence bonus.
– The recipes for the Ornate Cambric Rug and the Horned Leather Rug now require a loom rather than a woodworking table as other rugs.
– ‘Old Fashioned Dwarven Wire’ now has an appropriate description.
– The recipe for cambric rugs now requires the use of a sewing table (or loom, if you prefer) rather than a woodworking table.
– The recipe for Amplify (Adept III) now correctly calls for copper instead of lapis lazuli.

Recipe Books & Scrolls:
– The Apprentice Blueprints 0.001 recipe scroll now has a slightly better progression for new tinkerers. The recipes inside the blueprint pack were all slightly reduced in level so that new tinkerers will have a recipe to create that doesn’t start out at ‘Very Hard’.
– The recipe for Minor Lucid will now properly show up in the level 4 artisan books instead of the level 3 books.
– Woodworker Essentials volume 24 now contains recipes for cold, disease, divine, magic, poison and mental imbued ash wands.
– Advanced Woodworker volume 25 now contains recipes for disease, divine, heat and magic imbued fir wands.

Writs:
– The 59 jeweler normal & rush order writs ‘My Precious!’ now display the proper icon for the nacre orb.
– Woodworker tradeskill writs which previously called for 150 arrows or thrown items now call for 600. This is the same number of pristine combines as before the recipe change. Where applicable, the writs also reflect the correct new name of the arrow type (broadhead or field point).
– Woodworker tradeskill rush-order writs which previously called for 75 arrows or thrown items now call for 300. This is the same number of pristine combines as before the recipe change. Where applicable, the writs also reflect the correct new name of the arrow type (broadhead or field point).
– Fixed a typo in the ‘A Little Rusty’ & ‘A Little Rusty (Rush Order)’ tradeskill writs.

*** Zones ***

Butcherblock:
– Dragoon V’Riv is no longer charmable.
Crushbone Keep:
– Players should no longer become stuck behind the flour sacks at location 32, -1, -41 in Crushbone Keep (no matter their size).

Crypt of Thaen:
– T’Rath the Usurper is no longer charmable.

Crypt of Valdoon:
– Players that go linkdead in the Crypt of Valdoon will no longer zone into Loping Plains when logging back in.

Emerald Halls:
– The Ancient Grovebeast in Emerald Halls will no longer make an untimely exit.
– Rare Tradeskill recipes can now be found in Emerald Halls.

Freethinker Hideout:
– Malkonis D’Morte will no longer abide cowardly behavior.

Kaladim:
– Kaladim ring events have had their termination timers removed.

Laboratory of Lord Vyemm:
– Uustalastus Xiterrax in the Laboratory of Lord Vyemm should no longer become stuck with both absorption shields up at the same time.

Lesser Faydark:
– A nasty werewolf spawn has been moved further away from a revival point in Lesser Faydark in order to avoid … unfortunate accidents.

Mistmoore Castle:
– Fixed an issue causing certain vampires in Mistmoore Castle to reaggro on you if you zoned out and back in.

Mistmore Catacombs:
– Werewolves in Mistmoore Catacombs should now drop corpse loot.

Pillars of Flame:
– Foresting in the Pillars of Flame will return the correct number of items gathered to the chat box.

Solusek’s Eye:
– Members of the Drednever Expedition in Solusek’s Eye should no longer attack pets.

Steamfont Mountains:
– Adventurers can now sell their loot to the Bloomhedge sisters and Lola Punwicket in the Steamfont Mountains.

The Caves:
– The creature dens in the Qeynos caves no longer report incorrect text about the object lessening to the chat box.

Thundering Steppes:
– Elowys Laceleaf in Thundering Steppes should have quest icons now.

*** PVP ***
– You can no longer charm a mob that is fighting a player if you are not grouped with them.
– Various crafted poison should now have proper chat window notification when used against players in PvP combat.
– In level limited zones, players will no longer be able to heal those outside their level range unless they are grouped together.
– Level ranges for the zone will now also display in chat when you zone and within the map window.
– The stun effect from Rain Caller has been reduced to 1 second in PvP combat.
– A number of spells such as Spores will no longer trigger when you are attacked by a player unless you engage the player that attacked you. This will prevent these spells from inadvertently limiting your ability to zone in PvP.

*** Classes & General Combat***
Dirge:
– Increased weapon autoattack damage to match Rogue tables.

Troubador:
– Increased weapon autoattack damage to match Rogue tables.

Guardian:
– Increased weapon autoattack damage to match all other Fighters tables.

Paladin:
– Increased weapon autoattack damage to match all other Fighters tables.

*** Poisons ***

– Increased other poison damage to better compete with Caustic Poisons.
– Hemotoxin – Increased tick count from 5 to 7. Damage per tick and total duration remain unchanged.
– Vitality – Small increase in damage.

*** Pets ***
– Pets will no longer run in-place on boats.
– All pet commands from Entertainment pet spells have been removed.
– Pets will no longer display in the tracking window.
– Tinkered temporary pets should no longer fail to cast when the last charge is used.

*** UI ***
– More items should be interactive with your default mouse click action without having to use the context menu, such as the pillars for the Intercepting Stones quest.
– Bag Windows are now resizable, re-shapeable, and now have options to modify the icon size and padding.
– If you use an Escape ability with a quest reward window showing, the reward will appear again after the zoning screen closes.
– Switching between ProfitUI and Default should no longer cause false version warnings.
– The recipe examine and tooltip text now contains the minimum and maximum number of items created.
– Chat command history will now persist between client sessions.
– You will no longer see “YOUR heals YOURSELF…” YOURSELF has been replaced by YOU.
– Questgivers that have a different faction than you do should no longer incorrectly show a quest icon above their head.
– When loading a set of hotkeys, any items that were in the hotbar when the configuration was saved will now load properly.
– You can now change the channel numbers in game using /setchannelnumber

. You must /camp out to save the settings, /exit or /quit may not save your changes.
– Equipment slots that are blocked due to adornments are now shown grayed-out in the tooltip and examine window.
– While using the broker, when you click on the ‘Advanced Search’ button the cursor focus should automatically jump to the ‘Advanced Search’ window.
– Examine info for items with castable abilities will now show any health or power requirements to use them.
– NPCs that change names will now update the target window if they are targeted when the name change occurs.
– When someone uses /afk , their response text when receiving a /tell will be “I am away from the keyboard, ” instead of just “”
– The tooltip of the “replenish” button now shows the remaining quantity and price instead of max stack size.
– Items in the interior customization window of your home will sort correctly by price.
– Several windows will now reset their filters when closed or after zoning.UI Authors: The embedded browser used for the petition window is available for your custom use. You can use /browser to open a URL directly like this: /browser forums.station.sony.com/eq2