The Destiny of Velious saga continues as adventurers breach the barriers of the Withered Lands seeking entrance to Skyshrine, the glorious ancient dragon city!

The great citadel of Skyshrine has long housed the Claws of Veeshan dragons behind its massive walls and arcane protections. Now, the unthinkable has happened — it has become besieged by powerful forces. Battle and befriend dragons and their wurmkin in the forbidden city of Dracur. Explore the past to unravel mysterious events that transformed the formidable draconic city into a battlefield full of daunting challenges, fearful foes and unimaginable treasures!

Far below Skyshrine a different battle rages on. The Withered Lands, once known as the Wakening Land, was a majestic Plane of Growth-touched valley. Today it is oddly overgrown and overrun by a sickly magic. This strange corruption has touched and twisted many of the creatures that thrived here, including the legendary caretakers of the forest. Turned to a dark purpose, the caretakers cultivate the afflicted plants and animals. And deep in the creeping woods, chaotic storms drench the forest and singe the gnarled treetops where an angry dragon flies overhead!

Save the forest from corruption, aid the armies of Norrath in reaching Skyshrine, explore the intrigues of dragon kind and save their embattled city!

To reach the Withered Lands, please seek out the New Combine Griffon Tamer located at the Thurgadin Harbor in the Great Divide.

Destiny of Velious Content Updates Include: *

• Level cap raised to 92
• Withered Lands outdoor zone with over 100 quests and solo, small group, and raid content
• Play YOUR way in Skyshrine instances with normal and Challenge group modes or choose to solo
• Experience storyline events with Heroic Group and Raid endgame instances
• Earn prestige abilities to build on the power of your character
• All new tradeskill quests and items woven into the story arc
• New Drake mounts

Age of Discovery Additions: **

• Poet’s Palace Dungeon Maker theme and items
• New Dungeon Maker adventurers
• Tradeskill apprentices with new recipes (one Elite!)
• One all new elite mercenary and three dragon golem ones
• New creatures to tame for Beastlords

*Requires Destiny of Velious expansion
**Requires Age of Discovery expansion

GENERAL

• Freeblood characters can now customize their inner demon illusion and the change will be persistent.
• Fixed a bug where race changing from a winged race to a non-winged race via a race change potion could result in an invalid appearance on the character.
• Fixed a bug where if you took a bag icon slot and positioned it over a pet spell icon in your hotbar and right clicked on the item in the bag it would flay out the possible pet spells instead of the radial menu for the item.
• Fixed a bug where non-beastlords could load ui settings from beastlord characters and make the beastlord UI appear.
• Fixed a bug where players could fall when zoning while riding server mounts.
• Fixed a bug where previewing the Animated Defenders in the marketplace would make your paperdoll image look like an Animated Defender.
• Using the scroll wheel while the assign raid loot window is open should no longer close the listbox of raid members.

ABILITIES / ALTERNATE ADVANCEMENT

• We have modified the AA XP tables reducing the amount of experience necessary for advancement levels 1 to 280. When you log in your character they will be converted from the old tables to the new tables this will cause most characters to get bonus advancement points. Enjoy!
• You should now only be able to move the AA slider if you are not capped at your current level.
• Fixed an issue where the AA slider could display the incorrect value when logging into the game.
• Fixed a bug where the spell examines of spells that decreased the auto attack multiplier were not displaying correctly.

Conjuror

• Dimensional storage no longer works on deity pets.

ZONE PROGRESSION / POPULATION

Moors of Ykesha

• Writ givers in Moors of Ykesha will now offer their level 80 writs to characters up to level 83.

Halls of Fate

• The Large Draconic Key in Halls of Fate will now respawn a short time after it is picked up.

Loping Plains

• Taking the Lesser Faydark mount station within Loping Plains will now take you to Timorous Moor reliably.

Greater Faydark

• The Cogsmasher’s Wrench drops from The Cogsmasher as intended.
• Reanimated Nexus Scion should more reliably spawn.

MERCENARIES

• Fixed a bug where a player with a mercenary would join a group but the mercenary would not join.
• Savagery now gets set to zero when a duel ends for beastlords.

MERCENARIES PVP

• Mercenaries will now obey the same rules as pets for leash distance in PVP combat.
• Fixed a bug where target next hostile player would cycle through friendly mercenaries.

BEASTLORDS

• Fixed a bug where some warders would show invalid stats in the warder window.
• Please note: You will have to resummon each warder once after this patch to properly initialize the data for each warder.

DUNGEON MAKER

• Fixed an issue where selecting a dungeon maker adventurer would cause the hotbar icons to not change.

AMENITIES

• Guildhall Writ Agents will now properly offer Neriak and Gorowyn writs to characters level 65 and up.

TRADESKILLS

• Fixed a bug where some recipes would not show in your recipe book.
• You will now get a warning when attempting to use an adorned item in a tradeskill recipe.

PLAYER HOUSING

• Pets will no longer wander aimlessly over the edge of the Tenebrous Island Refuge prestige home.

ITEMS

• Reduced the reforging cost of AE Autoattack.
• Fixed a bug but the TCG makeover mirror would not work for some characters.
• Altered the Vuul item sets to use the correct foot appearances.
• Cloudy Velium Jewels now stack to 100!

QUESTS

The City of Freeport

• One Last Voyage: Can once again be gained from a book located within the Coalition of Tradesfolke building in the City of Freeport.
• Red Lake: Can once again be gained from a book located within The Emporium building in the City of Freeport.

Steamfont

• Clockwork Snoop will no longer be gated if you place your bot in the wrong place. You can now retrieve another one from the same area you got them in the previous quest.

In other news, Game Update 63: Skyshrine hits live servers tomorrow. Here’s a rundown of various previews and guides already floating around the interwebs:

• EQ2 Traders: Crafting Preview
• EQ2 Traders: Furniture Preview
• ZAM: Skyshrine Preview
• SOE Community Fancast: Skyshrine Part 1 – Part 2
• Heroic & Raid content in Skyshrine

EQ2Interface doesn’t have a UI comparison up yet, but I imagine it will be coming sometime today or tomorrow morning.

Stay tuned for downtime updates, and I’ll post the patch notes as soon as they’re available!

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Update #1: ZAM has posted that the downtime is expected to last 5 hours, beginning at 7am Pacific tomorrow morning.

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Update #2: The servers are up and Skyshrine is live! Patch notes incoming momentarily… Enjoy!

Ok, actually, several of us are going to be at the PAX East 2012 Tweetup, hanging in the Westin Waterfront hotel lobby — unless we get shunted elsewhere — with other Tweeps, laughing our butts off and generally having a grand old time. Last year was a bit shaky, location- and coordination-wise, but still quite a hoot, and it was really nice to put faces with names (or names and faces with aliases, as it were).

As it stands now, Peter (Aethgar, Riowa, Raffe, et al) and I will be there, as will Chris (Scopique) and Allen (Lyriana). Of course, other Tweeps will be along as well, and you may finally be able to meet at least a few of the people who know what you had for lunch yesterday and would be able to pick your pet out of a lineup. :)

Follow #PAXETU12 on Twitter for real-time updates!

• EQ2 Forums: Downtime Extended (forums are flaking out at times during the maintenance; be patient!)
• ZAM’s GU62 downtime updates page
• EverQuest II’s Facebook page
• EverQuest II’s Twitter stream

In the meantime, check out the latest Producer’s Letter for some tasty tidbits while you wait!

 Update: Smokejumper posted on Twitter that the game should be online at 10:00am Pacific, and SOE’s CTO posted this on the EQ2Wire site.

Update #2: The servers are up as of about 10:15am Pacific! Have fun!! :D

Age of Discovery is the eighth expansion of the groundbreaking EverQuest II franchise.  Age of Discovery offers never-seen-before features including user-generated content and the re-imagining of the Beastlord class from the original EverQuest release.  You can make your mark in-game by creating your very own Dungeon, hire some much needed help for your heroic battles, push tradeskilling research to new heights, customize your weapons at the forge, and of course, play as a Beastlord. There’s a lot to like about this expansion!

DUNGEON MAKER

Ever wanted to build your own dungeon? Now you can with the Dungeon Maker system! Locate and collect a variety of floor layouts and styles, decorate your dungeon, select monsters to fill it, and battle through the content you designed to win new rewards!

Ever want access to tons of new content to play so that you rarely need to repeat the same experience? Play as an Adventurer in Dungeon Maker and win xp and awards for your characters!

To start creating a dungeon, click on the ‘Dungeons’ tab on the ‘Character’ sheet (default hotkey ‘c’).  Here you can ‘Create’ a new dungeon from a selection of layouts, ‘Edit’ any dungeons you have created, or ‘Delete’ any dungeons you no longer need. (This Create screen can also be accessed by clicking the ‘Create’ button on the Dungeon Maker leaderboard screen.)

To view and play through any published dungeon, click on the ‘Dungeon Maker’ button found on the ‘EQII’ menu.  Here you will see a list of all currently published dungeons.  Choose any and click on ‘Enter’ to start your play through!

BEASTLORDS

At last, the Beastlord class returns to Norrath.  Seek out new animals throughout the world to train as your warder pet.  Work with your warder to build up your strengths and exploit your enemies’ weaknesses.  Build up Savagery with your Warder to trigger powerful Primal attacks! In the Age of Discovery, Beastlords walk the lands of Norrath once again!

To create a new Beastlord character, look under ‘Scouts’ during character creation.

FREEPORT REBORN

The return of Lucan D’Lere to Freeport has given the city new life and purpose. With his iron hand once again on the throne, the citizens of Freeport have been commanded, coerced and dragooned into overhauling the city’s appearance and reorganized to be more efficient and responsive to Lucan’s will. Of course, this is still Freeport, so dissention is always brewing just under the surface, but Lucan’s firm grasp on command keeps most people tentative about their resistance currently.

Storyline Quests

• Players can speak to Serris in the Freeport Militia House to begin doing work for Freeport.
• Players can speak to The Forgotten to continue doing work for Freeport once they are level 40 and have completed the level 20 storyline quests.

Racial Quests

• Sarnak players may wish to visit the Gorowyn Chancery and speak to Ambassador Erazak.
• Half Elves should seek out Thavian Destrus on the docks near Seafarer’s Roost.
• Gnomes should seek out Professor Flimflam located at Inventor’s Outlook.
• Dark Elves should seek out Dyymona K’Vexx located inside The Academy of Arcane Science.
• Erudites should seek out Azreana located inside The Academy of Arcane Science.
• Ogres should seek out Kroota Gukbutcher located in the Dreadnaught’s Plaza.
• Arasai players should visit their new embassy and speak with Ambassador Anttel V’Xeath.
• Freeblood players should seek out Glaria in the Jade Tiger Inn.
• Human players should seek out Derald Walldons on the Overlord’s Perch.
• Iksar players should seek out Zulk Veskk just outside the doors to the Scale Yard.
• Kerra players should seek out Caltuur, just outside the Freeport Block and Tackle.
• Ratonga players should seek out Sneel Valiyn near The Academy of Arcane Science.
• Troll players should seek out Nelik Ulnya on the docks outside of the Freeport Block and Tackle.

Class Quests

• Mages will find quests being offered by Librarian Motius Feldarn at the Academy of Arcane Science at level 20+, and then Foci Tamara Paust at the Academy of Arcane Science at levels 40+, 60+ & 80+.
• Fighters will find quests being offered by Corporal Sergius Mordanticus at the Freeport Militia House at level 20+, and then Grand Duke Lazarus Hazran at the Freeport Militia House at levels 40+, 60+ & 80+.
• Scouts will find quests being offered beginning at level 20+, by seeking out Galla Silverwing, Quartermaster Baile, and Vali’il near the docks of Freeport.  Scouts at level 40+ can then find work with Privateer Twitchwisker, and finally with Captain Siren at levels 60+ and 80+.
• Priests will find quests at level 20+ by seeking out Administrator Frugi, Kenth Lanringe, and Belimee Viperwing at the Temple of War.  Priests at level 40+ can find work with Gisuka Voll, then with Grand Inquisitor Nethal L’tylex at level 60+, then finally with Gisuka Voll once again at 80+.

MERCENARIES

As you travel the lands of Norrath, keep your eyes open for mercenaries who may be for hire. Is your group short-handed? Now you can hire a brave companion to fight by your side, filling a spot in your group or assisting you in a duo. Coin talks, and the mercenaries of the shattered lands are eager to listen. Be sure to watch out for rare mercenaries who may not normally be available, but who will serve you well and faithfully for a limited time.

REFORGING

Ever obtained an item that’s just not quite what you wanted?  Using the reforging system, you will be able to reconfigure your items to change their stats and even add particle effects!

Reforging specialists have appeared in Freeport and Qeynos (look for the tag)!

• These specialists will allow you to tweak stats on your Legendary, Fabled, and Mythical equipment via a new “Reforge” window.
• You can revert the reforging process via the “Restore” tab at any specialist.
• These specialists will also allow you to attach a Decoration to your weapon.

Decorations add particle effects to your weapon.

Decorations are available via various means throughout Norrath.

There are several tiers of decorations. 

• The higher the tier, the more elaborate the effect.
• The first tier is available for purchase from Reforging specialists

To add a decoration to your weapon, drag and drop your decoration into the decoration slot in the “Reforge” window.

• Reforging stats and adding a decoration to a weapon must be done at the same time.
• You can revert the reforging process via the “Restore” tab at any specialist.

TRADESKILL APPRENTICES

Claim your tradeskill apprentice and gain your very own minion!  Put your apprentice to work researching new recipes for extremely powerful items specific to your tradeskill class. Coach your apprentice to make his or her research more efficient; gain XP and rewards as well as recipes as your apprentice gains in skill.

• Tradeskill Apprentices can be found at the major crafting hubs in Freeport and Qeynos.
• You must be a level 10+ tradeskiller to mentor a Tradeskill Apprentice.
• In exchange for a roof over their heads and tutelage, Tradeskill Apprentices will research recipes to share with you.

This research takes a good amount of time, so choose your desired recipe research wisely.

Up to 100 new recipes for each Tradeskill Class, spanning from level 10 to 90.

These recipes produce powerful items, all of them with unique effects, and many with unique appearances!

Additionally, 10 unique Reforging decoration recipes are available for research.

You can mentor your Tradeskill Apprentice once per day to speed up their current research task.

• You can also help your apprentice via a daily quest.  This will further speed up their research.You can customize the uniform and name of your Tradeskill Apprentice.

COMMONLANDS PUBLIC QUEST

The Dismal Rage seek the aid of brave adventurers as they battle the rising undead in The Commonlands (find them near the entrance to the Graveyard).

GENERAL

• On some machines when turning Multi Sample Anti Aliasing to anything other than “None” the UI would disappear until the game is restarted. This should be fixed now.
• New characters will no longer have racial abilities automatically populated in their hotbars.
• Fixed a bug with flying mounts and the cannon in Moors of Ykesha.

HOUSE RATING SYSTEM

• Trial accounts can no longer vote for houses in the leaderboard system.

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION

Den of the Devourer

• Fixed an issue that prevented the hatchlings from attacking in the Den of the Devourer.

Kael Drakkel

• Sorleyt Taskill will hand out Kael Drakkel missions more reliably.

All Drunder x4 raid zones [Challenge Mode]

• All basepop mobs have lower max health.  Boss mobs in challenge mode drunder zones (Sullon, Tallon, Vallon x4 raid zones) do less spell and melee damage.

Tallon’s Stronghold [Challenge and Normal Mode]

• In the General Zevitus fight Combat Madness is now cureable as a curse.  If you cure it it does not go away, but simply jumps to a new player immediately rather than when it would expire normally. 

Tallon’s Stronghold [Challenge mode]

• During the Lieutenant Klaatuus fight the aviak trooper adds spawn less often, and Klaatuus will no longer memwipe to players holding or near the totem. 

Vallon’s Tower [Challenge Mode]

• During the Gindan Commander Angler fight the Diaku Deceptors spawn less often.

ABILITIES / ALTERNATE ADVANCEMENT

• Players with the Age of Discovery expansion can now earn up to 320 Alternate Advancement points.
• Characters hitting level 10 will automatically be granted 5 Alternate Advancement points. Characters above level 10 logging in for the first time will gain a small amount of Alternate Advancement experience.
• Fixed a bug where spell double attack chance was no respecting values less than 1 but greater than 0.
• Altered the description text on spells that give or take away potency and pvp potency to have a more uniform description.
• You can now buy Singular Focus from your class trainer NPC.  This ability allows you to turn off AE autoattack from melee, ranged and spell weapons.

Coercer

• Medusa Gaze now can complete Arcane Storm.

TRADESKILLS

• Altered the description of the tradeskill AA “Conservation of Mass” to give more information including proc rate and effects.
• The proc rate of the tradeskill AA “Conservation of Mass” now increases as you increase rank.
• The proc “Conservation of Mass” will now only proc when you complete crafting a pristine item, and not while crafting the item.
• Repair Materials and Pristine Repair Materials are now flagged heirloom.

ITEMS

• Many items that were designed to be sold to a vendor can no longer be listed on the broker.  Items like these that already exist on the broker have been taken down and cannot be relisted.
• Petamorph Wands are now toggleable.
• The Station Marketplace casino games can now be played. The result of the spin/roll will be random and all players will see the same result.
• Brute’s Unyielding Hand Wraps, Cenobite’s Unyielding Hand Wraps and Cenobite’s Prodigious Hand Wraps have had haste added to them.
• Fixed a bug where a few items would not properly auto equip when there was already an item in that slot.
• Fighter helms that drop from the Tower of Vuul should now have critical bonus applied to them.

QUESTS

Signature

• The Stormhammer signature quest now spawns Xicotl at the appropriate level for the quest.

Timorous Deep

• Primary Sha’Ki is now more willing to give out The Chain of Command after players have completed work for Ku’Uul.

Chardok

• The Encyclopedias of Mutigenica will no longer tell the whole zone you already have the book.

BATTLEGROUNDS

• Fixed a bug where elemental blast would not work on some NPCs.