Test Update 11/12/2014

*** Highlights ***

- Guard Hamarn in Ethernere Tainted West Karana would like tales to tell of heroic adventures. Each day he will offer you bonus experience if you do any of four Heroic Adventures from Call of the Forsaken for him.
- Rewards on Heroic adventures have been updated to better reflect the time it takes to complete them.
- Experience gains from killing NPCs in Heroic adventures has changed. The total experience is about the same, but a much smaller amount is granted on their death, while the remaining amount will be granted when the Heroic Adventure is completed.
- The experience modifier in all of The Darkened Sea zones has been increased.
- Physical resistances on The Darkened Sea NPCs have been reduced.
- Lockout timers for Heroic Adventures have been reduced by half.
- Level minimums for Call of the Forsaken Heroic Adventures have been lowered to 75.
- Global drop raid gear in Call of the Forsaken can once again be found in Heroic Adventures and missions.
- Caster DPS mercenaries, when set to the Burn stance, will now attack an enemy NPC regardless of that NPC's HP.


*** Items ***

- Changed the icon on the Combine Armor Matrix to something more appropriate.
- The Black Powder Bomb can only be equipped in Ranged and Ammo slots.
- New cultural waters, Raid Elder Water and Solo Elder Water, are sold by Artisan Antemm in Katta Castrum: Deluge and Culturist Devari in the Plane of Knowledge.
- The recipe for Pure Mana Alcohol in the book "Enchanting Beverages" no longer lists "bottle" twice.
- New crafted Rank 2 spells for research are now able to be traded.
- Pet Illusion: Ankylosaurus is now a bit larger.
- The focus effects on Legatus, Centurio, and Magister items from Call of the Forsaken now extend to level 103.
- Added tribute values to Alfred's Stolen Spear, Neplin's Blade, Dagger of Sinister Waters, and pirate-themed global drop raid gear.
- Fixed multiple issues with level 91-95 research recipes using Orphic Cards and Martial Treatises producing the wrong results.
- Fixed issues with the books "August Weapon Tailoring" and "August Weapon Smithing" showing incorrect text.
- Mixing bowl tradeskill containers that only held 4 items can now hold 10.
- Horse bridles summoned by Paladin and Shadowknight AAs will no longer take up a base slot in the Mount Key Ring.
- Boundless Penetrating Symbols now have backstab damage bonuses.
- August Brambleborn cultural armor is now usable by beastlords.
- New healing distillates are for sale on the potion merchant in the Plane of Knowledge for players at level 105.
- Alchemy recipes are available for the new distillates. You can discover the recipes by manually combining the required items, or the recipes can be scribed via the book "Lost Alchemical Formulas."
- Fixed issues with swapping certain bandolier items that could result in errors.
- Ranged weapons now properly respect their level requirements.
- Global drop raid gear in Call of the Forsaken can once again be found in Heroic Adventures and missions.
- Pink Diamonds are not used and no longer drop. They can be sold to any merchant for a reasonable sum.
- Cultural seals of the Berserker from The Darkened Sea now have the correct version of Ferocity.
- Players over level 100 can now turn in Small Glowing Fear Shards to Magus Burlshin.
- Items from Plane of War now have level 103 focus effects.
- Pirate-themed global drop raid gear is now attunable and no longer lore.


*** Quests & Events ***

- Guard Hamarn in Ethernere Tainted West Karana would like tales to tell of heroic adventures. Each day he will offer you bonus experience if you do any of four Heroic Adventures from Call of the Forsaken for him.
- Rewards on Heroic adventures have been updated to better reflect the time it takes to complete them.
- Experience gains from killing NPCs in Heroic adventures has changed. The total experience is about the same, but a much smaller amount is granted on their death, while the remaining amount will be granted when the Heroic Adventure is completed.
- A Cunning Plan - Looting a key in this Lichen Creep raid should give you access to the virtual areas to battle the Architect and Monarch.
- Clearer Skies - Zoning into the instance via Ognit's dialogs will now put you next to Ognit instead of in the middle of the volcano.
- Crying for the Dead - The recipe for the Memorial Announcements will now consume the inkwell and quill when you create the announcement.
- Crying for the Dead - You can now craft the Memorial Announcements and Full Degmar Inkwell in any zone and get credit for doing so.
- Loyal is the Heart - Removed two of the sirens inside the coral formation, near the sword thief, making it less difficult to defeat this NPC.
- Two Sides of the Shield - Brother Visius is now inside the entrance to the instance. You can hail him to get out of the instance.
- Principal Indagatrix Lucia - In the fourth Arx Mentis raid, Principal Indagatrix Lucia will be more intent on her target when she chooses to fight someone new.
- Principal Indagatrix Lucia - In the fourth Arx Mentis raid, the Magio that is protected when at low HP now clears all buffs.
- Research Wrecks - Captain Mewes in Combine Dredge will now talk to himself while he is reading the papers, and he will speak with you about it when he is done.
- The Pirate and the Pea - Clarified a few points and fixed a few text errors. Captain Mewes now asks to have the bucket returned to him.
- Kedge Counterblow - Made numerous adjustments to this Heroic Adventure in Combine Dredge:
-- NPCs that were removed in the base zone were also removed in this instance.
-- NPCs not vital to the task only have a 20 percent chance to spawn, greatly reducing the population in the zone.
-- The 45 NPCs that required for the kill elements have a 100 percent spawn rate.
-- Though not vital, the group of regrua and Doomscale fighting will continue to spawn at 100 percent.
-- The agro and help radii now match the base zone: The fighting and sleeping NPCs have the same small radii. Indoor NPCs doubled their radii. Outdoor NPCs quadrupled their radii.
-- Adjusted the spawn rate of the elementals at the beginning of the errand from 90 seconds to 60 seconds.
- Castle Relic - Made several changes to Commander Alast Degmar and Sergeant Knotlest in this Degmar Heroic adventure:
-- Reduced their health by approximately 28 percent.
-- Changed their XP multiplier to 5x from 1x.
- A Friend in Need - Orson will give you another doubloon if you need one during his quest, but he won't be happy about it.
- A Friend in Need - Edmund and Charles both reappear much more quickly.
- Oh, Julia - Captain Janesworth will now only drop as many chains as players that have the quest when he is killed.
- Just Recompense - You no longer have to forage for Mash Tubers and Saltweed on Brother Island. These items can be found as ground spawns.
- The Darkened Sea Progression Quests - Changes were made to help prevent gating issues related to hailing NPCs. When hailing NPCs in group missions, each player in the group will now see the hail text.
- Lockout timers for Heroic Adventures have been reduced by half.
- Level minimums for Call of the Forsaken Heroic Adventures have been lowered to 75.


*** Spells ***

- Berserker - Tendon Tear, Vicious Cyclone, Demolishing Axe Throw, Temple Demolish, Amplified Frenzy Strike, Jarring Smite, Stormwild Frenzy Strike, and Axe of Numicia Stun Effect will be avoided much less often now.
- Druid - Transportation spells to Tempest Temple will now be found properly under the Odus category.
- Druid - Increased the damage shield amount on Daggerspur Bulwark and Legacy of Daggerspurs.
- Magician - Increased the damage dealt by Flameweave Coat and Circle of Flameweaving.
- Magician - Increased the damage dealt by Coronal Skin.
- Monk - Echo of Deceit will be avoided much less often now.
- Ranger - Increased the amount of healing from Cloudfont as it did not receive the standard upgrade.
- Ranger - Increased the damage shield amount on Shield of Nettlespears, Nettlespear Coat, and Protection of the Forest.
- Ranger - Increased the amount of healing from Kromtus Balm as it did not receive the standard upgrade.
- Ranger - Heartsplit will be avoided much less often now.
- Rogue - Surprise Attack, Wide-Eyed Mark, Jugular Hack, Exuberant Dagger-Throw, Hack, and Smokeshade Effect will be avoided much less often now.
- Shadowknight - Increased the HP and damage shield amount on Drape of the Wrathforged.
- Wizard - Tempest Temple portal spells can now be found properly under the Odus category.
- Wizard - Corrected the spelling of Aegis of Satum and increased the damage it absorbs.
- Wizard - Increased the damage absorbed by Armor of the Codex.
- Wizard - Increased the damage absorbed by Darkmist Guard.
- Fixed issues with some counter-based spell effects that would not decrement their counters properly.
- The proc from the Oathbound Hammer is now a Qeynosian guard ghost swarm pet and not a Doug (human male) swarm pet.


*** NPC ***

- Indagatrix Materia and Indagator Materia in Arx Mentis will be less likely to cast Bewildering Flash.
- Damton Silverhammer in Degmar will now respond to [Neckchi].
- Most NPCs in the Combine Dredge are now more aware of intruders. Sleeping NPCs are still sleeping; they will only aggro if you stand on their feet. Other indoor NPCs doubled their aggro and help radii. Outdoor NPCs quadrupled their aggro and help radii. Groups of NPCs fighting each other did not have their radii changed.
- The caster NPCs in Combine Dredge that fight other NPCs will no longer draw their enemies onto them.
- The Combine within the Combine Dredge now wield weapons from Arx Mentis, their home.
- Shissar Necromancers in Katta Castrum: Deluge now appear more frequently, and will appear in the library area.
- Slightly increased the chance of rare spawns in Katta Castrum: Deluge.
- Many NPCs that appeared as Dougs (human males) will now display their models correctly.
- Physical resistances on The Darkened Sea NPCs have been reduced.
- Many NPCs that took on an odd sickly color, like the lorekeepers in Valdeholm, are feeling much better now.
- Fixed an issue causing Marcia Attamilgad to occasionally forget to rotate her stock of valuables.
- Caster DPS mercenaries will now attempt to move closer to your group if they are out of spell range during a battle.
- Caster DPS mercenaries, when set to Burn stance, will now attack an enemy NPC regardless of that NPC's HP.
- Fixed issues with NPC pathing in certain dynamic zones that could cause trains.
- Fixed some NPCs in Degmar that were not intended to see through invisiblity. This includes Degmar guards and determined diggers. Degmar guardians and Degmar archers continue to see through invisibility, as intended.


*** AA ***

- Berserker - Extended Berserking - Added Brutal Discipline to the supported abilities.
- Berserker - Screaming Axes - Improved Hundred Hands effect, as well as proc rate.
- Druid - Hastened Recall - Added tertiary recall ranks 4, 5, and 6.
- Enchanter - Enchanters can now train Eradicate Magic.
- Magician - Added 3 new ranks of Destructive Fury.
- Magician - Magicians can now train Eradicate Magic.
- Necromancer - Necromancers can now train Eradicate Magic.
- Necromancer - Cascade of Decay - Increased the proc range to 200 units.
- Necromancer - Death's Malaise - Fixed effect cap on the slow effect. Added Strength, Dexterity, Agility, dual-wield and AC debuff.
- Necromancer - Added Self Sacrifice, a new AA which heals your pet while consuming your own health in the process.
- Paladin - Thunder of Karana duration was increased to 60 seconds.
- Paladin - Hand of Tunare silence effect has been reduced to 18 seconds.
- Ranger - Created a new AA: Blessing of the Hunter. This is a passive kill shot proc effect that returns a small amount of mana.
- Ranger - Guardian of the Forest has received an increase in attack power and skill damage mod.
- Ranger - Bow Mastery ranks 17, 18, and 19 have been increased slightly to match increases for previous ranks.
- Shadowknight - Mindless Hatred level cap has been increased to 108.
- Warrior - Phalanx of One has been refunded. In its place is a new passive defensive proc, Phalanx of Fury.
- Warrior - Dual-Wield Proficiency now has increased skill damage.
- Warrior - Two-Hand Proficiency now has increased skill damage.
- Wizard - Fixed an issue where Claw of the Oceanlord could overwrite Improved Twincast.
- Wizard - Wizards now have access to the Hastened Recall line of abilities.
- Mounts summoned via AAs can now be activated from the potion belt.
- When your experience to AA is set to 0 you won't see a message when you are at or above the AA cap anymore.


*** Progression Servers ***

- Added event tracking for Progression servers through The Darkened Sea.


*** Miscellaneous ***

- Achievements that award titles upon completion will now have those titles listed in the description.
- Players may now bind in Brother Island, Thuliasaur Island, and the Tempest Temple.
- The experience modifier in all TDS zones has been increased.
- If you are out of range, the extended target slots will no longer be set to an empty target.
- Fixed an issue with zone XP scaling when grouping with players over level 100 where the scale was improperly being applied to some members of the group.


*** UI ***

- Added a check for the aggro meter hate label so that custom UIs could not accidently crash the client.
- Added an option to set the chat bar default to "Fellowship" chat.
- Fixed the missing '>' next to "Chat Channel" in the chat filter sub-menu.

- Changed -
EQUI_Inventory.xml


*** Previously Updated ***

- Raids for The Buried Sea can now be obtained from Firiona in Katta Casturm: Deluge as well as from Arx Mentis.
- Updated the Heroic Adventure "Castle Relic" in Degmar. Added a few more safeguards to potentially keep players from getting the Commander into an odd state.
- Corrected the issue that could cause event 1 in Arx Mentis to mistakenly give success.



- The EverQuest Team

Such a tease!

When are the details coming out? That would be nice to know so we could plan accordingly.

Usually right before or right after they take the server down. Jchan used to be good about announcing it well before hand but for whatever reason the others do it differently. I don't intend that to be a complaint FYI just clarifying for Draco. While I would prefer that the info is given out as quickly as possible so that we can spread the word to those who don't come to the forums & plan accordingly, it's not the end of the world.

Oh my . . . wonder if it is time for experience nerfs, Round Two!

Hey at least maybe i can make my cultural gear by christmas wtb Raid Elder Water hotfix

Nice info. Thanks for posting.........

They rarely ever put the notes up until right before they take the server down for the patch or while it's down for the patch.

Test update has been pushed to sometime tomorrow.

Lame! Can we be told why just so we can let others know & avoid a bunch of angry nerd rage posts?

I guess not

While you're delaying it, you think you could make it so clicking on the boat ports you to Combine Dredge instead of simply hovering anywhere in the vicinity of it? I have no idea how many times I've seen someone walk back into the boat or try and lev around it only to get ported back, but with how often people are crashing when they zone...

Notes please?

Notes posted above.

It's tomorrow!! /looks around anxiously

omg lol...

"Global drop raid gear in Call of the Forsaken can once again be found in Heroic Adventures and missions."
Does this also include TDS rares dropping in HA and Missions?

Any word if this patch includes fixing Tzudani, Emissary of Veeshan and Grusal, Emissary of Rallos on the progression servers so we can give those events a go?

Here's hoping the spell slot changes for the regen components of Imperator's Command made it into the patch, but were forgotten in the notes.

Not without re-patching the entire zone. Art would have to shrink the zoning volume that is there.

For the casual player, this will make no difference. 6, 3, 18 hours are all essentially the same for people with jobs and family that play 2-4 hours a day.

How does this scale to level? Will a level 100 grouped with a 105 get the completion bonus of a 105 or of a 100?

Did you scale the exp based on groups that could swarm/ae? Will casual groups with tank mercs be screwed on the exp if they only have an hour or two to play and prefer killing mobs versus more quest oriented tasks?

Did you look in to any of the reasons why some of the other HAs are not popular?

Thank you!!!!!