ZONES / POPULATION
Icy Keep: Retribution

• Base population within the zone have had their health adjusted to be more appropriate.

ITEMS

• The Ascension of Destruction effect from Empowerment of Aniquilacion will now modify Ethermancy II.
• Ascension of Magic from Empowerment of Zou Kunnen will now modify Frozen Heavens II and Virulent Outbreak II.
• All tradeable adornments should now be able to be placed into adornment depots.
• Insignia of the Guardian - Collectible name is now correct.
• Tempestorill's Hands of Gusting Winds - Armor name now has proper grammar.
• Terranaut's Shining Band - Item name now spelled correctly.

Greetings, Norrathians!

 

As you may know, this year we are celebrating the launch of the original EverQuest, which shipped 20 years ago. Not to be outdone, EverQuest II is celebrating an incredible 15 years of adventure itself this year! Where does the time go, my friends?

EverQuest II will be participating in the EverQuest anniversary celebrations around March 16 with unique in-game content in the Plane of Mischief and a new progression server! The exact details and rules of this server will be announced as we get closer to that date in March, but we wanted to give everyone enough time to grab their guildies and start prepping for that launch.

But there's more coming! Next week we are preparing to kick off the Beta of a new event server, called Nagafen (of course), with revamped-back-to-old-school PvP and a seasonal approach.  Lots of stuff has been ripped out to get it as close to original PvP gameplay as possible. Look for Kander to give you dates and details on the server next week. If it gets a good following in Beta, we'll look to launching it live!

There’s more than likely to be a few more announcements coming as we celebrate EQ and EQII and what makes our games great – YOU, the community. We are also working on an IRL get-together with our players this year in the summertime and will announce details around March! We want to celebrate with you! 

And of course, we will have EQ2’s 15th anniversary plans for November this year, as well as another expansion that will take you to a whole new unexplored location of lore and legend. (A terrible hint, but that’s all I’m willing to say this early!)

I promise you that our dedication to you and this game is unwavering. Every moment we share here is focused on bringing this Norrathian fantasy to life every day, year after year. And we aren’t stopping – not by a long bowshot. The world of EverQuest has a bright future.

This game, and our livelihoods, have lasted these many years because of our players and fans. I, and our team here, are very humbled to have been on this rare and wonderful ride as we’ve grown and changed with you to become one of the deepest and friendliest MMOs around.

Please join us as we LIVE THE LEGACY of EverQuest and EverQuest II this year!

 

Cheers, adventurers!

 

Holly “Windstalker” Longdale

Executive Producer

ZONES / POPULATION
Chaos Descending Raids

• Entering a raid zone will now produce a lockout regardless of the reason for zoning in. This only applies to raid zones in Chaos Descending and going forward should the need for it continue. This change may be temporary depending on further investigation.

Doomfire: The Molten Caldera [Mythic Raid]

• Corrected an issue during the Pyronis encounter that would cause the boss to get stuck looping his mechanics and creating high zone lag.
• Pyronis should now correctly activate without having to defeat General Reparm.

Throne of Storms

• Decanus Prime Vundr will now successfully shape change into his lion form even if slain in one-shot, allowing for the zone to progress as intended.

ITEMS

• An upgrade for the Emboldened Clawed Earthcrafter's Pendant may now be purchased from Rayburn Franchot for characters who have completed the Clawed Earthcrafter's Pendant collection as well as the "Triumph: A Tier Above", "Triumph: Another Tier Above" and "Triumph: Yet Another Tier Above" achievements.
• Corrected an issue that prevented Fragment's of Planar Energy from dropping from tier 2 heroic end boss encounters.
• Enoxus, Cloud Cleaver: Potency increased by 8.5, Crit Bonus increased by 15, Primary Attributes increased by 134, Stamina increased by 134, Crit Chance increased by 7.4, DPS increased by 34.1, Ability Mod increased by 435, Flurry increased by 1.2
• Staff of Toxic Horror: Potency increased by 8.5, Crit Bonus increased by 15, Primary Attributes increased by 134, Stamina increased by 134, Crit Chance increased by 7.4, Casting Time increased by 10.5, Ability Mod increased by 435, Spell Double Attack increased by 1
• Sublime Staff of Deathdealing: Potency increased by 8.3, Crit Bonus increased by 15, Primary Attributes increased by 129, Stamina increased by 129, Crit Chance increased by 7.3, DPS increased by 33.3, Ability Mod increased by 423, Reuse Speed increased by 3.1, Casting Skills increased by 52
• Ykeshan Bear will once again scale appearance with level properly.
• Celestial Rune: Despoil will now enhance Erosion II
• Celestial Rune: Fellowship of Stone will now enhance Obsdian Mind II
• Celestial Rune: Fissure of Ice - Corrected an issue that decreased the combat mitigation reduction of Brittle Armor II
• Celestial Rune: Illuminated Bonds will now enhance Virulent OUtbreak II
• Celestial Rune: Paragon will now enhance Ethermancy II
• Mark of Mollusks is now spelled correctly.
• Elegant Seashell is now spelled correctly.
• Javonn's Glowing Neckguard is now spelled correctly.
• The Caertaxian Hunter's Cincture is no longer mage only.

ZONES / POPULATION
Chaos Descending Raids

• Drop rate for the Celestial Zephyren Crystal, Celestial Obsidian Ore, and Celestial Earthen Ore have been increased across all raid bosses.
  • Tier 1 bosses will have a 25% chance
  • Tier 2 bosses (non-zone boss) will have a 50% chance
  • Tier 3+ bosses and zone bosses will have a 100% chance
• Mythic versions of bosses will use the same drop rate as normal version of the encounter.

Vegarlson: Upheaval [Raid]

• Sergie the Blade has had her damage per increment for the "Earthen Power" ability adjusted.

Doomfire: The Molten Caldera [Mythic Raid]

• The Brittle Magma Gem can now be used within the zone, regardless of which zone the gem was obtained from.

Plane of Justice: Scales of Justice [Raid]

• The entrance for this zone has been merged with the normal Plane of Justice portal to avoid conflicting portals.

Eryslai: The Empyrean Steppes [Mythic Raid]

• Encounters (Boss and Base Population) should now spawn the appropriate version and drop the correct rewards.

The Palace of Roehn Theer [TLE]

• Roehn Theer, Chaos has had his outgoing auto attack values reduced.
• Roehn Theer has had his maximum health reduced.

ACHIEVEMENTS

• Corrected an issue with the achievement "Triumph: Weathering the Upheaval" where Vegerogus would not properly update.

ITEMS

• Celestial Voidwrought Runes will now correctly apply their bonus in Planes of Prophecy raid zones.
• Corrected an issue that prevented black adornment slots from displaying on Gemcrafted and higher armor tiers.

ZONES / POPULATION
Chaos Descending Heroics

• Dispels will more reliably work against all heroic bosses if they have any increments of their deathblow inflicting buffs.

Awuidor: The Adumbral Depths [Contested Raid]

• Corrected an issue that would cause the center portal to Coirnav to get stuck visible when it cannot be accessed (it was still unable to be entered in this state).

Awuidor, the Dark Fathoms [Public Quest]

• Crushing Corals, cast by coral titans, inflicts less damage to health and mana.

Eryslai: The Empyrean Steppes [Raid]

• The Avatars of Wind encounter should no longer have all 4 bosses casting their "Obliterate Mortal" ability. It should now be limited to two of the Avatars using this ability.

Eryslai: The Midnight Aerie [Heroic]

• Vorladien spawn (prismatic spiderlings) will no longer gain benefits from Prevailing Winds II.

Eryslai, the Kingdom of Wind

• The Public Quest stormrider, Wizziwix, will cast Air up There less frequently.

Eryslai: Trials of Air [Event Heroic]

• Damage from Quarez's Hot Head has been reduced.

Vegarslon, the Earthen Badlands

• Moved a stuck basilisk lair.

Vegarlson: Upheaval [Raid]

• Sergie the Blade should no longer attempt to hide behind locked doors. She will try but we unlocked the doors. Shhh... Don't tell her!

Ragrax: Sepulcher of the Twelve [Raid]

• Removed "Protection of Earth" spell from tier1 Rathe Council members.

TRADESKILLS

• Reduced the chance to harvest roots from bush nodes.
• The recipe book for Academic's Saddle Recipes is now actually called Academic's Saddle Recipes.
• Dhalgar Stone Dais recipe is now spelled correctly.

ACHIEVEMENTS

• Perfection Raid: Vegerogus should now update properly. Players who have already completed portions of this achievements should gain those updates retroactively.

ITEMS

• When you level equipment that is reforged, the reforging will be removed and the equipment will be granted a free reforge.
• Uri's Blessed Fishing Pole harvesting bonus has been reduced to 18.
• Descriptions have been added to the following: purified arborian wedge, purified azure sapphire, purified casiun root, purified needlescale hide and purified golden fleck.
• Sunbird's Ring of Dense Flames is now named Sunbird's Bracelet of Dense Flames.
• Manacrush's Crusher - Name is now spelled correctly.
• Sword of the Gall - Has a more appropriate icon now.

QUESTS

• The Planar Chronicler Vol. 2 weekly mission giver in Myrist, the Great Library, will now properly offer all solo outdoor missions individually.
• Uncover the Caches - Certain shrubbery in The Forest Ruins can only be interacted with while this quest is active.

Chaos Descending Mythic Raids

• Mythic Raids should now properly look for the correct flag to enter their zones.

Join us in celebrating Daybreak this winter with these incredible offers and more. It's the Daybreak Winter Extravaganza!

Lifetime All Access Membership

PC players, if you play EverQuest or ANY of Daybreak's All Access games, you're in for a treat. Available for a limited time and in limited quantities**, lock in lifetime membership benefits in every All Access game with the Lifetime* All Access Membership! All Access currently includes DC Universe Online, EverQuest, EverQuest 2, and PlanetSide 2.

No more resubscribing. No more recurring payments. All the access. All the time. Plus, if you already have an active All Access membership, we will convert your unused time to Daybreak Cash when you upgrade to this lifetime offer! But don't wait, because these WILL sell out.

The Lifetime* All Access Membership is available on PC for $299.99 USD, now through December 31, 2018, while supplies last**. Get yours today!

*For the life of the participating game(s). 
**Only 4,000 Lifetime All Access Memberships are available. Offer may end before December 31, 2018.

12 Months All Access Membership + Bonus

For those not ready for a lifetime commitment, this special 12 Months All Access Membership will still get you 12-months of membership for every All Access game - EverQuest, DC Universe Online, EverQuest 2, and PlanetSide 2 - AND bonus items.

Combined, this offer comes with over $900 USD of special bonus items from the All Access titles, with EverQuest bonus items valued at over $200 USD. Set yourself up for a great 2019 with these bonus items in EQ!

• Level 85 Heroic Character
• Golden Hero Satchel - 40 slot bag!
• Crate of Golden Hero Armor

This membership subscription is recurring and will be renewed as the basic 12 Months subscription after the initial year.

The 12 Months All Access Membership + Bonus is available on PC for $199.99 USD, now through December 31, 2018. Get it here!

Frostfell 2018

Finally, don't forget about this year's Frostfell celebrations, going on in-game now. For a very limited time, all racial heritage crates will be in the Marketplace for the holidays, and all the limited-time pet bundles are making an appearance too. Don't end the year without getting your Cat in a Bag, Dog in a Crate, or Gnoll in a Barrel!Learn more here!


MORE FROM DAYBREAK GAMES

DC UNIVERSE ONLINE

As an All Access title, DC Universe Online (PC) is included in the Lifetime All Access Membership and the 12 Months All Access Membership + Bonus. Console players, make sure you click through for special PlayStation 4 and Xbox One membership and marketplace offers that you will NOT want to miss.

Click here to learn more about DCUO's extravaganza and bonus items!

EVERQUEST 2

As an All Access title, EverQuest 2 is included in the Lifetime All Access Membership and the 12 Months All Access Membership + Bonus. Like EQ, EQ2 also has the yearly Frostfell event underway.

Click here to learn more about EverQuest 2's extravaganza and bonus items!

H1Z1 BATTLE ROYALE (PS4)

H1Z1 joins the celebration with a marketplace sale (ALL items 50% off!) and the new Slay Ride Crate.

Click here to learn about all of H1Z1's offers.

PLANETSIDE 2

As an All Access title, PlanetSide 2 is included in the Lifetime All Access Membership and the 12 Months All Access Membership + Bonus. Make sure to check out the Auraximas holiday event, daily sales, and a new Holiday Directive rounding out PS2's holiday cheer.

Click here to learn more about PlanetSide 2's extravaganza and bonus items!

STANDING STONE GAMES

Plus, get deep discounts and limited time offers from our partners over at Dungeons & Dragons Online® and Lord of the Rings Online™! Don’t miss out on great store savings up to 75% off, new free quests, in-game boosts, and winter festivals with frosty rewards!

Click here for DDO offers and click here for LOTRO offers.


The Daybreak Extravaganza and special offers begin at 1PM PT on December 18, 2018, and end at 11:59PM PT on December 31, 2018. Daybreak does not ensure continuous or error-free access, use or availability of any game content, feature, gameplay, or server and may change, modify, disable, suspend or remove any such content, feature, gameplay or server at its sole discretion. If you are currently an All Access Member with a 1, 3, 6, or 12 month membership, the Lifetime All Access Membership and charges will take effect immediately and the remainder of your previous membership time will promptly be granted to your account in Daybreak Cash. The 12 Months Membership + Bonus membership subscription is recurring and will be renewed as the basic 12 Months subscription after the initial year.

 

GENERAL

• /cureplayer will now use newer tradeskilled alchemy cure potions.

USER INTERFACE

• Fixed an issue where window splitter positions (e.g. divider in the Quests tab of the Journal window) were not being applied correctly when reading UI settings, causing it to revert to default split values.

ZONES / POPULATION
Vegarlson: Upheaval [Raid]

• Base population within the zone should no longer despawn if you leave the zone and return later.
• Sergie the Blade should no longer allow specific mischievous little gnomes to save raiders from fail conditions!
• Sergie the Blade's counters should grow more slowly.

Doomfire: The Molten Caldera [Raid]

• Corrected an issue that would cause Chancellor Traxom and Chancellor Kirtra to not register their accurate location with each other.
• Jopal the Thief has been reprimanded for casting more increments of "Placebo Cure" than he should be. An investigation into the shady tactics of the Jopal has been launched! Tricksy Jopals...

Vegarlson: Sepulcher of the Twelve [Raid]

• This zone is once again available.
• The revive option should no longer show as invalid.
• The teleporter to the 4th floor should no longer take you to the incorrect floor.

(Time-Locked Expansion) Sentinel's Fate Raids

• Health and offensive capabilities have been increased for all raid bosses.

ITEMS

• Infusing an item will now attune it to you.
• Corrected an issue that prevented some Chaos Descending adornments from counting towards item sets.

TRADESKILLS

• Tradeskill Writs no longer need to be turned into the quest giver and will auto-complete after finishing the final combine.
• Guild harvesters will now offer the daily Planes of Prophecy and Chaos Descending harvesting missions, even if their minions are out gathering early expansion harvests.

DRUNDER

• Purchasing an armor piece from the armor merchants in Myrist will now grant a Drunder specific account flag that will allow purchasing higher tier armor and purchasing for alts. This update will not add flags retroactively.

ITEMS

• Equipping or purchasing Implacable now requires an account flag that is granted upon obtaining Inexorable. Characters who have previously obtained Inexorable have had this flag added to their accounts.
• Chaos Descending Beta Infuser's have been removed from the game. Characters who exploited the Chaos Descending Beta Infuser's will have the modified items reset to base values.

More Item Details Over At: https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq2/index.php?threads/update-notes-thursday-december-13-2018.587824/#post-6532918

TIMELOCKED SERVERS

• Druid rings and wizard spires in the wild will teleport to Stonebrunt Highlands.

USER INTERFACE
Group Countdown

• Fixed an issue with the group countdown window causing client crashes in some cases after zoning.

Target Window

• The target window is now horizontally resizable. Previously this caused an issue where spell effect icons would be hidden, but this has been fixed.
• Advanced: If you played around with this feature while it was previously active and find that the target healthbars' size no longer matches the Target window width, then clear this windows' customizations from your characters' uisettings.xml to fix it (search for ' Window Name="Target" ').

ZONES / POPULATION
Eryslai: The Midnight Aerie [Heroic]

• Light of Aerieyal remains active much longer during the encounter with Prosperon the Tempest.
• The knockback immunity when hit by any of Prosperon the Tempest's Chaotic Winds has been increased from 3 to 15 seconds.
• The damage from Xochéntula's Ignite Air ability has been reduced.

Eryslai: Trials of Air [Heroic & Solo]

• Cyclono will always drop a treasure chest when defeated.

Eryslai: The Empyrean Steppes [Raid]

• In a Shocking Turn of Events, Baltaldor the Cursed should no longer cause his failure effect "Shocking Turn of Events" to consistently repeat on player's screen even after he is defeated.
• Pherkibdien Clawpike should correctly activate once Baltaldor the Cursed has been defeated.

Doomfire: The Molten Caldera [Raid]

• The bridges should now remember their positions if the zone is left and returned to at a later time.

Shard of Hate: Reignited Hatred [Raid]

• Decreased surge damage and surge damage growth for all normal bosses.

ABILITIES

• Timelord will now reset most Chaos Descending ascension spells.
• Reduced the recast time of Exsanguination to 6 minutes and 50 seconds.
• Reduced the casting time of Exsanguination to 4.8 seconds.
• Reduced the recast time of Necrotic Consumption to 7 minutes and 40 seconds.
• Reduced the casting time of Necrotic Consumption to 5.1 seconds.
• Reduced the recast time of Geotic Rampage to 7 minutes and 40 seconds.
• Reduced the casting time of Geotic Rampage to 4.3 seconds.
• Reduced the recast time of Accretion to 5 minutes and 20 seconds.
• Reduced the casting time of Accretion to 4.7 seconds.
• Reduced the recast time of Xenolith to 6 minutes and 20 seconds.
• Reduced the casting time of Xenolith to 3.6 seconds.
• Reduced the recast time of Dominion of Fire to 6 minutes and 30 seconds.
• Reduced the casting time of Dominion of Fire to 4.0 seconds.
• Reduced the recast time of Blistering Waste to 5 minutes 20 seconds.
• Reduced the casting time of Blistering Waste to 3.8 seconds.
• Reduced the recast time of Elemental Overlord Elemental Overlord to 9 minutes 40 seconds.
• Reduced the casting time of Elemental Overlord to 5.1 seconds.

ITEMS

• Rigged Powerlink will now scribe the correct tier of Powerlink into your spellbook when consumed.
• Corrected a bug that caused Elysian Acidic Blast to decrease the damage done to the target instead of increase it.
• Insidious Spitestone will now level from Chaos Descending heroic weekly missions.

QUESTS

• A Stitch in Time, Part IV: A Favor of Love - Devotion Chain will now be placed in your overflow if your inventory is full.

ZONES / POPULATION
Chaos Descending Raids

• Creatures found in raid zones should now see through invisibility and stealth.

Tower of E’ci

• Points for Tower of E'ci exploration have been adjusted for easier discovery.

Myrist, the Great Library

• Corrected an issue that would cause the Scrivener to get locked in dialog where he would not respond to players.

Eryslai: The Empyrean Steppes [Raid]

• Flight has been enabled within the zone.

Awuidor: The Adumbral Depths [Contested Raid]

• Corrected an issue that would occasionally cause the tier1 bosses to spawn faster than intended.

Doomfire: Vengeance of Ro[Event Heroic]

• Vengeance of Ro healing has been greatly reduced.

Doomfire: The Enkindled Towers [ Heroic]

• Ra-Sekjet, the Molten's Heals have been greatly reduced.

QUESTS

• Open Gates - Etherveil planeshifters drop impure essences, once again.
• Lore and Legend: Planar Elemental - Earth Emissaries in Vegarlson are now properly recognized as planar elementals.
• Guide Quest: Guide's Guide to the Celestial Realms! - Blazeplate Rise is now identified as the region to find, instead of Molten Throne.

ITEMS

• Removed the errant green adornment slot from Silver Bangle of Precision.
• Corrected an issue where the Helm of Dark Fathoms and the Gauntlets of Twilight Winds would not gain stat increase from planar levels.
• Corrected an issue that prevented players from purchasing the Coral and Oceanlord's armor sets from Ambar.
• Polished Leather Boots of the Theory Seeker are now Polished Leather Bracers of the Theory Seeker with the correct icon and forearm appearance.