Echoes of Faydwer

[Kaemon]

I just might resubscibe to eq2 for this expansion. Sounds interesting.

Recently, I was treated to a guided tour of some of the sights to be experienced in the upcoming Echos of Faydwer expansion for EverQuest II. While we did not get to see everything that the expansion will have to offer seeing as how massive the expansion is, we were still able to hit most of the high points.

We started off as any red blooded Fae would, in Greater Faydark near Kelethin. To my surprise however, we discovered that not only Fae could start here. All of the races previously living on Faydwer in EQ1 can choose to make Kelethin their home. This includes the Dwarves, Wood Elves, High Elves, and Gnomes, though the home towns other than Kelethin are not exactly the same as these races left them. More on that later.

Meeting up with our guide, the first thing I noticed was his armor. It was an entirely new graphic that I had never seen before. After a quick inspection, I confirmed my suspicions that what I was looking at was one of the new armor sets to be found in the expansion. Any of you that have played World of Warcraft will be familiar with the concept. You have a number of items in the set, in this case six, and the inspection window for the items displays which parts of the set you are currently wearing and how many items you need to trigger each of the set bonuses. For example, in the case of the Ranger / Assassin set I was looking at, when you owned half the set, you got a +1% to your melee and ranged attack crit chance, and with a full set you also got a reduction to all of your recast times.

It was elaborated on briefly that there would be different sets for each class type, and that the armor type and the player alignment would determine which culture the armor was from. For example, the chain for Rangers is associated with Tunare and one could conclude, the Rangers of Kelethin. The plate was mentioned to hail from Kaladim, and while the origins of the cloth and leather were not mentioned, it’s not terribly hard to guess the pedigree. The items themselves were Legendary in quality with a minimum level of 67, so one could hope that they are quested or at least not dropped from major raid bosses. It would be nice for us all to have a shot at them.

The first location of the tour was Kelethin itself. Here you’ll find mostly Fae and a few other races living high in the trees above the forest floor of the Greater Faydark. A system of platforms and catwalks make up the city, while large and hollowed out acorn-like structures serve as the majority of the buildings. The lore encountered by new Fae players is actually quite compelling, and while my original intent was to betray my future Fae to the side of evil, I’m not sure that I still can. Following the lore, you can become quickly attached to the city. For those of you familiar with EQ Live, rest easy… falling to one’s death is still very much a possibility for any race that lacks wings. Kelethin is a full service city with player housing, a registrar, banks, tradeskill stations, and any merchant you can imagine.

Moving out of the city and down to the Faydark, we were treated to several interesting sights including, much to my delight, the ever popular fae drakes from EQ Live. They’re still around, and still tiny dragons with butterfly wings. Also still populating the Faydark are the Crushbone orcs. They look quite a bit different from their Shattered Lands cousins though, but are thankfully still blue in color as they were in EQ Live. Their armor and weapons are decidedly more refined and advanced looking than the orcs you’ve seen up to this point, and so is their home, the next stop on the tour.

Crushbone itself has grown up a bit. The perpetually under construction castle from EQ Live appears to be finished now, and presents an imposing sight as you approach. Once inside, you find yourself fin a level 20 to 30 contested dungeon which happens to be the first zone designed entirely by Moorgard. I have to say, it’s an impressive sight. The zone itself is massive, the population is dense, and it should provide a serious challenge for players looking for some alternative to the lower levels of Stormhold or Ruins of Varsoon. We were even told that everyone’s favorite Dark Elf can still be found deep within.

Next, we were off to another location in the Faydark which sparked many memories. Towering over our heads were the old Combine Empire wizard spires. We were told that they were currently in disrepair, but that we should expect for them to be operational in the near future and that once they are, the Wizards and Druids of the world will once more have teleportation spells at their disposal. This is wonderful news indeed for all of those from EQ Live who felt ill-equipped without their teleports.

After this short visit to the spires, we found ourselves in a gorgeous city of architectural splendor. It is hard to describe this place in words, so it’s best if I compare it to the city of the elves found in the Lord of the Rings movies. Nature, ornate buildings and a breathtaking waterfall mingle together to create New Tunaria. Unfortunately, in this new city of the Faydwer -- High Elves are not very welcoming to outsides… not even other High Elves. Yes, you read that correctly. The rebuilt and renamed Felwithe is a level 55 to 65 contested dungeon. The wonderful look and design of the city only served to sharpen the blow of realizing that we would soon be asked to hunt and kill the former residents of Felwithe with apparently no option to befriend them. Those of you hoping to return to live in the ancestral home of the High Elves are likely pretty disappointed right now. Those of you that raided the city in EQ Live in the first place are likely happy.

From New Tunaria to Steamfont. Here we find everything you remember from EQ Live. Kobolds, clockworks, minotaurs and that big dragon skeleton. The windmills are still there as well, but the Gnomes are no longer in charge of Ak’Anon. Adding another to the list of former racial cities that are now dungeons, Ak’Anon has been renamed Klak’Anon and is a 45 to 55 dungeon.

The Gnomes, scientific folk that they are, spotted the chunks of Luclin heading their way and evacuated the city leaving it in the hands of the clockworks to maintain. After a while, the clockworks began to wonder why they were maintaining a city for the Gnomes when their masters were nowhere to be found and may never return. The choice was made and the clockworks renamed the city and took it for their own. Once Faydwer was rediscovered, the Gnomes tried to retake the city but found the clockworks to be less than happy to see them. Thus left without a home, the Gnomes now inhabit a small encampment nearby that serves as their (they hope) temporary city.

Deep within Klak’Anon, we were treated to the sight of the massive Clockwork Menace. This beast resembles a huge, mechanical Tyrannosaurus Rex and is a top end raid encounter. He rests, waiting, within his own instance. Unfortunately our visit was a short one, as something didn’t take kindly to our presence and killed most of us. Interestingly, we revived to find ourselves in the Village of Shin. That’s quite a swim from Faydwer! (Of course, this was just an amusing bug)

After being rescued from the other side of the planet, we were taken to the famous chessboard of Butcherblock Mountains. Yes, it’s still there, and seems to have a giant stone chair next to it now. I don’t remember that being there in EQ Live, and if it actually is *someone’s* chair, then that someone would be the largest mob I’ve ever seen in EQ2 by several times.

Moving from the chessboard to the entrance of Kaladim, the ancestral home of the Dwarves, we once more had to add another city to the list of places players would likely never inhabit. That’s right, the once proud city of Kaladim is now a level 60 to 70 dungeon run by the Kobolds. Unfortunately, the zone itself was not finished at the time of the tour, and we were not able to see inside.

From the shadow of the Kaladim gates to depths of a lush forest, we found ourselves in a raid instance called The Emerald Hills. Here, the dragon Wuoshi guard the Bloom of Growth, a flower placed here by Tunare herself. While we were not given the complete lore of the zone or the bloom, it was said that it was off of the Lesser Faydark, is not related to any location in EQ Live, and that the Bloom of Growth is what caused the enormous plants in the Emerald Hills. We did get to see the Bloom and Wuoshi. Make no mistake, he means business. This is apparently going to be one of the hardest raid zones in the game when it launches, so come prepared.

For those of you not familiar with Wuoshi, he was the dragon in Velious that guarded the zone in to the Waking Lands, even then he was protecting the Plane of Growth. He use to be friendly to High Elves and Wood Elves in good standing with Tunare, but apparently something’s changed. It’s unfortunate, as I know a good many EQ Live vets who played Tunarian Elves regarded Wuoshi as sort of a pet or mascot.

The last stop on the tour was a fan favorite, Castle Mistmoore. This 70 to 75 zone was so deadly that we were not able to explore it very much. What we did see of it, however, was quite impressive. Tall, vaulted ceilings, massive stained glass windows, and sprawling ballrooms make up this luxurious zone. At the heart of it all, we were surprised to find the master himself Mayong Mistmoore. For those of you not familiar with the name, Mayong has been a major player in most events in EQ Live and was never in EQ Live unless played by a GM during a live event. He’s never been a pushover, and he won’t be one here either. Weighing in as a 75th level x4, he’s going to be stomping a lot of arse for some time.

Not on the tour, but worthy of mention, is the Estate of Unrest. It, like Kaladim, was not ready for us to see just yet, but was reported to be a 70 to 75th level instanced dungeon. That’s a far cry from the favorite grinding spot of lowbies that it use to be. Personally, I can’t wait to see it.

So, some afterthoughts on the tour. First off, I’m impressed. I think anyone that played EQ Live will have a veritable overdose of nostalgia with this expansion. I am a little disappointed though that Felwith, Kaladim and Ak’Anon will likely never be player cities now. I hope they don’t give Cabilis the same treatment if/when Kunark comes out. But, at least we *are* getting a new city.

Strangely absent from the list of zones was Kedge Keep. Unrest is there, however, so one could assume that Dagnor’s Cauldron is also still a zone. If it is, then it’s not hard to imagine Kedge Keep being added later as an instance similar to Hall of Seeing was for KoS, or perhaps as the subject of an Adventure Pack.

Of particularly interesting note was that Butcherblock is once more the place where people arrive and depart from Faydwer. This does, however, mean that new characters will have a hard time getting to Kelethin from the Shattered Lands or off of the continent. I actually like this, because it will give new players choosing to start on Faydwer the same sense of “Wow, the world is huge!” that we EQ Live vets felt upon finally leaving our home town’s immediate vicinity. That’s something EQ2 currently lacks, and hopefully this will change that.

It also won’t impair players hoping to start on Faydwer at all, because we were told a player can spend their entire career in Faydwer and never leave the continent. It is completely possible to go from level 1 to 70 and collect full sets of end game gear from raiding without ever stepping foot into any content other than what is found in EoF. That is pretty amazing in my opinion, and something we haven’t really seen since expansions like Kunark and Luclin in EQ Live. It represents what I feel to be a much needed shift in philosophy in EQ2 game design.

All told, you can look forward to twenty new zones, forty new NPC character models, at least one new mount, armor sets, cloaks, two new tradeskills, five new Heritage Quests, and of course the new playable Fae race this November 14th. I’m told that over half of the content in the expansion was directly inspired by or based on EQ Live, so come ready to bask in the nostalgia and explain things to those who didn’t play EQ Live. At a price point of $39.99 for the retail box, you’ll get not only the Faydwer content, but also the original game, Desert of Flames, and Kingdom of Sky. If you know anyone who has been considering trying the game, especially if they happen to like faeries, now is the perfect time to get them hooked.

See you in Kelethin!

-Ktok Th’Rooks

[Martrae]

I know...it sounds really fun and I can't wait to watch a whole new crop of newbs fall from the treetops.

[Tikker]

oh my

that does sound ok

[Dylan]

There has got to be a catch...

[Menlaan]

When's this coming out?

[Martrae]

Nov 19th I think....sometime around then anyway.

[kaharthemad]

yeah we are gonna get our Prebys done at eb games. Nice thing is if you buy this you get KOS and DoF as well.

I hear if you buy in stores you get a naked pinup of a elf or another pet for your house. God I am hoping for the pinup I have so many pets in my Majdul apt at this point the shit is waist deep in there.

Fucking place looks like the lost island of Dr. Morreau

[Tikker]

I didn't realize there was player owned housing in EQ2

is it instanced ala City of Heroes? (aka lame)

or is it UO stylez

[Jei]

uo

[xKALECx]

I didn't realize there was player owned housing in EQ2

is it instanced ala City of Heroes? (aka lame)

or is it UO stylez

Well there's inns. They are scattered throughout the zones of Freeport and Qeynos. Some of them being more high class "larger rooms" than others. Bout' 3 doors or so and yes they are instanced. But you can allow visitors, and even share rent with others. Where this comes in is for guilds who want to show off their trophy's. After completing heritage quests and many others, you recieve trophy's such as weapons, paintings, etc... to place in your house to show your accomplishments.

I hate the instance thing, but due to the furnishings and available trophy's everyones house has it's own feel. It's actually very cool once you get into furnishing it out.

[Tikker]

I didn't realize there was player owned housing in EQ2

is it instanced ala City of Heroes? (aka lame)

or is it UO stylez

Well there's inns. They are scattered throughout the zones of Freeport and Qeynos. Some of them being more high class "larger rooms" than others. Bout' 3 doors or so and yes they are instanced. But you can allow visitors, and even share rent with others. Where this comes in is for guilds who want to show off their trophy's. After completing heritage quests and many others, you recieve trophy's such as weapons, paintings, etc... to place in your house to show your accomplishments.

I hate the instance thing, but due to the furnishings and available trophy's everyones house has it's own feel. It's actually very cool once you get into furnishing it out.

can i turn invis, slip into your house, and ransack it UO style?

god, UO was so close to perfect, jeje

[Xaiveir]

This actually sounds very impressive. ALMOST tempted to try it, but im guessing i would play it for about 2 weeks and quit again like before!

[kaharthemad]

the houses can be raided if the moron sets up permissions wrong. one thing that brings to mind is just that. guy had a house and set it up to allow anyone and everyone to rearrange his furniture. From what I was told someone stacked all his shit up against the door and he could not move.

The housing is nice and each place has a interesting fel to it. the majdul apartments are set up as Arabic style houses and walls where as the rooms in the inn's have a seedy feel to them. still other houses have different eminities such as a patio and a upstairs. I myself have a majdul apartment. Atleast till fayder comes in the im moving it. Majdul is fine once you reach 70 but before that its like a gauntlet if your faction is skewed. I remember the first time I left my new aprtment...I had gotten it set up and looking pretty sweet only to walk out and mugged by a damn rujarkian raider.

[Tikker]

hrm, that sounds interesting actually

can you play EQ2 casually, and have fun?

[Tossica]

Yes, you can play casually, make progress and have fun.

[Martrae]

Absolutely, I'm 60 right now and I can still log on, play for an hour and accomplish something without a group.

[kaharthemad]

Tik, even though we have a no canadian rule Ill make an acception. J/K. Swing into butcherblock make a character and drop me a in game tell Ill hook ya up with some spending cash and some gear. Hell me and mar run a fairly loose guild all adult noone under 18 allowed and very few under age 30. No real rules about the guild accept to have fun no required conventions or anything.

[Lionking]

I'm in once the new expansion comes out. I miss Faydwer something fierce.

[Tikker]

I'm still thinking about it. I haven't played EQ2 since really early beta

guys in my WoW guild want me to come back for that expansion too

[Menlaan]

I think I might join for this expansion too. What's the learning curve like for this game for people who were comfortable with EQ1?

[KILL]

anyone familiar with eq will pick it up pretty quick.

i played for quite a bit early on and had fun. might have to resubscibe for this.

[Adivina]

I think I might join for this expansion too. What's the learning curve like for this game for people who were comfortable with EQ1?

Very low learning curve, its a great game and can really rewarding even if you only play casually. I loved my Fury.

[Menlaan]

Cool. Thanks for the info.

Who's starting the new The Nameless guild for EQ2 this time around? Just kidding. . .

[Burgy99]

Hmm.. I quit right before they fixed the new combat system, and that was some time ago... Graphically the game is beautifull, and reliving EQ content and Lore is amazing. Any of you that still play --- How well are Bruisers these days ? Frowned upon, easy/hard to get groups? Way back when, they played more like a scout and less like a tank O_o.

This expansion looks good.

[Tikker]

once I get a new machine I may give it a go, we'll see

by the time i finally get around to ordering a laptop, i'll probably be able to get an octo-core and play EQ73 on it