Patch Message Archives for EQ2 (new 2/03)

[Akaran_D]

(most recent patch on top)
(got out of the habit of doing these, my bad)

Update notes for 02/03/2005
*** Gameplay ***

- Tints have been removed from all armor pieces except for robes and the level 20 quested armor sets.
- Varsoon and the Ethereal Fiend enjoyed a brief period of wielding extreme power, but have now been returned to their appropriate level range and difficulty.
- Creatures in certain dungeons who disappeared after being pulled away from their home locations should no longer be missing forever.
- Opening bags located in the leftmost inventory slot will no longer close the house vault window, or vice versa.
- Players can once again buy items flagged as no-value from player merchants.


*** Tradeskills ***

- In order to better balance the time investment of adventurer and artisan writs, there is now a 30-minute timer between issuance of tradeskill writs. This timer begins upon accepting the writ. After 15 minutes the player can request a different writ, at which point the 30-minute timer is reset.
- Reduced the sell-back price of tempers, oil, resin, and washes. Their value is now more in line with the cost of producing them.


*** Experience ***

- We have increased the XP awarded to groups of 1 to 3 players for defeating advanced solo/small group encounters.
- The amount of XP awarded to groups of 2 or more players for defeating normal solo encounters has been slightly reduced.
- This allows soloers and small groups taking on challenging encounters to be rewarded with more XP than they would have previously earned.


*** Important Notice ***

- Characters that started the Bone Bladed Claymore quest before the 2/1/05 update may have stored items in their shared bank that are now inaccessible. Affected players should enter the command "/restore_lost_shared" in the chat window. This will move these items into the character's overflow inventory. NOTE: The character MUST LOG OUT OR ZONE before they can see the restored items.



Update Notes for January 26, 2005
*** Gameplay ***

- As described in this month's Producer's Letter, we have significantly increased experience gain for solo players and small groups of two and three members.

For complete details on this and other upcoming game changes, please read the full Producer's Letter at EQ2Players.com.

Update Notes for January 4th, 2005
- Made a slight adjustment to the quest Vale of the Shattering: Proof of Worth. Rask should be responding to you again.
- We've adjusted the teleporter in the Mage Tower in South Qeynos to make it a bit harder to kill yourself.
- Made a slight adjustment to the value of arrowheads to match the fact that they're made in sets of three rather than singly.
- Slightly increased the melee damage of grouped mobs. Be wary!

Update Notes: December 23, 2004 12/23/2004 7:00 am

***Holiday Cheer***

All of us here at Sony Online Entertainment want to wish you a very safe and happy Holiday season. We're giving you small boost in both adventuring and tradeskill experience, which will last through the weekend, until Monday morning's update.

Also, we've placed a few holiday items in the world for you, so check your local merchant for a few bits of food and drink, and maybe even something to decorate your home with!

- The EverQuest II Team



Update Notes: December 22, 2004 12/22/2004 7:00 am

*** Gameplay ***

Have a level 50 person that you group with? We've made it so you can now get experience while adventuring with them, following the same rules as normal.

- The EverQuest II Team

Update Notes: December 21, 2004 12/21/2004 7:00 am

*** Gameplay ***

- Bruisers will now properly gain Spell Avoidance after level 19.
- Certain rare residents of the Wailing Caves and the Ruins of Varsoon should be seen more often.
- Some NPCs who had incomplete quests that took large amounts of gold from players will no longer do so.
- The Freeport berserker subclass event should now work properly.
- Dawnchaser has been changed to be a more appropriate reward for the encounter that provides it.
- Modified the manticore event in an Everfrost epic zone.
- Removed bonus exp modifier. Thanks again for your understanding and support!

- The EverQuest II Team


Update Notes: December 14, 2004 12/14/2004 7:00 am


*** Gameplay ***



- Corrected an issue with stamina debuffs that was causing opponents to lose an excessive amount of health.

- Grey NPCs that had decided to attack certain players should no longer do so.

- Made certain repeatable quests no longer repeatable if they fail to provide players a suitable challenge at their level.

- Fixed several issues involving access to the Maid for the Mist.



The EverQuest II Team



Update notes: December 10, 2004

- NPC merchants will once again purchase crafted items from players. Values will be based on the costs associated with producing the item.
- Adventurers entering the wolf and goblin caves in Permafrost will no longer die instantly.
- Brindo Halfbottom has learned the Common tongue and is now better able to interact with those seeking his assistance.



Update Notes: December 8, 2004 12/8/2004 7:00 am

Today’s changes include the following:

*** Gameplay ***

- Fixed a display bug in the lower section of the tradeskill progress window that occurred when gaining a quality level while crafting an item.

- Harvested items no longer have any value for merchants.

- Housing objects marked "No Trade" can only be placed in a house by the owner of that house.

- Eating and drinking while casting, harvesting, or traveling on griffins will now provide the proper benefits.

- The journey across the Fanged Sea no longer has a time restriction placed on it.

- Warrior/Berserker/Guardian Mangle line: These arts now share a common timer, and the amount and duration of the debuffs associated with the arts have been adjusted.

- Destructive Slam: This spell now does damage and stifles the target along with its stun.

Note: Characters who have the bugged "Ayonae Roe" heritage title should /petition to have the title fixed by an in-game customer service representative.

The EverQuest II Team



Update Notes: December 7, 2004 12/7/2004 3:00 am

Today’s changes include the following:

*** Gameplay ***

- Harm Touch no longer has any chance to fizzle when cast.
- The power cost associated with Shadowknight lifetap procs has been removed.
- The Tainted Caress combat scroll is now available for purchase from the appropriate trainers.
- Experience rewards are now consistent with NPC con colors across all level ranges.
- You can now trade your baby dragon house pet.
- The remainder of the missing suspensions and solutions have been added to the appropriate vendors.
- The boat voyage to the Enchanted Lands will now only allow six players.

The EverQuest II Team




Updates for Dec. 4
- The Deflection skill should now be working properly for brawlers, monks, and bruisers.
- The mariner's bell leading to Everfrost has been adjusted to allow those who have already completed the access quest to assist others who have not.
- Firemyst Gully is once again available for play. A quest found within the zone has been adjusted to better reflect its intended challenge.
- The amount of experience rewarded in the Emery Seastrider's Supply Run quest has been lowered, while the amount of coin has been increased. Additionally, the quest now targets sheep instead of wolves.
- Corrected an issue causing players to occasionally wind up in odd locations when exiting their house or other small zone.


Update Notes: December 3, 2004 12/3/2004 7:30 am

Today’s changes include the following:
*** Zones ***
- The connections between Vermin's Snye and the Crypt of Betrayal should now be working correctly.

*** Items ***
- Archetype quest rewards on the Isle of Refuge have been changed to NO TRADE and NO VALUE.
- The Black Tainted armor pieces from the Tomb of Valor had their stats reduced and level ranges lowered to be more appropriate for the encounter level range.

*** Tradeskills ***
- Tradeskill recipe books no longer drop on the Isle of Refuge.
- The minimum skill required to harvest objects in Antonica and Commonlands has been lowered.
- A new crop is in bloom! Blue succulents are now harvestable in Nektulos Forest and Thundering Steppes.

*** Spells, Combat Arts, Skills, and Abilities ***
- Inquisitor: Favor of the Repentant spell line's healing component per attack functions once again.
- Wizard: Lightning Flash - Spell damage was adjusted to be more in line with comparable AoE damage spells.
- Wizard: Benumb - Casting time was reduced to one second, reuse time was increased to twenty seconds.
- Wizard: Blazing Intimidation - Casting time was reduced from four seconds to two seconds.
- Druid, Cleric, and Shaman summoned Priest resurrection items should function more reliably and only revive Priest professions.
- Strangling Shot should now be working correctly.
- Taunt abilities have been made more effective.
- Monks and Bruisers can now wield round shields in addition to bucklers.
- Combat arts now have the same probability to hit difficult encounters as spells.
- A maximum limit has been placed on the effectiveness of skill buffs and debuffs.
- Both NPCs and players now do more damage at level 20 and above. Damage and healing spells have been increased in potency accordingly.
- NPC and PC hit points at level 20 and higher have been increased.

*** UI ***
- Fixed "Remove Friend" and "Remove Ignore" buttons on the Community Window
- Fixed using /tell button in Community Window so it works properly if you have sorted the player list.

The EverQuest II Team




Update Notes: December 1, 2004 12/1/2004 7:00 am

Today’s changes include the following:

*** Gameplay ***
The con colors of encounters that are level 20 and higher have been modified to more accurately reflect the challenge of the encounter.
- Red means the fight is extremely difficult to defeat.
- Orange indicates a very tough battle.
- Most yellow, white, and high-blue cons remain about the same.
- Low-blue and green encounters are somewhat easier than before.
Committing a hostile act against a broken encounter will cause you to regenerate health and mana at the same rate as being locked to that encounter. If no further hostile actions are taken for ten seconds, you will again regenerate at the non-combat rate.
NPCs that are not part of a locked encounter no longer consume power when casting spells.

*** User Interface **
- Using the Auto-Bank feature when your bank is full should no longer destroy a partial stack of items when they are dragged from your inventory.

*** Characters, Appearances, and Rendering ***
- Fixed a problem that caused NPCs to sometimes be invisible.

The EverQuest II Team



Update Notes: November 30, 2004 11/30/2004 8:00 am

Today’s changes include the following:



- Dreena the Mess Cook's respawn time has been changed to a more appropriate value.
- Several bosses in Permafrost, Runnyeye Citadel, and the Feerrot have been modified.
- Fixed an issue that caused "a Runnyeye Crusader" to drop treasure he wasn't meant to possess.
- The Qeynos Catacomb catalog quest should now be updating correctly.
- Ghostly inhabitants of the Commonlands will now be visible at a distance.
- Players should no longer get stuck in the middle of the Orcish Wastes access quest if they crashed or went linkdead after the boat encounter.
- Players should once again be able to access Firemyst Gully.
- Players betraying Qeynos should no longer be able to get a class quest in Freeport. They will, however, be able to receive their subclass quest once they've become a citizen of the Overlord's city. Those who are stuck in their progression because they started and completed the class quest should contact Customer Service using /petition for assistance.
- The warlock's Dark Distortion spell line had its damage increased.
- The sorcerer's Freezing Whorl spell now has an added poison mitigation debuff.
- The Mystic's Keening Haze spell line's "slow" (attack speed decrease) component no longer stacks with the shaman's Wailing Haze "slow" component.





The EverQuest II Team


Update Notes: November 25, 2004 11/25/2004 7:30 am

On behalf of all of us at SOE, we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. We're thankful that you invite our game into your homes, and appreciate the feedback you continue to provide. We hope that you have a safe and pleasant weekend.

- The society window will now sort properly when you click on the column headers. While we were at it, we sped up the sorting function in that screen. It should no longer crawl.

- Fixed an issue that would cause your spirit shard to be unavailable. It shouldn't be hiding behind walls or doors any more.

- Made an adjustment so that you won't be overcharged when purchasing an incomplete stack of items from a player vendor.

- Adjusted the selling price of certain totems to be more in line with the difficulty of creating them.

- We're working Lanet's Excruciating Scream. We're not done adjusting it, but it won't allow you to kite mobs any more. Look for this spell to be revisited shortly.

- Changed the Bloodskull Elephant zone so that if you're killed in it, you'll still be able to retrieve your spirit shard.

- Reduced damage on Berserker's Blood Rage, as it was just a smidge overpowered.

The EverQuest II Team



Update Notes: November 24, 2004 11/24/2004 7:00 am

- Characters are no longer rooted in place when fully encumbered. You'll
be able to move when carrying all that copper, but very slowly indeed!
- Adjusted the cast and reuse time on the scout's Escape ability.
- Adjusted the reward given by the Sir Tatters quest to better reflect
the quest's difficulty.
- Modified a spawn camp in the Thundering Steppes to make it work
properly.

The EverQuest II Team




Update Notes: November 24, 2004 11/24/2004 3:30 am

- Modified movement at full encumbrance. You'll be able to move when carrying all that silver, but very slowly indeed!

- Adjusted the cast and reuse time on the scout ability "Escape".

- Adjusted the Sir Tatters quest rewards to give appropriate awards.

- Modified a spawn camp in the Steppes to make it work properly.



Update Notes: November 23, 2004 11/23/2004 7:30 am

- Fixed the issue with "flavor" VO not triggering properly. NPCs find their voice again!

- Increased chance of successful use of the safe fall skill.

- Fixed some broken collection quests. If you think that your collection quest is broken, go back and visit the NPC who gave you the quest, even if you've "completed" the quest before.

- Modified reward for society tasks to increase role of harvesting.

- Modified some quests rewards to be in line with the difficulty of the quest.

Fixed collision/stuck issues in the following zones:
- Blackburrow
- The Peat Bog
- Nektulos Forest
- The Willow Wood
- Oakmyst Forest
- East Freeport
- The Obelisk of Vul
- Nektropos Castle
- The Graveyard
- The Enchanted Lands
- Qeynos Harbor
- South Qeynos
- The Elddar Grove
- The Ruins of Varsoon
- The Bloodskull Valley
- Thundering Steppes
- The Ruins

Fixed cosmetic issues in the following zones:
- Antonica
- East Freeport
- West Freeport
- The Forest Ruins
- The Obelisk of Vul
- The Elddar Grove
- The Feerrott
- Nektropos Castle


Update Notes: November 20, 2004 11/20/2004 7:30 am

- Made a minor adjustment to a Baubbleshire merchant.

- Modified several hallmark quests so that they can not be deleted from your quest journal.

- Spell Reagents in your bank slots will no longer be used. They must now be in your personal inventory.




Updates Notes: November 17, 2004 11/17/2004 8:00am

Headlines

- Need a fast way to see your goods? Open all your bags at once!

- It's now easier to see when your friends log in and out!

- Click on an icon on a map to get a waypoint and wisp!

- Fighters and crafters rejoice! Suspensions and solutions are now available on merchants.

- Lots of item and quest fixes!



Stability and Performance

- Improved the overall stability of zones.

- Added a fix to address a client crash some users experience immediately after hitting the "Play" button.



Characters, Appearances, and Rendering

- Fixed a bug where some systems were having problems rendering certain objects in the game.



Gameplay

- You can no longer drag Lore items in your overflow to your shared bank slots.

- Any scout can now attempt to disarm the trap on any chest. If their skill is too low they will trigger the trap, but they still have a chance at gaining a skill increase.

- Armor Class displays will now update more reliably.

- Camera direction now updates properly after being transported elsewhere in the same zone while in third person.

- You will now receive a notice whenever someone from your friends list logs in or out of the game.

- We added a check to prevent you from inadvertently selling a bag with items in it.

- The riposte ability should now be displayed properly.

- The rogue abilities Smuggler's Talent and Slink / Sneak are no longer stackable.



Controls, Commands, and UI

- /guild commands now work with or without a player targeted.

- The /togglebags command will open all your bags if they are closed or close them all if they are all open. If only some bags are open when you use the command, the rest of your bags will be opened. You can also assign a key to perform this operation in the Options menu under the Controls tab (see "Window Keys").

- Main UI: Made changes to Quest Helper so it always updates to the next quest upon completing your current quest. This also includes Spirit Shard recovery quests and collection quests.

- Main UI: When choosing to add an item to a collection quest, the window will now close properly.

- Main UI: UI settings should now save more reliably.

- Maps: Clicking an icon on a map will create a temporary waypoint/wisp to the destination.



General Changes

- A new tutorial window is provided upon reaching level 8 to explain how traits work.

- Certain goos have gained the power of flight.

- Collection quests now make use of the Collection skill as you gather items.

- Several items were fixed to use the correct wield style or equipment slots.

- Political social structure merchants are now listed as City Merchants instead of just Merchants.

- City Merchant Rabbleson in Qeynos is now female.

- Merchant Clarya Blake no longer speaks about furniture since she doesn't actually sell it.

- Merchants outside the cities have reduced the amount they will offer for items and sell their goods for higher prices since their wares are in such demand. City merchants, however, have not become any greedier.

- Market bulletin boards were added to all general city and village/district merchants to make them more accessible.

- The Dagger and Scimitar of Ferocity were changed to have the correct appearance.

- All fist wraps should now deal crushing damage instead of slashing damage.

- Moved the teleport locations in the Qeynos mage tower so characters teleport into a more safe area.

- Increased the size of the active teleport areas that lead down within the Qeynos mage tower to hopefully reduce the likelihood of people missing them and falling.

- A decyed scroll was renamed to a decayed scroll.

- Mariner's bells leading to the Feerrott will no longer grant passage to those who have not completed the access quest or who are not of the appropriate level.

- Barrik's Dirk should no longer appear incorrectly when wielded.

- The EverQuest Server Heritage title for Ayonae Ro is now spelled correctly.

- The titles of several paintings were corrected.

- The Hoop of Shattering can now be equipped in the ear slot instead of the ring slots.

- The Runner's Ring should now have the correct icon and can be equipped in the ring slot.

- The Hoop of Insight should now have the correct icon and can be equipped in the ear slot.

- The Caustic Leggings should now have the correct icon and can be equipped in the leg slot.

- Hood of the Betrayer can now be equipped at the intended level.

- Corrupted Bracelet of the Spiritkeeper now has the correct icon.

- Delecar's Axe of Savagery should now appear correctly.

- Corrected a typo on the Tailored Rawhide Satchel.Population

- Muckraker is now aggressive and should not break encounters while he is wandering.

- Adjusted the drop rate on scrolls within The Thundering Steppes, Freeport Sewers, Nektulos Forest, Qeynos Catacombs, and Stormhold.

- Godric Irwyn in the Nettleville tradeskill zones now responds to hails.

- Tundra Jack is now wearing the correct clothes.

- The High Priest of Valmarr had his respawn frequency changed.

- Two-group encounters in the Commonlands have been adjusted.

- Dynamic Camps had their spell effect for defeating the camp improved.

- Stoneclaw will now be seen less often in Antonica.

- Fairies and halflings in the Enchanted lands should now assist each other.

- Wandering residents of Qeynos Harbor should be less likely to congregate in a single part of the zone.

- Tailor Venetirsk in West Freeport should now speak with the correct voice.



Mechanics

- The dual wield skill is now visible in the skills window for those who have the ability to dual-wield weapons.

- The difficulty of multiple group encounters has been increased.

- The difficulty of many boss encounters has been increased.

- The power and difficulty of henchmen in epic encounters has been increased.

- The rate at which factions decrease or increase upon defeating enemies was changed.

- Flail weapons should now use the hammer skill instead of greathammer.

- Dual-wield weapons will now display both primary and secondary as valid slots.

- Decreased the cost of light, medium, and heavy armor types.

- Decreased the cost of shields.

- Claimed Journeyman's Boots are now lore, no value, and not destroyable.

- Spirit Shards can now be reclaimed from The Fallen Gate if the character has not yet achieved access to the zone.



Tradeskills

- Society tasks now give their coin rewards in the reward window instead of directly putting them into inventory.

- Brokers who were not correctly displaying the player merchant lists have been fixed.

- Harvestable objects within the adventure zones around Freeport and Qeynos respawn faster.

- Fixed the sell-back price of threadbare thread and a few other incorrectly priced items.

- Removing some fishing harvest areas from shallow water.

- Corrected the icons for the eagle staff and several beds.

- Corrected the appearance of several beds and ornate vases.

- Added suspensions and solutions to the refined merchant lists.

- Increased the rewards for the wholesale social structure tasks.

- The prices for many of the alchemy items were modified.

Quests

- Catalog quest entries regarding wooly spiders have been corrected.

- Social structure raid quests now complete upon entering the raid instance zone.

- Many quest titles were changed for consistency and grammar.

- The quest for Soul Wailer has been fixed.

- Part I of the Freeport and Qeynos betrayal quests can now be refused or deleted, and is listed as Access instead of Hallmark.

- Fixed a rare issue that affected Qeynos summoners who had completed their class hallmark quest and found themselves unable to summon their pets.

- "Dyes for Danielle" now correctly refers to the the Herb Jar shop.

- Sergeant Tillin's repeatable quest was changed to better reflect its level of difficulty.

- Corrected the journal entry for "Taking the Bait" to refer to bog faeries instead of dragonflies.

- Freeport Crusader Hallmark - Erasmo's pathing has been corrected and the respawn time has been reduced.

- More sewer slimes have been added to the Freeport sewers to help aspiring mages achieve their class.

- Sage Indis Surion had one of his responses corrected.

- If you die in the Freeport subclass instanced zones, you now see the name of the zone you should return to.

- Fixed the punctuation of the "Gnome and Antignome" quest. Silly gnomes.

- Freeport Opportunities - Corrected the spelling of Darrius' name in the quest journal.

- The Ethereal Tabard is now attunable.

- Vissa D'bbth had her Mysterious Delivery quest renamed and she should now respond correctly when you have completed the quest.

- Kirsteh's Components Part III - Changed the reference from tainted wretches to giant wretches.

- Rewards for the Zombie, Goblin, and Fairy "Lore and Legend" quests have been fixed.

- The catalog quests for Antonica and Commonlands can now be gained through the correct quest catalogs.

- Dranok Bileblood no longer speaks orcish, having instead learned the common tongue.

- The quest reward for Logan Belchbottom is now given upon completion of the quest.

Combat Arts and Spells

- Stealth effects should no longer stack.

- Shriek of Terror should now draw upon the correct skill.

- Graven Embrace upgrades should now work correctly.

- Tainted Caress received a clarification to its description.

- Vigor of Trust was changed to use the correct upgrade scheme.

- Tracking was changed to increase with level rather than practice.

- Tunare's Footsteps now has the correct description.

- Graven Embrace will no longer cause crashes when its duration expires.



The EverQuest II Team



Updates Notes: November 16, 2004 11/10/2004 3:00am

Suspensions and solutions can now be purchased from the appropriate merchants. This allows combat art upgrades for fighters to be crafted properly.
We modified the rewards of a quest given by Sergeant Tillin in Antonica.
The EverQuest II Team


Update for 11/11/04 11/10/2004 3:00am

Lowered the cost of light armor types to be more in line with other armor types.
Fixed an issue with bags and trading.
-- The EverQuest II Team


Update for 11/10/04
Fixed Shadowknight's Graven Embrace
Increased rewards given to wholesale social structure tasks
Added appropriate prices to alchemy items that were priced incorrectly
Adjusted Journeyman's boots so that they are harder to misplace
Fixed a quest in Qeynos East
Multiple fixes for increased server stability
Added additional support for French Canadian keyboards
Fixed /petition so it brings up the knowledge base as intended