FEBRUARY 13, 2007

Highlights:

Welcome to EverQuest: The Buried Sea, the 13th expansion for EverQuest!

Throngs of undead trample the earth both night and day as Norrath's sun withers. With each passing hour, the growing numbers of creatures of the night rising from crypt and grave seem part of a grand design to overwhelm the lands.

Trouble also lurks deep beneath the Buried Sea off the coast of Odus in a city named Katta Castrum which has remained undiscovered for hundreds of years. It is a city built to sustain the beloved leader of the Combine Empire named Tsaph Katta who was poisoned by General Seru. Generations of Combine Loyalists have tried to cure and awaken Katta while they house threatened populations of Kedge, Shissar, and Sphinx. But in recent times, the artifact that powers and protects their city has weakened. Without it, the city will be crushed under the pressure of the sea.

Only the most intrepid Norrathians have the power to save them.

• Ship-to-Ship Combat: Cross the plank and fight for your life on the open seas as you raid pirate vessels!
• Two Paths of Advancement: Battle pirates on the open seas or dive deep beneath the sea to Katta Castrum, lost stronghold of the Combine Empire.
• New Missions: Take your group through more than 60 challenging new missions ranging from defending merchant vessels against marauding pirates to uncovering the secrets behind the combine city and the danger that threatens it!
• Guild Banners: Guilds can create a unique Guild Banner from a large selection of symbols and colors. The banner becomes the mark of the guild and when enough guild members are in the same zone (two groups), the guild leaders or officers can plant the banner in the ground. While a guild banner is planted, members can use the Guild Hall portal to teleport directly to the banner. This allows players to easily catch up with guild mates. The guild banner can also be upgraded to provide different effects, like regeneration. Upgraded Guild Banners are expendable, but provide an effect to everyone in the guild who is in range of the banner while it is planted. Guilds can only have one standard up at a time. You can access Guild Banner information through a tab in the Guild Window and banners will be sold in the Plane of Knowledge.
• Fellowships: A Fellowship is like a mini-guild for those who play together regularly. Fellowships have a maximum of six players and exist in addition to guilds. All members of the Fellowship get a token, access to a Fellowship-only channel, and the ability to create campfires when at least three "fellows" are in the same area. Fellows use their tokens to transport directly to the campfire allowing them to catch up with their regular playmates quickly. Campfires can be upgraded to provide effects to nearby Fellows. These upgrades are expendable and need to be repurchased. A Fellowship can only have one campfire active at a time. Randall of the Fellows in the Plane of Knowledge will register Fellowships. Fellowship items are also available for sale in the Plane of Knowledge.
• Energeian Power Source Items: Tapping into the Combine Empire's technology, players gain access to a new inventory slot for an Energeian power source. Particular pieces of Energeiac armor will tap into Energeian power sources, gaining benefits from the type that is equipped. For example, an Energeiac sword gains a chance to cast a fire damage spell if a fire Energeian source is equipped or a frost spell if a cold one is. Energeian power sources are expendable and will deplete as they are used, but can be changed on the fly to let players customize effects simply by changing the Energeian source. Energeian items will be for sale from vendors, found on monsters, and some can be tradeskilled.
• Toxxulia Forest: An updated Toxxulia Forest is now available that includes Kerra Ridge and access to The Buried Sea expansion zones.

Live Updates:

In Game Mail System:

In order to improve the performance of the in game mail system, starting on February 20, 2007, we will be implementing a routine purge that will clear out all in game mail that is more than 4 months old. This will be an ongoing process.

You can now use the Export feature. This new feature will grant players the ability to export their in-game mail to a text file in the EverQuest directory. To use the new Export feature, take the following steps:

• Open up the e-mail window (ctrl-E).
• Select the messages you would like to export by clicking them in the top pane, using shift-click and/or ctrl-click if you would like to select multiple messages.
• Click "Export".
• The selected messages are then saved to a file in the EverQuest Mail directory with a name in the format:

SavedMessages__.txt.

• This export will need to be done with each character that has mail you wish to save.

Items:

• Sharpshooting VII on Vae'Aender, Stitch's Bow now functions correctly.
• Geerlock Clockwork Contraption can no longer be used by frogloks.

Quests & Events:

• Taskmistress Krisz can now be called out with 6 or more players instead of 18 or more.

Spells:

• Mana Flare and similar effects will no longer fire on "procs".
• The duration on Mana Flare has been doubled.
• Mana Flare strikes now generate little to no additional agro.
• Performer's Psalm of Pyrotechnics and Weshlu's Chillsong Aria will no longer work on damage over time spells.
• Damage over time spells from Serpent's Spine have been retuned. Efficiency and damage have been increased across the board.
• Several level-capped spells from Serpent's Spine have had their maximum level increased to 78: Echo of Misdirection, Spinning into the Void, Color Collapse, Dreams of Veldyn, and Wake of Subdual.
• Debuffs that increase the damage the target takes from certain elements, (Icefall Breath, Skin to Vines, Scent of Twilight, and Malosinise) now work on Damage over Time spells as well as Direct Damage spells.
• Skin to Vines can be applied to a wider variety of NPCs.
• Icefall Breath now has an AC reduction component, as the spell's description indicated.
• The efficiency on Sting of the Queen has been reduced.
• Epic 1.5 and 2.0 effects now work up to level 75.
• Aspect of Elemental Agony for Mages has been swapped with a new spell: Mass Elemental Transvergence.
• Blazing Stance no longer works on non-Wizard pets.
• Kindle is now a lower level version of Blazing Stance.
• The Raging Servant and Bestial Empathy pets summoned using a Spire Servant focus now have an appropriate amount of hit points.
• Several Shadowknight hate-generation spells had their cast time lowered from 1.5 to 1.0 seconds.
• Echo of Misdirection has changed. It can no longer be used while the Monk is in combat. The effect is now a targeted AE. Its range has been increased, its level cap was increased, and the ability will not agro the target if it successfully lands.

NPC:

• The skeletons in Dreadspire can no longer see through invisibility to undead.

Miscellaneous:

• Tacvi, Inktu'Ta, Ikkinz, and Uqua now have the same entry requirements as their parent zones (Txevu, Qvic, Kod'Taz, and Yxtta).
• Players are more buoyant than they were before. Notice how you don't sink when in water now?
• The Ctrl-R-Click option has moved from the tradeskill window to the options window.
• Players can now use /chat while they are hovering over their body.
• A number of small issues with the bazaar trader logic have been addressed to make sure any changes made to items, prices, stack sizes update appropriate for other players.
• When an NPC performs an AE Rampage, it will now emote "Soandso goes on a WILD RAMPAGE!"

Previously Updated:

• Increased the number of spell runes that drop from the Large Events (Augment Events) in Frostcrypt and Ashengate from 2 to 3.
• Added a corruption augment to the drops for the Large Events (Augment Events) in Frostcrypt and Ashengate.

User Interface Changes:

Changed:

• EQUI.xml
• EQUI_Animations.xml
• EQUI_GuildManagementWnd.xml
• EQUI_InspectWnd.xml
• EQUI_Inventory.xml
• EQUI_LootWnd.xml
• EQUI_OptionsWindow.xml
• EQUI_TradeskillWnd.xml

New:

• EQUI_FellowshipWnd.xml
• EQUI_NewPointMerchantWnd.xml