Game Update 54 — December 8th

We are now expecting Game Update #54 — Will of a Tyrant to go live on Wednesday, December 9th.

Game Update 54 contains:

• Over 300 bug fixes
• 40 slot crafted bags and strongboxes
• choice of Melee or Ranged default Auto Attack
• added tiles and house items to the Moonlight Enchantments event (20th of every month)

·         Game Update 54 also see the second prelude event leading up to the Sentinel’s Fate expansion. You can read the EQ2Players writeup on this Attack on the Crowns event, and when the event goes live, head over to EQ2 ZAM which already has a full walkthrough of the entire event.

·         In Game Update 54, we’ll also see the conclusion of the Spires event. It is currently unclear whether the Spires Merchants will be sticking around after GU54 goes live, so go ahead and run all your quests and buy everything off the vendor you wanted to buy.

·         Niami at EQ2Traders has a great write-up of everything in Game Update 54,  check it out!

·         Sentinel’s Fate Beta

·         In other news, the Sentinel’s Fate expansion Beta registration process has begun. To sign up, visit EQ2Players.com and fill out the NDA and form. Sources indicate that the first Beta invites will go out mid-December, perhaps earlier. Currently the /beta command is not switched on for live servers.

NIGHTS OF THE DEAD IS HERE - and we only have until November 1 to get the most of it! Many of last year's entertainment has returned, including trick-or-treating in the cities, goblin illusions, and the haunted mansions. Some of the new activities are highlighted below. Many of these are solo missions, but things like taking down the Headless Horseman will take a small raid force (x2). So complete what you can, and jump on any opportunity for taking down the Headless Horseman and claiming his... er... head!

• Haunted Hedge Maze: Altius Volfban at Port Naythex in Nektulos Forest has A Nightmarish Illness, and is too weak now to continue his search for a cure. Give him a hand to start the first quest involving the new instance, The Hollow Hedge (same entrance as Caldron Hollow). Rewards include special appearance armor, purple shinies, and a necklace to spawn the Headless Horseman (necklace will disappear once you or someone in your group/raid has spawned him).
• Defeat the Headless Horseman: This epic x2 has been seen in Nektulos Forest, possibly by the big dead tree that appeared  near the Shard of Hate portal (-1436, 28, -1172).
• Vampire Lore and Legend: The Haunted Mansion now holds the infamous book, Destroy All Vampires!
• Ponchy's quest line: If you missed the McQuibble quest line in Antonica that ran from 2005-2007, here's your chance to complete it! Quest starts in Antonica and ends in an epic x2 encounter with The Scarecrow King and his guards!
• New recipe book: Celebrations of the Dead II, available from a Nights of the Dead merchant.
• New costume illusions: Available from a Nights of the Dead merchant.

Joining with Paradox on the spur of the moment, Archuss zoned into Veeshan's Peak to take on the wicked Druushk. Leaving his friends in good company, the midget wizzie helped to slaughter the dreaded Dragon and was granted the Mythical -- The Dragon's Marrow. Way to go Archuss!!

OUR RAID FORCE HAS BEEN AFFECTED by the busy summer, but our alliance has pushed forward. This past week we had one of our quickest runs in Kor'Sha and one of our best pulls against the twins. We weren't able to get them down, but Animagus walked away with a Stormcalling set piece (and the night before, he won a master in Shard of Hate!). And on Saturday, we had a successful run against Venril Sathir! After four pulls, our hodgepodge group found its grove, defeating the Iksar and netting updates for more than six folks in our raid force.

Only Archuss and Oona witnessed the defeat first-hand, and it's almost too good to be true, I know, so if you find yourself in doubt, stop by the trophy room in the guild hall and see the head of Venril Sathir for yourself.

We were feeling pretty frisky after this great victory, and decided to take our raid force into Tomb of the Mad Crusader to take on the first two nameds. A few more Ashes were on hand for this battle -- Archuss, Bigggunns, Extotheo, Lethe, Oona, Schmegma, and Spiteful were all on hand for our first trip into this new zone. After a false start or two, we were able to take down the Loyalist Tilas, and Spiteful took home his first T4 armor pattern! Congratulations to Spiteful, and many thanks to those who helped in this past week's raids!

For those who missed the raids, we will be scheduling more Overking and Sathir runs in the coming weeks. We will also begin flagging our raid force for Veeshan's Peak by scheduling Leviathan. We need everyone's help and cooperation to make these raids a success!! So please check the calendar, sign up for these events, and show up on time! Many of you still need these updates, so be sure to pay attention!

AFTER WAITING IN JARSATH WASTES for what seemed like forever, Xeem zoned into Veeshan's Peak to take on the dreaded Hoshkar. After the battle was won, the barbarian paladin was awarded his Mythical -- The Truth of Marr. Congratulations, Xeem!