You can read the full patch notes here.

***Highlights***

• EverQuest's 16th anniversary is approaching soon! Look for new and old celebration events appearing in the Plane of Knowledge starting on March 16th! As always, the Mechanical Fortune Teller can direct you to events that are available.
• As requested at SOE Live 2014, a new item has been added to the marketplace: Hero's Forge Armor Crate! Combine a full matching suit of Hero's Forge Armor (Helm, Chest, Arms, Wrist, Hands, Legs, Feet) in the Hero's Forge Armor Crate to receive a single, stackable item. The Hero's Forge Armor Crate can only be used once.
• Tricorne hats are now available for participation in The Darkened Sea beta. The hat can be converted into an ornament if you have Hero's Forge.

***Tradeskills***

• August Bounder armor now has a required level of 101 and a recommended level of 105.
• AC on The Darkened Sea cloth cultural armor and seals is now more consistent.
• Consolidated most of the tradeskill vendors in the Plane of Knowledge. All of the items that were sold are still present, just on fewer vendors.

February 11, 2015 - Daybreak Update

By now, many of you know the news about the large layoffs at Daybreak (formerly SOE). For those who do not, here is a link to the official post about it. My heart goes out to all the phenomenal folks who were let go today, several of whom I considered friends. My heart, of course, especially goes out to my beloved "hubbyogre", who was one of those cut. Bleargh.

February 02, 2015 - SOE Becomes Daybreak Game Company

The only information I have so far is from the official announcement, but for those who have missed it on the EQ forums, here it is:

Dear Players, Partners and Friends,

Today, we are pleased to announce that we have been acquired by Columbus Nova, an investment management firm well known for its success with its existing portfolio of technology, media and entertainment focused companies. This means that effective immediately SOE will operate as an independent game development studio where we will continue to focus on creating exceptional online games for players around the world, and now as a multi-platform gaming company. Yes, that means PlayStation and Xbox, mobile and more!

As part of this transition, SOE will now become Daybreak Game Company. This name embodies who we are as an organization, and is a nod to the passion and dedication of our employees and players. It is also representative of our vision to approach each new day as an opportunity to move gaming forward.

So what exactly does this mean for you? It will be business as usual and all SOE games will continue on their current path of development and operation. In fact, we expect to have even more resources available to us as a result of this acquisition. It also means new exciting developments for our existing IP and games as we can now fully embrace the multi-platform world we are living in.

Our games and players are the heart and soul of our organization, and we are committed to maintaining our portfolio of online games and pushing the limits of where we can take online gaming together.

Thank you for your continued support. See you in game!

The Team at Daybreak

December 10, 2014 - Something is Afoot ...

... at SOE, and word is that if you have not opted in for email notifications from them, you will miss out on an email-only promotion this holiday season. If you would rather not miss out on whatever the surprise is, you can follow the instructions here to make sure that you have opted in for notifications about your favorite SOE game(s). ~Mum

November 19, 2014 - Patch Notes for November 19, 2014

*** Highlights ***

• Guard Hamarn in Ethernere Tainted West Karana would like tales to tell of heroic adventures. Each day he will offer you bonus experience if you do any of four Heroic Adventures from Call of the Forsaken for him.
• New Frostfell and New Year's achievements are available! These achievements cover two years of New Year's events and five years of Frostfell events.
• Rewards on Heroic Adventures have been updated to better reflect the time it takes to complete them.
• Experience gains from killing NPCs in Heroic Adventures has changed. The total experience is about the same, but a much smaller amount is granted on their death, while the remaining amount will be granted when the Heroic Adventure is completed.
• Lockout timers for Heroic Adventures have been reduced by half.
• Level minimums for Call of the Forsaken Heroic Adventures have been lowered to 75.
• Global drop raid gear in Call of the Forsaken can once again be found in Heroic Adventures and missions.
• The experience modifier in all of The Darkened Sea zones has been increased.
• Physical resistances on The Darkened Sea NPCs have been reduced.
• Casters may now bind themselves in Brother Island, Thuliasaur Island, and the Tempest Temple.
• Fixed an issue with zone XP scaling. Kill experience will now be scaled to your individual level rather than the level of the person in your group who had primary kill credit.
• Increased the experience modifiers on numerous NPCs throughout the game that had high HP combined with a low experience modifier.
• Caster DPS mercenaries will now attempt to move closer to your group if they are out of spell range during a battle.
• Caster DPS mercenaries, when set to the Burn stance, will now attack an enemy NPC regardless of that NPC's current HP.

*** Items ***

• Items from Plane of War now have level 103 focus effects.
• The focus effects on Legatus, Centurio, and Magister items from Call of the Forsaken now extend to level 103.
• New healing distillates are for sale on the potion merchant in the Plane of Knowledge for players at level 105.
• Horse bridles summoned by Paladin and Shadowknight AAs will now be able to be activated from inside bags on Progression Servers when in a potion belt and will no longer take a slot in the Mount Key Ring.
• Added tribute values to Alfred's Stolen Spear, Neplin's Blade, Dagger of Sinister Waters, and pirate-themed global drop raid gear.
• Changed the icon on the Combine Armor Matrix to something more appropriate.
• Pet Illusion: Ankylosaurus is now a bit larger.
• Fixed issues with swapping certain bandolier items that could result in errors.
• Ranged weapons now properly respect their level requirements.
• Global drop raid gear in Call of the Forsaken can once again be found in Heroic Adventures and missions.
• Pirate-themed global drop raid gear is now attunable and no longer lore.
• Fixed an issue with using ctrl+left click to fill one bag with the items from another bag.
• The Potion of Binding's spell description now accurately states that it can only bind the person using the potion and not their target.
• Pink Diamonds no longer drop. They are not used and can be sold to any merchant for a reasonable sum.

*** Quests & Events ***

• Guard Hamarn in Ethernere Tainted West Karana would like tales to tell of heroic adventures. Each day he will offer you bonus experience if you do any of four Heroic Adventures from Call of the Forsaken for him.
• Rewards on Heroic Adventures have been updated to better reflect the time it takes to complete them.
• Experience gains from killing NPCs in Heroic Adventures has changed. The total experience is about the same, but a much smaller amount is granted on their death, while the remaining amount will be granted when the Heroic Adventure is completed.
• A Cunning Plan - Looting a key in this Lichen Creep raid should give you immediate access to the virtual areas to battle the Architect and Monarch.
• Clearer Skies - Zoning into the instance via Ognit's dialogs will now put you next to Ognit instead of in the middle of the volcano.
• Crying for the Dead - The recipe for the Memorial Announcements will now consume the inkwell and quill when you create the announcement.
• Crying for the Dead - You can now craft the Memorial Announcements and Full Degmar Inkwell in any zone and get credit for doing so.
• Loyal is the Heart - Removed two of the sirens inside the coral formation, near the sword thief, making it less difficult to defeat this NPC.
• Two Sides of the Shield - Brother Visius is now inside the entrance to the instance. You can hail him to get out of the instance.
• Principal Indagatrix Lucia - In the fourth Arx Mentis raid, Principal Indagatrix Lucia will be more intent on her target when she chooses to fight someone new.
• Principal Indagatrix Lucia - In the fourth Arx Mentis raid, the Magio that is protected when at low HP now clears all buffs.
• Research Wrecks - Captain Mewes in Combine Dredge will now talk to himself while he is reading the papers, and he will speak with you about it when he is done.
• The Pirate and the Pea - Clarified a few points and fixed a few text errors. Captain Mewes now asks to have the bucket returned to him.
• Kedge Counterblow - Made numerous adjustments to this Heroic Adventure in Combine Dredge:
  • NPCs that were removed in the base zone were also removed in this instance.
  • NPCs not vital to the task only have a 20 percent chance to spawn, greatly reducing the population in the zone.
  • The 45 NPCs that required for the kill elements have a 100 percent spawn rate.
  • Though not vital, the group of regrua and Doomscale fighting will continue to spawn at 100 percent.
  • The agro and help radii now match the base zone: The fighting and sleeping NPCs have the same small radii. Indoor NPCs doubled their radii. Outdoor NPCs quadrupled their radii.
  • Adjusted the spawn rate of the elementals at the beginning of the errand from 90 seconds to 60 seconds.
• Castle Relic - Made several changes to Commander Alast Degmar and Sergeant Knotlest in this Degmar Heroic Adventure:
  • Reduced their health by approximately 28 percent.
  • Changed their XP multiplier to 5x from 1x.
• A Friend in Need - Orson will give you another doubloon if you need one during his quest, but he won't be happy about it.
• A Friend in Need - Edmund and Charles both reappear much more quickly.
• Oh, Julia - Captain Janesworth will now only drop as many chains as players that have the quest when he is killed.
• Just Recompense - You no longer have to forage for Mash Tubers and Saltweed on Brother Island. These items can be found as ground spawns.
• The Darkened Sea Progression Quests - Changes were made to help prevent gating issues related to hailing NPCs. When hailing NPCs in group missions, each player in the group will now see the hail text.
• Lockout timers for Heroic Adventures have been reduced by half.
• Level minimums for Call of the Forsaken Heroic Adventures have been lowered to 75.
• Dark elves in Neriak - Fourth Gate Heroic Adventures will no longer lose their outfits when they are slain.
• Krag in the Dead Hills will no longer occasionally be referred to as Karg. Krag appreciates it when people don't confuse him with the barbarian, Karg Icebear.
• The Hills Are Alive - The moldy boxes and barrels in this Heroic Adventure are no longer so aggressive that they will fight back when attacked. They can now be opened, though you still must kill the nearby creatures beforehand.
• The Pellarus Satum is now spelled consistently.
• Gnoll With the Punches - It is no longer possible to kill Parrmug prematurely and break the quest.
• Going Postal - The Feerrott to Freeport dialogues, [Freeport] or [deliver], are now clickable.
• Digging Their Graves - This Nights of the Dead quest now works above level 100.
• Digging Their Graves - It is no longer possible to bypass the shovel cooldown timer.
• Digging Their Graves - The shovel item now has an appropriate, but slightly less funny, cast description.
• Players over level 100 can now turn in Small Glowing Fear Shards to Magus Burlshin.
• Facing Your Fear - This task can now be obtained by adventurers over level 100.

*** Tradeskills ***

• The Black Powder Bomb can only be equipped in Ranged and Ammo slots.
• New cultural waters, Raid Elder Water and Solo Elder Water, are sold by Artisan Antemm in Katta Castrum: Deluge and Culturist Devari in the Plane of Knowledge.
• The recipe for Pure Mana Alcohol in the book "Enchanting Beverages" no longer lists "bottle" twice.
• New crafted Rank 2 spells for research are now able to be traded.
• Fixed multiple issues with level 91-95 research recipes using Orphic Cards and Martial Treatises producing the wrong results.
• Fixed issues with the books "August Weapon Tailoring" and "August Weapon Smithing" showing incorrect text.
• Mixing bowl tradeskill containers that only held 4 items can now hold 10.
• August Brambleborn cultural armor is now usable by Beastlords.
• Alchemy recipes are available for the new healing distillates. You can discover the recipes by manually combining the required items, or the recipes can be scribed via the book "Lost Alchemical Formulas."
• Cultural seals of the Berserker from The Darkened Sea now have the correct version of Ferocity.
• Boundless Penetrating Symbols now have backstab damage bonuses.
• A few crafted items missing level restrictions have been fixed.

*** Spells ***

• Berserker - Tendon Tear, Vicious Cyclone, Demolishing Axe Throw, Temple Demolish, Amplified Frenzy Strike, Jarring Smite, Stormwild Frenzy Strike, and Axe of Numicia Stun Effect will be avoided much less often now.
• Druid - Transportation spells to Tempest Temple will now be found properly under the Odus category.
• Druid - Increased the damage shield amount on Daggerspur Bulwark and Legacy of Daggerspurs.
• Magician - Increased the damage dealt by Flameweave Coat and Circle of Flameweaving.
• Magician - Increased the damage dealt by Coronal Skin.
• Monk - Echo of Deceit will be avoided much less often now.
• Ranger - Increased the amount of healing from Cloudfont as it did not receive the standard upgrade.
• Ranger - Increased the damage shield amount on Shield of Nettlespears, Nettlespear Coat, and Protection of the Forest.
• Ranger - Increased the amount of healing from Kromtus Balm as it did not receive the standard upgrade.
• Ranger - Heartsplit will be avoided much less often now.
• Rogue - Surprise Attack, Wide-Eyed Mark, Jugular Hack, Exuberant Dagger-Throw, Hack, and Smokeshade Effect will be avoided much less often now.
• Shadowknight - Increased the HP and damage shield amount on Drape of the Wrathforged.
• Wizard - Tempest Temple portal spells can now be found properly under the Odus category.
• Wizard - Corrected the spelling of Aegis of Satum and increased the damage it absorbs.
• Wizard - Increased the damage absorbed by Armor of the Codex.
• Wizard - Increased the damage absorbed by Darkmist Guard.
• Fixed issues with some counter-based spell effects that would not decrement their counters properly.
• The proc from the Oathbound Hammer is now a Qeynosian guard ghost swarm pet.
• The Illusion: Cursed Siren and Illusion: Thaell Ew spells will now display correctly.

*** NPC ***

• Indagatrix Materia and Indagator Materia in Arx Mentis will be less likely to cast Bewildering Flash.
• Damton Silverhammer in Degmar will now respond to [Neckchi].
• Most NPCs in the Combine Dredge are now more aware of intruders. Sleeping NPCs are still sleeping; they will only aggro if you stand on their feet. Other indoor NPCs doubled their aggro and help radii. Outdoor NPCs quadrupled their aggro and help radii. Groups of NPCs fighting each other did not have their radii changed.
• The caster NPCs in Combine Dredge that fight other NPCs will no longer draw their enemies onto them.
• The Combine within the Combine Dredge now wield weapons from Arx Mentis, their home.
• Shissar Necromancers in Katta Castrum: Deluge now appear more frequently, and will appear in the library area.
• Slightly increased the chance of rare spawns in Katta Castrum: Deluge.
• Many NPCs that appeared as human males will now display their models correctly.
• Physical resistances on The Darkened Sea NPCs have been reduced.
• Many NPCs that took on an odd sickly color, like the lorekeepers in Valdeholm, are feeling much better now.
• Fixed an issue causing Marcia Attamilgad to occasionally forget to rotate her stock of valuables.
• Caster DPS mercenaries will now attempt to move closer to your group if they are out of spell range during a battle.
• Caster DPS mercenaries, when set to Burn stance, will now attack an enemy NPC regardless of that NPC's current HP.
• Fixed issues with NPC pathing in certain dynamic zones that could cause trains.
• Fixed some NPCs in Degmar that were not intended to see through invisiblity. This includes Degmar guards and determined diggers. Degmar guardians and Degmar archers continue to see through invisibility, as intended.
• Jimble Woodentoe can now be found in the New Commonlands.
• Increased the experience modifiers on numerous NPCs throughout the game that had high HP combined with a low experience modifier.

*** AA ***

• Berserker - Extended Berserking - Added Brutal Discipline to the supported abilities.
• Berserker - Screaming Axes - Improved Hundred Hands effect, as well as proc rate.
• Druid - Hastened Recall - Added tertiary recall ranks 4, 5, and 6.
• Enchanter - Enchanters can now train Eradicate Magic.
• Magician - Added 3 new ranks of Destructive Fury.
• Magician - Magicians can now train Eradicate Magic.
• Necromancer - Necromancers can now train Eradicate Magic.
• Necromancer - Cascade of Decay - Increased the proc range to 200 units.
• Necromancer - Death's Malaise - Fixed effect cap on the slow effect. Added Strength, Dexterity, Agility, dual-wield and AC debuff.
• Necromancer - Added Self Sacrifice, a new AA which heals your pet while consuming your own health in the process.
• Paladin - Thunder of Karana duration was increased to 60 seconds.
• Paladin - Hand of Tunare silence effect has been reduced to 18 seconds.
• Paladin - Hand of Tunare's counters will now decrease when using the same spell repeatedly.
• Ranger - Created a new AA: Blessing of the Hunter. This is a passive kill shot proc effect that returns a small amount of mana.
• Ranger - Guardian of the Forest has received an increase in attack power and skill damage mod.
• Ranger - Bow Mastery ranks 17, 18, and 19 have been increased slightly to match increases for previous ranks.
• Shadowknight - Mindless Hatred level cap has been increased to 108.
• Warrior - Phalanx of One has been refunded. In its place is a new passive defensive proc, Phalanx of Fury.
• Warrior - Dual-Wield Proficiency now has increased skill damage.
• Warrior - Two-Hand Proficiency now has increased skill damage.
• Wizard - Fixed an issue where Claw of the Oceanlord could overwrite Improved Twincast.
• Wizard - Wizards now have access to the Hastened Recall line of abilities.
• Mounts summoned via AAs can now be activated from the potion belt.
• When your experience to AA is set to 0 you won't see a message when you are at or above the AA cap any more.
• When a spell is cast while Improved Twincast is on, the spell will now properly consume counters.

*** Progression Servers ***

• Added event tracking for Progression servers through The Darkened Sea.
• The Emissaries that give out the "Dragons, Dragons, Dragons!" and "Giants, Giants, Giants!" events will now spawn on the progression servers when the appropriate expansions are unlocked (Secrets of Faydwer and Seeds of Destruction, respectively).

*** Achievements ***

• New Frostfell and New Year's achievements are available! These achievements cover two years of New Year's events and five years of Frostfell events.

*** Miscellaneous ***

• Achievements that award titles upon completion will now have those titles listed in the description.
• Casters may now bind themselves in Brother Island, Thuliasaur Island, and the Tempest Temple.
• The experience modifier in all TDS zones has been increased.
• If you are out of range, the extended target slots will no longer be set to an empty target.
• Fixed an issue with zone XP scaling. Kill experience will now be scaled to your individual level rather than the level of the person in your group who had primary kill credit.
• Focus AAs will now properly count in the total assigned AAs amount.
• Pathing for small areas in Caverns of Endless Song has been improved.

*** UI ***

• Added a check for the aggro meter hate label so that custom UIs could not accidentally crash the client.
• Added an option to set a chat window to default to speak in "Fellowship" chat.
• Fixed the missing '>' next to "Chat Channel" in the chat filter sub-menu.
• Fixed an issue that was causing item hot buttons to disappear when moving that item from the inventory to the Mount Key Ring.

- Changed -

EQUI_Inventory.xml

*** Previously Updated ***

• Raids for The Darkened Sea can now be obtained from Firiona in Katta Casturm: Deluge as well as from Arx Mentis.
• Updated the Heroic Adventure "Castle Relic" in Degmar. Added a few more safeguards to potentially keep players from getting the Commander into an odd state.
• Corrected the issue that could cause event 1 in Arx Mentis to mistakenly give success.

- The EverQuest Team

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