Zones
From EQ Clerics Wiki
Zones by Expansion and Continent
Classic Everquest
The original Everquest game released March 16, 1996. Considered to be a pioneer of MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games), it was a huge undertaking brought to us by Verant and was later purchased by Sony Online Entertainment. This game brought us the various races of Norrath and each was based on a "faction". High Elves, Wood Elves, Humans (some), Dwarves and Gnomes were considered to be good, where Ogres, Trolls and Dark Elves and some human were considered to be evil. The level cap during this period was 50.
Ruins of Kunark
The first expansion pack for the Everquest game, Ruins of Kunark brought to us a new continent and race, as well as a level increase to L60 (the only 10 level increase in the game's history). The Iksar were lizard men based in the city of Cabalis. The enriching lore of the epic struggle between the Iksar and the Shissar, the snake men, was entertaining and there were many quests it involved.
Scars of Velious
The second expansion in an ever growing Everquest, Scars of Velious brought us the first signs of a new interface (later replaced by the Luclin interface) and ramped up the "raiding" portion of the game with long dungeon crawls in the frozen zone of North Temple of Veeshan (NToV). With a new continent adding 19 total zones this was a massive addition to Everquest.
This expansion also brought about the Epic quests, also known as Epic 1.0. These were massive quests based on class that gave you a weapon greater than any could be gotten before with a class specific right click effect. The Cleric version was mace with a mana free 96% resurrection.
Shadows of Luclin
When the Combine Empire on the continent Antonica was destroyed their Wizards created a portal to the moon. Lost for centuries they rediscovered the portals back to Norrath opening up access for adventurers to explore the moon. The third expansion in Everquest brought us a new player race and class. The race of cat men known as the Vah Shir inhabit the moon Luclin (luck-lyn). The beastlord class brought to us the beast tamers with a host of new abilities.
This expansion also moved the trading areas from the tunnel connecting East Commonlands and Northern Desert of Ro, from the Greater Faydark forest, or from North Freeport, to the Bazaar, an entire zone dedicated to buying and selling items.
"Shadows of Luclin" also added a new way to create interfaces for Everquest, bringing in the XML-based system still in use today, and opening up the way for users to custom build how they interact with the game.
Planes of Power
Hailed as the largest "raiding" expansion to date, Planes of Power brought us face to face with the conflict between the Gods and pitted our strengths against them as well. With 18 Planar zones with elaborate progression between then, this is still many players favorite Everquest expansion.
The Plane of Knowledge opened up travel in Norrath, changing the game as we knew it. Connected to almost every city zone in the game at that point, travel was just a click away instead of a many hour run between zones.
Also a new way to get spells was introduced in this expansion. Parchments were looted and then turned in to specific NPCs who then gave you a spell but in random order, with many duplicates received before getting the rarer spells. Another level increase happened in this expansion from 60 to 65.
Legend of Ykesha
In many players opinion, one of the most lackluster expansions to date, it was actually advertised as an extension of Everquest. One region, Ykesha, with only 7 total zones with no player progression made this an underwhelming expansion. Still the expansion had many features that lead it to be a big seller. In particular, it introduced the Froglok's as a player race, added in a way to dye armor, expanded the number of base bank slots from 6 to 12, and added the in game mapping feature.
Lost Dungeons of Norrath
The 6th expansion for Everquest, Lost Dungeons introduced us to the "instanced" zone. It was like the normal static zones that came before, it was a personalized zone that was tailored to your group level average and was loaded off of a separate server. This eliminated the competition for zone drops and changed Everquest forever.
The instanced zones also had specific goals that you had to complete and brought us a new way to get gear and other items. You received points for completing the missions that you could buy, armor, weapons and item augmentations. Also, spells were received in this way as well.
Gates of Discord
This expansion was called by many a "raiding" expansion, many felt that this was designed specifically for raiders and a mass exodus of players quit during this expansion. The zones were tough and the progression path was convoluted. Revamped in the first couple of months to make it a bit easier to progress, Gates of Discord is still one of the toughest expansions to get through.
This expansion brought us a new continent, Taelosia, and a new player class the Berserker. Berserkers, thought to be a joke by many, were the next big melee only class hailed to have high DPS capability.
This expansion built upon the spell system introduce in Planes of Power, streamlining the spell return a bit. Runes were looted and then turned in to specific NPCs who then gave you a spell, specific to the rune you turned in. This eliminated the multiple duplicates received in PoP.
Omens of War
In this expansion the Priests of Discord discovered a way to open up a portal to the Realm of Discord allowing us to take the fight to the leader, Overlord Mata Muram, who had caused the war on the Taelosian continent.
Omens raised the level cap from 65 to 70 and added a host of new alternate abilities. This expansion also expanded again on the Rune spell system, allowing some of the runes to be tradeable for the 66-68 level spells which made it easier to get those spells. 69-70 remained no drop. Epic 2.0s were released in this expansion, greater and more powerful items with very unique looks and particle effects that not only made them desirable due to their power but also very unique looks as well. For Clerics it was a shield with the right click effect that did a manaless group health balance along with an innate ability to lower agro garnered from spells and bash effects. This shield made it so that Clerics are the only class that can equip both their epics at the same time.
Dragons of Norrath
Dragons returned to Norrath when the Wayfarer Brotherhood discovered the lost zones between Halas and Lavastorm Mountains. In the search for the Nest, it was open too early and the evil dragon Vishimtar started a curse that would spread over all of Norrath if not defeated.
A few new features were added like the potion belt and bandoleer but in all, it was a fairly small expansion.
Depths of Darkhollow
A battle deep in the heart of Nektulos Forest was interrupted by a rumbling deep in the earth. When the rumbling stopped, explores found a cavern system filled with mushroom creatures, werewolves, drachnids, orcs and undead and more. Deeper exploration eventually found Mayong Mistmore's hidden keep, built into a stalactite hanging over the Stoneroot Sea.
Prophecy of Ro
With the ascension of Mayong Mistmore in the previous expansion, the Plane of Music was corrupted and the Theater of Blood was created. The mortals who killed Mayong and helped him ascend but now reverse the terrible destruction caused from its wake.
This expansion brought to us various new features. Destructible objects appeared in Everquest for the first time, allowing players to destroy doors, walls and catapults which added a new spectrum to the game. Player traps and spheres of influence, or auras, were introduced, allowing players the ability to have additional spell type items that didn't take up a spell slot and were able to be used while casting or fighting.
The ability to block certain beneficial effects was added. This allowed players to block certain buffs that they didn't use but clogged up the buff slots available. Players could also use this mechanic to manually block spells that added items to the cursor like Modulation Rods.
Also, the bank slots were upgraded again from 12 to 18.
The Serpent's Spine
For the first time since Legend of Ykesha a new player race and starting city was added to Everquest. The Drakkin were humans that had dragon blood added to them when a council of dragons felt the need to have protectors of their race. Their home, Crescent Reach, is a haven to all Drakkin and other travelers. Also, for the first time since the Classic Everquest, an expansion was released that covered all levels from 1-70 without ever having to leave the new zones.
The level cap was increased yet again in this expansion from 70 to 75 with a host of revamps to game mechanics. One of the more notable revamps was to the alternate ability experience system. Previously, the same amount of experience to level from 50 to 51 was roughly the same amount for every AA point gained. With the greater and greater experience amounts gathered from killing, AAs were easier and easier to gather which lead to the massive amount of AAs needed to gain new alternate skills, most apparent in the GoD expansion. Now, after the change, AA experience is based on the monsters level relation to you, making it roughly the same at level 75 to gain an AA as it is at level 51, which is the first level you start gaining AAs.
The Buried Sea
Mayong's activities in the planes were still having an effect on the worlds of Norrath and Luclin, but for the moment there seemed little Adventurers could do about it. Until the pirates who roam the Buried Sea off the coast of Odus caught our attention. Not the pirates completely, but the giant whirlpool in the middle of the sea.
At the base of the whirlpool, Adventurers found the lost city of Katta Castrum complete with Combine, Kedge, Sphynx and Shissar survivors. Further exploration revealed a route to another area of the Plane of Suns, also known as Solteris. There, adventures participated in the final battle against Mayong Mistmore.
This was a short expansion. It brought in the concept of Energiec armor. Armor with a purity stat can have its stats adjusted by using a power source that slowly wears off over time.
This expansion also added in Guild Banners and Fellowships. Guild Banners are banners customizable by the guild which can be planted where the guild is fighting. Guild Hall portals can then be set to bring new guild members to the banner directly.
Fellowships are groups of up to 9 players. They have a common chat channel, and any 3 of them in an area can put down a camp fire which other members of the fellowship can port directly to.
Secrets of Faydwer
In the Steamfont mountains, a rumbling split the air and a mountain actually lifted off. Wave after wave of higher powered clockworks, called steamworks, pour out of the mines near Ak'anon and attack the gnomes and their home city. With the help of adventurers from across Norrath, these invaders were beaten back and the flying mountain was pushed back.
When the dust settled, explorers discovered tunnels and routes to new areas of Faydwer, opening up the rest of the continent for explorers.
This expansion raised the level to 80, and introduced the concept of "Heroic Stats", stats that go above the normal caps.
The storyline lead us into discovering the tragic origin of the half-elf race, fighting off were-orcs, exploring and sabotaging Meldrath the Malignant's Steamwork forces in his flying fortresses, and finally discovering what Kerafrym, formerly the Sleeper, has been up to.
Seeds of Destruction
- To be filled in
- Expected to be the November, 2008 expansion
- Max level will be raised to L85
- No real details have been released otherwise as of yet, suspected there may be rumblings in the Realm of Discord. (due to the number of Muramite Forces that have been popping up in live events through this year)
- From the Seeds of Destruction Beta sign-up page: "Welcome to the EverQuest® beta test. A shining portal leads to a distant future where Riftseekers have used the Plane of Time to corrupt the very fabric of reality. Prepare for your journey--this is Norrath as you've never seen it before."
- It is reported that Seeds of Destruction will offer "Mercenaries", NPC's (Non-player characters) who can be hired to help fill group positions.
Other Zones
These zones are zones not normally seen or very little used. A few, like Marauder's Mire were part of the now defunct "Legends" server which no longer exist. "The Mines of Glooming Deep" is the tutorial zone and "Shadowrest" is where corpses go when they rot after sitting for more than 7 days unrecovered.
