I know a lot have been really itching for more info about EoF for the past couple of weeks so I thought I would travel around a lot of the zones and put up some more screenshots for all to enjoy after our press tour a few weeks ago. . Before you start clicking on links and thinking you are getting away with something, yes I did get permission from SOE to post all of these pictures before the NDA is lifted. So you can rest assured that you are not breaking any rules by viewing them. Also know that not all of the screenshots that I sent to SOE were approved, nor have I been to every new zone, so this doesn’t represent everything out there by any means. Also I have very little very high level content because those areas are typically quite hard to get to by yourself.

My first order of business was to explore some of the zones we weren’t taken to on our tour. Lesser Fay was my first stop. Where in EQ1 Lesser Fay was more of a forest zone, in Everquest2 it has been transformed into a kind of mystical wonderland, full of giant mushrooms and plenty of strange and wonderful creatures. The zone is quite dangerous, and will be appropriate for levels 55-65. Most of the western half of the zone is inhabited by fae drakes, most of which are heroic, so bring a group to this area. There are also plenty of large wisps and minotaurs in the zone, as well as a really cool area in the middle of the zone that is kind of a glade for unicorns. In the southern part of the zone I discovered a kind of dead area that seems to have been infected by a foreign presence. All of the mushrooms had withered, and there were some high level shadowed men and nightbloods about. I eventually discovered what appeared to be the source of this “infection,” a large glowing spire sticking out of the ground. When I clicked on the portal in the middle I was taken to what seemed to be a high level dungeon, but I couldn’t get far in there as the mobs were 65^^^ and could see invisibility.

The next zone I went to was the other overland zone we didn’t get to see on the tour, the Loping Plains. This is another higher level zone, you probably want to be lvl 60 or higher to venture far in here. The zone is pretty much all undead, and you will find at least 3 dungeon areas here as well, including the famed Castle Mistmoore which we went inside on our press tour. A large graveyard dominates the middle of the zone, then there are a couple of dungeon areas to the west and Castle Mistmoore is to the south. I didn’t get to take a ton of pics in this zone as most of the mobs could see-invis so I was pretty busy running for my life a lot. I did get to see some cool ghostly skeletons though. What I did want to get were some pics of the approach to Castle Mistmoore, so I risked life and limb for you all to bring you these shots. Mistmoore seems to be designed to be one of the highest level zones in the game, so just getting there will be tough. The path leading up there is dominated by huge gargoyles, which are all lvl 71^^^. After you follow a long winding staircase to the top of the mountain, you are greeting with a very ominous sight, the front of Castle Mistmoore. I loved the artwork of the castle, very nice. If you don’t remember from my previous write-up, pretty much every mob in Mistmoore is over level 70, so the high level characters will certainly have a good challenge for them there.

Both of these overland zones were great. I especially liked Lesser Fay, though they did a good job with the undead theme of Loping Plains. As is par for the course with all of EoF zones I have seen so far, the zones are beautifully designed, and the music totally rocks. The first thing you do when you install this expansion should be to turn your music volume all the way up – I can’t wait for everyone to hear it.

My next jaunt on my little self-guided tour was to go back to New Tunaria, or Felwithe for you old timers. It turned out that what we had seen on our press tour was just the tip of the iceberg. This zone completely blew me away. I cannot express to you all how cool this zone is. The architecture (more architecture) , the scenery, the awesome water effects, the music, everything about this zone rocks. I think it’s my new favorite zone in the game. I admit I am biased in some ways as Felwithe was my starting city for multiple toons in EQ1, so I spent a lot of time there. Even though New Tunaria is really nothing like the Felwithe of old, there were still small things that brought back good memories for me. This zone is outdoors but really more of a outdoor dungeon. All mobs are aggro and this zone will provide plenty of challenges for players from level 50 even all the way up to 65 or beyond. The zone has a central area when you enter, then branches off into two larger areas towards the back of the zone. The best part for me was approaching Castle Thex. I always thought the castle in the middle of Qeynos was cool, Castle Thex totally puts it to shame. At the time I was there there seemed to be no way to get into the castle, I hope someday we all can see inside.

A couple of other things I wanted to share with you. I did get to explore Crushbone a lot more in detail. There wasn’t a whole lot to take additional pictures of beyond what I took in the press tour, but Val and I did make it through the whole dungeon. Deep in the upstairs level is a separate zone, a little bit higher level than Crushbone itself (mid 30’s). It was here after a lot of killing and looting that we found the throne room and D’vinn, who challenged us to a series of battles which ended up with us fighting with a new much more colorful version of Crush. It will be a fun time for groups in their lower 30’s.

I also explored Butcherblock a great deal but wasn’t allowed to show you much of it, except for a few new mobs (another here) I found within and a watery druid ring. Nice zone overall.

I also ventured all throughout Kaladim but all I can show you from it is this giant beer keg and this cool looking guy I found within. This was one zone that didn’t really live up to my expectations honestly. But it will be a fun dungeon for those in their high 50’s and 60’s.

Also a lot of people have been asking how you will get to Faydwer. I can confirm it is by boat, which stops at the Thundering Steppes and Nek Forest docks. This is another thing I was disappointed by, the boat only comes every 10 mins or so currently (subject to change) but there is no actual zone or anything you ride through, the boat is simply a vessel for allowing you to zone between the continents. Plus they didn’t even do a new model for the boat, I think it’s the same one as on the starting island.

Overall, I am still even more impressed than ever with this expansion. As I said above the graphics are just awesome in nearly every zone, and after playing around more with a fae character, everyone is going to want one they are so much fun. I’ll try to get everyone more info as it becomes available.