The Darkened Sea

The Darkened Sea (TDS) is EverQuest's 21st expansion. It will be released for All Access members on October 28, 2014. Free to play accounts (with purchase of expansion) will gain access on November 11, 2014. Beta September 16 – October 24.

Pre-order
As announced at SOE Live, The Darkened Sea will be our 21st Expansion and it will be launched in a slightly different way than in years past. We do not plan on having a Pre-Order period this year before the launch date. However, if you are an All-Access Member, you will be able to buy and get into the expansion on October 28, two weeks earlier than our full release on November 11, 2014. We are also working on an easy way for players to purchase the expansion plus a monthly subscription to get in quickly and avoid getting left behind. Stay tuned for those details very soon.

Editions
TDS will come in two editions, Standard and Collector's.
 * SOE forum announcement: Dive into The Darkened Sea with these Bonus Items!

All Access discount
If you’re an All-Access member, you can purchase and play this expansion two weeks early (starting on Tuesday, October 28) and you can take 10% off your purchase of either the Standard or Collector’s Edition of The Darkened Sea!

Standard Edition
The Standard Edition of The Darkened Sea will be available for $39.99. It will include (in addition to access to The Darkened Sea):


 * Four paintings for your house or guild hall:
 * Painting: Coastal Brigand
 * Painting: Forgetful Strike
 * Painting: Speed of Faith
 * Painting: The Darkened Sea


 * Contract of the Lizardman - Lizardman mercenary (for each character on your account)
 * Metamorph Totem: Ankylosaurus - Summon an Ankylosaurus dinosaur pet or transform your current pet into an Ankylosaurus dinosaur (for each character on your account).

Collector’s Edition
The Collector’s Edition of The Darkened Sea will be available for $89.99. It will include all of the items from the Standard Edition, plus the following:


 * Heroic Character - Players will be able to claim a single Heroic Character.


 * The Heroic Character will come with:
 * 15,000 Platinum
 * Jungle Raptor Mount
 * Two 24-Slot Bags
 * Spells
 * Thousands of Auto-Granted Alternative Advancement Abilities (AA’s)
 * Full Set of Equipment, including weapons, armor, Power Source and Charm
 * Food, Drink, and Ammo
 * 100 Bayle Marks


 * The Wayward Lady House - You will receive one sailing ship house.
 * Contract of the Arc Worker - Arc worker mercenary. Each character on your account will be able to obtain a Contract of the Arc Worker.

Features

 * Advanced looting feature
 * Adaptive System - Always loot what you want and never show you items you don't want to see. Auto loot and put in inventory.
 * Random Rolling
 * Master Looter
 * Solo, Group & Raids!
 * Assign master looter in raids.
 * Level Cap Increase to 105
 * New Spells, AAs, and Items for Level 105
 * Mount Key Ring
 * New Tradeskills, new cultural gear.
 * New Spells
 * New AAs
 * Auto-Granted AAs from House of Thule to All Access characters (if auto-grant enabled).
 * New Hero's Forge armor sets.

Level 101+ Pre-CotF XP nerf
Once you hit level 101, content released prior to Call of the Forsaken will grant less experience. This includes tasks, rewards, and farming NPCs.

Zones
Higher tier zones are locked until you complete certain missions.

Tier 1:
 * Katta Castrum: Deluge
 * Tempest Temple - Hub zone. Worshipers of Karana seeking to create the perfect storm.

Tier 2:
 * Brother Island
 * Caverns of Endless Song - Siren queen. Some swimming but most fighting out of water.

Tier 3:
 * Arx Mentis - Final zone. This zone is a floating fortress of the Combine Empire.
 * Combine Dredge - Mining platforms to harvest from the bottom of the ocean. Raised from the ocean by magic.
 * Degmar, the Lost Castle - Insane dwarves. Magical barrier keeps out the sea.
 * Thuliasaur Island - Dinosaurs and lizardmen. And Drogmor.  Temple to Cazic-Thule.

Getting to TDS
Characters will be able to zone from The Buried Sea to Tempest Temple (hub zone). It is expected that there will be druid and wizard ports and guild hall portal access to TDS.

Progression
Some zones will be locked until you complete certain missions.

Here is the zone order to unlock (Katta Castrum: Deluge and Tempest Temple both unlocked just by owning TDS):
 * Brother Island and Caverns of Endless Song
 * Degmar, the Lost Castle
 * Thuliasaur Island
 * Combine Dredge
 * Arx Mentis

Zone unlocking
Completing the following missions will grant you access to Brother Island and Caverns of Endless Song:
 * A Rising Storm - Given by Mate Rominald in Tempest Temple.
 * Gathering Clouds - Given by Krinoch Jal in Tempest Temple.
 * Clearer Skies - Given by Ognit Eznertob in Tempest Temple.
 * The Pellarus Sanctum - Given by Head Mage Antius in Katta Castrum: Deluge.
 * The Edge of Balance - Given by Firiona Vie in Katta Castrum: Deluge.
 * The Absent Scholar - Given by Firiona Vie in Katta Castrum: Deluge.

Completing the following missions will grant you access to Degmar, the Lost Castle:
 * Just Recompense - Given by Jameswell Dagmire in Brother Island.
 * The Cover of Night - Given by Quigley Barnables in Brother Island.
 * Loyal is the Heart - Given by Brother Dilgen in Caverns of Endless Song.
 * Leave No Brother Behind - Given by Brother Dilgen in Caverns of Endless Song.
 * Two Sides of the Shield - Given by Brother Visius in Caverns of Endless Song.

Completing the following missions will grant you access to Thuliasaur Island:
 * The Sacred Profaned - Given by Thubr Axebringer in Degmar, the Lost Castle.
 * Castle Relic - Given by Priestess Gli'helin in Degmar, the Lost Castle.
 * Crying for the Dead - Given by Thubr Axebringer in Degmar, the Lost Castle.
 * Burden of the Past - Given by Thubr Axebringer in Degmar, the Lost Castle.

Completing the following missions will grant you access to Combine Dredge:
 * An Endless Cycle - Given by Lyirae Oakynd in Thuliasaur Island.
 * To Remake Eden - Given by Galeth Veredeth in Thuliasaur Island.
 * Fit for the New World - Given by Galeth Veredeth in Thuliasaur Island.

Completing the following missions will grant you access to Arx Mentis:
 * A Fickle Wind Blows - Given by Firiona Vie in Combine Dredge.
 * What Hate Begets - Given by Firiona Vie in Combine Dredge.
 * Deep Lies the Snow - Given by Firiona Vie in Combine Dredge.

Raid progression
New to TDS are "One Off" raids. These raids will give participants a 4.5 day lockout upon requesting the raid. The lockout remains even if you fail. Both One Off raids spawn when you beat Defense of the City. However, Praetor Vitio spawns in the Tier 2 part of the zone and not accessible without flagging.

All seven raids take place in the same instance of Arx Mentis. The raid giver is Firiona Vie in Katta Castrum: Deluge. You have to flag for access to Tier 2 and Tier 3 areas. Unflagged players entering the higher tier areas get kicked to the entrance area.

Alternate currency
TDS introduces two new alternate currency types.
 * Arx Energy Crystals
 * Pieces of Eight

More details will be posted here when they are available.

Lore
Firiona Vie has been traveling the world on a mission from the goddess Tunare to bring the realm back into balance. Her latest efforts have brought her to the Buried Sea, seeking to heal the ruler of the Combine Empire, Tsaph Katta.

Now it’s time for you to travel to the domed city of Katta Castrum and find Firiona! After Firiona came here with her allies to heal Tsaph, the city was attacked by Lanys T`vyl and a corrupt splinter faction of the Combine. In the chaos, Tsaph was kidnapped. Now it’s up to Norrath’s heroes to find and rescue Tsaph, foil the nefarious plans Lanys has, and acquire amazing loot along the way!

Video trailers
SOE Live 2014: EverQuest - The Darkened Sea Expansion Keynote

Preview videos below released by SOE. Note that they are all without sound except for the robes video:

(Videos open in new tab)


 * Arx Mentis
 * Caverns of Endless Song
 * Combine Dredge
 * Degmar, the Lost Castle
 * Tempest Temple
 * Thuliasaur Island


 * New Robes

All are welcome to use them for fan websites or personal use. Videos copyright Sony Online Entertainment LLC.