Hardcore Heritage

Hardcore Heritage is a yearly event where they revisit some older zones and update them to provide a more challenging environment. Each zone update lasts a few weeks and then they revert it back to the old zone.

For 2013, it begins on June 28, with the Blackburrow and Cazic Thule zones. It rotates through eight zones and ends on September 16.

2013
On June 28, Blackburrow and Cazic Thule will be the first zones you can visit. Then on July 19, Lower Guk and Unrest will be changed and Blackburrow and Cazic Thule will go back to normal on July 22. In early August, Crushbone and Permafrost will change and in late August, we will have two new zones we have not released before under the Hardcore Heritage banner.

June 28 – July 22


 * Blackburrow (Level 80) - a/k/a Reinforced Blackburrow
 * Cazic Thule (Level 80) - a/k/a Lost Temple of Cazic-Thule

July 19 – August 12


 * Lower Guk (Level 85) - a/k/a Darkened Ruins of Old Guk
 * Unrest (Level 85) - a/k/a Greater Unrest

August 9 – August 26


 * Crushbone (Level 90) a/k/a Clan Crushbone - There's a new challenge for two to three groups of players, can you defeat Emperor Crush and his stalwart allies?


 * Note that the Hardcore Heritage revamped Crushbone will not cause any faction problems with the Indigo Brotherhood that the normal zone does.


 * This revamp and raid is aimed at roughly T2 [HoT] difficulty and reward.


 * Permafrost (Level 90) a/k/a Permafrost Caverns.

August 23 – September 16


 * Castle Mistmoore?
 * Nagafen's Lair?


 * According to a SOE forum post, a bug in the achievements window showed that the new zones this year are Castle Mistmoore and Nagafen's Lair.

2012
Hardcore Heritage zone revamps begin with Blackburrow and the Temple of Cazic Thule on May 11th, 2012! Lower Guk and Unrest will transform on June 1st, and Crushbone and Permafrost will transform on June 22nd.

The schedule for 2012 is as follows:

May 11 – May 31?


 * Blackburrow (Level 80) - a/k/a Reinforced Blackburrow
 * Cazic Thule (Level 80) - a/k/a Lost Temple of Cazic-Thule

June 1 - June 21?


 * Lower Guk (Level 85) - a/k/a Darkened Ruins of Old Guk
 * Unrest (Level 85) - a/k/a Greater Unrest

June 22 - ???


 * Crushbone (Level 90) a/k/a Clan Crushbone - There's a new challenge for two to three groups of players, can you defeat Emperor Crush and his stalwart allies?


 * Note that the Hardcore Heritage revamped Crushbone will not cause any faction problems with the Indigo Brotherhood that the normal zone does.

This revamp and raid is aimed at roughly T2 [HoT] difficulty and reward. This was stated as much in the Webcast I did a month ago [June 2011] or so.


 * Permafrost (Level 90) a/k/a Permafrost Caverns.

2011

 * EQ Players News: Are you ready for Hardcore Heritage? - dead link.

The schedule for 2011 is as follows:

May 23 – June 12


 * Blackburrow (Level 80) - a/k/a Reinforced Blackburrow
 * Cazic Thule (Level 80) - a/k/a Lost Temple of Cazic-Thule

June 13 - July 3


 * Lower Guk (Level 85) - a/k/a Darkened Ruins of Old Guk
 * Unrest (Level 85) - a/k/a Greater Unrest

July 1 - July 21

Lady Vox sits in the icy depths of Permafrost, her spidery companions lying in wait for those adventurers who are willing to challenge this queen amongst dragons. Emperor Crush resides upon his orcish throne, plotting with his Teir’Dal allies to destroy his enemies. Do you and your fellow adventurers have what it takes to defeat these enemies of Norrath?

The final phase of Hardcore Heritage is now live with the Crushbone and Permafrost revamps lasting from Friday July 1, 2011 until Thursday July 21, 2011! These classic zones have been upgraded to be a challenge for level 90 players, and both include raids to further reward those ready for new risks. Get to the upgraded Crushbone and Permafrost today. They won’t last long!


 * Crushbone (Level 90) a/k/a Clan Crushbone - There's a new challenge for two to three groups of players, can you defeat Emperor Crush and his stalwart allies?


 * Note that the Hardcore Heritage revamped Crushbone will not cause any faction problems with the Indigo Brotherhood that the normal zone does.

This revamp and raid is aimed at roughly T2 difficulty and reward. This was stated as much in the Webcast I did a month ago or so.


 * Permafrost (Level 90) a/k/a Permafrost Caverns.

Clan Crushbone
Demise of the Emperor is an 18 person instanced raid. It is given by Elwin Faerlin at the zone line of Clan Crushbone. It has a lockout of 2 days, 6 hours.

It was dropping the same loot as the group Clan Crushbone mobs, however this was fixed on the night of July 5, 2011.

Permafrost Caverns
Lady Vox's Lair is a 54 person raid in Permafrost Caverns. It is designed as Tier 2 HoT difficulty, with Tier 3 HoT rewards.
 * The raid has several checks in place to prevent people from zoning in unless they were present during kills or they arrive soon afterward.

Players don't need to kill A Guardian of Vox to gain access to Vox's Lair, though anyone who wants to participate in the raid will need to click on the door to Vox's Lair soon after the Guardian has been killed (they should have enough time to make their way to the door before it stops working, though it won't work for too long)!

You are correct in that once flagged for entry into Vox's Lair, you will always have it. Those who do not have the flag should still be able to receive it from killing the Guardian, and/or clicking on the door soon after the Guardian's death.

The respawn timer on the A Guardian of Vox in order to get flagged or trigger to spawn the guardian is 2 hours plus or minus 20 minutes.

UPDATE: With the July 6, 2011 patch the following is now true -

Anyone without a lockout should be able to access Vox's Lair if A Guardian of Vox is down, regardless of who killed him.