Hero's Forge

Hero's Forge is a armor augmentation ornamentation system which went live August 15, 2012.

It costs a one-time purchase of 1200 Station Cash per character. You receive one complete set of No Trade basic style Hero's Forge armor appearance augmentations and unlock the ability to use Hero's Forge armor pieces.

Viewing Hero's Forge armor may be disabled (for performance or aesthetic reasons) in the Options > Display tab > New Armor. You can choose to have it on for everyone (default), your raid, your group, yourself, or no one at all.

For information on how to obtain the armor, see the Armor sets section below.

Much is still unknown and some information here is conjecture.


 * EverQuest Community News: Questions about Hero’s Forge Answered

Initial announcement
Hero's Forge is an new armor system that allows you to dramatically change the appearance of your armor. Working similarly to the augmentation system, which has also received upgrades, Hero's Forge is an add-on system that will be sold per character.

Once you purchase this new system for a character, you will be given one set of armor that you can use immediately. You will receive a Plate, Chain, Leather, or Cloth Armor Set, depending on your class preferred type. Any character that has the feature will also be able to obtain a selection of armor, including multiple color variations and different styles through all sorts of different activities within EverQuest.

We plan on continually adding new armor and color variations after this brand new system goes live. In addition to the armor found in game, we plan to offer additional sets, colors, and pieces through the Marketplace in the future, though the finest pieces will be available all over Norrath through normal game play.

Details

 * There are achievements for collecting full sets, once you wear them.
 * Except for the original set ("Hero's Forge" armor set) you get, every other piece is trade-able (if not yet equipped). You can collect them even before you buy into the system. They are attuneable and heirloom.
 * Robes are planned to be offered to robe wearing classes only. No word on monks getting robes.
 * Wizard pointy hats planned.

Add / Remove
You shouldn't need a distiller to remove the Hero's Forge ornamentations, just click on the ornamentation to place/remove it. That should not destroy the ornamentation.

Colors
Dyes don't work with Hero's Forge armor augmentations.

From the August 17, 2012 patch notes: New color variations for Hero's Forge plate, chain, and leather armor are now available. Some can be found on any level 10+ NPCs, and some only in hotzones. Cloth armor variants will be available in the same manner in an upcoming update.

Wrists
You only need one wrist piece to show both wrists. Put the armor ornamentation on the right bracer as you are looking at your inventory. Then when you zone the look will not change.

Armor sets
Although the armor has "sets", you can wear pieces from different sets (e.g. Noble chest and Eternal Grove legs). You mileage may vary on how well it will look.

Cloth pieces of the Auburn Hero's Forge, Beryl Hero's Forge, Ebon Hero's Forge and Viridian Hero's Forge sets are currently not dropping but will in a future update. You may now purchase a robe from Keliss Arden in PoK. Additional robes will be released with Rain of Fear.

It was also mentioned that the "Trivial Loot Code" applies. That means that the mob must be dark blue or higher to every member of a group or an armor piece will not drop.

The dark blue or higher kills for Hero's Forge drops in intended. This does create an issue with the set that drops in Hot Zones, so you can expect a change to make sure everyone can get that set.

Eternal Grove and Insidious were available for purchase for VoA Alternate currency. Prices were 120 Rebellion Chits or 240 Diamond Coins or 800 Bronze Fiats per piece. However, they were removed from those vendors, no word on when they will return.


 * Auburn Hero's Forge - Any level 10+ NPC.
 * Beryl Hero's Forge - Any level 10+ NPC in a current Hotzone.
 * Bloodforged - Obtained as rare drops off level 80+ rare mobs (named).
 * Ebon Hero's Forge - Any level 10+ NPC.
 * Eternal Grove - Raid bosses level 80+.
 * Hero's Forge - This is the "basic" set that you get when you purchase Hero's Forge for your character. It may also be purchased from Keliss Arden in PoK.
 * Insidious - Raid bosses level 98+.
 * Noble
 * Noble [Silk, Leather, Chain, Plate] Wrist Ornament - Reward for completing Mercenary of Argath, Bastion of Illdaera.
 * Noble [Silk, Leather, Chain, Plate] Feet Ornament - Reward for completing Mercenary of the Valley of Lunanyn.
 * Noble [Silk, Leather, Chain, Plate] Hands Ornament - Reward for completing Mercenary of Sarith, City of Tides.
 * Noble [Silk, Leather, Chain, Plate] Helm Ornament - Reward for completing Mercenary of Rubak Oseka, Temple of the Sea.
 * Noble [Silk, Leather, Chain, Plate] Arms Ornament - Reward for completing Mercenary of the Beasts' Domain.
 * Noble [Silk, Leather, Chain, Plate] Legs Ornament - Reward for completing Mercenary of The Resplendent Temple.
 * Noble [Silk, Leather, Chain, Plate] Chest Ornament - Reward for completing Mercenary of Erillion, City of Bronze.
 * Sylvan - Dropped from rare NPCs (named) level 10+.
 * Valiant - Dropped from Veil of Alaris mission chests.
 * Violet Hero's Forge - Tradeskilled.
 * Viridian Hero's Forge - Any level 10+ NPC.
 * Special
 * Holiday Items - Jack-o-lantern head/helmet planned for Halloween. Santa's hat planned for Frostfell.
 * Special Events
 * Surprises

Tradeskills
It has been announced that some Hero's Forge armor may be created using tradeskills. Currently, only the Violet Hero's Forge set may be tradeskilled.

From the August 17, 2012 patch notes: The Firepride Secret of Heroes has been discovered. Skilled crafters should seek out this new tome available from tradeskill vendors around the world. It contains recipes for creating another color variation of plate, chain, and leather armor. Cloth recipes will not function yet.

Details from SOE webcast

 * You can watch it here: http://www.twitch.tv/soe/b/327199008 (it is 21 minutes 25 seconds long)

Highlights with approximate timestamps where it starts:
 * Launching on August 15 (0:50)
 * FAQ and extra stuff up sometime on August 3 (1:20)
 * Augmentation system made easier, no longer need to use an augment pool, All Augments work this way now (2:35)
 * Get set of armor when you purchase it, find pieces from normal gameplay, can mix and match pieces, can swap it in and out, check appearance (3:10)
 * Appearance system, no stats, not selling power right now (4:00)
 * "Hundreds" of pieces of armor will drop in game for you to use (5:30)
 * New styles, new colors, drops from bosses, raid bosses, doing missions, achievements, tradeskill option (6:12)
 * Absor says mr toads wild ride is the best (6:51)
 * Get drops on the actual raid boss, loot from boss not chest, in missions it may be in mission chest, some rare NPCs have a chance to drop them, and some come from achievements, in the future more pieces may be gotten from normal loot, like level 10 NPCs for low levels, Level 10+, Tradeskills at any level (7:30)
 * Armor works for all races all classes, equal to the armor type you are wearing (9:38)
 * There will be achievements for collecting full sets, once you wear it (10:45)
 * Green stuff is generally easier to get then red stuff, blue stuff is in the middle (11:00)
 * Get a reward set that has all 7 pieces in it after you buy it, they fit on all races (12:08)
 * They fit on all races (12:20)
 * Ebon/Violet Leather, thinks Tradeskillers make this set (Colors might be off of what they are seeing so it may not be exactly of the 2 sets): (14:22)
 * Valiant Plate Set, will be a little harder to get, middle of road, mission chests in Veil of Alaris (15:00)
 * Noble version comes from Achievements in Veil of Alaris (16:04)
 * A lot of the stuff is gonna come from Veil of Alaris, will already be there not waiting for future (16:11)
 * Noble from achievements, Valiant from Missions, Bloodforge from level 80+ Rare NPCs, Insidious Set Raid NPCs of level 98+ VoA and possibly higher HoT ones (16:26)
 * Sylvan is rare NPCs 10+, Eternal Grove is Raid NPCs 80+ (17:31)
 * Except for the original set you get, every other piece is trade-able, you can collect them even before you buy into the system, they are attuneable and heirloom (18:16)
 * Future: Holiday items, like a Santa's hat for Frostfell, wizard pointy hat, robes, jack-o-lantern head/helmet, close-faced helmets instead of open, robes still restricted to classes that can use robes (19:20)