House of Thule

EverQuest's seventeenth expansion. Released October 12, 2010.

Details
EverQuest® House of Thule™ is the seventeenth expansion of the groundbreaking EverQuest franchise. Now in its unprecedented twelfth year, EverQuest continues to add immersive gameplay, captivating storytelling and exciting worlds to its legacy, now set in a never-before-seen dreamland full of mystery and adventure. House of Thule offers an expansion rich in content and packed with game-changing features including a level cap increase and the addition of player housing, which new players, veterans and MMO fans will relish.
 * Level cap increase to level 90.
 * Player housing.
 * Neighborhoods instanced off of guild lobby.
 * New Guild Lobby.
 * Inventory upgrades.
 * Two extra base inventory slots if you own the expansion.
 * Some existing bags will be made larger. Larger bags will be available from quests/drops/tradeskills/LoN and Marketplace.


 * More details can be found in this post by SOE.
 * Even more details, along with a video, can be found in this post by SOE.

Informational email
Some players have gotten an email on some details:

Across Norrath prominent figures are falling into dream-induced comas. The clerics and mystics of the land are powerless to wake their leaders from their unnatural sleep, evidence that something is deeply wrong in the world of dreams.

A strange home has appeared in the Feerrott jungle, its look sinister, its purpose, unknown. Upon entering the house, the air is thick with tension, caused by an ensuing conflict between the Thule deities; Cazic, Terris and Morell; the Lord of Dreams. Their turmoil has affected the world of Norrath, clashing reality with delusion, and around every twisting passageway, dreams and nightmares take on their physical forms. Unhinged by imagination, there's no way of knowing what beings lay in wait for intrepid explorers. Prevail over the overlords of the House of Thule. Unravel its secrets and prevent Norrath from being consumed by the power of its dreams.

New House of Thule Game Features:


 * Go from 85 to 90 – Achieve a New Max Level of 90 and set a new standard of gameplay
 * More than 800 AAs – Elevate your power and abilities beyond the norm
 * In-game Housing Addition – Make your permanent mark on the world! Collect and display treasured items
 * New Housing Trophy System – Display your trophies and receive statistical benefits
 * Hundreds of new housing items to decorate your house to your own style
 * 18 Raids – Collect valuable rewards from all new adventures
 * 13 Zones – Be the first to discover untouched lands of Norrath
 * 450+ Spells – Exponentially add to your caster's arsenal
 * 17 Missions – Experience intriguing lore and immersive Missions
 * 120+ Quests – Challenge your skills and gather useful loot
 * Inventory increase – Indulge the packrat in you and collect even more game goodies

30 days of game time included with purchase (new accounts only; excludes existing game and Station Access accounts)

Pre-order's coming up so keep up to date on all of the upcoming House of Thule announcements!

Zones

 * Miragul's Phylactery - This is the zone for the the raid instance The Force of Eternity. The geometry is different than the regular Miragul's Nightmare.
 * Sunrise Hills - Player housing zone. The zone in is found in the northwest corner of the Guild Lobby.

Tiers
Tiers 1 and 2 are unlocked. T3 unlocks after you do the missions for T1 and T2. T4 unlocks after you do the missions for T3. Same as Underfoot, someone will need to do the mission prerequisites to get the missions.

Note: Only the person requesting the mission needs to do the prerequisite tasks, the other players do not. They are only needed to request the missions, not to do them.

Tier 1
 * Feerrott, the Dream
 * House of Thule (zone)

Tier 2
 * Erudin Burning
 * The Grounds
 * The Library
 * The Well

Tier 3
 * Al'Kabor's Nightmare
 * Miragul's Nightmare
 * The Upper Floors
 * Fear Itself

Tier 4

At the moment it is not clear if these tasks gain you anything beyond an achievement. It does appear that you need to complete the achievement Knocking on Sanctum's Door by doing the Morell's Castle raid The Awakening in order to do Sanctum Somnium raids.
 * Morell's Castle - Hippity Hoppity Kill
 * Prerequisite tasks: Satyrical Riddles, Gouzah Safari, Pirate's Blues, A Few Buckets of Sand, Suspiciously Sweet Treats, The Staff Retreat
 * Sanctum Somnium - Progression (Morell's Challenge)
 * Prerequisite tasks: Sage Jarith: Morell's Sanctuary, Sage Jarith: Dreamland Assault, Sage Jarith: The Key to the Tower, Seamus Greendream: Me Gold, Stash and Go

Accessing HoT
In The Feerrott is a small gray statue on the banks of the Greenblood river. It is along the south wall, west of the entrance to Cazic-Thule, just across the river. Location -1430, 1015. Clicking this statue transports you to the HoT version of The Feerrott. Druids and Wizards get port spells to The Grounds. The guild portal is able to send you to Feerrott, the Dream.

Spells
Note: Some spells require Dream Delvers faction. Rank I spells are purchased with platinum, except for those spells that require faction, which are purchased with Dream Motes.

Rank I
Rank I spells are purchased in Feerrott, the Dream from NPCs who are gathered at the zone in from The Feerrott (west of the entrance to Cazic Thule).
 * Level 86 spells - Feril Brandigar, -1360, 715
 * Level 87 spells - William the Tall, -1382, 658
 * Level 88 spells - Dyla, -1385, 667
 * Level 89 spells - Gonop, -1373, 659
 * Level 90 spells - Kyluc, -1381, 671

Rathon Darkforest and Rotharran Radhelm in Feerrott, the Dream near the zone line to the Mountains of Rathe at around 510, 2800 will sell you some spells when your faction with the Dream Delvers is indifferent or better. Dream Motes are required to purchase them.

Rank II (and port)
Port spells can be purchased with platinum in Feerrott, the Dream from Kaelynn Stearns, who is near the zone line to the Mountains of Rathe at 518, 2818.

If you hail her and follow through the conversation, she also offers quests for Rank II spells. Get the quest and hand her the appropriate Dream Fragment and choose whichever spell you wish.
 * Minor Nebulous Dream Fragment - 86 spell
 * Lesser Nebulous Dream Fragment - 87 spell
 * Median Nebulous Dream Fragment - 88 spell
 * Greater Nebulous Dream Fragment - 89 spell
 * Glowing Nebulous Dream Fragment - 90 spell

Dream Delvers faction is required to purchase level 89 and 90 spells.

Rank III
These spells result from raid turn-ins. Gotten from Spensur in The Grounds (location -60, -1685, -100). As with the Rank II spells, you request a task from him and can actually choose which spell you want.
 * Minor ?
 * Lesser ?
 * Median ?
 * Greater ?
 * Glowing ?

Armor
Much like Underfoot clays, HoT mobs can drop armor remnants. Armor remnants are separated into tier and combined with either vendor bought, trade skill, or previous tier armors.
 * Rasper's Repository - House of Thule: Visible Armor
 * Allakhazam's House of Thule Armor Guide
 * Tier 1: Exactly like Underfoot, get a template for your armor
 * Tier 2-4: Can use the previous tier's armor Remnant or vendor template

To combine armor you will need the 3 slot container named "Shroud of Dreams", available from Zande Vorich who is right by the House of Thule zone door in Feerrott, the Dream. You will also need your class specific Coalescing Agent which he sells. A Binding Type is also needed.

Note: If using a previous tier armor as a "Binding Type" make sure to remove all augments first.

AA bonus scale changes
Quote from SOE forums thread by Elidroth, EQ Developer:

Considering how many AA people have to get these days to be a capable player in the minds of the min-max'er crowd.. I've moved the AAXP bonus scale to reach 0% bonus at 2500AA for House of Thule. The bonus degrades linearly from 500% at 0, to 100% at 2500.

Pre-order and post-order
Order information from SOE EverQuest Players news:

Pre-order
You'll be able to pre-order your copy of House of Thule (via digital download) scheduled to begin on September 9, 2010. Pre-order will end on October 11, 2010.

If you pre-order between September 9 and October 11, 2010:

Station Store Digital Download: Collector's Edition ($69.99 USD):


 * Includes House of Thule and all previous expansions
 * Includes the following in-game items:
 * Live Topiary Mount
 * Dead Topiary Mount
 * Gnoll Pup Leash
 * Sword of Truth Template
 * 20 Slot Bag
 * Two Bag Slots
 * Wailing Mercenary Contract
 * Discordant Mercenary Contract
 * House of Thule Box Art Painting
 * House of Thule Painting

Station Store Digital Download ($39.99 USD):


 * Includes House of Thule and all previous expansions
 * Includes all of the following in-game items:
 * Live Topiary Mount
 * 16 slot bag
 * 2 bag slots
 * Wailing Mercenary Contract (pre-order bonus item only)
 * House of Thule Box Art Painting

Post-order
If you order on or after October 12, 2010:

Station Store Digital Download: Collector's Edition ($89.99 USD):


 * Includes House of Thule and all previous expansions
 * Includes the following in-game items:
 * Live Topiary Mount
 * Dead Topiary Mount
 * Gnoll Pup Leash
 * Sword of Truth Template
 * 20 Slot Bag
 * Two Bag Slots
 * Wailing Mercenary Contract
 * Discordant Mercenary Contract
 * House of Thule Box Art Painting
 * House of Thule Painting

Station Store Digital Download ($39.99 USD):


 * Includes House of Thule and all previous expansions
 * Includes all of the following in-game items:
 * Live Topiary Mount
 * 16 slot bag
 * 2 bag slots
 * House of Thule Box Art Painting