EQ2: Test Updates

Some highlights from the latest Test updates:
* The Avatars of the Gods have returned with renewed strength and new members: The Tribunal, Karana and Bertoxxolous.
Yay! I never had a chance to kill an avatar. All three of these fights were a blast in EQ1. I think Karana was the last pickup raid I ever led in EQ1. Three or four guildies needed it so one night I organized a run for them and called in random people to help — Erollisi Marr had a strong pick-up raid community. Unfortunately, the loot was ninjad. I was very disappointed.
* New mannequins are available for displaying armor and weapons in your house. You can acquire them from some of your more dedicated and advanced crafting friends
Sounds like ally faction and level 80. Everyone hug their crafter )
There should now be fewer unreachable mining nodes in the Sinking Sands. Should you encounter any after this update, please submit a /bug with the location.
Finally! Tier 6 harvesters rejoince!
Repeatable quests in Kunzar Jungle now give more faction.
More signs max faction will be required for epics.
* Charasis: the Maiden’s Chamber
Bilithu of the Old Ways:
Summons of the Feaster is no longer affected by mana draining spells and abilities.
Bilithu’s power pool has been reduced.
Ha! THANK YOU! I hated waiting around while someone drains this mob so he doesn’t port you to the next room and AE you. First few times I killed him we just PAID ATTENTION and hurried out of the room once we were ported. And then all the groups started doing the draining. So boring and slow. When playing my troub, I’ll be able to use my handful of power-draining techniques while in combat, which is how it should have worked.
Drusella Sathir:
Drusella’s Necromantic Aura now initially clears all hostile spells cast on her.
Good, we can use our DoTs again.
While under the protection of her necromantic aura, Drusella will no longer auto attack.
Good, the tank will no longer heal her by accidentally parrying or riposting her attacks. These two things will make her very much easier to kill.
Artisan quests on the Isle of Mara now grant tradeskill experience, instead of adventure experience.
Too bad there’s only a couple of those quests…
* Repeating the Sebilis quests “Swords To Be Swiped” and “Sathirian Hunting Party” will now reward more Synod Reet faction than previously.
That was a hard faction to raise. And why do you want to raise it? Epics.
* Tradeskill societies in the five starting cities of Norrath now offer a new recipe book to those they regard warmly.
I guess this is for mannequins. Warmly isn’t too bad.
* The pet options window allows you to set custom options for every pet you have. To open this window, right click on a pet and choose Pet Options or type /petoptions. Settings persist through recasting of your pet and include:
Pet Name
Pet Hide Status
Controllable pet states:
– Protect Me
– Protect Self
– Stay
– Follow
– Fight Melee
– Fight Ranged
This is a new window. Now my pocket iron golem can have a different name than my Moocow deity pet…
* We’ve added a connection statistics window which will show your ping, bytes per second, frames per second and packet loss. The default key to toggle this window is F11.
This will make it far easier to tune your UI for looks and performance.

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