EQ:Secrets of Faydwer  

The Beginning

• Secrets of Faydwer was announced on July 11, 2007, and was launched on November 13, 2007.
• The initial announcement may be found here and the expansion-release patch message may be found here.

What's Going On

• Meldrath the Malignant, the evil gnomish necromancer, has begun gathering his armies in the Steamfont Mountains, preparing to invade Ak'anon.
• Meldrath has launched Mechanotus, a floating fortress. In the process, he tore the very fabric of the continent of Faydwer, and revealing previously unexplored ancient lands.
• Additional information on the lore behind SOF can be found in an eleven part "Unfolding the Lore" series on the EQLive website:
• Part 1: Meldrath the Mad and Fortress Mechanotus
• Part 2: The Gyrospire Towers - Beza and Zeka
• Part 3: The S.H.I.P. Workshop and the Steam Factory
• Part 4: Meldrath's Majestic Mansion
• Part 5: Curse of the Bloodmoon
• Part 6: Bloodmoon Keep
• Part 7: Hills of Shade
• Part 8: Crypt of Shade
• Part 9: Crystallos, Lair of the Awakened
• Part 10: Dragonscale Hills
• Part 11: The Guardian

New Features

• Heroic Statistics will be found on many SOF-dropped items, both at the raid and group level, and will modify things such as avoidance and mitigation, give extra melee damage, add extra modifiers to HP, Mana, and Endurance, and so forth.
• The level cap increases from 75 to 80.
• Fifteen new zones have launched.
• New alternate advancement abilities have been put in place, approximately 240-250 AA worth for each class.

Gear in Secrets of Faydwer

• There are four new tiers of groupable gear, along with four new tiers of raid gear. Tier 4 group gear has approximately 550 HP and is infusible, tier 4 raid gear has approximately 850 HP and is infusible.
• Each tier of gear, in addition to having full sets of visible armor, will include a full range of weapon types.
• Group and Raid Armor progression is listed this Armor Guide
• As we get more info, further details on both group and raid gear will be found on their respective tier pages, linked below.
• Also refer:SOFG Tier Four

Spells in Secrets of Faydwer

• Spells will be structured in a three rank system in SOF, similar to the one found in TSS and TBS.
• Rk. I spells and tomes are bought from vendors:
• Level 76 from Ellymil Cogswin in the Dragonscale Hills at approximate location +900, -535.
• Level 77 from Kedem Teague in the Loping Plains at approximate location -2320, -520.
• Level 78 from Inizen Nogglezop in Fortress Mechanotus at approximate location +890, -1455, +405.
• Level 79 from Naene Ebonlocke in the Hills of Shade at approximate location -65, +1475, 0.
• Level 80 from Seyan Ebonlocke in the Hills of Shade at approximate location +980, -580.
• Rk. II spells and tomes are dropped by level-appropriate mobs or bought off of vendors requiring faction. The faction spells are detailed on the individual class pages, found through Classes.
• Rk. III spells and tomes result from turnins of runes from raid events or are purchased off of elite vendors after unlocking via a combination of faction and group and/or raid missions.

SOF Zones

• There are fifteen new zones with SOF, twelve primarily group zones and three primarily raid zones.
• You can download maps of all of the new zones here.
• Group content in SOF is separated in to four tiers:

• Tier one consists of Dragonscale Hills and the Loping Plains. More info on T1, including details on loot and what to expect from the zones in general can be found here.
• Tier two consists of seven zones; Bloodmoon Keep, The Mechamatic Guardian(Instance), The Hills of Shade,The Crypt of Shade(Instance), The Fortress Mechanotus, and the Gyrospires Beza andZeka. More info on T2, including details on loot and what to expect from the zones in general can be found here.
• Tier three consists of three zones; the S.H.I.P. Workshop, The Steam Factory, and Meldrath's Majestic Mansion. More info on T3, including details on loot and what to expect from the zones in general can be found here.
• Tier four consists of a single zone, Crystallos, the Lair of the Awakened. Information on T4 loot and the group version of Crystallos itself, may be found here.

• It's currently unknown what raid T1 will consist of; as info becomes available, it will be found here.
• It's currently unknown what raid T2 will consist of; as info becomes available, it will be found here.
• It's currently unknown what raid T3 will consist of; as info becomes available, it will be found here.
• It's currently unknown what raid T4 will consist of; as info becomes available, it will be found here. It is probably safe to assume that the final event in T4 will involve Kerafyrm himself.

Access

• Access to Meldrath's Majestic Mansion is granted in the process of completing the task "The Search for the Ultimate Story" .
• Access to Crystallos, Lair of the Awakened is granted midway through the task Beyond the Barrier.

Achievement Quests

• Explorer of Dragonscale Hills
• Champion of the Loping Plains
• Reconstructed Wereorc Head

Lore Group Circum and Augmentation

• Ancient Faycite Bone Circum (Ancient Faycite Bone Circum)
• Model XLII Spatial Temporal Oculus (Reward)