EQ2Wire is proud to present our Game Update 63: Skyshrine Frequently Asked Questions guide.
After the jump, find out how to reach the Withered Lands and Skyshrine, what kind of solo, group, and raid content is available, a bit more about Prestige Points, and how to get started in Game Update 63 regardless of your play style!
Q: What are the pre-requisites to do the adventure (solo/group/raid) content in Game Update 63?
A: You must be level 90 and have the Destiny of Velious expansion flagged on your account. To level past level 90, you must have 280 AA points. Due to the AA curve adjustment, as long as you login with at least 248 AAs, you will get dinged to 280 AAs! NOTE: The Age of Discovery expansion is required for some features.
Q: How do I travel to the Withered Lands?
A: Seek out Lieutenant Rennik on the Thurgadin docks opposite the other Griffon Trainer. Listen to his story (or not) and then talk to the Griffon Tamer who will offer you the option of traveling to the Withered Lands.
Q: Is the Withered Lands just solo content?
A: There are some throngs of heroic mobs as you delve further into the Withered Lands. The cave-dwelling harpies and perched drakes aren’t so friendly. There are solo, heroic, and raid nameds within Withered Lands if you know where to look.
Q: Why am I not gaining experience / leveling?
A: Ensure that your AA slider is set to zero (0%) and that you do not have Combat XP or Bonus XP disabled. Also, make sure you have at least 280 AA points. You do not have to level in the Withered Lands or Skyshrine. If you prefer, you may level to 92 in any zone with non-trivial (green, blue, white, yellow, or orange) mobs.
Q: How do I get Prestige Points?
A: You must start leveling past 90. Every 20% of a level you gain after level 90 earns you a Prestige Point. You will have 5 points at level 91, and 10 points at level 92.
Q: How can I spend Prestige Points?
A: Unless you are willing to give up the end-of-line abilities, you must choose either the LEFT or RIGHT side of the Prestige Talents. There have been extensive discussions on the EQ2 forums about the Pros and Cons of these different lines which are unique for each class. You’ll have to decide which side is best for you!
BUG: The first time you gain a Prestige Point, you will need to Zone or Evac to be able to spend that point. This bug was reported on Test.
Q: I’m wearing Drunder heroic / EM / HM raid armor and jewelry, or Ry’Gorr armor, or ToFS x2 jewelry. Should I do the solo questlines in Withered Lands?
A: Most likely yes. As we will talk about in another article, Game Update 63 is a complete armor/jewelry reset, replacing virtually ALL Velious and Drunder solo, group, EM, and even HM raid armor and jewelry. Only Plane of War HM armor remains relevant (and barely so at that).
Q: Why do I keep getting knocked out of the sky when it rains?
A: Vyskudra the Ancient, a dragon who has gotten rather grumpy over the years, roams the Withered Lands. When she gets near, you will be forced to land and given a debuff preventing flight for a short time. Her arrival is predicated by the sight of rain. Naturally, this tends to happen at the most inopportune times, often leading you to crash land into thickets full of mobs.
Adventurers who complete the questlines at Alivan will be granted safe passage through the skies. Tradeskillers who complete their Withered Lands questlines receive a cloak that grants immunity to this skyward bullying.
Q: Can I bypass Withered Lands and go straight to Skyshrine?
A: Yep. You’ll need to traverse the length and breadth of the Withered Lands, with the aforementioned flight concerns in the back of your mind if you intend to fly there. The Drakurion Flight Master can be found in the area known as Alivan (marked on the map below as ‘to Skyshrine’).
Q: Is there a portal item to travel from my house or guild hall directly to Skyshrine?
A: Yes. This item may be purchased for 100 platinum pieces from the vendor in the marketplace area (north center) of the old city of Skyshrine. You will need to have opened this portal via completing some of the Heroic Access quests started by Hazrem.
Q: What can you tell me about Skyshrine?
A: Skyshrine is city of dragon and dragonkin. As a city under siege, it acts as a quest hub as well as a contested dungeon. The dragonkin need your help to turn the tide of battle in each of the three districts, and maybe even reverse the invasion altogether! Beyond the small arrival area, you will have to fight your way through to get anywhere in the war-torn city.
Q: What solo/duo content is there in Skyshrine?
Kill Captain Veezaran, Velkron, and Commander Mirrakar.
Kill Valagas, Hammilkor Barka, Nenlarn, Xerxix Mal’Fyrm (grouped with Mardonn Myr’Valak and Ariorb Vel’Kera), and Tigloth the Conqueror.
The reward for completing any of these missions is an “Ornate Crate of Endless Goodies” which provides a general item (special food, drink, repair kit, etc.) and a random piece of jewelry or armor. The challenging Dracur Prime (Tigloth) instance awards a second Ornate Crate of Endless Goodies.
Q: Is there an access quest to get to the heroic instances in Skyshrine?
A: Yes. Speak to the injured Hazrem in the Skyshrine arrival area and pick up the quest The Breach. This quest and the followup quest Defending Dracur requires killing droags in the contested areas of Skyshrine. After completing these two quests, you will speak to Jorlak who sends you into Skyshrine’s past with the quests Blast in the Past, Actuation Scroll Acquisition, Disc of Binding Ruined, Clash within Covenant District, and so on.
In the course of doing these quests, you also must at least partially complete the first three Skyshrine group instances — Covenant District, Lyceum of the Recondite, and Dracur Prime. These zones all require 4-6 decently-geared people. At the conclusion of these quests, you will have access to the old pre-war City of Skyshrine, and all of the heroic instances to include the Underdepths which is a massive zone with a dozen named encounters.
The quest Clash Within Covenenat District awards a Shoulder upgrade with 2 white, 1 red, and 1 yellow slot. The quest Temporal Gem Hunt awards an exceptional Ranged item. The quest Final Item for Jorlak awards a Boots upgrade with 2 white, 1 red, and 1 yellow slot.
As soon as ONE person in your group has completed these access quest(s), everyone in your group will be able to see the portal(s) to the Skyshrine instances which have been unlocked so far.
Q: What heroic/group instances are there in Skyshrine?
Q: How do I access the raid content in Skyshrine?
A: Once you complete the Heroic access quest lines, you’ll be able to see the portals to the raid zones. Only 1 member of the raid needs to have access to zone in.
Q: What raid content exists in Skyshrine?
Q: Why does all this gear have “Focus: Cleric Head” or “Focus: Scout Legs” or “Focus: Mage Forearms”, etc. on it?
A: Instead of having to create 25 different pieces of armor for each “set” of gear, the EQ2 team has introduced automagical Class Focuses to Skyshrine armor. This means that instead of armor “crates” with a list of different armor pieces to choose from, mobs now drop random armor pieces that are applicable to either Mages, Scouts, Leather Priests, Chain Priests, Plate Priests, Plate Fighters, or Leather Fighters. If the item is appropriate for your class, it automagically has your correct class focus.
If you had Ry’Gorr or Drunder group gear in Velious or raid gear in Rise of Kunark, The Shadow Odyssey, or Sentinel’s Fate, then you are already familiar with these class focuses which are improvements to spells or effects unique to your class.
NOTE: If you are viewing a piece of armor that is NOT your class/archetype, you’ll see a description like “Effects: When Equipped” or “This item does not have a class focus applicable to your class” . When you are viewing an item appropriate for your class/archetype, you will then see the applicable class focus.
Q: How do I acquire the Flying Drake Mounts?
A: Eashindor the Far-Seer is acquired from completing the quest lines within the challenging level 92 group instance The Underdepths.
A: Validon Stormweaver is acquired by completing all the heroic Skyshrine collections.
A: Other colors/appearances of flying drake are available as drops from Skyshrine raid zones.
Q: How do I gain faction with the Claws of Veeshan?
A: Each of the quests in the Heroic Access Quest timeline (starting with The Breach) grant +3,000 Claws of Veeshan faction. Beyond that, if you kill droags within the 3 districts of contested Skyshrine, they have a chance to drop Vilewing Drake Talons, Recovered Draconic Tome, and a few other quest starters which ask you to kill 20 droags each. Completing these quests grants +250 faction. Each contested named awards +250 faction. Each instanced named awards +500 faction.
Earning -40,000 (?) faction with the Claws of Veeshan unlocks access to the Mender.
Earning +50,000 faction with the Claws of Veeshan allows you to see the Faction Merchant (who sells armor and weapons but no jewelry) in the past version of the Covenant District in the Market area. To purchase any gear, you will need the Head of Dozekar from the final named in the Underdepths instance.
Bug: The Head of Dozekar is LORE so spend each one as you get it.
Q: How do I acquire the new Signature Mercenaries in the Forbidden City of Skyshrine?
To Hire these mercenaries you need a Ancient Skyshrine Control Wand which is obtained in the Underdepths group instance from the second to the last named this key is also used to summon a golem to help with the last named (dragon). Thanks to Celidur.
Q: How do I acquire the Elite Tradeskill Apprentice “Deshniak” who makes Legendary gear?
A: In the the Skyshrine solo instance “Dracur Prime [Advanced Solo]” or group Dracur Prime instance, walk to the back of the alcove immediately south of the three linked names. You will trigger an event and then be able to speak to Deshniak. Help him by defeating waves of enemies (some of them will ‘leash’ and reset if you are too far into the alcove) and he will give every player present a stone to summon him to your house as a Tradeskill Apprentice.
Q: How do I acquire the Elite Tradeskill Apprentice “Yelnar” who makes Fabled gear?
A: You must complete a quest line and then rescue Yelnar from the Underdepths raid zone to loot Yelnar’s Binding Stone which can be used to summon him to your home. The recipe to make this raid tradeskill apprentice requires one of each T10 rare, with an estimated cost of 1,500 platinum.
Q: Do I need to get these Elite Tradeskill Apprentices on all 9 of my tradeskill alts?
A: Yes and no. Unlike the Age of Discovery apprentices, the Elite Tradeskill Apprentices are only divided into Outfitter, Scholar, and Craftsman, so you only need 3 crafters to make all of the recipes. However the wait time (which cannot be accelerated) for each recipe is 16 days. You’ll want to put all 9 tradeskill classes to work if you want to get these recipes as fast as possible.
Q: What materials do I need to craft Elite Tradeskill Apprentice gear? Can I use Colossal Reactants (if I am rich enough or lucky enough to have some)?
A: Believe it or not, Elite Tradeskill Apprentices use 8 different materials that drop in heroic instances. The Raid Tradeskill Apprentices use 8 variants on those materials which drop in raid zones. You’ll need SIX of these dropped broker-tradeable materials to make each recipe. It may be too early to tell, but it seems likely that Elite Tradeskill Apprentices will go underused due to this extreme material cost.
Q: Is this a real level cap raise?
A: Yes. All classes gain level 91 and 92 spells, weapons, armor, and jewelry. There is a new tier of harvestable ore, gems, roots, pelts, etc. To try to maximize the amount of useful items for players, some of the handcrafted and mastercrafted jewelry and other crafted recipes have been “compressed” into level 91 and 92 when they would normally not be available until later levels. Even players in Drunder heroic gear will see upgrades in level 91 & 92 Mastercrafted.
NOTE: The Essentials and Advanced recipe books have been perplexingly renamed at the last minute.
Q: Where do the GU63 Tradeskill quests start?
A: Travel to the Withered Lands by speaking to a Griffon Trainer on the Thurgadin docks. Then enter the tunnel to your left when you arrive. All of the necessary crafting tables, fuel merchant, broker, banker, and quest givers will be in that tunnel.
Q: How do I get my Level 90, 91, and 92 Tradeskill recipe books?
Q: Do I have to grind to Tradeskill level 91 and 92 to scribe these recipes?
A: No. You can immediately scribe these recipes at level 90. Also, once you have completed these quests, you may also buy your tradeskill class’ books from a vendor for your friends if they would rather not complete the quests.
Q: Wait? That’s all the Tradeskill content in GU63?
A: GU63 also introduces two Elite Tradeskill Apprentices which can only be acquired by adventuring. Fortunately, both Elite Tradeskill Apprentices are tradeable on the Broker.
Excellent round-up as usual, thanks for your work.
Any new PQ’s with this new content?
Thanks for all the hard work Feldon.
It’s apparently not enough that the raiders get the best of everything in the adventuring sphere, now they’re getting the best of crafting too.
@Daffodil – they’re brokerable…but I feel what you’re saying.
Also, I thought we were going to be doing more x2’s rather then less. 🙁 Unless of course the mobs actually drop stuff. I’m not sure the non-instance x2 mobs in Dov-Part1 actually dropped anything. Does that expose how much I froaked with them? Teehee.
Geez Feldon! You nearly gave me a heart attack there!
I’ve told my guild they won’t need 280 AAs to do the solo content in Withered Lands and get the huge gear upgrades there. I’ve been saying so in comments on blogs and I even posted about it on my own blog while I was waiting for the servers to come up.
I’d been on Test so I was pretty sure of my ground but you never know what might change when things reach Live. I just swapped from my 320AA Berserker to my 180AA Beastlord to check and I’m *very* relieved to confirm that he does get offered the quests.
Is there other solo content which is gated behind 280 AAs? By content I mean quests or zone/instance access, obviously, not levels 91/92 and associated spells/CAs or Prestige Points.
I’m not bothered about leveling so much as seeing the content and getting the gear which will allow our small guild to do heroic content in previous expansions that we haven’t touched yet. We tend to run about two expansions in arrears. We just did Guk and Anchor of Bazzul for the first time last night, for example. We can’t currently do Odus heroic content with any pleasure but we expect to with the upgrades from Withered Lands.
Could you include where is the entrance to the raid zones?
Feldon, when is eq2U going to to show the Prestige Tab?
Thanks for the great low down!
Was there an increase to Guild Level cap along with the Adv/TS increase?
One more for the FAQ that people keep asking. Where does the drake mount quest start?
Any guides on how to procure the drake mounts?
I Think that one of the Drake Mounts can be gotten from finishing the quest line in Skyshrine. starting in the contested area then going throw all 3 group zones at the end you get the mount.
there is also a group and raid dropped ones, and also i think one from completing ALL? of the collections.
This matches exactly what I have heard.
It seems that there is one more heroic zone in the central portal sharing the same map as the raid zone : Betrayal of the Underdepths.
According to the Achievement list the final Boss should be Dozekar. Level 92 is required to enter.
The dropped faction quests are limited… I completed them all in one day and can not get them again so either its one time only or on a daily 18 hour timer to get again.
And Underdepths : Betrayal is the final instance where you will quest for the mount.
Dozekar the final Mob drops his head which is a lore item 1 for each group member in the box. When looted it goes into the currency window. These kind of items you need to puchase from the skyshrine venders after 50k faction.
They changed it in the last patch that the Tradeskill books are no longer tradeable so if you want them you have to do the questline on all your crafters. The good news is that even my lvl 21 swash (lvl 90 carp) was easily able to do it.
there is one more title given i am not sure what for but I think it may be for killing all of the contested zone named mobs.
The faction merchant is located in the northern area of skyshrine the forbidden city past and you can see what items are for purchase before you gain 50k faction. his name starts with Quartermaster.
All the items for sale cost 1 Head from dozakar and around 12pp per piece.
You can buy all item types and are not restricted to your class so you can buy for alts.
All of the dropped craftable item drop in raid in a version with prime in front of it such as the golem shards will be Prime golem shards.
The Raid tradeskill Apprentice is in the very back of Underdepths raid near the final named.
There are 6 clickable quests gained in the forbidden city past and completed in the present and turned in in the present.
i completed 50k faction yesterday if you are wondering where I am getting the information.
The T10 recipe books for sale on the craft trainers are no-trade. Frankly, since we can’t buy them until we’ve done the quests, and we get them for doing the quests, the only purpose I can see for the sold ones is if someone accidentally sells their copy before scribing it.
Will you be updating the Beastlord warders with Velious, pleaseplease?
I’m realyl enjoying this little adventure pack, but fail to see how they expect it to last out until november/december. I mean, by implementing it that have made the rest of 90 content obsolete, and there is a full set of fabled armor and weapons available for faction. All that is going to be left after a month or so even for casuals is doing raids.
And to make it so you have to do DoV 1 content just to get red raid shards seems massively stupid, as it railroads people into doing the said obsolete content.
The complete collection of Withered Lands collectibles does not reward a drakota mount; it yields a piece of jewelry and a marsh elemental illusion with the “damages melee attacker” effect.
The items in the complete collection of Skyshrine collectibles are named as bits of mount tack, so that would appear to be the mount collection.
This part doesn’t seem to be correct. The books are no-trade so you are not able to buy them for your alts or friends. Also, I was only able to see the books for my specific tradeskill class.
Could you also list or someone in comments- a good place to harvest in Withered Lands? I am looking for an area similar to the area off the Old Paineel ruins in Sundered.
The heroic recipes take 18 days 7hrs for level 91 recipes and 18 days 12 hrs for level 92 recipes, not 16 days of research each.
Each instanced named awards +500 faction.
50k is going to take a while, and in a few weeks they’ll add the missing PQ and make it easy for everyone that didn’t grind it.
The only reason to quest through the Withered Lands is to do the quests themselves, which I found enjoyable. For levelling, you get more experience in an hour in Chardock than in two days doing the whole Withered Lands, so I won’t be doing them on other characters.
I have the wand but I cannot get the mercs to talk to me. Do you have to have killed Dozekar before you can use the wand on a merc?