The Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer Trailer! Watch Conan speak of lands he finds strange and unfamiliar, which are filled with shadowy assassins, tigers, and hot Asian girls. It's the ancient land of Khitai and Conan needs you to do some skull crackin'!

What is it?: The brand new trailer for the expansion that aims to breathe new life into the brutal, sexy world of Age of Conan.

What's the coolest part?: The humongous Cthulhu looking beast at the end.

Will Conan say the word "lamentations" at some point in the trailer?: Yes.

Fans of Age of Conan who have been eagerly awaiting their first big expansion, Rise of the Godslayer will be happy to hear that Funcom will be launching this expansion on May 11th, 2010! This big addition will be available both through retail and as a digital download, although new players are advised to purchase the game via retail, as it comes bundled with the original Age of Conan, in addition to a new social pet and a package of virtual items to welcome new players to Hyboria.

Alongside this release, Funcom is also planning on releasing a plethora of neat things, including a in-game pet that aids players in battle, which will be given to all players who pre-order before the launch date, as well as all retail customers that register up to the 25th of May. As well, Funcom will be introducing a digital Collector's Edition optional upgrade, which, amongst other things, gives immediate access to a flying fighting pet. Finally, Funcom also plans to release a soundtrack of the new expansion content, which will be available in all major territories through Grappa records, and the soundtrack includes a bonus DVD with full 5.1 surround recording. There will also be an in-game code that can be redeemed for a unique bone flute.

So strap on your expansion exploring hats, Age of Conan players, as Rise of the Godslayer is coming in a mere two weeks!

Age of Conan's first expansion, "Rise of the Godslayer," will be available in less than thee weeks! Funcom recently announced a release date of May 11 for the upcoming, Asian-themed expansion that whisks players to the land of Khitai, offering new playfields and gameplay content. Funcom describes the expansion's theme in more detail:

The expansion, set in the eastern empire of Khitai, builds on an already extensive Conan universe and will let players travel to a unique part of Conan’s world where an ancient traditional culture clashes with dark forces.

According to WorthPlaying, "Rise of the Godslayer" will be released in both retail and digital formats, and the retail version will include a copy of the original MMO as well, so new players won't have to purchase Age of Conan separately to jump right into the expansion. The retail version also comes "bundled with a new social pet as well as a package of virtual items to welcome new players to Hyboria." According to the official Funcom press release, the "Rise of the Godslayer" pre-order campaign officially kicked off April 21, although the official site hasn't been updated to reflect this announcement yet. Expect more details in the days to come, and stay tuned to ZAM's Age of Conan portal site and the official Rise of the Godslayer Web site for all the news as it's released. In the mean time, check out our Rise of the Godslayer interview from last summer, and read Funcom's pre-order announcement after the jump!

The new Age of Conan Update 7 brings the Shrines of Bori to the AoC universe and gives some lovin' to the PvP faithful. The Shrines of Bori is outdoor PvP content revolving around capturing and destroying shrines and the winners will receive tier 2 sets of PvP armor that rival anything in the game world. The Shrines of Bori is for guilds but rewards conflict over cooperation, so be ready to test your loyalties. They've also raised the PvP level cap from 5 to 10 and distribute the PvP rewards equally between support and combat roles.

The new update also gives a sneak peek into the exotic lands foretold of in the yet to be released Rise of the Godslayer expansion. A new event, entitled "The Silver Atrium," will give the warriors of Hyboria a chance to do battle with assassins and spys and possibly even gain a exotic companion from the far east. Conan can't resist Asian girls either.

The event features 2 new solo missions and 1 new group mission that allows players to align themselves with one of Godslayer's factions and gain their trust. Special loot will be available in the form of new helmets of far east Khitan craftmanship. To learn more about the update, see the Conan newsletter.

It seems like this month's Letter from the Game Director for Age of Conan is a little bit on the hefty side, as Craig Morrison has decided to inform players all about the new faction armors that will be coming in the Rise of the Godslayer expansion. Of course, these changes are certainly not final, but you've got to give credit where credit is due, and this new information is certain to make a lot of players interested. Specifically, Craig notes that each class will have five sets of armor specifically designed to be unique to their class. Visually speaking, these armor sets may be similar in some ways, but the Craig says that they wanted to offer as many choices as possible to suit as many play styles as possible.

In this way, there will be "one set that offers a general increase in DPS," "one set that offers a general increase to your health," and "three that offer different class specific utility." As an example, Craig points to the Ranger class, and how, for his "specialized" sets of armor, one will focus on critical damage, evades and hit rating, while the second set will focus on protections and immunities, and the third set will focus on taps and regeneration. As well, different factions will grant access to different pieces of armor, so players will certainly have to think long and hard before they make their decisions. Craig also notes that this form of decision making with consequences is something that the AoC team really wanted to focus on for their RotG expansion. So if you wanted some gear to help with your crazy build, Rise of the Godslayer may just be the expansion for you!

You can read the full Letter from the Game Director here.

"An icy wind blows westward, from the ocean, and carries with it the tang of salt and death. The patchy grass is flattened to the earth by the breeze and you canter your horse towards a promontory that overlooks the eastern ocean. You stand on the bluff and stare across the steel-grey waters, ten thousand miles from where your journey began, about to overthrow another tyrant."

Age of Conan expands into an all new zone. Get the details.

Age of Conan Game Director Craig Morrison has written written his February letter the the community, and he gives players some details on the upcoming 1.07 update. This will be the final update before the Rise of the Godslayer expansion goes live, so the patch will be comprised mainly of "under the hood" changes.

Morrison did note, however, that update 1.07 will include a couple changes to the game that players will notice. The patch will add more travel options within the playfields and introduce a new offline progression system that will let you accumulate levels over time to give to your characters in character creation. This service will only be available to subscribers. More details can be found in Morrison's letter after the jump.

Getting back to the expansion, Funcom has given IGN a preview of the new Kara Korum zone. It looks like players will have to face "mutant dudes and giant lizards," so get ready for that.

Update 1.06 is now live in Age of Conan, and it introduces the new Guild Renown system, a new Tier 3 raid instance and a token system for raid loot. The patch also brings some changes to the crowd control system and revamps the Assassin class. You can read the full release notes after the jump.

In addition, Funcom has given IGN some details on Gateway to Khitai, the starting area for the upcoming Rise of the Godslayer expansion. The zone acts as "the entry point for existing characters and newcomers from the island of Tortage" and features content for characters level 20-24.

Age of Conan Game Director Craig Morrison has written his first letter of 2010 to the game's community, and it takes a broad look at some upcoming updates that Funcom has in store for the MMO. He quickly confirms that Update 1.06 is almost ready to go live and then jumps right into information on the Rise of the Godslayer expansion and beyond.

Morrison says that players should expect more expansion details to be revealed throughout February and March. Once Rise of the Godslayer has launched, the next update will focus on PvP: "We have been working on some adjustments to improve the stability of the existing massive siege gameplay alongside developing some new PVP systems."

For more details, check out Morrison's full letter after the jump.

Last week, Funcom gave IGN a look at the Chosain Province, which is a new zone that will appear in the upcoming Rise of the Godslayer expansion. As a follow-up, Funcom just provided the site with a sneak peek at the Northern Grasslands, which is the second area Age of Conan players will explore in the expansion after passing through the Great Wall. Here are some details from Lead Designer Joel Bylos:

"There is a mixture of serenity and war in the Northern Grasslands that, combined with the steppe-like environment, creates some unique experiences for the players. Faction gameplay is as important as ever in this region, the opposing groups will divide players as different quests become available."

For a closer look at the Northern Grasslands, check out the new screenshots we just added to our Age of Conan gallery.