Here's our impression of EverQuest II's next expansion.

Your faithful ZAM staff has spent a fair amount of time entranched in the Destiny of Velious beta with Heroes of Test. We're here to report to you:  It's cold in Velious. Okay, you knew that.  Destiny of Velious offers a lot to all play styles, but since there's a week before launch we're going to stick to generalities.  As usual, all our information is from beta and may or may not change before the expansion launches.  All pictures were provided by SOE.

There are two overland zones in Destiny of Velious: Great Divide and Eastern Wastes. Here you'll find the solo content you've come to expect. We found the quests enjoyable and the rewards good. The coveted Flying Mount quest is part of the solo Great Divide series.

Thurgadin, home of the Coldain Dwarves, can be found in the Great Divide. It serves as a minor quest hub as well as a city area with the usual amenities including brokers, bankers, a crafting area and writ givers. Several important quests, like the Coldain Insignia Ring, involve Thurgadin and the rich history of the Coldain.

There are ten group zones and four raid zones available in Destiny of Velious. Of these, Tower of Frozen Shadow and Kael Drakkel are the names a lot of us remember from EQ1. Kael Drakkel is purported to be the largest contested zone in game thus far. The Order of Rime re-emerges with Velious, and with them players can explore their dungeons and discover the fate of Velketor the Sorcerer.  If you've done the Rime quests, you may want to dig out your Rime faction mask again before you head to Velious.

Tradeskills get quite a bit of love, with their own distinct quest series and the Coldain Prayer Shawl heritage quest. Questers also get their own flying mount. And crafters with all the prerequisites will get to spend some more time with Qho. There are faction recipes in Thurgadin that require raid drops, once again bringing crafters and adventurers together in pursuit of good gear.

There are some changes coming, of course. One of the most controversial is stats changes. Players will find that only their primary stat and stamina are on gear. Any bonuses of avoidance and spell resistance were taken away from Agility and Wisdom, and instead are compensated by class buffs. The weight limit was also completely removed, causing Strength to only be an asset to Fighters from here on out.  Resists are exclusive to jewelry.

As Emily "Domino" Taylor, EQII Tradeskill Developer, already announced on the forums, tradeskillers are losing their "Pristine Bonus" - the bonus experience granted when you craft an item to the fourth bar of quality the first time. This was done to remove the leveling imbalance between classes caused by the sheer number of recipes available to spell-crafters. Crafting experience is being adjusted a bit to compensate, and between that and the number of writs and quests available to tradeskillers we're finding it's really not bad at all. 

Flying mounts are one of the biggest highlights of the expansion. As mentioned above, adventurers will obtain their first flying mount via the Great Divide solo quest series, while crafters will received theirs in the Destiny of Velious tradeskill series. Freeblood were not forgotten—their bat ability mount can be gifted with flight after completing a comparable adventuring series in the Great Divide as well.

Flight itself has opened up a whole new door to exploration. Soaring high above the overland zones gives a sense of freedom that was impossible to feel using the intra-zone transportation methods. Players can survey a battlefield below or take in an awesome view of an entire zone's landscape sprawled out before them.  As we write this most old world overland zones are available to flying mounts. 

We enjoyed our time in beta and are solidifying our findings for launch!  Keep an eye on our Destiny of Velious page as we work through all our information.