Give Sony Online Entertainment a lot of credit. Ten months after releasing EverQuest II, the company has released its first major expansion in the form of Desert of Flames (otherwise known as live update #13) and along with it come some sweeping changes to the combat system.

Now it should be noted that while DoF adds content tailored specifically for upper level players (which anyone who has a lower level toon can access if they have the expansion and a bit of a death wish), the upgrade also affects those without the expansion. 

To access the Maj’Dul city on the Isle of Ro, players will need the expansion. Then simply hop on a flying carpet in either Freeport or Qeynos and you will be whisked away to a desert land that has some of the flavor of Arabian Nights, but also has a PvP (player-versus-player) arena. The level cap has also been raised to 60.

Maj’Dul is a city where mobs roam the streets and not all are friendly. The Isle of Ro is dominated by three factions and players can work for one of them (all three if you wish but you hardly begin to accrue selective favor if you do). The mobs along the beach have levels beginning in the mid-40s.

Part of the pre-order package gives players pets for their rooms (monkeys) and genie bottles that can be rubbed to transport players inside to take in the wonders found within. 

But the biggest aspect of the patch that centered around this expansion was the changes to the combat system. These changes apply not only to those who purchased the expansion but for everyone in the game. In essence, the developers tried to make each class a little more specialized and different from other classes, to get rid of the ‘generic’ feel to having a scout or mage. To that end, there was a forced reset of some of the abilities that unlocked at certain levels and players had to reselect some of the attribute upgrades, which SOE promised would be more meaningful this time around. And because PvP has been introduced, in both duels and an arena in Maj’Dul, there was some class balancing that took place.

Damage mitigation was removed from NPCs but the AI was bolstered to make the NPCs a touch more disciplined in terms of power (mana) usage. The range of NPCs that yielded experience points has been increased, but some mobs also got an increase in difficulty setting as well.

The /con (consider) system has been made more viable, but there are other factors involved. A 3-up arrow heroic mob, even if several levels below the attacker’s level is not to be treated lightly. This is part of an ongoing problem, though, that SOE games face. The idea was to bolster the challenge, but with everything now attacking players, and some mobs receiving difficulty increases, it takes the game from the aspect of challenging to a grind just to get to a high-enough level to defeat those random encounters. 

And whoever came up with the leg biters should be shot, or nuked with an arcane storm. At the entry to the Thundering Steppes are unseen, randomly spawned wolf-dogs called leg biters. They seem to aggro on anyone running through the area, and even the grays, which do not yield experience, will attack a higher-level player. Maybe it was intended as atmosphere, but it comes off merely as a nuisance. 

And target locks have been removed, though only the player or group that first attacked a target will receive experience and drops when the target dies. Prior, though, with target locks, other players could not help a player in trouble, or really even heal that player.

Casting times for special skills have been reduced and players now have a focus rating that determines if a certain attack can be interrupted or not. The higher the rating the better the chance of actually launching the special.

Another huge change is that items no longer grow in effectiveness as a player levels. Before you may find a sword that was a great weapon and as you leveled, it got better. This meant that players could keep a certain weapon, or piece of armor, for a while. No longer. Perhaps this is a way to encourage the economy within the game. However, until players understand that not everything will sell for 40 gold or 1 platinum, all this means is that the number of players equipped for their level will likely be a minority.

And while leveling right now seems easy, it will not always be so. Players are benefiting from the bonus xp being granted as a celebration of the Desert of Flames launch. That will soon go away and players may find the game becoming a big more of a grind, but only if that is what they make of it. Adventure and the game seems less a grind, but holding that carrot of level 45 to survive the Isle of Ro will have players working for it and grinding out xp.

Another change came on the guild’s front. A guild bank is now available and the guild leader can determine how much can be withdrawn in a time frame, but players can easily exchange resources, spell books and other items (weaponry, armament and jewelry) without using the mailing system. With the bank does have limited space, guilds gaining higher levels of status can open up new slots in the guild bank.

Graphically, aside from adding the new lands, very little has changed in this game. It is still a beautiful vision and the audio is still solid. No changes on the control side of things either, though players may find a bit of a learning curve in readjusting to new skill sets.

Unless you are one of the readjusted class that took a bit of a hit (read it as nerfed if you are one of those classes, at least in the minds of those so affected), the combat system is, overall, a nice fine-tuning. There are a few failings, such as allowing a wider range of mobs to aggro, but SOE took a big chance with this live update and expansion and it is generally for the better.

The Isle of Ro raises the player-level cap and caters to the old player of the game with new lands to explore, new drops, new mobs and new politics. It adds PvP to this iteration of Norrath as well. But even these new elements seem to take a back seat to the sweeping changes made across the board.

EverQuest II is still a wonderful-looking game, with a lot of depth to it. The Desert of Flames expansion merely adds to it and makes the game even deeper. Yes, it still feels like a bit of a grind at times, but as this expansion and live update shows, SOE is not afraid to change things to try to make the gaming experience even better.

Gameplay: 8.9
This was the score given the original review of EQ II and no need to change it. There are still load times when players zone, and of late the game has had a few small glitches with griffon rides hanging up, but patches will iron this all out.

Graphics: 9.4
Desert of Flames raises the EQ II bar just a bit by introducing fanciful new elements and the flying carpets have some great animation.

Sound: 9.4
By default, sound loops do just that, but you can reduce that in options. Using a 5.1 surround system brings out the best of the environmental sounds of this game. It is a real treat for ears.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
PvP adds a difficulty element, readjusting to the combat changes requires a bit of time, and if you are not a number cruncher when it comes to combat attack ratings, avoidance, and mitigation, you soon will start to be.

Concept: 8.9
The Isle of Ro adds new charm to the game, giving it some new flavor and adventuring experience. The other changes accompanying the update have been challenging, but look to be a step in the right direction. 

Multiplayer: 9.3
The servers were a little light there for a while, but the Desert of Flames has pulled players back for a look-see. The combat changes will call for better groups and more adherence to group fighting dynamics and players jumping in to help, now, with the target lock being removed really speak of a good community. Only criticism? Get a handle on what items are really worth and fix your sale rates according to player levels. Trying to charge several gold for an item only a young player can equip with decent results is not that friendly – it is money-grubbing.

Overall: 9.2
Still a bit of rather tasty eye candy, Desert of Flames takes the game further down that amazing graphical path it was already on. The combat changes are major and a bit of a risk, but they do make the game a bit more challenging and require more thought than merely running into combat and swinging a weapon or casting a spell. With this expansion and live update, SOE is showing that it is not afraid to make major changes to try to improve the game play. Some of the changes to the mobs seems a little harsh, upgrading them to 3-up heroic level, especially when those mobs are quest mobs for younger players (I would defy any level 18 betrayal quester to solo Dancoed of the Pines, which is one of the mobs that must be hunted to accomplish an element of the Freeport to Qeynos Betrayal Quest). While the idea was to make it more challenging and fun, it may be safe to say that players like challenge and fun, but only if they have a chance to win and progress. When the DoF bonus xp ends, many players may find that acquiring xp becomes a chore. EQ II: DoF is geared mostly for upper-level players, but with changes that affect players of any level. That is what an expansion should do – offer something for everyone. In that regard, this expansion succeeds very well.