Call of the Forsaken: Feature & Zone Preview
Take a look at some of the EverQuest expansion's features and zone screenshots!
With the Beta NDA now lifted, we take a closer look at two prominent features set to be added with the Call of the Forsaken expansion - Heroic Adventures and Mercenary Enhancements - as well as several screenshots of the zones being introduced at launch time (October 8, 2013).
Heroic Adventures 
Heroic adventures are customized shared tasks (1-6 players) that take place in instanced zones and scale in level, difficulty, and loot quality (based on the highest level player in the group) down to Level 95. They are designed for groups of 2-3 players and their mercenaries, and shouldn't take an average group any longer than 45-60 minutes to complete.
What do we mean by "customized"? Well, instead of a standard shared task with an unchanging set of steps to run through, heroic adventures have a randomized component to them whereby there are multiple options (or 'possible directives') for each step in the task. In other words, you can complete one of these heroic adventures, and then the next time you run through the same adventure, you could have a different set of task steps and encounter different NPCs.
Loot-dropping nameds (such as the Dreadmole of the Bixie Warfront or the Monstrous Minnow of the Dead Hills) can also appear in these adventures, and completion results in group currency that can be used to buy gear (both player and mercenary) and spells from vendors in the Ethernere.
It should be noted that there is plenty of content outside of heroic adventures as they are but one facet of Call of the Forsaken (there are also regular partisan and mercenary tasks, as well as regular group missions), and every zone has a static (non-instanced) version.
(Mercenary Enhancements and Zone Screenshots can be found below the jump!)
Mercenary Enhancements
Another feature we're looking forward to is made up of mercenary enhancements. Put simply, you'll be able to boost your mercenaries' strength and overall usefulness in the form of gear (for example, the chest piece that comes with expansion pre-orders - image below) and passive AAs (among which are improved healing for healers and improved defense for tanks, for example).
Mercenaries will gain AA experience with you (you'll have to have them spawned for them to gain experience), and gear can be purchased from a vendor in the Ethernere using currency rewarded from tasks.
Here is a look at the chest piece that comes with expansion pre-orders (scales to level):
And here is a look at the mercenary AA tab:
Zone Screenshots
Below here are two screenshots of each zone (in this order): Ethernere Tainted West Karana, The Dead Hills, Bixie Warfront, and Neriak Fourth Gate.
