Calling all heroes!
We are putting in the final touches for Heroic Characters and we’re excited to be able to give you some news about them.
Before we get to how Heroic Characters work, let’s talk about why we are doing it. Primarily, we created this new feature because you asked us for it! At SOE Live, on forums, in one-on-one conversations, and lots of other ways, we’ve heard variations on similar ideas.
Former players don’t want to play catch-up to Level 95, existing players don’t want to start over at Level 1 with their friends, and some players just want to get into high-end guilds and raids because that’s what they love to do. There’s been a lot of great feedback that led us to create Heroic Characters.
The goal is to provide a fun and easy option for existing and returning players to play or experiment with our characters and have immediate access to high-level content. And we think we’ve created a great program for everyone!
First, for a limited time, players can create a Heroic Character for free. Oct. 1 until Oct. 15 is our “Hero’s Call” event which invites new players to create one free new Heroic Character per household. Existing accounts can create or upgrade to a Heroic Character for free too!
Additionally, Heroic Characters can be purchased at any time from our store. The options include: Try Before You Buy, New Heroic Character, and Upgrade Existing Character.
- Try Before You Buy: This option offers one full level of play from Level 85 to 86 – which takes a typical player several hours - with 100 Alternate Advancement (AA) points to test out a class of your choice at a high level. The Free Trial includes a flying mount, armor, consumables, and a few restrictions.
- New Heroic Character: A full Heroic Character can be purchased at Character Select or while playing as a Free Trial character. It includes level 85, 280 AAs, all items included in the Free Trial, and is unrestricted.
- Upgrade Existing Character: The Upgrade option allows you to select any existing character at any level and upgrade it to a Heroic Character. All upgraded characters receive level 85 and are increased to 280 AAs, but not beyond. If you are above level 85 and have more than 280 AAs, you won't receive additional levels or points, but will get a bundle of items that includes the flying mount, armor, and consumables.
For more details on each option, click here.
HOW TO ACCESS HEROIC CHARACTERS
Access to "Try Before You Buy" and new Heroic Characters can be found at the Character Select screen. The "Create Level 85 Heroic" button opens a window showing the benefits of the Free Trial and New Heroic Character options.
Existing characters, as well as Try Before You Buy ones, can be upgraded to a Heroic Character from the "Select Character" list by clicking on an upgrade icon next to each character. (I’d show you this, but we’re still putting the final UI together now!).
In addition to that, an in-game Marketplace item can be bought (and gifted) to upgrade an existing character to a Heroic Character. The Character window also has an icon you can use to upgrade too.
HEROIC HOTBARS!
We also have a new mode for Heroic Character hotbars to help returning players adjust to the number of combat arts/spells. It starts with one hotbar of core spells and/or combat arts to help you quickly learn and get into the swing of things. We add hotbars one at a time soon thereafter after to help you ramp up. Expert players can quickly get out of this mode at any time by modifying their UI.
MORE NEWS TO COME
So that’s the majority of the details for the Heroic Character feature. We’ve got a lot more to talk about too. Next week we’ll get into our Age of Discovery expansion changes as well as the 280AA bauble being available for sale on our marketplace for SC. Then, of course, we’ll jump into ToV details!
We hope to see you in game on Oct. 1! We will all be playing!
Holly Longdale
Sr. Producer
EverQuest II