KOS Overview

I've been covering ground in EQ2 lately and since the introduction of PVP and KOS it's been hard not to. I cancelled my FFXI account for now because well EQ2 actually has my blood running and that makes me feel alive, which is what I need when playing an MMO. Kingdom of sky on the other hand has been a little on the un-original side, both on the exploration and on the surrounding zones (not including instance or dungeons). Though the AAXP really looks to be promising so yeah EQ2 has me holding on for more great adventures ahead.

Things I like: I loved Plane of Air in EQlive, it would literally take you two days of your characters life to get to the 7th isle. Not sure what I like about that I'm a masochist I suppose but I liked the fact you had to earn your right to get up there. However, I like the fact that all I have to do is get to the Cloud port of each island and your off. I enjoy the look over the sides of each isle as well and when the sun is about to go down there is a great wonder and amazement. It also made me want to jump off and that just what I did, I know now if you fall you die and reappear at the top. My curiosity is more from what busted up island below would I actually land on and well I just like falling. It was fun to jump off POA because you would land in the waters of Freeport and that was just way to fun. These are just small things I enjoy about the 30$ I spend on this expantion thus far. The quests I've done so far are short and to the point they gave quick money rewards and for me that works. I really like the way some of the mobs look from the owl-humanoids (not sure of their racial name) Aviaks maybe, however they don't really look like it. The dragonish men even the Droag's look cool all the new NPC's are a very nice touch. The collections I've seen seem far more worth it then what came out of DOF and that's a major plus. Since the last collection I really wanted to complete for the item was the Necklace of flowing orbs. As far as the over all grafix they are still great, I think the chains off the island are a awesome touch (just like POA) and the two dungeons my wife got to sneak too so far have looked outstanding. I also like the fact I've not seen any level 70's in the first week which means they made leveling difficult even with the recent Dbl XP on PVE servers. I really can't wait till I'm 60+ on Nagafen server so I can enjoy this expantion thoroughly.

Things I dislike: It's seems as if the whole concept of the floating islands in the clouds got lost somewhere. I know I'm not gonna like every island just like I don't like every zone in the Underworld. The same reason I like Zek more then I like Lavastorm, it's a matter of preference. I just feel as if most the islands in the sky were just cut and paste in the expantion. Tenebrous tangle looks like Feerrott only with new landscape and Mobs. It even has the same jungle sound effects with the annoying chirps. I'm not sure the amount of work the devs put into the expantion as a whole though I'm sure it was a lot. I think the first thing you see in any expantion should take you back and should make you want to go for more. Though I love Feerrott it's a wonderful and difficult zone it shouldn't be reused in the expantion. Same goes for the other 2 areas, one looks like a cut and paste of Sinking Sands and the other Lavastorm with blue tint instead of red. My suggestion is if you want to use something already out there look to EQ1 and reuse the ideas of the old world. It'd be great to see Kunark, Velious, Faydark area used in EQ2 just more upgraded of course.

I am a huge explorer in games and I want to explore what makes me curious but just the initial look on these zone makes me want to stay in the normal zones until I know where the good places are to go. That is not good, I don't care if I'm the first to a area or not but I do want an expantion that makes me think about what's around the hills, mountains, and clefts this just didn't do that. They even went so far as to reuse the ever so popular Golem we've all grown so accustomed to. You may first see them in ROV then Runnyeye and then again in CT and then Lavastorm and now you see them again in KOS to me that was a big no no. (if you cant turn on any bells and whistles they all look the same) Oh did I forget it is a mid level Conj pet as well, not to mention a Group illustion of Conj. The Golem NPC should never be duplicated in EQ2 anywhere ever again.










A few things in the expantion are great like the AAXP. I like this far more then the way it was set up in EQ1, the interface anyhow. I love the fact my Mystic now has a Wolf spirit pet it's not over powering but in those times I can't think about Debuff and Damage I still have my pet in doing some damage and with more AAXP choices he will be doing Debuffs as well. That's a positive for this class as I'm sure there are a ton to list but so far Mystic AAXP is the only one I gave considerable look over. I did glance over Brigands and I love how there is an Ability named after Blackguard good stuff. The AAXP is the real reason I purchased this expantion, Silly I know 30 bucks just for some extra abilities. Though for me this expantion along with PVP has me playing EQ2 and loving it. Now if I can figure out when and where I'm getting this AAXP from, sometimes it's as if I'm getting AAXP for doing nothing but it's minor in the scheme of things. Overall the Dev's did an awesome job the put tons of quests, contents and excitement in there to last for quite a while in the future. Even though KOS is not all sugar it's still beautifully done and worth every cent.

Now if they would just name a AAXP or spell after Quylein the Expantion it would ROCK.. lol

Edit** EQ2 forums has someone boasting about being level 70 already. Some Research Done by KindredHeart as well.