EverQuest II: Echoes of Faydwer Previews

Both GameSpot and IGN PC have dished up new previews of Sony Online’s upcoming EverQuest II: Echoes of Faydwer expansion pack. An excerpt from GameSpot’s article:

The major new addition is the new playable fae race. Fae are faeries, and these tiny sprites can make good spellcasters and scouts. Though technically the shortest race in the game, the fae end up being about as tall as the gnomes thanks to the fact that their feet never touch the ground. Instead, these faerie folk float around using beautiful, delicate wings that you can customize in color and appearance. These wings aren’t powerful enough to propel the fae high into the air, so you won’t be able to fly over obstacles, but they will let the fae slowly parachute to the ground, so you can leap off of cliffs and other tall objects. This comes in particularly handy considering that the fae’s main city is Kelethin, an old elf town located high in the trees–sort of like an Ewok village in Return of the Jedi. To get down to the ground, where random encounters can be fought, simply jump off any of the edges of the city and float down, because yes, it’s still a long way down from those treetops, just like in the original game.”

And a snip from IGN PC’s article:

Another new feature in EoF is the adornment system, similar to the item sockets in Diablo. It lets players attach special items to weapons, resulting in augmented abilities. For instance, a mace-wielding player can fuse a spike onto his weapon, causing special effects like extra piercing damage. Many of the adornment items are player crafted. Using the new transmuting trade skill subclass, players can break apart items into component parts and then recombine them to form adornments. Though other trade skills will be able to make a few adornments, the bulk will be crafted by transmuters. The other new trade skill, called tinkering, focuses on crafting engineering-type items, like spring boots and short duration pets.