The Bad Boys of Kunark

Rise of Kunark Mob Bosses and Why We Love to Hate Them

Questions by Savanja

Answers by Scott "Gallenite" Hartsman, former Senior Producer of EverQuest II

Since EverQuest II has made the move from bi-yearly to annual expansion releases, creating a rich and stimulating end-game is essential.  A good part of this end-game experience is the mob bosses that inhabit the new Kunark zones.  These kings of Norrath are what groups hope to take down and what gives guilds epic bragging rights. 

The fourth EverQuest II expansion, the Rise of Kunark, brings with it rich new characters and many old friends from the original EverQuest. Which ones can we hope to see and which ones will be the hunted of every competing raid guild in the lands? What storylines do we get to follow and what naughty things have been happening? Keep reading to find out!

Savanja: First, can you tell us about how many bosses will we be seeing across the Kunark zones?

Hartsman: For instanced raids, where only your group is involved, we have a total of nineteen individual "bosses", twelve of which reside in Veeshan's Peak.  However, if you are interested in small group contested mobs, we have those, plus more group bosses than you can shake a stick at...if stick shaking is your thing.  Will I tell you the names of each, and how to beat them? Nah, not this time, but thanks for asking! ;)

Savanja: I think we can live with a little mystery!

In RoK beta, I stumbled across a rather impressive epic gorilla that kindly handed me my rear.  What other contested mobs are wondering the open air lands and can we get some idea for those that are hoping to land one of these bad boys, what the spawn rates are like?

Hartsman: Ah, yes, the Tangrin, the giant gorilla that owned you ...and me more than once. We have more coming, including the 3 new avatars and some buffed versions of the existing avatars.  We also have Venril’s Generals in the pipeline, and the X2 contested mobs in Kunzar Jungle… all coming soon to a server near you.

When the Avatars come back they’ll spawn more often than they did before they left.  Aside from the Avatars, respawn on contested mobs varies widely, from a single day to as much as five days.

Savanja: The major mob bosses will likely be contained in the RoK raid zones.  Can you tell us which bosses raids will want to cut their teeth on, and which are designed to be the most challenging?

Hartsman: It's likely that most folks will want to start off in the raid zones of The Tomb of Thuuga, The Execution Throne Room and The Protector's Realm. These are the “easiest” (if you'll forgive me the term) raids in Rise of Kunark.

After that, the next set should probably be Venril Sathir and Selrach Di'Zok, the Di'Zok Overking. Then, I'd move on to The Chamber of Destiny and the Leviathan, and finally Veeshan's Peak and Trakanon. Veeshan's Peak's bosses are the most difficult in Rise of Kunark, and where I'd be willing to bet that raiders will spend the majority of their time here.

Savanja: Can we hear a bit about Venril Sathir, how he made his way to Sebilis and how that affected Trakanon? 

Hartsman: That depends on who you ask. Were you to ask Venril he’d tell you that he defeated Trakanon in an epic battle.  Trakanon, on the other hand, would say that he abandoned Sebilis to take a seat at the head of the Ring of Scale.  However if you ask me I’d say that history is usually written by the victor…wouldn’t you?

Xalgoz	Venril Sathir

Silverwing	Phara-Dar	Trakanon	Hoshkar

Savanja: We've heard that Trakanon has made his home in a lair within Veeshan's Peak.  Can we hear a bit about Veeshan's Peak and what trials a party might have to go through to gain access to Trakanon?

Hartsman: Hmmmm, more inside information huh!? Rather than just read about it, we'd really like you to play the game, but to gain access to Trakanon's Lair, I'd be willing to bet that raiders will have to defeat each of the dragons and their guardians in Veeshan's Peak.

Savanja: The younglings never like to be left out!  What boss goodies are in store for the lower level players in the overland areas of Timorous Deep?

Hartsman: We all love the younger folks, as they are fun to watch and nurture into effective hunting partners, bringing their own combat style and personality to our groups. We've certainly added a few key personalities for them to defeat as they journey through the story line we're trying to tell in that area.

Savanja: Did Timorous Deep get any instances that contain lower level challenging encounters?

Hartsman: We put a lot of effort into the content in Timorous Deep, with a significant amount of area for the new adventurer to explore. Within that space, we were able to get the entire feel of the story line as well as all the adventure points the Sarnak and other new players need without using any instances. Does that mean there will never be any instances there? Never is a long time, but at this point, we're pretty pleased with the way the area turned out, and have been getting the same feedback from many of our players.

Thank you Scott for taking the time to answer our questions, we always appreciate the effort!

There is really no doubt that Rise of Kunark has been a successful expansion. We all look forward to getting to know these in-game personalities and I know I look forward to kicking a little Epic rear!

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