EverQuest II patched today bringing a whopping 51st game update to Live servers. Promising a completely revamped Lavastorm, weapon appearance slots, new raid zones, and plenty more it also marks the beginning of the Bristlebane's Day festivities. Take a look before for a few of the features:

FEATURED

Appearance Slots

* Players now have access to primary, secondary and ranged appearance slots.
* The wield style (one-handed, two-handed, shield) of the weapons must match the weapons that are currently equipped.

Bristlebane's Day

(3/31/2009 - 4/8/2009) Jesters, thieves, bards and fans of mischief are invited to enjoy the festivities that surround Bristlebane's Day! You never know what laughs and pranks are to be found, during this enjoyable time of year. Celebrators are present in every home city, and the oddest of objects have been spotted in Antonica, The Commonlands, Darklight Wood, Timorous Deep and Greater Faydark! Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for special events occurring only on the highest of silly days, 4/1/2009!

Lavastorm

Lots of brand new content has been added in this classic zone. Almost all of the population has be re-tiered for solo players, with a new level 45 to 55 adventure quest line with the industrious…but rather insane Sootfoot goblins, and a new level 40-45 tradeskill quest line. Brand new void invaded areas also feature new level 80 solo quests. Additionally, a solo-able daily shard quest had been added as well as mount paths and additional teleporters to make traversing the zone much easier!

Shard Armor

A new set of shard armor is now available from merchants!

Threat Meter

* Players can now see how much aggro they have generated towards NPC’s in combat.
* A new UI element will display players’ aggro percentage for their current target or implied target.
* Players with the most hate will also see the hate value for the player below them.
* Players’ aggro value will also appear above an NPC’s head, just below their remaining power.
* The aggro value displayed above an NPC’s head may be toggled off under Options -> User Interface -> Name and Chat Bubble

Ward of Elements

A brand new level 80 two-group raid instance has been added! This zone is balanced for players without a proliferation of raid gear, and should provide an exciting challenge to any group of 12! The first six bosses can be tackled in any order, and provide fantastic fabled loot with brand new armor sets upgraded from the tier 2 void shard sets, complete with new appearances! You can find it in Lavastorm beneath the Hollow Tower and Deep Forge.

Head over to EQ2Players.com to read about all the changes.