EverQuest II finally introduces one of the biggest patches to hit live servers, EVER! Game Update #52, Monument and Might, went live today and it features new zones, tons of new quests, and a lot of needed fixes. Check out the follow highlights of this patch and click here for the full patch notes.

Emperor’s Athenaeum

* The Order of Rime has managed to re-open this ancient vault of Venril Sathir’s. What secrets lie within? What terrible guardians? Venture in with a single group of adventurers to find out what awaits!

Kunark Overland Quests

* A mysterious army has appeared upon the shores of Kunark and begun pillaging the land and slaughtering those that oppose them. Citizens of Dreg's Landing in Kylong Plains, Sathir's Span in Fens of Nathsar, the City of Jinisk in Kunzar Jungle and Danak's Upper Command Camp in Jarsath Wastes are looking for your help in learning about the invaders and defeating them.

Kurn’s Tower

* After Najena’s magic revealed the void tear slowly consuming the tower, the Bellywhumpers have frantically dug a passage into Kurn’s Tower once again! Delve into your choice of the x2 raid or the single group instance, and attempt to solve the mysteries within!

Research Assistants

* Research Assistants have moved into many cities in Norrath. These hardworking men and women will do the research to upgrade a spell or combat art from journeyman to adept or from expert to master. They will only assist one character per account at a time and only help those level 20 or higher. Research Assistants can be found in each of the six hoods and villages of Freeport and Qeynos, Neriak, Haven, Gorowyn and Kelethin. You can ask any guard in those areas to point you in the direction of a Research Assistant if you can’t find them.

Shadow System

* A new shadow system has been implemented for the game. This new system uses your graphics card to build the shadows rather than your CPU and it comes with a few extras as well. Using the shadow mapping technique and 3.0 Shaders we’re now able to cast softer shadows, fade shadows, and cast dynamic shadows from trees, plants, feathers, and more! The new system fixes a few shadowing glitches found in certain armor sets and self-shadowing and depending on your computer’s settings may also significantly improve performance.

Spell Renaming

* All spells have been renamed to have a consistent naming structure across all levels. New spells will now be differentiated by roman numerals. So you will see Ice Comet, Ice Comet II, and so on in your spell book now. All combat text will refer to the base name though. In addition, the tier structure has changed to be more distinct. Apprentice I – III are now renamed just Apprentice, Apprentice IV is now Journeyman, Adept I is now Adept, Adept III is now Expert, Master I is simply Master and Master II is now Grandmaster.

User Books

* Players can now leave their permanent mark in the world of Norrath by authoring their own books. Empty books will be available from level 50+ sages. Once you edit the content of an empty book you become the author and from that point forward you are the only one who can edit the book content. Player-written books are tradable so you can give them to your friends or even sell them on the broker. Find them on the broker by selecting “user books” under the advanced search options.

Voice Chat

* Station Launcher will soon have a new release with voice capability. It will allow you to start voice chatting as any of your EQII characters before running the client or while patching. Going into game while voice chatting in Station Launcher will be seamless. If you're already chatting, the client will detect this. If you're voice chatting as a different character than you're playing, a new button will appear on the voice bar allowing you to switch (or you may switch in Station Launcher). Station Launcher will also keep voice chat active after the client closes.