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Gnomes--what style="font-style: italic;">can't they build?

Gnome Airways Flight 1113

When McGeathy took me back to Dragonscale Plains, I was standing next
to what immediately made me think of a cannon. My hospitable host
invited me to climb up the ramp to the barrel, advising me to "ignore
the blood splattered on the nearby mountains." I blithely complied
because I wanted to see the ingenious design of this gnomish device.



My engineering lesson was cut short when I reached the barrel, however.
The cannon fired, flinging my flimsy body far into the air. Since the
/betabuff command had changed my gender from male to female, I was
feeling a little out of place as it was. Being used as a cannonball
really didn't help me any.





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You're gonna need a mighty big
flyswatter for this one.

Mechanotus

When I recovered from the indignity of being fired into the air, the
reason for my trip become clear: I had landed on Mechanotus, the very
same floating island Meldrath used to attack Ak'Anon. I saw href="http://tentonhammer.com/node/14612">a large structure in the
distance and some impressive href="http://tentonhammer.com/node/14608">decorative cogs. But
mostly, I just saw Octa
the Collector
.



Octa's mission is to roam around the surface of Mechanotus repairing
damaged clockworks. McGeathy called a zone sweeper, a major force
designed to keep groups on their toes. Imagine fighting a group of
clockworks and getting them whittled down to a single one. Your healer
is out of mana, and the group is all roughed up a bit. Along comes Octa
to scoop up your target and heal it to full health. This can be a huge
problem for you.



In addition to the gorgeous and frighting Octa, I saw href="http://tentonhammer.com/node/14611">a handful of NPCs on the
deck with the word "Quests" under their names.


The Factory

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No worries. He's just red to a level 80.

Inside Mechanotus is the very factory where the Guardian was built.
You'll see assembly lines,
molten metal running
through the floors
, and href="http://tentonhammer.com/node/14629">an assortment of workers
ranging from brownies to gnomes to clockworks. This area is Tier 3
difficulty, so adventurers will find it hard to survive for long
without some solid gear from the previous locations.



I visited the room where the Guardian was during the launch of
Mechanotus, and I saw the
gaping hole in the structure
that pulled the mechanical menace out
to the land. I also visited a room that displayed some of the new
powers of the EQ engine. In fact, it was href="http://tentonhammer.com/node/14632">an engine room for the
flying fortress. A large gear belt stretched from the ceiling to the
floor and was in constant motion. Nearby, another smaller machine had
oscillating blades. The room was swarming with mobs, and it really
looked like a hard fight. The moving components made the room feel
alive, and it is a testament to the hard work of the design team.



Perhaps the most peculiar thing I saw on my tour, I visited a room that
McGeathy described as being like " href="http://tentonhammer.com/node/14630">disco battle chess." It
seems Meldrath really is mad, and he likes to entertain himself by
watching clockwork game
pieces
battle it out in his game room. I didn't quite get a chance
to explore it, but it appeared that there were switches on the far wall
with colors matching the game board. Most of the mobs in the room were
yellow to my level 80.



Somewhere within Mechanotus you'll find Meldrath himself. I didn't see
him, though. McGeathy says some of the content there is instanced to
accomodate multiple groups.


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He's awake!

Crystallos

All this time, you have been busy trying to fight Meldrath. Now enter
Crystallos, lair of Kerafrym the Awakened. This is the game's Tier 4
content, so you'll stand almost no chance of surviving the common mobs
without first passing through Tiers 1-3 and getting the best gear
possible. Entry requires a flag.



Those common mobs include drakes,
prismatic wyverns, prismatic
overlords
, and more. At one point, I had 3 mobs wailing on me,
whittling away at my 50K hit points. Even though the buff healed me for
thousands at a time, I was dying fast. You can see href="http://tentonhammer.com/node/14619">the damage from one of the
wyverns if you think it will help you plan.



Of course, the major attraction of this zone is the chance to fight
some epic dragons. Kerafyrm has gathered those loyal to him, and href="http://tentonhammer.com/node/14618">a dragon egg I spotted
tells me they are trying to hatch more. Each dragon has its own wing
marked with its symbol. I found a href="http://tentonhammer.com/node/14616">storm symbol, an href="http://tentonhammer.com/node/14617">ice symbol, and a href="http://tentonhammer.com/node/14615">fire symbol. I even got
to go into one chamber to see href="http://tentonhammer.com/node/14621">where the dragon spawns.
Kerafyrm has a prismatic breath that causes the main room (pictured
left) to shimmer. Sorry. I did not find out what the breath might do to
you.


Secrets
of Faydwer
offers EverQuest
players immense challenge, incredible new features, and a solid story
line. The new areas are skillfully crafted and fit together nicely. Old
players at the level cap will want to own this expansion right away,
and players below the cap will want to get there as fast as possible.
The race to level 80 starts 11/13/07!



What do you think of Secrets of Faydwer? href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=20976">Tell us
in our forums!

To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our EverQuest Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

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