Since 1999 EverQuest has brought the world of Norrath to the land of the internet and it’s still going to this day. Enter its 25th expansion, The Burning Lands. With it comes new zones, raids, quests, spells, abilities, collections and perhaps most interesting of all a new Stat, Luck. This is our review of EverQuest: The Burning Lands.
Known for being one of the oldest MMORPG’s out there, EverQuest itself has a great deal of history and for some fond memories as well. The game isn’t just a fading memory though, it’s still being updated not just with content fixes, but also expansions. The Burning Lands is the 25th expansion into the land of Norrath. Its story tells of a peace lost as war breaks out between the djinn from the Plane of Air and the efreeti from the Plane of Fire. It’s up to the mighty heroes of the land to seek the truth behind this war and unravel its secrets in the Trials of Smoke to try to end the conflict. Also loot, it wouldn't be an MMO without loot and there’s plenty of that in this expansion.
)
One of the bigger things being introduced into EverQuest with The Burning Lands is a new Stat. Luck is the latest in the line of stats for you to concern yourself with on your character sheet. Sure, your Elementalist may not need much Strength or your Paladin could care less about having high Dexterity, but Luck benefits every class. In theory Luck helps to raise your RNG. It helps to randomly increase the amount of gold in your share of the loot from mobs, how hard your critical strike hit for, your chance at succeeding on trade skill combines and a few other things. In theory it sounds like a stat that you’d want to get up as high as you could as fast as you could to reap all those benefits, but the problem lies in getting it at times. I had flashbacks of old school camping when I originally played EverQuest for rare and named mobs. While the stat itself is a good idea and adds more value/content to the game, the way to get it and combine it can be a pretty big grind if you’re seeking to get it high fast. But as a casual player getting Luck wasn’t too bad, nor was combining items to increase it.
It wouldn’t be a new expansion for an MMO without new zones and new raids. Six new zones will take you on a ride through the Planes of Fire, Smoke and Air. Each zone looks good for the aging engine used for EverQuest. The Quests were well laid out in the zone allowing you to explore a bit and take out foes as you want. The general theme for these zones is achieved, especially so in the Trials of Smoke. It’s an area where the Planes of Fire and Air have clashed to make a new Plane of death and destruction. The zone feels like the war zone it is and reminds you that not all is well within the planes.
)
With every expansion you get new loot, new spells, new abilities, new collections and sometimes more levels. With the Burning Lands they’ve kept the level cap at 110, but have added enough things to keep a someone busy in EverQuest. Overall the new expansion feels like a solid part of Norrath lore and was fun to dip my toes back into the old swimming hole that is EverQuest. Time will tell how well Luck does overall in the game, but the rest of the things The Burning Lands brings are fun and make for a great excuse to revisit EverQuest.
SCORE: 8/10
Pros
- Luck stat is truly an RNG stat, but adds a new layer to playing EverQuest
- The Zones are beautifully done (within the limits of the engine used)
- Decent addition of spells/abilities
- New raids/dungeons to get more loot from
Cons
- It’s hard to tell if Luck will be or bad for EQ in the long term. It may introduce a good deal of camping. Not to mention the item to combine luck items (crystalized luck) is something you have to buy either in game at a high price or via real money.
- Same level cap as last expansion
