The provided source material details updates and features related to the EverQuest video game, specifically focusing on the "Shattering of Ro" expansion and associated game mechanics. This information is drawn from official patch notes and game update announcements. While the source data does not contain any information about free samples, promotional offers, no-cost product trials, brand freebies, or mail-in sample programs in the real-world consumer product categories typically covered by this website, it does outline several in-game opportunities that can be accessed by players at no additional cost beyond the game subscription or expansion purchase.
The "Shattering of Ro" expansion introduces several new features and rewards for players. A key addition is the introduction of the Vah Shir Druid, which allows Vah Shir characters to become Druids for the first time. This new class and race combination is celebrated with a limited-time offering of Vah Shir heritage crates available on the game's marketplace. Players can also gain a pair of new shared bank slots, which are automatically granted and do not require a purchase. The expansion allows players to level up to 130, learn new spells, combat abilities, and alternate abilities (AAs), and acquire new items and tradeskill recipes.
To access the new content, players can enter the Shattered Grove through a burning tree in the Wakening Lands or via a portal in the Guild Hall. A map pack is available, which includes the new Frostfell zone, The Gifty Giver, and zone line markers for West Freeport and The Wakening Lands. The Gifty Giver, along with a Frostfell fanatic and enthusiast in the Commonlands tunnel, now sell holiday items from the Marketplace. For players interested in Arcstone, Shattered Isles, a portal is available in West Freeport, but using it or zoning in manually requires completion of Candlemaker's Workshop Partisan Quests.
The update notes for "Shattering of Ro" also include several quality-of-life improvements and adjustments to game mechanics. For instance, the maximum total number of purchasable character slots in the Marketplace has been increased to 9. A new command, '/swapdisc', has been added to allow players to remove a currently active combat ability and activate a new one. Performance improvements include enhanced background loading of textures and animations, which reduces zone and spawn times, and better game performance during intense combat when using '/loginterval 0'. Texture loading can now utilize more CPU threads for compression, with specific client settings recommended for optimal results. UI corrections have been made, such as fixing the position of the power source power meter and correcting an issue where hotbuttons processed left-clicks as both left- and right-clicks.
Significant changes have been made to various Class AAs (Alternate Abilities). For example, the Ranger's Elemental Arrow and the Druid's Season's Wrath now include a flat incoming damage effect that scales with future ranks and no longer increase proc damage. The Rogue's Twisted Shank has been updated to apply its effects as a triggered spell, allowing its damage-over-time effect to stack, and its incoming damage effect also no longer increases proc damage. The Beastlord's Roar of Thunder applies its debuff as a triggered spell with values approximately 90% of comparable spells from other classes, with increased hate reduction at higher ranks. The Berserker's Everburn now uses a different damage effect for increased output, and Furious Rampage abilities have a 15-minute reuse timer. The Rogue's Mrylokar's Rigor now uses the Skill Damage 2 spell effect to stack with abilities like Executioner Discipline. An issue with the Finishing Blow AA, which allowed it to trigger on targets 6 or 7 levels lower than intended, has been fixed.
Spell updates include adjustments to the Annihilate the Unnatural line for Druids and Magicians, which now provides a greater advantage against summoned and construct creatures, with increased damage, mana costs, and trigger chances. Similarly, the Cleric and Paladin Annihilate the Undead line has been updated to be more effective against undead creatures. The Enchanter class had an unimplemented illusion spell removed from visibility in the game.
On Progression Servers, pets will now correctly gain social aggro from their leaders' hate list on Encounter Locked servers. Several miscellaneous fixes were also implemented, including a fix for a crash that could occur when giving keyring items to an NPC and a zone crash when loading a persona equipment set. The bandolier feature can now properly insert and remove items from the Equipment Key Ring, and an issue where arrows could go into the Equipment Key Ring when changing personas has been fixed. The Frostfell fanatic and enthusiast in the Commonlands tunnel, along with the Gifty Giver, will now sell holiday items from the Marketplace.
Conclusion
The "Shattering of Ro" expansion for EverQuest provides players with substantial new content, including higher level caps, new zones, quests, raids, achievements, and the introduction of the Vah Shir Druid. Alongside this expansion, the game received numerous updates to classes, spells, AAs, and user interface elements, along with performance improvements and bug fixes. These updates are available to all players who have access to the expansion and represent a form of in-game reward and content expansion. The provided information is exclusively from official game update notes and does not include any details about real-world consumer product samples or freebies.