First UI Look: Visions of Vetrovia

Our eighteenth expansion is due in December! And it looks like it's going to be a good one for all play styles. Here's the official announcement in case you missed it. The Beta server is up and running, bringing with it some interesting UI edits from the developers. These obscure bits can sometimes give us hints about changes we might expect to see when the expansion goes live. Let's take a look.

Browser and Quest Journal

While downloading Beta files, my heart jumped as Launchpad's first order of business was to delete the files that control the in-game awesomium browser. Did this mean we would finally be getting an up-to-date client that can display popular sites like Wikia (aka Fandom)? My eyebrows went up a little bit more when a comparison of Live and Beta Quest Journals showed a new word buried deep within the file: Link.

Quest Journal... links... browser client hijinks... surely this meant we could shut down the URL Helper once and for all. Logging in with the Default UI I pounced on the Journal, mousing all over the place for anything new and clickable.

As it turns out there are links, and they are in the Journal, but at least for the moment they only involve a feature development on the Achievements Summary page. Clicking on a Recent Achievement switches the view to the correct category in the tree so you can see where it came from. See Image #1 above. Not exactly what I was expecting, but it's a very welcome QoL improvement that would probably not be possible with a custom UI.

But what about that browser? Typing /browser produced the mysterious line of chat shown in Image #2 above. What exactly does "temporarily" mean? We'll have to wait and see. Fun fact: it's impossible to cross your fingers in plate gauntlets, so I'm leaving that to my leather and chain wearers.

Deity Window

Previously known as "Equipment Infusion and Deity Abilities," the Infusions page has been expunged from the file and the toggle buttons don't do anything any more (Image #3). Surely infusions aren't going anywhere, are they? This is just my opinion, but out of the two systems, infusions are by far the more useful. Maybe a new way to infuse is on the horizon?

Mercenary Search

Here's another new tidbit (Image #4). I haven't found where this shows up on the interface, and I couldn't get it to do anything. Even when it gets working I don't think it will replace our exclusive Mercenary Favorites feature, but it definitely looks like another welcome QoL improvement from the developers.

Beta Participation

If you're planning on joining Beta, you'll probably want to have DarqUI available. No problem! We've got you covered. The first step is getting EverQuest II VoV Beta installed on your computer and optionally beta-copying one or more of your characters to it. Here is a very thorough walkthrough on Wikia if you are not sure how to get started.

I suggest getting your character(s) beta-copied and then log in to the Character Select screen at least once on Beta before doing anything else. If you can see your characters in Character Select, then the utility will be able to see them too.

Now for DarqUI. The easiest way: drop a copy of the utility into \BetaServer\UI\:

Open that copy of the utility and A) set up DarqUI or B) update your files if you already had DarqUI installed from a previous Beta.  If you are setting up DarqUI on Beta for the first time, take a look at this post. Feeding setup your premium membership key before installing will save you some time and effort.

If you already have DarqUI installed on Beta, and you are simply updating your files, first make sure your premium key is recognized by the utility. Look for the Patreon logo at the top of the utility when you check for updates. You'll probably get a pop-up with some instructions when you check. If you don't see the Patreon logo, click the blue logo on the About page and copy/paste it in from your "Welcome to the Darq Side" email.

Next, you can optionally click Beta Tools and copy as much or as little custom data as you like from Live servers to Beta.

Renamed Characters

If you find that your character's name has an X or Y appended to it, don't worry! Visit the Manage page of the utility and change the character's name there. It's very easy and saves you the trouble of reconfiguring that character's settings.

This may all seem complicated, but it's not! Just take it a step at a time and remember anything you do on Beta stays on Beta. Nothing you do on the Beta server will affect your Live server setup. Need help? Email me or log in to Discord!