Returning to EQ2? What you might have forgotten - Part 3 : Expansions and Adventure Packs

If you have been away from EverQuest II for several years, there is one rather obvious problem waiting for you when you return: what happened while I was gone?

The answer is, quite a lot.

EverQuest II has been receiving major expansions and smaller adventure packs for more than twenty years. New zones, level increases, classes, systems, quests, dungeons and raids have been added year after year. If you stopped playing in 2008, 2012, 2016 or even 2022, the game you return to can feel very different from the one you remember.

The good news is that you do not need to learn twenty years of content before you can start playing again.

What you do need is a rough understanding of how the game developed, which expansions belong to which era, and where your own memories fit into the history of Norrath.

Expansions and Adventure Packs Are Not Quite the Same Thing

One of the first things a returning player may have forgotten is that EverQuest II has traditionally had both full expansions and smaller adventure packs.

A full expansion normally introduced a substantial new part of the game: new zones, a raised level cap, large questlines, dungeons and raids, and sometimes entirely new systems or classes.

Adventure packs were smaller releases. They generally concentrated on a particular storyline or group of zones rather than attempting to expand every part of the game at once.

The distinction is particularly important when looking back at the early years of EverQuest II, because several adventure packs were released alongside the first major expansions. The Bloodline Chronicles, The Splitpaw Saga and The Fallen Dynasty are good examples.

The Early Years

The first major expansions arrived while EverQuest II was still a relatively young MMORPG.

Desert of Flames, released in September 2005, took adventurers into the Sinking Sands and Pillars of Flame. It raised the level cap to 60 and introduced a substantial new collection of quests, dungeons and raids, including the famous Peacock Club storyline.

The same period also saw adventure packs such as The Bloodline Chronicles, The Splitpaw Saga and The Fallen Dynasty. These were much smaller experiences than a full expansion but are still part of the historical fabric of EverQuest II.

Kingdom of Sky followed in February 2006. It raised the level cap to 70 and introduced the spectacular floating islands of the Overrealm, including Tenebrous Tangle, Barren Sky and Bonemire. Flying mounts also became one of the defining features of the expansion.

Echoes of Faydwer arrived in November 2006 and returned players to one of the most recognisable regions inherited from the original EverQuest: Faydwer. Greater Faydark, Kelethin and the fae and wood elf cultures became major parts of the game.

Later in 2007, Rise of Kunark took players to the continent of Kunark. Fens of Nathsar, Kylong Plains and the wider Kunark setting introduced a very different atmosphere, while the expansion added the Sarnak as a playable race and the Beastlord class to the game.

The Expansions Start Coming Thick and Fast

By the end of the first decade, EverQuest II had established a fairly regular expansion cycle.

The Shadow Odyssey arrived in 2008 and expanded the game with the Moors of Ykesha and a large collection of additional instances.

Sentinel's Fate followed in 2010, raising the adventure level cap to 90 and introducing the vast new lands associated with the expansion.

Destiny of Velious then returned players to the frozen continent of Velious, bringing back locations and themes familiar to veterans of the original EverQuest.

If you stopped playing during this period, you may therefore remember EverQuest II as a game centred around the original continents, Kunark and the early expansion zones. Returning today means that all of those areas are still there, but they now represent only a small part of the overall game.

Age of Discovery Changed the Game

Age of Discovery, released in 2011, is particularly important for a returning player because it was not simply another collection of zones.

It introduced systems that fundamentally changed how many players approached the game, including mercenaries and Dungeon Maker. The Beastlord class was also introduced during this period.

Most importantly, EverQuest II's move to a free-to-play model changed the relationship between the game and its expansions. A player returning after a long absence therefore needs to distinguish between the older content that is already available and the more recent expansions that require additional access.

For a returning player, this is one of the most useful pieces of historical context: you do not necessarily need to buy twenty years of EverQuest II just because twenty years of content exist.

The Middle Era

Chains of Eternity followed in 2012, continuing the increasingly elaborate storylines surrounding the gods and planes of Norrath.

Tears of Veeshan arrived in 2013 and returned heavily to dragon lore and the legacy of Velious.

Altar of Malice followed in 2014, while Terrors of Thalumbra arrived in 2015 and took players underground into a very different environment.

Kunark Ascending arrived in 2016 and returned once again to Kunark, this time with the Obulus Frontier and a progression system aimed particularly at more advanced characters.

If you stopped playing somewhere around the time of Altar of Malice or Kunark Ascending, you have already missed several entire eras of EverQuest II development.

Planes, Chaos and the Return to Luclin

Planes of Prophecy continued the game's fascination with the planes, while Chaos Descending expanded the story into another set of planar environments.

Blood of Luclin then took EverQuest II back to the moon of Luclin, bringing one of the most recognisable locations from the original EverQuest into the modern game's story.

Reign of Shadows followed with its own dark setting and progression, before Visions of Vetrovia moved the game into a completely different setting.

For a returning player, this is where the sheer number of expansions can become confusing. You may recognise a name such as Luclin or Kunark and assume you are returning to the game you remember, only to discover that the modern version of that location is connected to an entirely different era of the storyline.

The Recent Expansions

Renewal of Ro arrived in November 2022, taking adventurers to the southern reaches of Ro and the Raj'Dur Plateaus. It included new solo, heroic and raid content, new epic spells, quests, achievements and collections.

Ballads of Zimara followed in November 2023. The expansion returned to the Plane of Sky and introduced Splendor Sky Aerie, Zimara Breadth, the Aether Wroughtlands and Vaashkaani.

Scars of Destruction launched in November 2024 and took players into the Barren Coast, Sodden Archipelago and Western Wastes, with the Dragon Necropolis forming a major part of the new content.

Rage of Cthurath launched in December 2025 and raised the level cap to 135. Its story moved the game into the Void, with new lands including Yon Gorroth, Oogothl Sprawl, The Unknown, Gerion and Zon Zobboz.

And that is not the end of the story.

Gerion's Reckoning launched on 24 March 2026. Rather than being a traditional numbered expansion in the same sense as the older releases, it arrived as a major game update building directly on the events of Rage of Cthurath. It added new solo, heroic and raid dungeons, missions, collections and tradeskill content for characters at adventure level 135.

So What Does This Mean If You Are Returning?

The most important thing is not to panic.

You do not need to play every expansion you missed.

EverQuest II has been designed so that a returning player can move through older content much faster than someone who experienced it when it was current. The old zones, quests and dungeons have not disappeared simply because newer expansions have been released.

In fact, the sheer amount of older content can be one of the great advantages of returning. You have an enormous world available to explore, and you can decide how much of its history you actually want to experience.

You May Not Need to Buy Everything

This is another important thing to remember.

EverQuest II's free-to-play model means that a substantial amount of older content is already available. The official EverQuest II registration information currently lists older expansions through Planes of Prophecy as included for new accounts, along with The Bloodline Chronicles, The Splitpaw Saga and The Fallen Dynasty adventure packs.

That means a returning player should check what is already available to their account before assuming that every old expansion has to be purchased again.

The more recent expansions are a different matter. If your goal is to play current endgame content, you will need access to the current expansion path. But if your goal is simply to return to Norrath and rediscover the game, there is an enormous amount of content waiting for you before you ever need to worry about the latest expansion.

Which Expansion Did You Leave?

One of the easiest ways to orient yourself is to work backwards from your own memories.

If you remember...	You may have last played around...
Sinking Sands and the Peacock Club	Desert of Flames
Tenebrous Tangle and flying islands	Kingdom of Sky
Kelethin and Greater Faydark	Echoes of Faydwer
Kunark and the Iksar/Sarnak conflict	Rise of Kunark
Moors of Ykesha	The Shadow Odyssey
Velious and the Eastern Wastes	Destiny of Velious
Mercenaries and Dungeon Maker	Age of Discovery
Luclin and the moon	Blood of Luclin
Southern Ro and Raj'Dur	Renewal of Ro
Plane of Sky and Splendor Sky Aerie	Ballads of Zimara
Western Wastes and Dragon Necropolis	Scars of Destruction
The Void and Oogothl	Rage of Cthurath

If one of those names immediately brings back memories, you have a useful starting point. You can then work out what came after it and decide whether you want to continue from where you stopped or start exploring from somewhere else.

The World Has Not Been Erased

One of the comforting things about returning to EverQuest II is that the old world has not simply been replaced.

The Commonlands are still there. Freeport is still there. The ruins of Kunark are still there. Faydwer is still there. Velious is still there. Luclin is still there.

What has changed is everything that has been built around them.

There are now layers upon layers of history sitting on top of the original game. A returning character can therefore walk through an old zone they remember from twenty years ago and then, a short time later, find themselves travelling through a part of Norrath that did not exist the last time they played.

So Where Should You Start?

If you are returning to EQ2, resist the temptation to immediately ask yourself which expansion you should buy.

First work out what you actually want from the game.

If you simply want to rediscover Norrath, start playing. Explore the old zones. Relearn your character. Work through quests. Remember how the game feels.

If you want to catch up to current content, then use the expansion timeline to identify where your previous experience ends and what you have missed since then.

And if you want to relive the history of EverQuest II, you have an extraordinary amount of material available to you.

Twenty Years Is a Lot to Forget

Expansions and adventure packs are one of the biggest reasons returning to EverQuest II can initially feel overwhelming.

You are not simply returning to the game you left. You are returning to that game plus everything that has happened since.

But that is also what makes returning so interesting.

There are old adventures you remember, old adventures you completely forgot, and enormous amounts of content that you have never seen at all.

So don't worry about remembering every expansion. Just remember where you left Norrath.

Everything after that can be rediscovered one adventure at a time.