Screenshots! Shattering of Ro enters Beta

EverQuest’s 32 expansion has been announced and pre-orders are now available!

Shattering of Ro will launch in December of 2025, but beta has already begun. And those who pre-order the expansion will have access to beta immediately.

What’s Going On?

The plot starts simple enough, with a murder mystery.

The victim? Druzzil Ro. She’s been murdered in an explosion in the Plane of Magic. Firiona Vie is found unconscious as a survivor and is now implicated in Druzzil Ro’s murder.

Sensing that mortals have become too powerful, Solusek Ro begins plotting to keep the mortals in check and the gods themselves begin to take sides.

Solusek Ro and Rallos Zek make make obvious allies. Tunare and Mithaniel Marr come to the aid of the mortals. The fight comes to the Plane of Growth where Firiona lies unconscious.

Key Art

With the release of the name of the expansion and the launch of pre-orders, the key art for the expansion has been released.

We got a sneak peek from Jenn Chan in the Fall Producer’s Letter showing a large tree in flames. Initially we didn’t know the context of this tree, but it now has become clear that this is the Tree of Life within the Plane of Growth.

In the fully released key art, we see the addition of the major gods at play in the expanion : Tunare, Rallos Zek, Solusek Ro and Mithaniel Marr.

The artwork is quite vibrant and featuring the gods on the key art is a nice new take with a nostalgic throwback.

Zones

There are 6 zones in the upcoming expansion. Here are the official release photos for the expansion

Scarred Grove

The Plane of Growth is under attack, and this is where you’ll begin in Shattering of Ro.

Like much of the Plane of Growth, the Scarred Grove was once an idyllic tapestry of rolling hills, babbling brooks, lush forests, and transcendent waterfalls that all manner of fauna and flora called home. That picturesque beauty and tranquil serenity has been shattered by the Burning Host’s brutal assault, spearheaded by Solusek Ro, Rallos Zek, and Innoruuk.

Fortress walls erected, war camps constructed, and siege engines primed; the battlelines have been drawn as the Verdant Defenders, led by Tunare and Mithaniel Marr, seek to stop the Burning Host from pushing deeper into the Plane of Growth. As the Tree of Life burns, both forces call out for champions to take up arms in their name to bring a swift conclusion to this conflict. Which side will you choose?

Candlemaker’s Workshop

In the vast lower mantle of Norrath lies a Candlemaker’s Workshop belonging to Brell Serilis, Lord of the Underfoot. One of many secret sanctuaries dedicated to Brell’s endless research, this once peaceful corner of the Underfoot has been disrupted by the Burning Host, which burned a path straight through it to reach the Plane of Growth. But the Underfoot is vast and mostly takes care of itself. So while the gods wage their war, Brell continues to tinker.

But Brell always seems to know more about the happenings in and around Norrath than most realize, and he also worries for his candlefolk, the original denizens he created in this part of the Underfoot, who are now at great risk due to the hostility of the remaining invaders.

If any mortals happen to find their way to him, might Brell aid them in resolving these recent, cataclysmic events? Perhaps for a price.

Arcstone, The Shattered Isles

Shattered by the explosion that killed Druzzil Ro, Arcstone, Shattered Isles has a familiar landscape scattered across multiple broken and scarred islands. Some are covered in lava while others have lush growth. Magic is broken, and the impossible is everywhere. Traversal of the islands requires swimming through lava, waterfalls, and the wild growth of vines.

Death swept across this plane when the magical cataclysm that ripped it apart occurred. Many of those who survived have been driven insane, often as a direct result of the connection they shared with their shattered goddess. Can they be saved, or do they need to be mercifully ended?

Ruined Relic

Relic has been shattered. An explosion from one of the portals into Skylance has torn the Relic apart. It now floats in pieces, some too small to even see. Navigation is treacherous.

Druzzil Ro’s touch is missing — a ship without its navigator. Tsikut, the only remaining sane creature left in Relic following the blast, is seeking an orderly investigation and restoration. However, scrykin and other planar creatures have been affected most dreadfully by the blast. They now find it difficult to persevere without sabotage from untrusting agents, or simply those seeking power for themselves, and new threats arise almost every day. The area itself is slowly being rebuilt, with its remaining residents seeking access to the broken pieces of the artifacts that remain, utilizing whatever chaotic magic they can wrangle.

The Vortex

The Vortex is chaos. Arcstone, Shattered Isles, and Ruined Relic are all afflicted by magic storms. But Vortex is a magic storm made manifest. Cloth is solid. Mechanical tentacles grow in the sky. Feathers swirl about, ending in a titanic nest. Water is as hard as steel.

Creatures were born of this chaos. Each resembles the area they live in. Butterflies made of cloth, rainbow colored vultures, octopi made of metal, and lizards that swim like fish.

Can Norrathians find out more about the cause of Druzzil Ro’s death in this chaos?

Labyrinth of Spite

From the descent of an eternal staircase, a birds-eye view is granted of an expansive and treacherous labyrinth situated in permanent twilight. Spite-tainted drachnids, spiders, Teir`Dal, and a haunted gnome-like people named the Teir`Haeth patrol and guard the various prison cells dotted throughout the endless halls. The prisoners aren’t here for justice, as the Tribunal may dole out, but for the amusement of the mistress of this demiplanar realm.

Such amusement has been dragged in the form of the high-profile prisoner now raised high above the center of the labyrinth, hoisted in a private cell. Whoever it is has been getting special attention from the shadows. Should they be conscious enough, they will repeatedly see the futility of the adventurers daring to come to their rescue.

For any prisoners who do manage to escape the grasp of their captors, they may not be all there, or all they had come to this realm as, roaming as zombie-like or semi-lucid husks. Some may even trip their way to the lower levels, to be lost in the secondary labyrinth of sewers.

Features in Shattering of Ro

Level Cap Increase

As expected, the level cap increase for Shattering of Ro will increase to 130. This keeps with the pattern of a level increase every other expansion.

The recent expansion, The Outer Brood, did not increase the level cap.

Magic Storms

Probably the most interesting feature listed for the upcoming expansion is “Magic Storms.”

These churning tempests of unstable and unpredictable magic are a hazard to all who get near them. You never know what’s going on inside. IT’S CHAOS!
But if their power could be harnessed…

They appear as large spherical objects within the zones, but exactly how they’ll work is as yet unknown.

Vah Shir Druids

A new race and class combo is available with Shattering of Ro. Those kitties on Luclin can now walk the path of nature and become druids!

Shared Bank Slots

Two additional shared bank slots will be available with Shattering of Ro