The Darkened Sea is set to officially launch on Tuesday, November 11, 2014 (with an early release exclusive to All Access members on Tuesday, October 28, 2014).

Here, we have a rundown of what's to come, along with a look at each new zone.

Storyline

Firiona Vie and friends are back (you might remember them from the events in Al'Kabor's Nightmare). The city of Katta Castrum is in dire straits, and our old nemesis, Lanys T`Vyl, is up to no good, having acquired the services of some new faces to help stir up problems... 14 (+2) quests and nine missions will see you through from beginning to end (numerous non-progression/storyline quests emanate out of each zone as well).

Locked Zones & Progression

Of the eight zones, six of them are locked behind progression. The two Tier 1 zones (Tempest Temple and Katta Castrum: Deluge) are open. The two Tier 2 zones (Brother Island and the Caverns of Endless Song) are unlocked together. And the four Tier 3 zones are unlocked one at a time in the order of Degmar, the Lost Castle; Thuliasaur Island; Combine Dredge; and Arx Mentis.

(More below the jump.)

Heroic Adventures

Heroic adventures are back, with six such quests spread among the zones (no new changes to how they function or with their difficulty). They reward a single currency ("Fists of Eight") used across all three tiers with one equipment vendor for each tier.

Mercenary Gear

Once you reach the end zone (Arx Mentis), you'll find a vendor with new mercenary gear to be had (upgrades for current slots only; there are no new mercenary item slots). These items will be bought with currency earned from heroic adventures. A few examples:

Raiding

There are seven new raids in The Darkened Sea, all emanating out of Arx Mentis: Five primary raids and two "one-off" raids. "One-off" means that you only get one shot at beating it (you get a lockout timer upon engage rather than upon victory).

Achievements & Collections

The standard set of achievements and rewards (Hero, Mercenary, Partisan, Champion, Paragon, etc.) that we've seen with recent expansions is in place. Collection achievements are again in place, with four sets per zone.

Special Items

Remember Jonas Dagmire's Skeletal Hand from The Buried Sea? Well, it seems his parrot met with a most unfortunate fate as well: You'll find what remains of his 'Tiny Parrot' as you do quests on Thuliasaur Island, eventually being able to put together a special Shoulders-only augmentation that gains strength as you do more quests and missions in The Darkened Sea.

There are also several chase items spread throughout the expansion, such as:

Mount Keyring

You'll see a new tab in your inventory window labeled "Mounts". This is your Mount keyring, and to add to it, you just hold a mount item on your cursor and click on the window. This keyring can hold up to 10 mounts (with option to buy more slots). You can select any mount on your keyring to lock in its stats to be used regardless of what mount you're visually using.

Zone Screenshots

And here are a couple screenshots from each zone in The Darkened Sea:

Tempest Temple: Atop the Floating Island	Tempest Temple: Mountainous Terrain
Katta Castrum: A Flooded City	Katta Castrum: Some Residents Didn't Make It...
Brother Island: Creatures Wander the Isle	Brother Island: Some Very Angry Parrots
Caverns of Endless Song: Silenced Sirens	Caverns of Endless Song: Entering the Caverns
Degmar, the Lost Castle: In the Brewery	Degmar, the Lost Castle: Care to Dance?
Thuliasaur Island: Expect Some Big Game Hunting	Thuliasaur Island: The Ominous Bloodwail Docks
Combine Dredge: The Stranded Ship	Combine Dredge: Traversing the Isle
Arx Mentis: The Garden	Arx Mentis: The Base