There some teeny, tiny spoilers in here, but nothing really major in my view. But they are spoilers none the less.
Here's the scoop so far on the new zones. The Midnighter Club and Cimerora.
Midnighter Club and Cimerora are coop zones. You need to be level 10+ (depends on faction) to being a member of the Midnight Club, and you get the password to enter the zone. You can talk to the appropriate contact, do their arc, and you'll get the password to the Midnight Club.
Villains talk to Ashley McKnight who's standing outside the Villains' Midnight Club Entrance. She's standing by a set of stairs outside of the University in Cap Au Diable. It's the west end of the building that's in the NE corner of the University plaza area. You need to be level 20+ to be able to do the "Midnight's Hand" arc.
Heroes talk to Montague Castanella at the Steel Canyon University. He's inside the main building, He's in the Library section to your right as you enter the University building. He's immediately to your left as you enter the Library section. You need to be at lease level 10 to be able to do the "Lost and Found" arc. You can do it all the way up to level 50.
The intro story arcs for both Heroes and Villains are different and very fun to do. Hero's get a really, really cool temp power for awhile. (Note: Heroes don't craft the Temp power until Montie directs you too. It's time limited.) Villains you get a bonus story arc from a new contact Darrin Ward. Darrin is located in Sharkhead just outside of the hospital in the zone. His story arc is for levels 25+. You might get introduced to him from the Broker, or you can walk up to him and introduce yourself. Villains in that last mission, you'll really need to watch for those.... Well, I think I'll keep that little tidbit to myself as surprise. And pay attention to what Darin tells you after the last mission. It's what Hero 1 alludes to in his interview. It seems we'll be seeing more Darrin in the near future.
After the intro arc mission you'll be given the password to enter the Club. Remember it (seriously), for you'll need it to gain access to the zone. You'll be directed to the contact outside of the Steel Canyon or Cap Au Diable University.
Once you are inside the Midnight Club, you'll be in the lobby for your zone's University entrance. That means 3 lobby's for the hero side which lead to an entry hall with 3 entrances. And only 1 lobby for the Villain side which leads to an entry hall with 1 entrance. The Entry Halls are tinted to help tell them apart: red for villains and blue for heroes.
Your last mission objective is to talk to a Midnighter representative in a lobby. He's in the Steel Canyon lobby on the Hero side. For you villains, it's the leftmost door as you enter the hero's entry hall. And after you've talked to the Midnight Club representative click on the skull sitting on the counter there in front. (Trust me
More on that later.)
Towards the back of the Lobbies and up the stairs, there is a set of double doors. They lead to the common area of the Midnighter Club. The common area may seem like a maze, but it's not. It's based on the Circle of Thorn's Oranbega map blocks. There are 5 rooms along a central corridor. 2 on either side of the corridor leading to a circular meeting room at the end.
As you exit the entry way from the Lobbies, there is Pillar of Ice and Flame to your left or right. It's in an alcove between the Hero and Villan entry ways. As you leave the entry ways you'll see a Midnighter against the wall to your right or left. Beyond him, you'll see a column embedded 1/2 into the wall. On the other side of that column is a small alcove. In that alcove, you'll see the Pillar of Ice and Flame. That is your entry way into Cimerora.
To further orient you, turn around you'll see the main corridor and the meeting room at the far end. Your entry hall is one of the rooms in the common area. The room across the corridor is your counterparts' entry hall which heads to their zone lobby(s). Up the corridor aways are two storage rooms with books, books and various trinkets. And as I've mentioned, at the end of the corridor is a big circular meeting mall with a big circular table and chairs.
In the Midnighter Club there are a couple of badges to be earned. One is to find all of the clues. You did click on the Skull on the Desk in the lobby? You get riddles which can lead you to other clues. Get all 13 clues (they are clickable items) and you get a badge (Midnighter Club Archivist). Or you might do it the hard/easy way by trying to click on everything in the zone. (Hint: all Zone Lobbies are identical) The clues have a lot of flavor text in them. If you are a story addict, you'll be thoroughly please. There is also an exploration badge. Not to hard to find, but I'll won't spoil the fun. Go look around, you'll get it.
There is also a store in the Midnighter Club. She in the big circular meeting room. She's seated in one of the chairs around the large circular (round?) table. At present, the store only sells all Single Origin Enhancers level 35 and up. The store will buy any excess Recipes, Enhancers and Salvage you want to sell there as well.
Now on to Cimerora. First of all it's a coop-zone for level 35+ characters. And Let me say what's there is Wonderful. I went WOW when I set foot into town. War Witch and crew did a bang up job. You feel like you are really there in Ancient Rome. (OK just a provincial town) The sights, sounds and ambiance are perfect.
You will zone into a Cavern where the Midnighter Club has setup operations. The Cavern has been refurbished the latest start of the art (for the time period) magical rezz rings for when you defeated in Cimerora. (And trust me you will be defeated at some point.) Talk to the Midnighter standing in the Cavern before heading out for the first time. He'll explain some of the "upgrades" that's been done to, er, for you as you traversed using the Pillar of Ice and Flame.
As you leave the Cavern, you'll want to follow the Yellow Brick Road... and well it's not make of bricks, it made of stones. And they aren't really yellow but white.... So Follow the White Stone road...out of the Cavern.
You'll first head into Cimerora proper. At the edge of town, look for a flowing banner on the side of a building to your left. That marks the location Senator Decimus. He'll mostly likely be flanked by a couple of soldier bodyguards. Go up and talk to him. He'll give you and introductory story arc that will introduce the story of Cimerora. A nice and simple met and greet to various NPCs around town.
After you finish the Senators into arc, His next mission will be an introduction to Marcus. Head towards to town center. Standing next to the town fountain, you'll see Marcus. He is Marcus Valerius, Ex-Captain of the Guard (of the Infinite Missions). He's like Borea in the RWZ. Various types of timed missions around the island. You'll also get an exploration badge as well.
In your wondering around town, you'll probably find States...er Imperious. He's the deposed leader of the land Cimerora who's holed up in the fort you are in. He's standing on a platform overlooking the town. Look towards the roman architecture built into the cliff-side. When you see lines of soldier standing, you'll know you are near. You'll also most likely be given a mission that will introduce you to Imperious after you have completed the Midnighter Club arc if you are level 35+.
Imperious the TF/SF contact for the zone. It's for 6 or more players level 35 up to 50.
DO THIS TF! This is the the best TF/SF in the game by far. It's 4 missions doable in the 1.5 - 2 (possibly 3) hour range. This is a TF you'll want to do over an over again. Its EPIC!! Completing this TF will net you the typical TF completion rewards, a nifty new badge
AND unlock the entire Roman Armor Set costume parts.
The Roman Armor is a complete costume set under the revamped Costume Creator. It's called 'Roman' (duh!). It's towards the bottom of the list. Here is a quick summary of the pieces. The Roman Helmet is under 'Hats'. Base helmet has 1 style, 1 style of forehead cover, 2 face plate styles, And 5 diferent crest styles: 4 feather crests, and a spikey, headguard type crest. There are 2 styles of chest sections, a segmented 'Legionarii,' style or a chest plate 'Centurion' style. There is a set of Roman type Shoulder Pauldrons. There is a set of forearm Vambraces in two styles with and without gloves. There is the classic armored 'kilt', 1 style. And a set of leg Greaves in two styles with and without boots. Sexy Jay has done another outstanding job (Jay is Sexy).
And that's about it in the zone for now. Be careful when exploring the rest of the zone. You'll see a a couple intriguing area outside the boundaries of the zone. An island that has a temple on it's mount and a ship in cave. And towards the north you'll see a very imposing fortress with lines and lines or Lengionaires lining it's walls. Don't worry, you'll get to explore them in person during the TF/SF.
There are hostiles you'll learn about from Senator's arc and comments around the town. There can be upwards or level 50+ hostiles in certain areas. And the Roman's have got a few suprises up their, er, um, tunics. I'll let you enjoy the surprise. They are a lot tougher then they look. There is also a badge for defeating 100 or their number - Centurion. Very apropos don't you think? And Hero 1 has hinted there is a letter to your character like those in the Ouroboros arcs. It's in the TF. Keep a look out for it. It raises a lot more questions than it answers. (DANG IT!) Stay tuned, and see you Cimerora.
Edit: Updated for the May 2 build.
