The Broken Mirror (2015)

A goddess and her mirror

The Sul Vius preview of October 20 named the villain: "When Anashti Sul, a goddess, entered this Norrath for the first time through the rift created by the arrival of Lady Lendiniara, an alternate plane was formed. This plane is held together solely by her power." Source [4]

That plane had "two sides – mirrors of each other, one light and one dark": Sul Vius: Demiplane of Life and Sul Vius: Demiplane of Decay. Players had to "take on challenges and solve the puzzles in both sides of the plane." A recovered "fragment of Anashti Sul’s broken mirror" gave heroes "the power to travel between the two aspects", and the preview’s advice was to "always remember there is balance in light and dark." Source [4]

The launch-day framing: "Anashti Sul has split into the two most dominant aspects of herself - life and decay – and she’s crafted a plot to infect the places of Norrath with a war that threatens to collapse the balance of all life!" Source [7]

The Plane of Health

Players began in the Plane of Health, which Daybreak described as "a part of Norrath where residents and visitors are constantly healed. Nothing decays, nothing dies." It was the first time players could go there. Its people brought news of "Anashti Sul, a new acquaintance of Rodcet Nife." Daybreak wrote that "you can feel the presence of Rodcet Nife as you walk through the Plane, you won’t encounter him here", and that the residents "feel energetic, virile, and vibrant." Source [3]

The way on was "a small, oddly-shaped crypt". The next day’s preview revealed that it "was a portal to Sul Vius: Demiplane of Life!" Source [3] Source [4]

Penalties and zone copies

The comfort had a cost: "In the Plane of Health healing players receive is reduced by 20%." In the Crypt of Decay, "players will have their max mana and HP reduced by 20%." With the Collector’s or Premium edition’s Shroud of Relife illusion or Contract of the Chosen mercenary active, each penalty was "only a 10% reduction", and finishing the expansion’s progression also gave perks in those zones. Source [7]

Three zones launched with Daybreak’s new "Load Balancing Zone" tech: the Plane of Health, the Crypt of Sul and the Crypt of Decay. When a zone reached a player threshold "it will spawn another version of itself", and players chose a copy on entry or with the /pickzone command. Source [7]

Edition items

The premium editions also carried the Touchstone of Health and the Cynosure of Health, which "will transport you" to the Plane of Health. A 2023 Marketplace bundle called the Cynosure "A real estate item for housing or guild halls" and the Touchstone "A personal teleport item." Source [3] Source [8]

The 2023 bundle text called the Bokon shroud "An illusion of a cultist devoted to life after death", and the Shroud of Relife "An illusion of a jovial skeleton." The same bundle listed the Satchel of Shattered Eternities ("A 40 slot bag"), a housing painting titled "The Broken Mirror: Reflections of Life in Decay", and the Pridewing Lion Mount, "A graceful wing lion mount useable at level 1." Source [8]

The Illusion Key Ring

Buying the expansion gave "EVERY character on your account an Illusion Key Ring", Ry "Roshen" Schueller wrote on October 16, 2015. It gathered a character’s illusions onto "one easy-to-use tab" and freed bag space. Source [1]

The ring split looks from stats: a player could assign a "stat illusion" and keep the appearance of another. Schueller’s example kept the stats of "Polymorph Wand: Bixie Soldier" with the look of "a Twisted Gnomework." Each character began with 10 slots; more could be bought on the Marketplace, and Marketplace illusions added a free slot of their own while they stayed on the ring. Source [1]

Beta and bonuses

The beta opened "on Wednesday, October 21, 2015", and pre-ordering gave "immediate access to the beta server." Testers could make characters with "/betabuff <class> <level>", for example "/betabuff necromancer 105". Source [2]

Daybreak said things were "being done slightly differently this year": testers earned beta tokens for achievements in flagged content, redeemable after launch for the Sul Vius Denizen Disguise, a cosmetic head item that could become a Hero’s Forge helm ornament. Source [5]

The pre-order bonus, the Shroud of the Bokon illusion, was offered until "11:59PM PST on Tuesday, November 17, 2015." Source [6]