Turbine just announced that Update 11, the next big update for Dungeons & Dragons Online, will be launching sometime in September. Update 11, called Secrets of the Artificers, will bring in a new Artificer class, a new high-level quest hub, new crafting levels and more.

The full rundown of features for Update 11: Secrets of the Artificers, is posted below.

New Artificer Class

A blend of Rogue and Arcane classes, the Artificer uses specially created weapons and mechanical pets to challenge their foes

New House Cannith Enclave

Home of the Artificers, House Cannith is a new high level quest hub where magic and mechanics converge.

New Content

Born in war, forged in fury, Stormreach faces its most terrible foe yet.

New Crafting Levels

Craft all the way to level 150. Plus, craft Draconic Runestones, a new magical weapon available to all classes.

The Secrets of the Artificers Premium Adventure Pack will be available in the DDO Store and Free to VIPs, and includes:

• Two new high level Raids
• New wilderness area
• 3 new dungeons

After the jump we have some concept art for some of the new weapons and places that Update 11 will introduce.

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The latest update, Reign of Madness, is now live on Dungeons & Dragons Online servers.  Update 10 continues where the last update ended brings players face to face with personified madness, old acquaintances, and unlikely new allies.

Below are details as to what the Reign of Madness update will bring to DDO and some new screenshots of the content update.

Acute Delirium
Return to the Sleeping Spell Inn and help a familiar but inept apprentice who has placed Eberron into grave danger. Follow the trail of a powerful, missing scepter and endeavor to reclaim it before it can fall into the wrong hands. Along the way, you will encounter the increasingly strange creatures and events. Has the scepter found a new wielder from the Plane of Madness or is an even more dangerous force at play?

Sane Asylum
The tables have turned in this foray into the Insane Asylum of Stormreach where you must protect sane patients from being administered some bad medicine. Navigate the twisting corridors of the asylum and successfully weather the madness of Xoriat before it overruns the city!

The Lord of Stone
When the Lord of Eyes breaks free of his imprisonment in Khyber it falls to you to see him returned. Venture into the depths of Khyber to enlist the aid of the Lord of Eye’s arch-rival, the Lord of Stone. Wind your way through the underground realm, braving countless dangers, and reach the mad and powerful Lord of Stone before it is too late!

The Lord of Eyes
With the aid of the Lord of Stone secured, you must bring the fight to the Lord of Eyes in order to halt his invasion of Eberron. Tame the elements in order to harness the powerful technology of the magefire cannons. Make your way into the basement beneath the Tower of the Twelve and confront the Lord of Eyes before his nefarious plans can be realized!

Crafting Unbound
The crafting beta continues with the introduction of unbound items which may be fashioned in the Kundarak Enclave Crafting Hall. Create shards that can be traded or auctioned to other players. Forge unbound weapons for sale or trade. Craft new items for your guild, outfit your friends, or just make a few coins for yourself. The choice is yours!

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Dungeons & Dragons Online has launched their new Crafting Cookbook to the DDO Compendium and are looking for recipes to fill it with.  Over the next few days and weeks DDO we will be adding players recipes to the Compendium with the hopes of creating a fantastic new resource for crafters in Stormreach.

A new column on the DDO site has also been launched called “Cooking with….Courtney!” where Courtney d’Cannith will give advice and tips for “cooking up” great crafting, including player recipes. You can check out the new DDO cooking column here.  For those of you that want to checkout the cookbook or submit your own recipes to it, head over to the Compendium.

Turbine sure has a lot going on these days. Except at their billing department, I suppose. Having gone free-to-play, both Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons & Dragons Online have been faring quite well in the sea of free. The rapidly growing F2P market means that Turbine still has stiff competition to defend against, even after dropping the subscription fees.

In celebrating LOTRO’s 4th anniversary, Turbine has brought plenty of Spring festivities to Middle-Earth, including a new hedge maze and “Stomp-a-Shrew” event. Master Brewers will delight in the formation of the Ale Association by the Dwarve’s of Thorin’s Hall. For more information on the Spring Festival, head over to the official site.

Over in Dungeon land, Turbine has released a brand new adventure pack with Update 9. The pack, titled Harbinger of Madness, has players hunting for missing townsfolk and exploring uncharted sewers (yum) near Stormreach harbor. According to the press release, “Update 9 will also introduce updates to Crafting, new attack animations, boosted spells and more prestige Enhancement lines, among other updates.” For a closer look into DDO’s newest update, drop by the official site.

At PAX Prime this weekend, Turbine will be showcasing, in response to DDOs 1-year anniversary, the latest content update release for Dungeons & Dragons Online.

The Half-Orc and Half-Elf are suggested to be favourites amongst players familiar with the pen-and-paper version of the game.  It is expected that this will add yet more options to players still knee-deep in Update 6 that was very recently released.

In addition to the two new races going to be included in Update 7, it will also include a brand new 12-man raid, a new free quest line, and DDO is planning to be able to support DirectX-11 graphics.

Aside from the regularly updated graphics, the new content and expanding character options, the frequency of updates and content releases alone from Turbine is something to consider when looking to pay for a subscription to a MMO.

With Turbine keeping the game this fresh and exciting for new and existing players, the question is will the two almost back-to-back content releases of update 5, 6 and now 7 have enough gravity to pull players from older, less-responsive games?

This will be the first of at least two, maybe three reviews I will do on Dungeons and Dragons Online. I am writing this in multiple sections because there is a lot to cover, it wouldn’t be ethical to discuss what I haven’t experienced firsthand, and because I want to be able to give the proper attention and time to all the aspects of Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) which I wish to discuss.

Until recently, I didn’t play DDO for quite a long time. For those unfamiliar with the game, the level cap is now 20. When I played, it was 10, and it was a very different game. We used to joke that it should be called Dungeon and Dragon because there was only one dragon in the whole game. My best guess would be that I quit shortly after the release of Module 3 in October 2006.

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Turbine recently announced that they will be expanding the player base of Dungeon and Dragons Online by reaching across the seas to start their European DDO service.

Starting August 20th, European players will be able to make their accounts and download the English client of the game.  DDO will remain free to play for all players, while still keeping their pay to upgrade system.  As a thank you to all the patient European DDO fans, Turbine will be giving you all five-thousand free Turbine points to be spent in the online store.  Things such as extra character slots and premium content can be purchased using your Turbine points.  In addition to the free points, all DDO players will receive free character transfers that will become available at a later date.  Turbine will keep you updated as to when this will happen.

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If you weren’t convinced before, Turbine has sent out another round of new screenshots from Dungeons and Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited’s recent Update 5. The warmly received Update included the fully overhauled Guild System, a new Carnival adventure pack, and guild airships.

These screenshots are from one of the new Dungeon and Dragons Online adventures, titled “A Small Problem“.

I recently explained a little about DDO Update 5, and we have some more new screenshots for you today, focussing on the feature that I’m most interested in – Dungeons & Dragons Online Airships. The picture heading this post is my favourite, as it brings to mind sailing the heavens in a flotilla with your comrades. Of course, in my imagination I’ve usually forgotten to refuel my airship and the daydream ends with me crashing into the jagged rocks below. I’m sure it’ll go differently for you.

For more information on Dungeons & Dragons Online Update 5 – Rise of the Guilds, visit the official site.

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Dungeons & Dragons Online Update 5: Rise of the Guilds is on course to go live on June 28th, 2010. Among the many changes, including new hirelings, enhancements, spells, feats and traps, the most interesting new feature is probably that of Guild Airships. Unsurprisingly, given the name of the update, several new guild features are planned, such as guild trophies and a guild leveling system. Despite that, it’s really the airships that have caught my eye. Guilds will be able to obtain these airships and customise them for their needs.

Check below for brand new screenshots.

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