EverQuest II executive producer Dave "SmokeJumper" Georgeson has posted on the official forums some big news for players: Critical mitigation will be removed entirely from the game. The upcoming changes will first head to the test server and then to all EQ2 servers afterward.

Here are the details:

• Critical Mitigation (the stat) has been removed from the game.
• Critical Mitigation no longer displays on the Character pane (for obvious reasons, since it’s no longer in the game).
• NPCs no longer use Critical Bonus to add to critical damage.
• Buffs and debuffs that have Critical Mitigation elements to them will have those elements replaced with other elements instead, so that those buffs/debuffs do not lose effectiveness.
• Critical Mitigation values on adornments will be replaced with hit point values instead.

Read the full post and participate in the ongoing discussion on the EverQuest II forum.