Riders of Rohan Instance Cluster, Part I

 

The Shadow in the East arises once more. Darkness threatens to spread across Middle-earth. War is coming. Knowing that the Ring has been found and that the Dark Lord Sauron has begun to call all evil to himself, Gandalf the Grey seeks news of the allies and enemies of the past. Who can he depend upon to come to the aid of the Free Peoples, and what forces might be arrayed against them?

The story begins in Bree before Frodo and his friends arrive. Gandalf sends you to speak with Elrond at Rivendell, and he in turn directs you to the representatives of the Free Peoples who have come to his home in search of answers, and ultimately participate in the Council of Elrond. In Part I, Elrond sends you to speak with Legolas, Boromir, and Glorfindel. Each then asks you to aid their allies or hinder their foes. Legolas sends you to help the scouts of his father Thranduil as they scour the Scuttledells of Mirkwood for origin of the Great Spiders; Boromir, having been assailed by goblins as he neared his destination of Rivendell, warns you that a new Great Goblin has arisen within the Misty Mountains; and Glorfindel tells you to aid the Great Eagles of the Misty Mountains, who have been robbed of an egg by the Stone Giants who dwell there.

 

Webs of the Scuttledells

Berephon here. In Webs of the Scuttledells, players help Thranduil’s scouts as they seek for the cause the Great Spiders’ stirring. A wounded scout at the beginning of the instance warns the players that the spiders overwhelmed him and his companions. Many of those traveling with him were captured in their snares.

Along the path, players discover an ancient Woodman burial ground that has been disturbed by the spirits of the Enemy, raising the dead as foul wights under the leadership of a draug-lord. After defeating the Dead, the trio continues deeper into the Scuttledells, fighting through swarms of spiders, until they reach the cavern where Dígelir, queen of the Great Spiders of Mirkwood, has established her nest. There, the players must confront the spider-queen upon her own expansive web over a great chasm below.

While the instance space is generally new, we tried to capture and maintain the atmosphere of the Scuttledells, with its densely packed trees, cobweb covering, and narrow pathways. Along the path, players search cocoons for the missing scouts, sometimes finding things better left undisturbed. New web bridges and combustible webbing add to the creepy effect and highlight the battle with Dígelir at the end of the space . . . watch your step!

 

Seat of the Great Goblin

Hey everyone, Pinion here to talk about Seat of the Great Goblin. While it’s no surprise that Goblin-town is a tremendously iconic location in Middle-earth, I wanted to ensure that this new interpretation stayed true to the source material while still providing a very different experience from our existing instance in the Misty Mountains. With all the different varieties of goblins that make their home here, I felt it greatly important to distinguish them both in appearance and in drastically varied abilities. I wanted each monster to feel noticeably different, so that varied combinations throughout the space would provide a new challenge. Goblin-town features fairly large yet still manageable pulls for a 3-player space. This design was driven by the idea that each goblin, while not overwhelmingly strong on their own, could become so in a large enough force.

Goblin-town always had a very striking design to it. Thankfully, I was able to employ a few of my favorite features in Seat of the Great Goblin – raised walkways, a grand throne platform, the inclusion of Gollum’s cave, and an even deeper pit. In designing the two boss encounters, I wanted to ensure that the fights were both very different and memorable. While they were inspired by the monster types of the Goblin-town Throne Room’s encounters, that is where the similarities end – one is designed to be a controlled, visual-oriented fight, while the other features a wealth of drama and a far more frantic pace

Goblin-town has always been dear to me, and it was truly a pleasure to have the chance to bring it to life in a new form in LOTRO. Below, I’ve included a picture of the new throne room of Goblin-town, as well as a brief description of the space’s narrative:

In the absence of any significant enemy, the goblins have grown craftier than ever, employing their ever-volatile sappers and cruel traps against any who might threaten them. Filthy debris and half-finished structures litter Goblin-town and pour into the pit of a surly troll, the oft-neglected pet of the sitting Great Goblin, Uloga. However, since the fall of the Great Goblin by Gandalf’s hand, the rule of Goblin-town has not long remained under one goblin, as others are more than eager to seize power the moment the chance presents itself. Nevertheless, as a part of Gandalf’s charge, you must ensure that Goblin-town cannot rise again to become a great threat to Eriador during so pivotal a time in The War of the Ring.

 

Iorbar’s Peak

Hey everyone, it’s me, Sleepy! I’ve been working on a new 3-man instance called Iorbar’s Peak, and it focuses on the stone-giants of the Misty Mountains. While we know from Tolkien’s works that the giants are an unpredictable and dangerous race, we know very little else about them. In this instance, you will encounter a new type of giant that has yet to be seen in our journey through Middle-Earth. Their reckless and primitive nature will be a focus of many of the skills and game-play mechanics, but their fantastic new appearance (Thanks, LOTRO art team!) also helps to give them a distinct flavor and background. Secluding themselves among the storms and rock walls of the mountain tops, they have developed an exterior that more closely matches the elements of nature surrounding them. Here’s a summary of the underlying narrative, to help pique your interest. (You see what I did there?) Cheers!

The sloping cliffs and snow covered ledges of Iorbar’s Peak rise above the caves and crude stone dwellings of the Misty Mountains giant-folk. It is there that the stone-giant, Helf, has managed to withdraw. In his possession is the stolen egg of a great eagle, and he has begun to prepare it for his next meal. Lord Gwaihir, in his distress, has sent a request for the aid of any adventurers daring enough to ascend the passage to Helf’s home.

Recovering the egg will be no simple task! The stone-giants command a stable of dangerous pets upon the mountain-side; they have formed an uneasy alliance with the cunning Dourhand dwarves; and are capable of hurling rocks and boulders down upon those who trespass along the twisting paths. Do you have the dedication and skill to overcome these many obstacles, and to liberate the egg from peril? Helf awaits your answer.    

 

Return to Dol Guldur

Return Dol Guldur to challenge the denizens of this ancient fortress and to do battle with the Lieutenant who calls it home. Barad Guldur, Dungeons of Dol Guldur, Sammath Gûl, Sword-halls and Warg-pens now all scale from 65 to 85 and feature 2 tiers of difficulty. The Dungeons have been converted to a full fellowship instance and the Sword-halls have been significantly restructured. All the instances have seen bugfix and polish passes to smooth out previous issues and ensure high quality play.

 

Rewards

Hello all, xRockx here! Instance and raid rewards are slated to enter into some very interesting territory with the next update. Among other things, we’ve added the ability for treasure chests to support the Remote Looting tech introduced in Rohan. This is going to have a significant impact on how players get rewards.

Within the new update, chests in scaling Dol Guldur and the new 3-mans will automatically create rewards for each member of the group’s pending loot-list as soon as the chest is opened by someone. Each person will get their own loot at their own odds independent of everyone else in the fellowship. These chests will not recognize the standard loot rules we’ve used in the past. This means no more rolling on loot for these chests!

In addition, we’re creating and delivering unique item lists for each class. This means the Rune-keeper in the group may see different equipment rewards from the Burglar, who may see different rewards from the Guardian, who may see different rewards from the Captain. You should never see a piece of equipment within your personal loot-list which your character’s class could not potentially use.

Since each player is effectively getting their own version of the chest with its own drop rates, the RNG-fairy may be stingy and not give anyone a juicy reward from an instance. On the flip side, the RNG-fairy may be super nice and give all members of a group a juicy reward. You are no longer guaranteed one teal item at the end of the small fellowship instance, as a group you may get none, but you also may get one for each person.

To help address issues of players in groups getting a bad streak of RNG, or players wanting non-traditional items for their class, nearly all drops in instances and raids will be Bind on Equip. If your Kinship would prefer to handle 2^nd Age Symbols via a DKP-esque system, you are more than welcome to…just remember the group leader will no longer have everything handled via Master Loot. Legendary quality drops will remain Bind on Acquire.

In regards to Legendary quality equipment, we’re bringing it back in force. Each class will have two new pieces of Legendary quality equipment available in the instances / raids – one from the Dol Guldur cluster and one from the new 3-mans. Each piece will be exceedingly rare, though the larger the group, the higher the chance for it to drop.

 

The Road to Erebor

As the story winds to a conclusion in Part II, you will speak with Gimli, who will tell of troubles in the North. Fast forward to the Battle of Dale at the end of the War of the Ring as Easterlings, Orcs, and Olog-hai assail Dale and the Lonely Mountain. Within the streets of Dale and the shadow of the Lonely Mountain, you will fight alongside Brand and Dáin as they lead their people against their foes and seek drive back the darkness.