LOTRO Past to Present: A Look at Books 12 -13 - Page 3

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Posted Fri, Aug 14, 2009 by Martuk

Book 13: Doom of the Last-king
One of the big points for Book 13 was the addition of a new landmass just north of Evendim called Forochel. Remember that locked gate to the north of Ost Forod? Well that’s where it goes. This new region opened up over 100 new quests, enhanced the solo play, and gave a new faction, the Lossoth of Forochel, to grind reputation with. Along with the new faction comes a large assortment of reputation items to those popular enough to get them. Hey, who doesn’t love grinding rep?

The Rift's Balrog was less than pleased with some of the changes.

As you head further north into Forochel, the land transitions into a snowy region. Just an advanced warning; stay out of the water.

The Balrog
The Rift’s big nasty balrog was a bit upset over some of the nerfs that came with this patch. One of the developers posted a satirical conversation with big nasty in the patch notes…
“[16:47] Balrog: wth
[16:47] Me: Hey Rog, what's up?
[16:48] Balrog: hav u seen teh patch notes?
[16:48] Me: Not yet. Why?
[16:48] Balrog: more nerfs. this is bs
[16:48] Me: What'd they nerf?
[16:48] Balrog: me, i'm totaly unplayable now
[16:49] Me: I don't know, man. You're pretty bad-***... how bad could it be?
[16:49] Balrog: u no that sweet attack i had that could almost 1shot that stupid elf? yeah, they dropped the crit multipliar down by 50%. how the hell am I suppose to 2shot her now?
[16:49] Balrog: completly unplayable
[16:49] Me: Well... that *was* pretty cheap of you.
[16:49] Balrog: pfft, whatever. ur just pissed u didnt roll a balrog instead of that pansy champion
[16:53] Balrog: man, they better fire the dev that did this
[16:53] Me: Is that likely to happen, though?
[16:53] Balrog: u just wait. i'm going to start a petition on the forums. once turbine sees how many monsters will be quitting over this theyll fix it
[16:54] Me: *sigh*
The Straight Dope: The Balrog's attacks have been adjusted so as to not two-shot kill Glathlirel.”

New Monster Class
Book 13 gave the monster players a new class to toy with called the Defiler. This new class is a healer and makes use of debuffs and poisons to aid the dark forces of the Ettenmoors.

Hobbies
Since the time LOTRO launched, at almost every developer IRC chat I attended there was always one question being asked, “When will fishing be in?” Well, Book 13 gave us fishing as a hobby. Players can now seek out a hobby trainer, grab a fishing pole, and go catch something in the various fishing holes around Middle-earth.

The Rest
Classes and crafting received several adjustments with this update. Raids and Kinship options received a healthy dose of bug squashing and a few updates. Annúminas was given another pass and received a lot of updates to the current content, including a new broadcast for the three control points for the instance events.

Books 12 and 13 offered a huge amount of content that spanned both new and old gameplay with a twist. With the “Month of” class updates complete, the developers could focus on refining what works and enhancing current and future content. The Delving of Frór gave those looking for some great PvP/PvE competition a place to try and kill each other, while Forochel opened up a whole new landmass for PvE players to explore. And for people like me, there were improvements to the guardian class. Turbine is if nothing else consistent with their game updates, and they always find a way to keep you hooked just a little bit longer.