Devs answer questions on Book 13's Forochel
Over at the Lord of the Rings Online European forums, the developers gave players a chance to ask any questions they had about the new Forochel region that will be introduced with Book 13. All sorts of things were asked over a number of days, and the question time is now over. We've had a read through the thread, and compiled the answers that the developers gave in bullet-point format, so check after the break to see what the players managed to find out -- short answer, a lot!
It will be possible to fish in the bay area in Forochel
Most of Book 13 will take place in Forochel
There will be a level 50 public dungeon in the area
The devs cannot say when Book 13 will be released yet
Forochel is mostly a solo area for levels 44-50
There will not be player-manned boats to traverse Forochel
There will not be a new raid in Book 13
There will be three new armor sets through the Lossoth faction
A famous lore character will be in Forochel
The men inhabiting Forochel are called the Lossoth, and are like hillmen but dressed a bit warmer
A new mount variant will be available -- the color is hinted at being important
There will be ways to mitigate frost damage, similar to the dread system
Both normal stable-horses and swift travel will be available in Forochel, however swift travel requires good you to have a good standing with the Lossoth faction
More swift travel routes will be added to existing stable-masters, also tied up with faction
The Lossoth faction is tied up with Metalsmithing and Leatherworking, and there will be two superior crafting facilities in the zone that you'll need good faction to use
Just doing the available quests will get you quite far through the faction tiers with Lossoth
Reputation rewards will be given out at all tiers
There won't be a crafting avenue to actually raise the Lossoth faction
Resources available in Forochel will be similar to those found in Eastern Angmar
The open sea will be able to be seen, but there will be limitations on how far you can travel into it
No new traits, but more ranks in existing virtues will be available
There will be a new Loremaster pet variant from the Lossoth faction
The main Lossoth town is slightly bigger than Aughaire, with smaller Lossoth villages throughout the zone
Initially Forochel will only be accessible through Evendim, but the faction swift travel routes mentioned above will provide other methods
The public dungeon will not be as large or complex as Sarnur or Haudh Iarchith, with no rare spawns or unique deeds. Quests will get you to visit the area -- other than that it's just dungeon crawling
Other areas around level 44 will offer quests that lead you to Forochel
Forochel will feature its own unique music
Book 13 will have eleven chapters, with some chapters having multiple parts
Players will not leave tracks in the snow -- this feature may be looked at in the future, but it is not a priority
A dev diary is coming that will talk about weather status effects in detail
There will not be underwater gameplay in Forochel, and there are no plans for it at the moment
A new blizzard weather effect will be seen in Forochel