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Lichborne: More death knight depictions in pop culture
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done. In the comments of last week's article, commentors came up with other pop culture sources of death knight inspiration. A lot of them are great suggestions, some of which I didn't write about mainly because I haven't played them lately, others because they weren't technically games. Still a lot of the suggestions were fun enough that it feels like a good idea to take another week and look at another set of death knights and death knight precursors in games, books, and other pop culture sources. Thanks to all of last weeks commentors for their suggestions and thoughts.
The Road to Mordor: 10 things to do in the Shire before you die
A couple of weeks ago I decided to embark on a long-planned project to play through the entirety of Lord of the Rings Online -- or at least a whole heck of a lot more than I ever have previously. My thought was that in the rush to level and progress, I had been skipping much of the content that makes LotRO so unique, and I wanted to force myself to slow down, take it all in, and get over the desire to hit endgame as quickly as possible. Thus, I created Slyppi, a brand-new level 1 Hobbit Burglar with the intention of experiencing the game in full. My rules with Slyppi are thus: She will clear out every solo quest in a zone (including the epic storyline but excluding tasks) before moving elsewhere. She will go through all three newbie zones and ignore the fact that the quests aren't giving her much XP. She will take detailed notes, package them up, and send them back to me for the purposes of turning them into a guide to the interesting out-of-the-way quests and places in Middle-earth. If you're anything like me, you probably die a lot, usually in very embarrassing ways (hey, that cliff wasn't there a minute ago...). Since we all have a death warrant on our heads, we might as well get the most out of our journeys, which is why I've come up with 10 things that you should do in the Shire before the inevitable occurs. Why 10? Because it's two in computer-speak!
The Revenant infects The Secret World
Take one snip of Hitler's hair, a joybuzzer from Stephen King's IT, and the charred remains of Darth Vader, stir them all together in the Black Cauldron, and you'll cook up the perfect recipe for evil incarnate -- also known as The Secret World's Revenant. MMORPG.com has the scoop on Funcom's newest monster reveal for The Secret World. Conjuring shades of Lord of the Rings' Nazgul and Silent Hill's Pyramid Head, the Revenants are about as dark as they come: cloaked figures wielding black swords and feeding on pain and death. Plus, they get the nifty ability to turn into icky creatures like rats and worms, so chances are they have one of your phobias tucked up their sleeves. Revenants promise to be tough enemies who throw about plague and disease like it's candy, and players will reportedly encounter them in the Maine section of the game. You can check out more pictures of this big nasty in the gallery below! %Gallery-72395%
The Road to Mordor: A look back at Volume 1
This past week I finally finished Volume 1 of the epic storyline for the very first time in my LotRO career. Yeah, I know, welcome to 2008, right? My inner survey department says that 60% of this column's readers finished Volume 1 a long time ago (and perhaps many times since), and are currently sitting there with a bemused expression as if to say, "Oh, isn't that quaint as a duck's burp?" The other 40% probably gave up on the epic storyline somewhere around North Downs -- AKA The Zone That Saps Your Will To Live. While it may be old news, Volume 1 is still quite relevant in the LotRO landscape for many reasons. One, it's what I've spent the past month of my life playing through, and I always assume that everyone is experiencing the same thing I am due to being a raging egomaniac. Two, ever since it recently received a makeover that allows any and everyone to solo all the way through it, there's been a newfound appreciation for the quest line, even from veterans who gave up on it long ago. And three, with all of the new people coming into the game this year, it'll be the very first thing they experience. So as I sit on my high (grey) horse and look back over all fifteen books that comprise this massive Volume, I'm struck by a number of thoughts: some good, some bad, some itchy. Let's reminisce, shall we?
Weatherstock '10 takes the stage in LotRO this Saturday
You know how your hippie relatives are forever bragging about how they went to Woodstock during the Summer of Free Love, and how your generation will never experience something that historical and muddy? Well, now you can get all up in their faces and say, "Yeah, but were you at Weatherstock in Lord of the Rings Online, dealing with lag and hobbits underfoot? I thought not!" Weatherstock has become a tradition on the US Landroval server, a yearly gathering of bands and music lovers at the summit of Weathertop (aka Amon Sul) in the Lone-lands. Where once Frodo and Aragorn fought off the Nazgûl, these grounds now will be covered in song and spirits. Organized by the Lonely Mountain Band kinship, Weatherstock will feature three hours of music as 10 bands face off to win prizes. However, only one group will be chosen by the crowd and declared the best. The player-run event is very organized, with "Freakout Zones" and cheap goodies available. If you play on another server and want to check Weatherstock out, lowbie characters will be protected by event security, who are tasked with beating down enemy mobs on the road to the summit. You can surf the crowd at Weatherstock on Saturday, June 12th, 7pm EST on the Landroval server.
The Queue: How do you make that weird U thing?
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.Adam called yesterday's edition of The Queue 'the Extreme edition,' but I'm of the opinion he didn't quite follow through. So I'm posting something extreme to make up for it, which you can see in the video above. Extreme. If you don't feel it's extreme enough, feel free to post your extreme links in the comments below with your usual questions, as long as the links are safe for work (and sanity.)Eternauta asked... I have a question, too. I know it's pretty stupid and obvious, but here I go: Why is everybody DPS and why is it so hard to find healers or tanks?
Know Your LotRO Lore: The Nazgul
Welcome to Know Your LotRO Lore, a new weekly column here at Massively showcasing the lore of J.R.R. Tolkien's world as it intersects with Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online.Chasing the four Hobbits through The Shire, Bree-land and eventually confronted on Weathertop for the first time, the Black Riders are a source of impending fear for all. Why are they there? Who sent them? What are they?They are the Nazgûl, the Ringwraiths, the Úlairi, the Black Riders or the Nine. They are undead Kings of Man who have been transformed by the curses of the Rings of Power to serve under Sauron's command. They do his bidding, and they are his most terrible servants.As was discussed in last week's Know Your LotRO Lore, this week's installment will be a continuation of the Ring Lore study and focus on the Nazgûl. We will detail the origins of these wraiths and how they're depicted in Lord of the Rings Online. Follow along through the link below to begin the journey into the world of the Black Riders. Nazgul Origins >> %Gallery-39552%
Wrath or rise of the Which King?
Reader Duck Knight tipped us off to the box-art of the Battle for Middle-Earth II expansion from Electronic Arts. Also known as The Rise of the Witch-King, which sounds confusingly similar to the upcoming expansion Wrath of the Lich King, the 2006 game's cover art looks curiously reminiscent of Blizzard's latest offering. Or vice versa. The game, which was based on the the movie trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, takes its art cue from the films. On the other hand, Arthas' armor is based on the cinematic from 2003's Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. I don't suppose Tolkien ever actually drew the Nazgûl armor...Who copied whom? Probably nobody, really. It just so happens that ghastly blue seems to be the favorite color of evil leader-types and their undead minions. Witch Kings and Lich Kings also probably shop from the same armor boutiques, considering the similarity in their helmets -- eyelets, open-mouth design, and crown-like extensions. Fortunately for all of us, the Lord of the Rings video game is already a few years old, so we probably won't make the mistake of picking the wrong game up from the shelves when Wrath finally arrives this November 13.
One Shots: Dragon snack
One of the things we love to see from different games are some of the boss monsters you wind up encountering while playing. Today's One Shots is a lovely example from Lord of the Rings Online sent in to us by Mandorak of the Gilrain, EU server. He told us that he thinks this encounter is from the Book 7 update, and is where they resurrect the dragon Thorog. Also, if you look carefully, he said you can see a Nazgul in the back. (Click on the image above for a full-size screen.) We don't know about you, but up front and center is not the place we'd want to be if a dragon was breaking free! (Not that being anywhere near the long, whiplike tail would probably be too good, either.) Do you have screenshots of cool looking monsters you've run across in your travels? Perhaps you and your friends have felled a mythical beast? Whatever the reason, whatever the game, we'd love to see those screenshots. Just mail them to us here at oneshots AT massively.com!%Gallery-9798%
The Ranger Amdir featured in latest lorebook entry
Amdir, a Ranger found in the town of Archet, is the subject of an update to the Lord of the Rings Online lorebook.The Nazgûl entering the Shire seemed to cause an increase in the Blackwold brigand troubles in Bree-land, and so Amdir was sent to Archet to investigate. Here he attended to the problem of some missing Hobbits, and got himself deep into some nasty business because of it.He should be familiar to those whose adventure began in Archet, and he is featured in both the Hobbit and Man starting instances, as well as the Epic prologue quest for Bree-land. Without giving too much away, we'll say that he is very involved in this storyline. View the lorebook entry to see some of the quests he's involved with, and the map of his location.
Rise of the Witch-king previewed
GameSpy has posted an extensive preview of The Rise of the Witch-king, the new expansion pack for The Battle for Middle-earth II. Expected to arrive on PCs this holiday season, the RotWK campaign takes place in the years after the One Ring leaves greedy Isildur, and the Lord of the Nazgul rises to power over the kingdom of Arnor (Aragorn's peeps). In addition to the 12-mission evil campaign, the new Angmar faction introduces the spellcasting Thrall Master and Sorcerer units, the latter of which can convert fallen enemies into servants of the Witch-king.An Xbox 360 version of RotWK has not been confirmed, but hopefully EA will save some holiday cheer for Xbox Live Marketplace shoppers.
