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LotRO, A Look Back: Books 12 & 13
The new year brought Book 12: The Ashen Wastes on February 13, 2008. This was the first major update that didn't include the introduction of a new region. What it did bring to the table is a mix of revamps and new features.The high level adventuring area Angmar received a major overhaul, making it significantly more solo friendly. many elite mobs were taken out of the solo area population. And the boars, oh the boars, were mostly removed in favor of more menacing mobs. Finally, the questlines were smoothed out to move players along to area more appropriate to their leve.PvMP players received a new PvE dungeon, the Delving of Frór. The Creeps and Freeps battle for control of the dungeon and should one gain access while the other was battling a raid target within, well, that's when the real fun begins. New armor and items were also made available to the player side.Cosmetic enhancements were introduced to the game in Book 12 as well. The outfit system allowed players to choose one set of armor for stats and another for display. The barber system allowed players to change their hairstyle and facial choices, even adding a few new hairstyles to the game.Finally, three classes got a revamp this time. Guardians received a mix bag as their defenses were both nerfed and buffed, they received a dps stance and gained some utility. Burglars got a buff to nearly all their functions including damage, debuffing, trickery and crowd control. Champions also got an extra pass that gave them a stance that was part offensive and part defensive. This round concluded the class revamps planned by Turbine. %Gallery-14799% %Gallery-15282%
Massively hands-on with LotRO's Book 13 gallery
Before the Lord of the Rings Online team rolls out their first expansion, there are still two more free content patches coming down the pike. The first one of those two is Book 13, Doom of the Last King being released later this week. It introduces not only a new part of Middle-earth, Forochel, but also a healing class to Player vs Monster Play, the Orc Defiler, and the first Hobby in the game, Fishing.Click on the first image below to join us for a walkthrough of Forochel, meet the ice people of the area, the Lossoth and get a look at the new features and monsters coming to the game. And after you're done, don't miss the video of our tour we posted a few days back. %Gallery-21063%
Introducing the Orc Defiler
Many Lord of the Rings Online players are looking forward to getting their hands on the new PvMP class, and with the Book 13 patch looming, the details of the Orc Defiler have been spilled in a developer diary. Opening with a little tale designed to set the Defiler mood, and a bit of a serve from the Creep hero Akulhún ("Mordírith's grown tired of you whining wretches and sent us Defilers!"), the diary goes on to explain the abilities that the fungus-and-slime-loving Orc will employ.Defilers will start out with two heal-over-time spells, one ("Fertile Slime") being an instant cast that gives a light heal every 10 seconds with a 1 minute duration, and a stronger one ("Fungal Bloom") with a 2-second cast time, 5 second tick and 30 second duration. Spending some destiny points can earn them a targeted revival spell to resurrect allies, and at ranks 3 and 5 some stronger heals become available.
Book 13 preview offers new screens and avatars
We're halfway through April, and Lord of the Rings Online's next content patch, Book 13, will be released before the end of the month. To tantalize players just a bit more before the free update is out, a new preview page devoted to Book 13 is now available at the official site. The preview looks at some of the previously discussed big features of the patch, including the Forochel area, the Orc Defiler PvMP monster class, the Fishing hobby, and the enhanced fellowing features. As well as this, the bottom of the page leads through to a gallery that has some new screens, and a large selection of avatars for use with forums, messenger programs and the like -- a nice touch! We've updated our own Book 13 gallery with the new pictures for you to take a look at.%Gallery-18168%
