LotRO Book 13 hits test servers, reveals fish trophies
Lord of the Rings Online's Book 13 update has hit the test server today and we've got a rundown on the laundry list of updates, changes and additions coming to the game. Turbine is knocking it out of the park with Book 13: Doom of the Last-King and they've got the patch notes to prove it. Everything from the new zone, Forochel, to the also-new fishing mechanic -- including an awesome image of the tiniest fish trophy you'll ever see.
What we love the most about the new region of Forochel -- besides the amazing design -- is that its got a heavy focus on solo-friendly and small group content. So players will have the option of trotting around on their lonesome or playing with a few friends when enjoying the icy domain that Turbine has lovingly crafted. And yes, while the new zone features a large body of water -- that can't be swam across -- it wasn't put there to mess with players: it was created for the new fishing mechanic. (And maybe a little bit to mess with us, right Turbine?)
Fishing has been added to the game and is the first (of many, we assume) Hobby that players can pick up in their travels through Middle-earth. Beyond the relaxation benefits this hobby offers to players, there are also rewards to be plucked from the water as well. What kind of rewards is largely unknown, but we're sure players will start flooding the forums with screenshots the day that Book 13 goes live.
The Looking For Fellowship system is getting an awesome upgrade, which we've recently covered here at Massively. The gist of it is that your quest log will now tie into your LFF window, making it possible to see where your fellowship members are on mutli-tiered quests. Very cool.
These new features are complimented by the delicious frosting on their proverbial cake: tons of tweaks and bug fixes. Book 13 is also adding a new game launcher skin, the ability to lock houses instead of getting rid of them, the addition of 'frost damage/mitigation, animated housing decorations, tighter combat and smoother animations.
We're sure that by the time this update launches, the developers will have already been working on their next update -- which will be the final one before Mines of Moria. What can we expect from Book 14? We may not get flying mounts just yet, but we're hoping that we'll finally see that Month of the Kinship update.
