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LotRO Volume III: Book 1 releases today

Rubi Bayer
Updated ·4 min read

Lord of the Rings Online Volume III, Book 1: Oath of the Rangers went live today, to the delight of LotRO fans. This major update builds on the skirmish system introduced in Siege of Mirkwood by introducing four new 12-player Skirmishes as well as Duo Mode to the game. New skills and recipes have arrived with the update as well, and the Spring Festival will return on March 22. Take a look after the jump for a roundup of our Oath of the Rangers coverage so far, then head into Middle-earth to check it out for yourself!

LotRO announces Volume III, Book 1: Oath of the Rangers
Turbine made the announcement on January 28th after players figured out the name of the update via a hangman-style guessing game in the forums, led by a member of the LotRO team. The thread began as pure fan speculation, and Turbine's own Sapience stepped in to make things a little more interesting.

Turbine offers up a dev diary and screenshots for Oath of the Rangers
We got the first details on the upcoming Lord of the Rings Online book, titled Oath of the Rangers, earlier this week. Now, to add to the excitement, Turbine has followed up on the initial information by releasing a handful of screens and an excellent developer's diary.

The Road to Mordor: Vol III, Book 1 test realm notes analyzed
Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online has just announced the Volume III, Book 1: Oath of the Rangers free content expansion and the patch is already up on their test server, Bullroarer. And with a test patch, comes patch notes. I have to give the normal disclaimers about test notes changing before going live, but given that, let's dig in.

LotRO releases new skirmish dev diary for Volume III: Book 1
You'd be hard-pressed to find news on Lord of the Rings Online these days that doesn't talk about skirmishes. Probably the single biggest feature added in Siege of Mirkwood, these scaling dungeon fights are both an excellent way of expanding the game's content availability and a now-integral component of the ongoing epic story in the game.

Turbine reveals new screenshots from Volume III
It's been almost two weeks since the announcement of Lord of the Rings Online Volume III, Book 1: Oath of the Rangers. Fans continue to pore over and discuss the information currently released as Turbine keeps interest high with screenshots, patch notes, and dev diaries.

The Road to Mordor: Vol 3 Book 1 new Skirmish gear rewards
Volume 3 Book 1, Oath of the Rangers, has been keeping me busy on Bullroarer, the test server. I've been working my way through the new epic quest line, trying out the new Spring Festival events and drooling over the new Skirmish rewards. For this installment of The Road to Mordor, I've spent an unlawful amount of time at the Skirmish camp vendors transcribing the new rewards.

Lord of the Rings Online talks about skill upgrades for Volume III
With some major combat upgrades going hand-in-hand with the last major expansion, Lord of the Rings Online drew a few raised eyebrows over the lack of major skill updates at launch. However, as the official site's most recent developer diary explains, it wasn't for lack of interest so much as wanting to see how the new combat system played out before making changes.

Be crafty with ease in Lord of the Rings Online Volume III
Crafting, for many people, has a bit of a love-hate relationship going on. Nobody can complain about the bonuses it offers in the long run, but actually getting to high levels is an exercise in tedium and worthlessness for many. Which is why it's always a good thing when crafting gets a boost, as is happening in the upcoming Oath of the Rangers update for Lord of the Rings Online.

The Road to Mordor: Massively tour of LotRO Volume III Book 1
Lord of the Rings Online Volume III: Allies of the King is kicking off Book 1: Oath of the Rangers on the live servers this Monday, March 1st. Massively got to sit down with a LotRO dev for a tour of the new content.