Welcome Roheryn players!
Following are the release notes for content which is currently available on the Roheryn Preview Server as of May 30th. Please note that all content is subject to change before release to the live servers, and there are a multitude of other tweaks and bug fixes which are not mentioned in this abridged document. Complete release notes will be published when the Shores of Evendim update goes live in June.
New World Content
We've added an entire new region to the game: Evendim! Roughly the size of the Shire, players can venture here beginning in their late level 20's. Located north of the Shire and west of Fornost, this new region has loads of new quests, monsters, items and more! See below for more details. Here are some cool facts on this brand new region:
* Dúnedain of the North once inhabited the lands of Evendim. In fact, it is here that the capital of Arnor, Annúminas is built by Elendil after the fall of Númenor.
* The great city sprawls along the southern shore and islands of Lake Evendim, or Nenuial as it is sometimes called.
* At some point the city was abandoned by the Dúnedain of the North, although when this happened is not spelled out in the text of The Lord of the Rings. We are proposing, though, that it fell in the year 861, when the kingdom of Arnor was sundered into three realms: Arthedain, Cardolan and Rhudaur.
* The reason for this sundering involves a dispute between the three sons of Eärendur. There is no record of what this dispute was about, but we are proposing that the dispute involved the actual abandonment of Annúminas..
* Since the city did not fall in war, but was abandoned, many of its ruins remain nearly intact and rumors of great wealth are told throughout Eriador. This attracts many unsavory types to Evendim.
* Angmar is not ignorant of Annúminas, and has sent a few scouts to discern if there is anything of value to them.
* At the same time, in Rivendell the Fellowship continues its preparations to leave and Aragorn decides that now is the time to re-forge Narsil. For the light to be returned to this blade, a great gem, long since missing from the hilt, must be replaced. Such a gem may reside in the tombs of Annúminas.
New Instances
Deep in the northern regions of the Misty Mountains lies Helegrod, LOTRO's first 24 person raid!
The ancient keep of Helegrod was once home to mighty dwarves during the times of Moria. The dragon Thorog coveted the riches that lay within and assaulted the city, slaying dwarves beyond count. Durin the Fifth strapped to his back Mírdanant, a gift of Eregion to his grandsire which passed from father to son through the long years. He strode with a small company of dwarves to the gates of Helegrod. Durin bellowed a challenge, and Thorog responded in kind! The battle was joined! So fierce was the fighting between dragon and dwarf that the very gates of Helegrod were split asunder.
After weary days and nights, Durin began at length to tire; all those in his company lay dead or dying, save Bruni who was called Yellowbeard in later years, whose wounds were too severe for him to continue waging battle. Still, mighty Thorog fought on, refusing to surrender the treasures of Helegrod to their rightful masters. Thorog prepared a white-hot jet of flame with which to roast Durin, whom he judged to be near death, but too late he realized his error. Too late! For lo! Durin swung Mírdanant with all that remained of his strength, and there ended Thorog's cruel reign.
But Durin would not live to see victory, for Thorog's final gout of flame proved too strong for the dwarfΆs stout shield, and he was ended. Mírdanant was lost with Durin; it remains to this day buried in the neck of ThorogΆs corpse.
Additional new instances in this update include:
* The Tomb of Elendil
* The Blade that was Broken
* Twisted-heart
* Barad Gûlaran
* A Formal Complaint
* Thief-taker's Bane
* Amarthiel's Friends
* Oakheart's Might
New Quests & Deeds
Over 100 new quests (including over 75 in Evendim) and over 20 new Deeds have been added! New quest arcs include:
* Book 9: The Twilight Shores
* The Reforging of Narsil
* Farmer's Bane
* A Formal Complaint
* Missing the Meeting
* Threat from the North
* Befuddled Titans
* The Twisted Forest
* Breakfast in the Ruins
* A Plague of Efts
* Treasure Hunt
* Plus over 20 new Deeds
Champion Update
Six new skills are added for the Champion. Their first new skill is available at level 40 and then every other level thereafter until 50. These new skills really help expand the Champion's role and abilities during combat. (PLEASE NOTE: The changes to the Champion class are still in the balancing stage and should not be considered final.)
* Heroics
Your heroic actions inspire your fellows restoring their power, while sapping yours.
* Blocking Blades
Increases your parry rate.
* Glory
Your threat generation and Power regeneration are increased at the expense of damage output.
* Red Haze
Adds a fervour pip when cast, and an additional fervour pip every 15 seconds.
* Ebbing Ire"
"This skill takes threat away from the Champion and gives it to a fellowship member.
* Rising Ire
This skill takes threat away from a fellowship member and gives it to the Champion.
Updated Champion skills:
* Ferocious Strikes has had its critical damage multiplier increased, its power cost slightly increased, and its reset time increased to 30 seconds. Ferocious Strikes previously blocked all skill actions for a long time after use. This time has been reduced significantly.
Introducing 7 sets of Epic Armour!
* Each class now has a unique set of class specific Epic Armor! Each set is specifically tailored to the class giving them great bonuses to the stats that mean the most.
* Numerous additional sets are also available at lower levels, ranging from level 30 to 50.
* The new sets of Epic Armor come in the form of "sets". As you gain more pieces of the set, new bonuses are automatically unlocked for your character. Now, being statistically cool also means you are visually cool!
Raid UI Revamp
* Improved Fellowship to Raid conversion
o Fellowship to a Raid conversion has been made easier by the addition of a button on the Raid Panel. Just click and go!
* “Tank Target” Window
o A new button on the Raid UI pulls up an additional UI panel that you can use to highlight key Raid members and what they are targeting, better allowing players to follow the action and attack, heal, cure, etc. the proper targets.
* Additional Display Options
o Additional options added to the Raid UI to toggle the display of dispellable buffs and castable buffs, color coded names by class, show/hide pets, and show "target of my target."
* Improved Raid Lock handling and display
o Improved display of the overall group locking situation as well as information on the status of each individual Raid member for all Raids they have underway.
* Raid Vitals improvements
o Improved Raid display for members who are defeated or linkdead. Players can toggle the display of Pet Vitals in the Raid UI as well.
* Master Looter Improvements
o A confirmation box allows the Master Looter to confirm the assignment of items they are handing out to prevent accidentally assigning it to the wrong person.
o Additionally, we've replaced 'Roll' with options for Need and Greed to enable players to more accurately disburse items.
* Target Marking
o Raid and fellowship leaders can access the ability to mark targets with special UI indicators to help identify them to their fellow Raid and fellowship members. This works for both monsters and fellow players.
* New commands:
o /raidshout allows the Raid Leader to make announcements to the entire Raid that will show up as text directly on the playersΆ screens. This allows clear announcements that won't get lost in the chat channel.
o /readycheck allows the Raid Leader to check on the status of all the Raid members. A dialogue box will pop up allowing each member to confirm or deny the readiness to begin or continue. This information is then available to the Raid Leader so he/she knows the exact status of each member.
o /roll has been added to allow players to easily generate random numbers in game, primarily for the purposes of loot disbursement after a Raid.
* Improvements to Voice Chat
o A Raid is now one single chat channel allowing everyone to communicate directly. The Leader also has the ability to silence individuals as needed.
Music System Enhancements
* Sustained notes for wind and brass instruments
o Players now have the ability to create sustained notes while playing wind and brass instruments! Simply holding down the key will play the note until it is released.
* Option to toggle “snap to grid” on and off
o Players can choose to either use the "snap to grid" function to gain assistance in timing their notes better, or disable it for the freedom of timing notes as they please.
* Options to change server synchronization
o Depending on latency, players are allowed to either synchronize their notes with the server, or hear their note instantly. The later option should be appealing to solo musicians.
* A notation player that will allow you to playback music written outside the game.
o Players can create their own music files using the "ABC" ASCII music notation standard in a text file and then play it back later in game at their leisure. Essentially, players can pre-record music via any text editor and then play it back in game whenever they want.
* 3 full octaves for all instruments, configurable with new key mappings
o Players now have access to 3 full octaves for all the musical instruments. They are all configurable via key mapping and the default keymap has been updated to be more musician friendly.
* New instruments: Drum and Bass (Theorbo)
o Players now have access to two additional music instruments: Drums and Bass (Theorbo)!
* Monster Play - Additional Player Incentives
o High level items/equipment gated by player Rank.
* Players will find they have access to cool new items as they gain Ranks in PvMP. Look around Glân Vraig for this new vendor.
o Updated Token of Valor Chest Rewards.
o The chests in the Ettenmoors that hand out treasure have been updated with many new and more powerful items. These chests have a higher cost, but are well worth it!
* Additional player quests: Vectors to Ettenmoors.
o New quests have been added to inform and compel players to engage in conflict in the Ettenmoors. These new quests are available in Bree-town, Rivendell, Thorin's Hall and Michel Delving.
o Additional quests have been added and some have been tweaked to better guide players around the Ettenmoors and help them learn the lay of the land quicker.
* Tweaks and polish to our current MP classes.
o Various changes have been made to all monster play classes (in particular the Weaver) to better allow them to compete with player characters during PvMP and make power costs and timers more reasonable:
* Some high-effectiveness skills have had their power costs increased.
o Spider Weaver:
+ The Spider has learned to spit! She now has a ranged auto-attack! Her 'Tainted Bite' is now 'Tainted Kiss' and is usable at range. 'Tainted Kiss' has also become more deadly.
+ The Weaver's "Trapdoor Sanctuary" has gotten better. Now the spider can stay below ground for up to 60 seconds (but can leave their sanctuaries earlier if they wish).
+ Weavers, like their spider-bretheren, now have a slightly enhanced chance to detect stealth.
o Orc Reaver:
+ Reaver base damage has been improved by approximately 5%
o Uruk Blackarrow:
+ Blackarrow base damage has been lowered by about 5%.
+ "Flaming Arrow" was dealing damage twice on application. Now only the effect deals an initial, larger burst than its subsequent damage ticks.
o Uruk Warleader:
+ The power cost of his group heal has been reduced.
o Warg Stalker:
+ The Stalker's "Sprint" skill recovery time is increased from 5m to 10m (reducible back to 5m with a trait).
New Monsters
Rogmul
The Regmyl are lesser fire demons enthralled to the will of the Belryg. While they are in fact lesser spirits, they are among the mightiest . . . great brutes of evil will and fierce strength. Wherever a Balrog is found, it can be wagered that a Rogmul or two is not far away.
Limrafn
There are many spirits that remain from MorgothΆs rule in the First Age which have also flocked to his banner. The sorcerers of the Angmarim have recently been able to summon only a small fraction of the stronger spirits, but lesser spirits abound. The Limraifn are one of the singularly strangest of these. They appear as wisps of light, floating harmlessly through the air. While individually, a Limrafn is of little consequence, in great numbers, their presence can begin to weigh upon the hearts of the unwary.
Kergrim
A ghoulish creature that lurks near crypts and tombs, gnawing on the bones of those long dead.
Boggart
A small creature related to goblins. It is rarely seen alone, preferring to attack in packs.
Gauradan
A large brutal man who worships the wolf, taking on the mannerisms of a wolf and wearing the skins of the beasts.
Stone Giant
A giant who delights in uprooting trees and despoiling the land.
Fire-fly
Insects who make the Twilight Hills their home.
Stag
A large and noble beast which makes Evendim its home.
Black Númenórean
These men are of Westernesse descent, but unlike Aragorn and other Dúnadan, are servants of Sauron.
Salamander
The salamander is a member of the draconic race; not as highly intelligent as the Greater Dragons or even the drakes, but not as insipidly stupid as worms. Adventurers would be wise to beware their breath.
