Lord of the Rings Online prepping Update 3: Lost Legends of Eriador

There's a new content update just over the horizon for Lord of the Rings Online. While the new locations aren't exactly a far green country under a swift sunrise, they do look to be fairly spiffy in their own right.

First up are two new three-player instances. The Halls of Night boasts content for levels 40 to 65 and takes a cue from Frodo and company's nightmarish trek through the Barrow Downs. The Inn of the Forsaken naturally takes place in the Lone Lands' well-worn stopover and is a proper dungeon-crawl intended for players from levels 20 through 65.

New skirmishes are also on the way, including an Esteldin-based romp intended for levels 30 to 65 called Attack at Dawn. Finally, the frozen wastes of Forochel will also be sporting a new instance, and the Icy Crevasse content sees players from levels 40 to 65 tasked with thwarting the evil plans of a nefarious sorcerer. All of these new goodies make up the bulk of LotRO's Update 3: Lost Legends of Eriador and are currently scheduled to go live on May 23rd. Check out our gallery below for three new images from the Halls of Night instance, or take a peek at the dungeons themselves in Justin's hands-on from last week.

Lord of the Rings Online Core Gallery

Reader Comments (16)

Drat! Just 6 more days to boast that I've obtained all the content in LotRO for only $9.09 (the cost of my Moria retail box from Amazon).

Back to grinding deeds. :)

@wondersmith You actually have a few more days. Free and premium players won't be able to purchase access to the new dungeons until the following weekend. The new content will be VIP only for the first few days.

While Turbine claims that VIP players will appreciate this perk, I for one do not. They're using my Lifetime VIP status to segregate me from my friends who have chosen not to subscribe. Turbine probably expects me to pressure my friends to purchase a subscription so we can experience it together, but I'm choosing to wait.

I think this represents the first time that dungeons and skirmishes have been available only a la carte, and not as part of another regional quest pack. I hope everyone who wants to experience this content has their nickles and dimes saved up.

@Nandini

Agreed. I'm all for adding value to the VIP plan, but to do it in a way that segregates the population is really silly. F2P has been around long enough that many raid groups are comprised of both VIP and Premium members. To deny these groups the ability to play through the new instances together doesn't really make anyone happy. Shouldn't the fact that VIPs get the content for free be enough of a perk? The whole thing just seems really strange to me, especially when you consider how many VIPs are actually just life-time members who aren't even paying a monthly subscription fee.

Decoupling instances from quest packs in the cash shop is also worrying, but it really depends on the price. I can understand someone not wanting to buy an entire quest pack just to run a single instance, and the option to spend a fraction of the price for a single instance is welcome. But, something tells me these instances aren't going to be cheap.

@Nandini

Considering that it's only a few days difference, it doesn't bother me. I plan to wait for a sale anyway.

Minor correction: Some skirmishes (e.g., Thievery and Mischief, Ford of Bruinen) have been sold separately all along (though no dungeons, as you said).

Regardless, thanks for your concern for us premium players!

@wondersmith
Skrimishes are spearate from quest packs, either being part of the epic quest and thusly free once you get to the required quest+level, or just stand alone. "Classic" instances are tied to the quest pack.

I'm assuming you're on a premium account. How did you obtain Enedwaith and Mirkwood? Those are post Moria regions and they're not free.

@JaySpeed

Like all the other quest packs and skirmishes besides Moria, I bought them with Turbine Points earned through doing deeds in the game. I bought the Mirkwood expansion during the 50% off Veterans Day sale, and Enedwaith during the 75% off sale on February 24th.

@wondersmith

I don't know how you do it. I HATE deed grinding. Killing 300 creatures just to get 10 TP would make me go insane. Doing it enough to get 400TP or whatever the cost of the quest packs are would make me quit the game. I spent $50 on the 7k TP anniversary sale last month. That was enough to buy all the quest packs I wanted and enough for Isengard when it launches in the fall. I'm gonna spend the 1400 TP for Update 3's instances/skirmishes too. I'd much rather buy the points in bulk when they have good sales.

Hrmmm, I'll admit its been tempting to get back into LOTRO, but there is just so much content released since I last played that it feels kinda overwhelming to jump back into and pick a good place to start.

I last played as a lvl 60 Minstrel with a full set of the 60 gear where 2 pieces drop from the Watcher. I also had every deed complete across all zones. I know if I got back in the first thing to do would probably be Mirkwood and earn lvl 65 then go from there, but from the updates I've read through, the skirmishes and new tasks boards are means to earn XP too and probably offer better rewards than regular questing....too many options damnit!

Anyway...its tempting, but with LEGO: Pirates, Fable III and Witcher II all having released this week on PC, not to mention Avadon that I'm already playing, and Dungeons of Dredmor coming soon and Terraria just released as well as Dungeon Siege III next month, should I even bother attempting to get back into LOTRO!?

@Khalus

It's free, I would definitely log in just to see how many Turbine Points you've been awarded for all those deeds you've completed. I'm fairly certain it's retroactive.

@Khalus Skirmishes are definitely a good way of earning XP. The task boards are not available for your level, so no need to bother with those.

@Plastic Only reputation deeds are retroactive.

@Khalus
I would say yes. LOTRO has developed into one of those games, and there are just a few out there, where there is always something to do. Unlike some other games that I log onto and wonder what to do, there is always something going on in LOTRO. Want big storyline, do the epic line; they have raids, instances, skirmishes (which are actually quite fun if you get a good group rolling). There is basically content everywhere, and while it may seem overwhelming, it really just means you are never bored.

The only update I am interested in for lotro is upgrade the models and animations and make it a smoother gameplay experience!!! Can't believe they haven't done this yet.

@Anciegher And sadly, from the sounds of it, they don't plan on updating the models :( I still play from time to time, but I would make it my main game if the player models were more in line with the fantastic environments. I would really like to see the super low quality NPCs use actual player models as well, they look absolutely awful and so out of place.

@VisualGloss
You are seriously not playing a game based only on the fact that you think the models used for NPC's are outdated? I mean there are lots of reasons not to like LOTRO, but this seems kind of shallow. Just my opinion, and you are completly entitled to yours.

Lord of the Rings Online prepping Update 3: Lost Legends of Eriador

Lord of the Rings Online Core Gallery

Reader Comments (16)

Posted: May 17th 2011 1:07PM wondersmith said

Posted: May 17th 2011 1:51PM Nandini said

Posted: May 17th 2011 2:42PM Plastic said

Posted: May 17th 2011 5:17PM wondersmith said

Posted: May 18th 2011 2:29PM cyanpill said

Posted: May 17th 2011 1:24PM JaySpeed said

Posted: May 17th 2011 1:42PM wondersmith said

Posted: May 17th 2011 9:18PM JaySpeed said

Posted: May 17th 2011 2:29PM Khalus said

Posted: May 17th 2011 2:44PM Plastic said

Posted: May 17th 2011 2:50PM Lenn said

Posted: May 17th 2011 2:51PM Lenn said

Posted: May 17th 2011 2:51PM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 17th 2011 4:42PM Anciegher said

Posted: May 17th 2011 5:00PM VisualGloss said

Posted: May 18th 2011 8:37AM (Unverified) said

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