The epic in Update 18 is simply sublime (potential spoilers - read at your own risk).

[milamba]

Gandalf, 7th tier of Minas Tirith

Many thanks! Off to see Gandalf

[Arnenna]

Hmm. What class did you do it with?

I did it on hunter. It was great. No hairy moment's except one with a wraith, but that was more to do with some skill lag than difficulty. I just jumped up on war steed for a bit to recover and then jumped back off to finish it off.


The whole update is solo friendly with stuff for the groupers as well. I had two deaths. One to being lazy and jumping instead of riding back down a valley and the other in a solo instance where my first shot on one of the new mobs reflected back enough damage to wipe me out. That was a bit of a nasty surprise lol, but when repeating it I stuck to low damage skills and it went fine.

[Hallandil]

I did it on hunter. It was great. No hairy moment's except one with a wraith, but that was more to do with some skill lag than difficulty. I just jumped up on war steed for a bit to recover and then jumped back off to finish it off.


The whole update is solo friendly with stuff for the groupers as well. I had two deaths. One to being lazy and jumping instead of riding back down a valley and the other in a solo instance where my first shot on one of the new mobs reflected back enough damage to wipe me out. That was a bit of a nasty surprise lol, but when repeating it I stuck to low damage skills and it went fine.

Just to add to this. That one wraith seemed to stick out like a sore thumb. It might be because that instance was supposed to be part of the "preview" of the upcoming raid, The Foe Ressurgent, matching the solo instance name as explained in dev diary.
*Spoilers* The solo version had us fight through various trash waves and witness scenes with npcs and eventually fight against a wraith boss Ordolang. From what I can gather, this is one of the knights that were with Gothmog at the time of his corruption. If Turbine is indeed creating what appears to be the setup for a multi-wing raid, it appears that each knight will be a wing and then Gothmog at the end, for there is a striking absence of his death during the battle and a "To be continued" blurb at the end of the book.

[Curuer_Bauglir]

Just finished. Absolutely amazing! The MT and now Pelennor epics have been incredible to experience. The only minor quibble I have is the teenage angst Gothmog has towards a certain ranger for laughing at him. Other than that perfect. I would also like to assure everyone that the epics are all designed as solo quests. There are two points in between chapters where they give you a notification that the two new instances fit into the story at those points, but you lose very little by ignoring the notification and continuing on with the solo epics. Even if you're upset about the lack of solo gear, the epics more than make this update worth it.

[miriadel]

I loved the storytelling, but I feel the cinematics and animations could have been better, even for an old game on an old engine... some of them were underwhelming

[Gilean-EU]

I avoided this thread on purpose until I was done with both Books And yes, there was LOTS of story in these books, and I enjoyed them a lot! Although spoiler warning has been given, I still try to be a bit vague when I say I only did this with one character so far, and I cannot stop wondering what happens in one instance where I made a different decision back in Shire...

Oh, I am not sure if it was bug or not (voice-overs seem to be acting funny in this game), but at certain epic moment, Theoden was mute... :/

By the way djheydt, as you should know, ALL Epic questline is soloable, has been for several years now. There is no group content in the new Epic Books itself, in fact, there are several solo-only instances.

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

Just to add to this. That one wraith seemed to stick out like a sore thumb. It might be because that instance was supposed to be part of the "preview" of the upcoming raid, The Foe Ressurgent, matching the solo instance name as explained in dev diary.
*Spoilers* The solo version had us fight through various trash waves and witness scenes with npcs and eventually fight against a wraith boss Ordolang. From what I can gather, this is one of the knights that were with Gothmog at the time of his corruption. If Turbine is indeed creating what appears to be the setup for a multi-wing raid, it appears that each knight will be a wing and then Gothmog at the end, for there is a striking absence of his death during the battle and a "To be continued" blurb at the end of the book.

*SPOILERS*









Aye, this one is meant to be the raid, and I think having a wing for each knight sounds like an excellent plan. However, I don't think Gothmog is going to be a part of it - I think they'll save him for a later date for us to finish off - I'm hoping Minas Morgul, but that may just be me being over-optimistic. But because Gothmog leaves at the end of 'On a Field of Red', I don't think they'll retrofit it and have him die in a raid which is chronologically meant to take place beforehand.

[Amorey]

-This post will be full of **SPOILERS** so please do not read if you have not done the last Epic quest -

Dear MoL, other content creators, game developers, and Turbine as a whole,

It is very late here in the UK so this post will probably filled with my usual typos and such but I can't go to bed without first telling you what I think about this last chapter in the Epic quest in LOTRO. I have been a fan of Professor Tolkien for most of my life and I have been playing this game since its launch in 2007. You people have just gave me the best gaming day on my life so far ( I say so far because the Epic quest will go on) . As I sat at my computer, reading every word, listening to every sound, feeling every emotion, I found myself tearing up so many times because of the sheer realistic immersion you have created. The story/text of the whole quest would make Professor Tolkien happy , there are no doubts about that. I know it is not always easy for you folk but you did it! You created something in a video game on the same emotional scale as Peter Jackson's Pelennor Fields and of course, the book. Even if this game was to shut down tomorrow ( which I know it wont ) you will forever associated with your adaptation of one of the greatest stories ever written , be happy and proud.

For me the first magical moment started when I met Horn again in Vol. IV. Book 5: What It Means to Fight - once again I was taken by the vulnerability of this amazing character. The whole quest and text are filled with deep feelings and emotions that moved me to tears. I found myself INTO the game, it was just like been there and even if not fully voice acted I could almost hear Horn;s voice talking to me about Nona and his love for her and his difficult choice. Amazing and superb story writing ! 10/10 and on top of that the whole new region is absolutely stunning in atmosphere. The Wild Men are amazing, the sounds effects in the Rohirrim encampments so realistic, riders snoring , sharpening of blades and more.

And so I was unable to stop , I had to continue, the Epic was red for me at this time, I was still lev 100, I did not care, I had to do it, I knew I could not rest until the end. And so I found myself in the presence of Théoden King making his famous speech to the riders. I WAS THERE! In game, on my horse with the horsemen listening to their king. I never experienced anything so powerful while playing a video game before . I felt a rush of adrenaline when Théoden King cried : "A sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises!" and "Ride to Gondor!" . I was not a player anymore, I was in a battle , a real one. When Théoden King felt down mortally wounded under his horse Snowmane I was in tears. I could not believe what I was seeing. Minas Tirith finally in the sun, white and beautiful and around me the greatest battle, thousand enemies, trolls, oliphaunts. Was this really happening ? And there she comes, my hero, the most amazing woman in Middle-earth, strong and fearless....EOWYN. Ok yes I will say it, I cried again and more, the whole cinematic of her facing The Witch-king. By now I knew why am I still so passionate about this game, it is because of this, it is because despite all that is thrown at you, you folk still make me feel like this. Thank you for making my hero Eowyn so beautiful and so brave in your adaptation of Tolkien's story.

But if I thought this was the end of the emotional roller-coaster I would be soon proved wrong. The battle kept raging all around me, and the stories kept coming. Aragorn joining the field of battle and the Rangers. Horn 's bravery and regrets and then of course Golodir. Holy Moly...that was awesome , the animation, the dialogues, the story. And for the first time I felt sad because I realized things will one day come to an end just like Golodir and his story. Bravo! What else is there to say to a perfect quest and story line ? I am really sorry, I am not very good with words and it is very late for me, but I had to tell you how I feel . I realized I was actually talking ( for real ) to the characters in game , reading out laud the text and dialogues . And when the end of the battle and of the Epic came I was left breathless , still tearful and unable to leave the field. I just stood there between Aragorn and Gimli just telling to myself I truly fought alongside the Free People to save Middle-earth. What else is there to say about a perfect quest and one awesome gaming day I will never forget ?

Those little green words at the end are the best words I heard today : TO BE CONTINUED

I cant wait for more. So Thank You, to all of you for giving me this day and this experience, it was worth waiting nine years just to be here today and live what I just lived .

Well Done ! <3

[Damgorn]

I just completed the epic for the second time and On a Field of Red left me very confused, because when I did it on my alt, it took an unexpected turn. Then I remembered my alt let a certain ranger stay in the Shire to smoke pipeweed. Nice touch!

Did anyone happen to come across one of Galadriels prophecies?

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

I just completed the epic for the second time and On a Field of Red left me very confused, because when I did it on my alt, it took an unexpected turn. Then I remembered my alt let a certain ranger stay in the Shire to smoke pipeweed. Nice touch!

Did anyone happen to come across one of Galadriels prophecies?

Oooh, this is rather exciting! The character I've run this on so far, my cappy, didn't do the first few books of the epic, and so that meant that Halros stayed in the Shire - but the next two to come through both told him to go with the Grey Company, so I'm curious to see what difference that makes!

I was wondering about the prophecies too - the cappy has obviously had his moment at HD, and my LM had it at Isengard, but I'm curious to see what the guard gets, as I'm pretty sure that refers to the Battle of Pelennor Fields - and I know that the warden one seems to refer to Black Sails too...

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

Oooh, this is rather exciting! The character I've run this on so far, my cappy, didn't do the first few books of the epic, and so that meant that Halros stayed in the Shire - but the next two to come through both told him to go with the Grey Company, so I'm curious to see what difference that makes!

SPOILERS in this post!

Just finished the epic on my second character... oh Halros! I LOVED the fact that our choice, all those years ago, made such a difference to the life of another character - its really pleasing, and while I've seen complaints about deviating from the lore, I feel it was done in a respectful, and to me, acceptable, way.

However, I've still got some questions left over from the epic:

1)
This is the prophecy Galadriel makes to Guardians in the instance, The Mirror of Galadriel:
'A crash of thunder, a broken shield.
The wall of spears moves in time to the drum-beat of doom.
A shroud of despair as the great beast descends…
You are a mighty Guardian, but not all friends can be saved.'

I've assumed this, for a long time, to refer to the Battle of Pelennor Fields - and the Beorning and Warden stories (particularly the latter), also seem likely to be referring to the Battle too (but I've not got those other classes to cap). Aragorn mentions at the end of the epic that 'Galadriel saw much of this', but I'm really hoping that isn't all that we'll get in reference to the individual class prophecies that needed to be fulfilled here, particularly given that LMs, burgs, hunters and cappies have already had their own version of entire instances to fulfil the prophecies made to them.

2) I'm also wondering who survived the battle. While I know its likely this might be covered in U19, there are some people I felt should be shown at the Threshold of the City, if they survived. These include Ingbert (who we recently fought alongside, and was with Imrahil, the last we saw of him), Elfhelm (in the version without Horn - does the Halros decision effect Elfhelm's life too?), as well as a bunch of Rangers - in particular Prestadir (one of the 'top tier' Rangers), Daervunn (who we see in Quays, and then not afterwards), and many others, chief among which is Dagoras (who we know was alive at least in Pelargir), and Celairant (who was alive in Pelargir - Langlas is at the Threshold of the City, but we don't talk to him - and I wonder why Celairant isn't by his side, as they seem like firm friends...) I'd love, at some point (although maybe we've not reached it yet), for MoL to release the names of those members of the Grey Company who made it out of Tur Morva, and their fates afterwards - but as I say, it may not yet be the time, given that the Battle of the Black Gate, and our return to the North, have still yet to happen.

3) Although I know the Lay of the Mounds of Mundburg tells us of the death of Herubrand and Herefara, Grimbold and Harding, and old Forlong, I felt sad not to have fought alongside some of them, particularly Grimbold, whom we basically saved from depression in the Westfold, as they died. But I really hope there's some sort of memorial that's made in Minas Tirith (not sure there's anything in the lore) to commemorate all those characters (as well as Fastred, Dunhere, Deorwine, Duinhir, Derufin and Hirluin) in the next update.

4) Gothmog ran away. Please, please, please tell me that means we get to chase him down to Minas Morgul...

5) Who's the remaining Nazgul? By my count, we've now found 8:
- The Witch King of Angmar (deceased!)
- The Lieutenant of Dol Guldur (defeated at DG, not seen since?)
- The Black Blade of Lebennin (defeated at Osgiliath)
- The Grim Southron (encountered in the Wold and the East Wall, not seen him since then)
- The Forsaken Reaver (defeated in Quays of Harlond)
- The Bane of Rhun (defeated in Morthond, not seen since)
- The Gloom of Nurn (defeated in the Silent Street)
- The Woe of Khand (glimpsed in A Foe Resurgent)

That leaves us with one more to get up to the total of 9 - hopefully we'll find out the identity of this Nazgul at some point.

I'm certain there are more questions, but for the moment, I feel I should congratulate MoL and the LOTRO team on the wonderful epic, once again - while less shocking, the second time through, it was no less epic.

[Xhiu]

Yes, but if I'm reading the patch notes correctly, all the epic battles
are fellowship/raid sized. And I bet they can't be duoed.

Oh well. I can always read the books again.

My sweet dj. You have not interpreted the notes correctly.

1. There are no epic battles as such. Epic in the sense they are part of the epic quest line and battle in the sense there is a huge battle going on... but since you know the books you know about the battle.

2. There is nothing, and I mean NOTHING that cannot be solo'd in the epic. It might take you awhile to figure out how to do it but it is possible. It is possible for you, no matter how you feel about your skill/ability as a player.

3. The actual killing part is an open instance. If you play your cards right you can do it, not gracefully, by open tapping something someone else is killing.

4. If you go now, which I don't think you are ready for as you said you just barely got one toon to MT, you will probably see many wild men (and women I guess) running across the plains smiting invaders from Mordor and Harad.

5. If you want to rush out and give it a go (you have to do v4b3 first) I will be willing to set aside some time to assist you, where I can.

If all that doesn't seem possible, which I assure you it is, there are videos of the Ride. I do not suggest those except to people who do not plan on doing the epic.

Yer one of my fav posters btw and this post contains zero sarcasm. srsly.

[Xhiu]

-This post will be full of **SPOILERS** so please do not read if you have not done the last Epic quest -

Dear MoL, other content creators, game developers, and Turbine as a whole,

It is very late here in the UK so this post will probably filled with my usual typos and such but I can't go to bed without first telling you what I think about this last chapter in the Epic quest in LOTRO. I have been a fan of Professor Tolkien for most of my life and I have been playing this game since its launch in 2007. You people have just gave me the best gaming day on my life so far ( I say so far because the Epic quest will go on) . As I sat at my computer, reading every word, listening to every sound, feeling every emotion, I found myself tearing up so many times because of the sheer realistic immersion you have created. The story/text of the whole quest would make Professor Tolkien happy , there are no doubts about that. I know it is not always easy for you folk but you did it! You created something in a video game on the same emotional scale as Peter Jackson's Pelennor Fields and of course, the book. Even if this game was to shut down tomorrow ( which I know it wont ) you will forever associated with your adaptation of one of the greatest stories ever written , be happy and proud.

For me the first magical moment started when I met Horn again in Vol. IV. Book 5: What It Means to Fight - once again I was taken by the vulnerability of this amazing character. The whole quest and text are filled with deep feelings and emotions that moved me to tears. I found myself INTO the game, it was just like been there and even if not fully voice acted I could almost hear Horn;s voice talking to me about Nona and his love for her and his difficult choice. Amazing and superb story writing ! 10/10 and on top of that the whole new region is absolutely stunning in atmosphere. The Wild Men are amazing, the sounds effects in the Rohirrim encampments so realistic, riders snoring , sharpening of blades and more.

And so I was unable to stop , I had to continue, the Epic was red for me at this time, I was still lev 100, I did not care, I had to do it, I knew I could not rest until the end. And so I found myself in the presence of Théoden King making his famous speech to the riders. I WAS THERE! In game, on my horse with the horsemen listening to their king. I never experienced anything so powerful while playing a video game before . I felt a rush of adrenaline when Théoden King cried : "A sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises!" and "Ride to Gondor!" . I was not a player anymore, I was in a battle , a real one. When Théoden King felt down mortally wounded under his horse Snowmane I was in tears. I could not believe what I was seeing. Minas Tirith finally in the sun, white and beautiful and around me the greatest battle, thousand enemies, trolls, oliphaunts. Was this really happening ? And there she comes, my hero, the most amazing woman in Middle-earth, strong and fearless....EOWYN. Ok yes I will say it, I cried again and more, the whole cinematic of her facing The Witch-king. By now I knew why am I still so passionate about this game, it is because of this, it is because despite all that is thrown at you, you folk still make me feel like this. Thank you for making my hero Eowyn so beautiful and so brave in your adaptation of Tolkien's story.

But if I thought this was the end of the emotional roller-coaster I would be soon proved wrong. The battle kept raging all around me, and the stories kept coming. Aragorn joining the field of battle and the Rangers. Horn 's bravery and regrets and then of course Golodir. Holy Moly...that was awesome , the animation, the dialogues, the story. And for the first time I felt sad because I realized things will one day come to an end just like Golodir and his story. Bravo! What else is there to say to a perfect quest and story line ? I am really sorry, I am not very good with words and it is very late for me, but I had to tell you how I feel . I realized I was actually talking ( for real ) to the characters in game , reading out laud the text and dialogues . And when the end of the battle and of the Epic came I was left breathless , still tearful and unable to leave the field. I just stood there between Aragorn and Gimli just telling to myself I truly fought alongside the Free People to save Middle-earth. What else is there to say about a perfect quest and one awesome gaming day I will never forget ?

Those little green words at the end are the best words I heard today : TO BE CONTINUED

I cant wait for more. So Thank You, to all of you for giving me this day and this experience, it was worth waiting nine years just to be here today and live what I just lived .

Well Done ! <3

I am in total agreement, I think. I'm not sure because halfway through this post I started tearing up, remembering... just remembering. I have Theomur on ignore but after reading other people in a certain post I had to uncover what people were talking about. MoL & Co. need to watch that video, not because they need to see the cinematic. I think they know how that goes. They need to watch the streamer in the corner. Yes. Is there a Nobel Prize for gaming?

I don't know how many times I burst out with "Oh My God" [not omg] or "HOLY S...!" or absolutely nothing as I was on my horse behind Theoden King, prepared to ride into the middle with the Rohirrim. Snickering as the camera panned past Dernhelm and whispering to myself "I know who you are..."

Can someone stream the charge with full sound (not loud sound) and put it up on u2be so I can watch it repeatedly in case I need some motivation to do dishes or laundry... Corey! U needa do this nao!

Another book like this and imma prolly stroke out. Someone tell my kids that I want "Its all MoL's fault" on my tombstone.

[Xhiu]

Ok, here is my complaint...

You KNOW how I hate reading walls of text in VIDEO games. Ok maybe you forgot but this was a reminder.

Would it be possible to compile all the text from the Rohirrim friends we met up with and post them, in their entirety somewhere on the forums? I mean Elfward, Ingbert, Horn, Merry, Gleowine, etc. [this is part of the problem... I can't remember all of them]

Please.

Pretty please?

Otherwise Imma hafta insist you make interludes of all those stories so I can revisit them...

Did I say please?

You know we can't redo these quests unless we make alts and run through them again. And no, I dun wanna read them off of lotrowiki.

*bats her eyelashes innocently*

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

Ok, here is my complaint...

You KNOW how I hate reading walls of text in VIDEO games. Ok maybe you forgot but this was a reminder.

Would it be possible to compile all the text from the Rohirrim friends we met up with and post them, in their entirety somewhere on the forums? I mean Elfward, Ingbert, Horn, Merry, Gleowine, etc. [this is part of the problem... I can't remember all of them]

Please.

Pretty please?

Otherwise Imma hafta insist you make interludes of all those stories so I can revisit them...

Did I say please?

You know we can't redo these quests unless we make alts and run through them again. And no, I dun wanna read them off of lotrowiki.

*bats her eyelashes innocently*

I rather like the long text dialogues - particularly that of Thrymm, for instance, telling a whole other story in addition to the on going one around us. I'd have liked it if there were even more of these in the epic for other characters that we didn't see, so I guess its just a matter of opinion on what some people like, and some don't.

While you may object to reading LOTROwiki, I'd suggest that's still quite a good place to catch up on anything you missed.

[The_Jagannath]

***WALL OF TEXT REMOVED***

... You KNOW how I hate reading walls of text in VIDEO games...

..........

[Amorey]

Another book like this and imma prolly stroke out. Someone tell my kids that I want "Its all MoL's fault" on my tombstone.

I hope that wont be the case Xhiu , however we can expect an other emotional and adrenaline-filled book next time as we reach the Black Gate of Mordor. Frodo and Sam are almost on the top of Mount Doom by now so we are very close .

We should see all that and also the events that follows including Aragon's coronation and the wedding between him and Arwen in Minas Tirith , well I hope we will anyway

[Urwendil]

I loved the epic.

Starting from the road clearing instance where they begin popping up as we clear bits l knew l was in for a treat. The charge of Théoden and the defiance of Éowyn made me cry as they do every time l read them in the book, and the moment of Golodir was no less.

As l posted on another thread, the end of Halbarad is overwhelmingly underwhelming. I get all the defying death with laughter thing but the setting and the execution don't fit the grandeur of the rest of the epic, and not at all the character in question.

I like how Horn gets two different deaths, only one of which physical, depending on what we decide to tell Halros back in V.III.

One thing I'm missing and wish they'd be there is optional session plays in the Wildermore epic fashion.

Thank you MoL and everybody involved!

[Deorwyn]

And no, I dun wanna read them off of lotrowiki.

But why? The text is all there and I really don't see any difference of reading it here, on the forums, or over there.
http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Ques...Road_to_Battle

Anyways, as both of my eligible characters have told Halros to come along with the Grey Company, I was wondering what happens during "On a Field of Red" if Halros stayed behind. If anyone has that sort of information, I'd apreciate it!

[Urwendil]

Anyways, as both of my eligible characters have told Halros to come along with the Grey Company, I was wondering what happens during "On a Field of Red" if Halros stayed behind. If anyone has that sort of information, I'd apreciate it!

Horn is killed.

[Deorwyn]

Horn is killed.

Thanks for your answer. I was wondering if that was the case.

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

As l posted on another thread, the end of Halbarad is overwhelmingly underwhelming. I get all the defying death with laughter thing but the setting and the execution don't fit the grandeur of the rest of the epic, and not at all the character in question.

Aye, its true that it doesn't fit too well to the character - although I think the hysteria that you see in Halbarad's character at the end of the long battle is kinda mirrored in the state in which our characters are in after seeing all that death, and the death of our friends. Halbarad's reaction is pure mirth that Gothmog does not realise that by the sacrifice of Golodir, he has already been beaten - although that's why it sucks so much when Gothmog still manages to cause a bit more harm before he flees. That said, Halbarad doesn't really seem to be the sort to let his guard down in such a way.

[Urwendil]

Aye, its true that it doesn't fit too well to the character - although I think the hysteria that you see in Halbarad's character at the end of the long battle is kinda mirrored in the state in which our characters are in after seeing all that death, and the death of our friends. Halbarad's reaction is pure mirth that Gothmog does not realise that by the sacrifice of Golodir, he has already been beaten - although that's why it sucks so much when Gothmog still manages to cause a bit more harm before he flees. That said, Halbarad doesn't really seem to be the sort to let his guard down in such a way.

It also downplays the dramatic power of the encounter of the two kings.

[OldMadeOfLions]

Halbarad's reaction is pure mirth that Gothmog does not realise that by the sacrifice of Golodir, he has already been beaten - although that's why it sucks so much when Gothmog still manages to cause a bit more harm before he flees.

SPOILERS THROUGHOUT, OF COURSE
*
*
*
*
*

I've seen the criticism that Halbarad makes a mistake here, but that's not really the way I see it. One of the things we know about Gothmog is that his primary weakness is his inability to refuse a challenge. It was defiance that led to his original downfall (signified by riding to face the Witch-king when Earnur was mortal, despite the Very Good Counsel of Mardil Voronwe, also appearing in some form in this Update, to my delight), and everything we've seen of him since has involved the quashing of every other form of defiance, beginning with Golodir's resistance in Carn Dum and carrying through to his current leadership role in the war. Gothmog uses fear to dominate his enemies, and he's not used to it not working.

This is why Halbarad's actions in IV.6.8 are so potent, and why he's able to inflict more harm upon Gothmog with this act than he ever could have done with a sword or with a bow. He's demonstrating a complete and total lack of fear, depriving Gothmog of his greatest weapon, and if it costs him his life but aids Aragorn in achieving the kingship then I believe Halbarad would consider that a fair trade. Halbarad's laughter is not accidental; rather, it is calculated to evoke a response, not just from Gothmog but from Aragorn too. Oaths and vows have power in Middle-earth, and there's a reason that we evoke the oath of Isildur at Erech in this moment; there's also a reason that the other Rangers run to Halbarad's side in the aftermath but Aragorn does not. Aragorn isn't speaking normal words to Gothmog -- he's speaking with the voice of prophecy and espousing his claim over the False King of Angmar/(Possibly) True King of Gondor. Speaking of the new age and proclaiming that there is no place in it for Gothmog or his master, he is ascending to the kingship and denying any claim that Gothmog might make, and Gothmog has been so shaken by this point (mostly by Halbarad) that he is not able to dispute it. Aragorn's first action as the king-to-be is uncontested.

One of the difficulties with designing this sequence is that everything needs to happen slow enough for it to be understandable and able to sink in, but fast enough that it doesn't feel like everyone is standing around doing nothing, and it could be that we didn't tighten it up enough to strike that balance. I don't think any of the Rangers could have saved Halbarad from the one strike Gothmog landed in anger, but I also think that Halbarad knew what he was doing, did it intentionally, and died knowing that both his life and his death were successful in bringing Aragorn to the fate that all of the Rangers swore to help him achieve.

In MMO terms, Halbarad was the tank in that case and had all the hate -- imagine what would have happened if Gothmog's mighty strike had been aimed at Aragorn instead.

MoL

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

SPOILERS THROUGHOUT, OF COURSE
*
*
*
*
*

I've seen the criticism that Halbarad makes a mistake here, but that's not really the way I see it. One of the things we know about Gothmog is that his primary weakness is his inability to refuse a challenge. It was defiance that led to his original downfall (signified by riding to face the Witch-king when Earnur was mortal, despite the Very Good Counsel of Mardil Voronwe, also appearing in some form in this Update, to my delight), and everything we've seen of him since has involved the quashing of every other form of defiance, beginning with Golodir's resistance in Carn Dum and carrying through to his current leadership role in the war. Gothmog uses fear to dominate his enemies, and he's not used to it not working.

This is why Halbarad's actions in IV.6.8 are so potent, and why he's able to inflict more harm upon Gothmog with this act than he ever could have done with a sword or with a bow. He's demonstrating a complete and total lack of fear, depriving Gothmog of his greatest weapon, and if it costs him his life but aids Aragorn in achieving the kingship then I believe Halbarad would consider that a fair trade. Halbarad's laughter is not accidental; rather, it is calculated to evoke a response, not just from Gothmog but from Aragorn too. Oaths and vows have power in Middle-earth, and there's a reason that we evoke the oath of Isildur at Erech in this moment; there's also a reason that the other Rangers run to Halbarad's side in the aftermath but Aragorn does not. Aragorn isn't speaking normal words to Gothmog -- he's speaking with the voice of prophecy and espousing his claim over the False King of Angmar/(Possibly) True King of Gondor. Speaking of the new age and proclaiming that there is no place in it for Gothmog or his master, he is ascending to the kingship and denying any claim that Gothmog might make, and Gothmog has been so shaken by this point (mostly by Halbarad) that he is not able to dispute it. Aragorn's first action as the king-to-be is uncontested.

One of the difficulties with designing this sequence is that everything needs to happen slow enough for it to be understandable and able to sink in, but fast enough that it doesn't feel like everyone is standing around doing nothing, and it could be that we didn't tighten it up enough to strike that balance. I don't think any of the Rangers could have saved Halbarad from the one strike Gothmog landed in anger, but I also think that Halbarad knew what he was doing, did it intentionally, and died knowing that both his life and his death were successful in bringing Aragorn to the fate that all of the Rangers swore to help him achieve.

In MMO terms, Halbarad was the tank in that case and had all the hate -- imagine what would have happened if Gothmog's mighty strike had been aimed at Aragorn instead.

MoL

This does make a lot of sense, and gets at what I'd previously tried to articulate about Halbarad, and failed - although I hadn't considered that Halbarad's act was a deliberate one, nor that it was actually Halbarad's act which did the most damage to Gothmog. I'm very grateful for you to explaining the thinking behind it, particularly tying in the character aspects of Earnur/Gothmog that I really hadn't considered before.

However, I think to some extent its the slight clunkiness of the engine that makes this death seem a bit out of place - Gothmog stutters forward, turns right, turns to face Halbarad, then strikes him down - while these are things that I've come to effectively ignore in LOTRO, seeing past them to the story the words are telling, more than the movement of characters themselves, I think that coming so soon after the epic Golodir fight, our 'movement' expectations have been raised a bit, which is why it felt slightly out of sorts.

All that aside, please don't take to heart any criticism of this part of the epic - taken as a whole, the story, the words within it, the voice acting, and to a great extent, the animation, were simply wonderful - not just in Book 6 where the most epic moments occurred, but also the stories in Book 5 too. The epic has been consistently good, particularly over the last couple of major updates, but this trumps them all, without question.

Also, I've seen a fair few criticisms revolving around the Halros choice - my first character didn't visit Halros, while the second sent him with Aragorn - and I LOVED the fact that the decisions we made so long ago had such a significant effect in that last instance - so thank you!



On another topic, regarding Galadriel's prophecies - while I wouldn't expect you to give specifics, are any of the prophecies fulfilled in the battle, in a specific instance, or a change to an instance that wouldn't be seen otherwise? I know that many people expected certainly the warden (given the Black Sails reference), as well as the guardian and the beorning, to see these prophecies brought back up, and I'd be a tad disappointed if Aragorn's mention of Galadriel's prophecy at the end of the book is all we see of this (I've only run the epic on a guardian - and a captain, although his moment was in HD - so far, so maybe his moment has not yet come!)