Please catch me up on LOTRO's late-game plotlines, new areas, etc (since Gates of Gundabad)

[Faethyn]

Hi, I last really played LOTRO consistently over a year ago (after playing it almost every week/month for a decade).

Pcatch me up on LOTRO's late-game plotlines, new areas, etc. I believe I last played around the Gates of Gundabad, waiting for Gundabad to open, and there was a new area in Breeland I also went through. I think I heard there's a new area of the Trollshaws, which I didn't get to. I know Gundabad eventually openned, I did some quick exploration but haven't played in it yet. I saw the Shire had a new region, which is when I last logged in, just to travel to see it, again no quests in it yet.

I want to get back into it, but I feel I've forgotten too many of the subplots and not sure where to start, or what else I might have missed.

[Phantion]

Hi, I last really played LOTRO consistently over a year ago (after playing it almost every week/month for a decade).

Pcatch me up on LOTRO's late-game plotlines, new areas, etc. I believe I last played around the Gates of Gundabad, waiting for Gundabad to open, and there was a new area in Breeland I also went through. I think I heard there's a new area of the Trollshaws, which I didn't get to. I know Gundabad eventually openned, I did some quick exploration but haven't played in it yet. I saw the Shire had a new region, which is when I last logged in, just to travel to see it, again no quests in it yet.

I want to get back into it, but I feel I've forgotten too many of the subplots and not sure where to start, or what else I might have missed.

Welcome back!


LOTRO hit the "pause button" on end-game content - with the exception of Delving missions and a new skirmish; U35 will introduce the first new level-cap instance cluster since Gundabad.

LOTRO focused more on the "early leveling experience" and expanding Eriador for newer players or alts. Last year saw the enlargement of the Trollshaws to include the Angle (level 30's range), Yondershire to connect Ered Luin to the Shire (level 20-23), and the recent expansion, "Before the Shadow," including two huge regions of Cardolan and Swanfleet (level 1 - 30) with a new starter instance option.

The Angle adds some more to the history of the fall of Eregion as well as the Stoor Hobbits and the Dunedain rangers.
Yondershire expands the Shire to some of its lesser known towns and villages and their various concerns - and Lotho Sackville-Baggins (secretly working for "Sharkey") up to no good.
Cardolan and Swanfleet combined tell a story of rescuing a town, finding Boromir on his journey north to Rivendell, and following the trail of the Black Riders toward the Shire with new Epic Book Volume 1 Books 1-3 alternative epic books leading to VI Book 4 in Rivendell.

The best way to experience the new content is on a brand new alt. So, that's why you haven't seen any quests or mostly "grey quests" in those regions if playing a level capped character. They also expanded some previously-forbidden class options to different races (like Dwarf Captains, etc.).

This year, they are returning to a level cap focus with U35 set to introduce a "Return to Carn Dum" instance cluster, all level 140, then U36 with an "after battle" version of Gondor (*likely parts of East and Central Gondor) also set to level 140 as a "sequel" to the War of the Ring in those regions; the new expansion near the end of the year, Umbar - which introduces the port city of the Corsairs to the game - will likely increase the cap to level 150.

They did introduce a Delving system in the Cardolan and Swanfleet regions with missions that have difficulty tiers you can choose between to earn higher tier gear; these scale up to level 140 - and the same goes for the "Doom of Caras Gelebren" skirmish about the fall of the Eregion Elves to Sauron in the Second Age.

In short: For a level 140 character who just did Mt. Gundabad, the only other new content was running that SA Eregion skirm and the Delving missions.

U35 is around the corner with it's level 140 Angmar instances' focus - with U36 coming at some point in their "second quarter." U35 has been through several Bullroarer beta builds. The most relevant content for U35 is anything Angmarim-related in "The Legacy of Durin" in both Elderslade / War of the Three Peaks and Gundabad and especially the local quest content in Car Bronach from "Gates of Gundabad." More info here: https://forums.lotro.com/forums/show...t-LOTRO-s-2023

[Faethyn]

Thank you!!

That seems very comprehensive, I appreciate it. If anyone else has anything to add, will still be happy to hear