Update 21 Release Notes

[Cordovan]

Update 21 Release Notes


Here are the Release Notes for Update 21.


Of Special Note:


Epic Volume 4: Book 9


Witness the fate of the One Ring and Sauron! The Epic quest line reaches a major milestone, and remains free to all players.


The Black Book of Mordor


We begin a new story in Update 21 that will continue in future updates. Travel beyond the Black Gate, seek treasure and conquest, and discover what happens when the Free People enter a land of evil and corruption.

Explore Mordor


Explore Gorgoroth, including:

• Udûn, the entryway that holds great forges, quarries, and parade grounds of Mordor.
• Dor Amarth, the rocky plain holding the broken bones of Barad-dur
• Talath Úrui, located south of Mount Doom, home to key fortresses, prisons, and military establishments.
• Lhingris, west of the Morgai ridge, home to Cirith Ungol.
• Agarnaith, a valley southeast of Barad-dur with a dense, pestilent, and bloody swampland.

Level Cap Increase

The level cap has been raised to 115.

Allegiance System


This new end-game system allows players to pledge their allegiance to one faction at a time. Pledge yourself to the Dwarves, Elves, Hobbits, or Men, and unlock rewards through activities in Mordor, including a unique story arc! Players will accrue Allegiance Points which advance your character along a given Allegiance. These points can be earned through acquiring items found in Mordor, completing repeatable quests, and more.

Light of Eärendil/Shadow

Areas of Shadow can be found in varying intensity throughout Mordor. These areas weaken visitors, but the Light of Eärendil can counteract this darkness. Your character will see a Shadow and Light Rating, which will help you understand the threat posed by the Shadow. Items that grant Light of Eärendil can be found in Mordor.

News and Notes:

Audio Journals

• The Lost Lore of Gorgoroth are new audio log journals that can be found to provide context and depictions of historical events. Every time you collect Pages of a Tome, a short audio journal will play. When all the Pages are collected for a region, you will receive a completed text and a housing item that plays the entire audio.

Avatars

• Avatars have been updated for the Human and Elf. Players can choose to view the older avatars through an Avatar Update Visible check box available in the Options panel.
• Body type, Head, Mouth, Eyes, Eye Colour, and Skin Colour can now be modified at barbershops.

Classes

• Above level 105, class trait points are awarded at levels 108, 111, and 114.
• Beorning:
  
  • Beorning skills no longer work through walls.
  • Sacrifice bonus wrath generation now lasts 20 seconds, up from 12 seconds.
  • Nature's Mend no longer behaves like a wrath consuming skill.
  • Grimbeorn's Spirit and Bond of Trust no longer override each other.
  • Vicious Claws will only refresh one instance of Bash bleed, and no longer remove others.
  • Claw Swipe and Slash bleeds no longer replace each other.
  • Expose now affects all Beorning damage skills.
  • Fate stat contributions have been improved.
  • Feral Presence Fate buff values have been fixed.

Crafting

• Tier 11 crafting is now available for every profession. A full new crafting tier is now available for level 115 items. No new Craft Guild tier is required.
• Five new resource instances are now available to help crafters acquire the ingredients necessary for Tier 11 crafting.
• Crafted Anorien Bow Chants will now be item level 100 instead of item level 201.

Deeds

• Over a hundred new Deeds are now available. Each of the four divisions (Gorgoroth, Fellowship, Allegiance, Reputation) contains numerous Deeds.

Emotes

• The Smoking animation will no longer hitch when starting, and the character will immediately move when breaking out of the emote.

Featured Instances

• Sammath Gul replaces Glinghant
• Dungeons of Dol Guldur replaces Fornost: Wraith of Earth
• Halls of Night replaces Seat of the Great Goblin
• StoneHeight replaces Sword-hall of Dol Guldur.

Items

• Note about the new Aria of the Valar: This Account-bound item will be placed into the inventory of the first character you log into after purchasing the Mordor expansion, unless the character is a Novice level character. In that case, you will receive a message explaining the delivery, and the item will be delivered to the first character you log into that is not Novice level.
• Landscape treasure containers can be found throughout Gorgoroth, and can be found in both common and uncommon versions.
• Item levels in Mordor can now range up to item level 350.
• Item Disenchantment is now available in Gorgoroth. This system allows players to break down unused or unwanted Mordor equipment into Ash of Gorgoroth, which can then be used to purchase new equipment from a vendor. Some items cannot be deconstructed. Each Crafting Profession also has a new recipe to create an item that can be deconstructed.
• Set bonuses will no longer appear on future Pelennor gear drops, although existing pieces will retain their bonuses.

Legendary Items

• The Imbued Legendary Item level cap has been increased. There are now ten additional levels for Legacies, five of which can be unlocked, and five of which are granted for free.

Monsters

• Some monster AI behavior has been improved.

NPCs

• Fixed the pose for Heburga in East Rohan.

PvMP

• Monster players can now be level 115.
• Creep Ratings and skills have been increased to an equivalent to level 115.
• Freep criticals will no longer be abnormally penalized in the Ettenmoors.
• Creeps can now train and slot a set of Finesse corruptions to help counter Freep avoidances (Blocks, Parries, Evades, and Resistance).

Quests and Adventure Areas

• Several typos have been corrected in the Anniversary Scavenger Hunt.
• In the Quest: Scouting the Wild, the white stone marker being searched for is no longer obscured by a large bush.
• The waypoint teleportation horse in the Dead Marshes is no longer hiding in tall reeds.
• The name "Instance: One Hope Remains" is now consistent when replayed from the Reflecting Pool.
• Various floating stumps in the Pelennor Fields have been reintroduced to the ground.
• Some wandering horses have been returned to the Cape of Belfalas Homesteads.
• Volume IV, Book 8 is now an on-ramp to the Epic Story. If you would like to experience the conclusion of Volume IV, you can now accept IV.8.1 from Aragorn in the Camp of the Host. This also serves as a convenient way for characters who use an Aria of the Valar to access Mordor.
• A vault-keeper has been added to the Camp of the Host.
• Due to the need to version the following quests to allow for the introduction of High Elves to the game, players will need to re-acquire the following quests if they are currently underway:
  
  • Bingo Boffin:
    
    • The Call to Adventure
    • A Restful Night
    • A New Hunt
    • A Change of Name
    • A Farewell
    • A Chapter About Elves
    • Instance: A Chapter About Elves
    • Unusual Friends
    • Full Course, of Course!
    • Instance: The Perfect Recipe
    
    
  • Crafting:
    
    • Introduction to Cooking
    • Introduction to Farming
    • Introduction to Forestry
    • Introduction to Jewelcrafting
    • Introduction to Metalsmithy
    • Introduction to Prospecting
    • Introduction to Scholarship
    • Introduction to Tailoring
    • Introduction to Weaponsmithy
    • Introduction to Woodworking
    • Outfitting Yourself and Others
    
    
  • Dwarf/Elf Intro:
    
    • Instance: Skorgrím's Tomb
    • Intro: Dogs of Death
    • Intro: Elrond's Errand
    • Intro: The Footprints of Blood
    • Intro: Gormr, Steward of the Hall
    • Intro: The Ritual Stones
    • Intro: Shrine to the Fallen King
    • Intro: An Uneasy Feeling
    • Intro: Where Skorgrím Fell
    
    
  • Enedwaith:
    
    • A Defence of Marigolds
    • Making a Point
    • Meet the Stoors
    • Miraculous Growth
    • Stoors for the Winter
    • Stoors for the Winter -- Repeatable
    • The Wild Hunt: Arassiel's Spirit
    
    
  • Far Anórien:
    
    • A Perilous Parley
    
    
  • Great River:
    
    • Another Gentle Nudge
    
    
  • Lórien:
    
    • Halls of Crafting: Artisan of Evil
    • Instance: The Battle of Lórien
    
    
  • Minas Tirith:
    
    • A Stroll With Bergil
    
    
  • Old Anórien:
    
    • The Stubborn Farmer
    • A Continued Stubbornness
    
    
  • Prologue:
    
    • Prologue: Mutual Dislike
    
    
  • Rohan:
    
    • Words of Encouragement
    • Fortifying Grog
    
    
  • The Shire:
    
    • Prologue: Mundo's Complaint
    
    
  • Trollshaws:
    
    • A Momentous Decision
    • Foreword: Sons and Fathers
    • Foreword: Unlikely Fellowship
    • Foreword: What Road for the Elves?
    
    
  • Voume 1:
    
    • Book 13, Chapter 2: The Snowmen of Forochel
    • Book 13, Chapter 8: A Test of the Cold
    
    
  • Volume 2:
    
    • Chapter 6: Cousin Brogur
    • Book 6, Chapter 1: Desperate Times
    • Chapter 2: An Enemy of the Orcs
    • Chapter 3: Rúmil and Orophin
    • Chapter 2: Ringbearer's Respite
    • Instance: Sons of Leaf and Stone
    • Chapter 4: A Tense Alliance
    • Chapter 5: The Wilting Rot
    • Chapter 2: Rumour of Mazog
    • Chapter 5: Treacherous Lights
    • Volume II, Epilogue: Braiglinn
    
    
  • Volume 3:
    
    • Book 11, Chapter 1: Too Great a Need
    • Book 13, Chapter 2: Final Preparations
    • Book 13, Chapter 8: Secret Ways
    • Chapter 6: For Wadu
    • Book 4, Chapter 19: The Caverns of Isengard
    • Book 5, Chapter 1: Separate Ways
    • Book 6, Chapter 1: Troubled Dreams
    • Book 7, Chapter 4: Along the Shore
    • Book 7, Chapter 5: A Stop In Stangard
    • Book 8, Chapter 13: The Ghost Vanishes
    • Book 9, Chapter 1: Éomer
    • Book 9, Chapter 3: Orcs Beneath the Eaves
    
    
  • Volume 4:
    
    • Book 1, Chapter 7: Abandoned Refuge
    • Book 1, Chapter 8: Dorthaneth
    • Book 1, Chapter 9: A Message for Lothíriel
    • Book 4, Chapter 3: The Seven Gates
    • A Long Siege - Turn Him In
    • Book 5, Chapter 3: Older Than the Hills
    • Book 7, Chapter 1: Beginning to Heal
    • Book 7, Chapter 8: Resolve
    
    
  • The Wastes:
    
    • A Cloud of Despair
    
    
  • Western Gondor:
    
    • The City of Dol Amroth

Races

• A new race called the High Elf is now available! The High Elf has a new cosmetic appearance, animations, traits, and starter quest instance, along with new background origin options. They can also be any class except for Burglar and Beorning.

Traits

• Lore of Air's induction has been removed, and it can be cast immediately. Its cooldown has been increased to ten seconds.
• The following racial Traits now grant an amount of Will, Might, or Fate appropriate to the character's level, rather than a fixed amount:
  
  • Man of the Fourth Age
  • Fateful Dwarf
  • Those Who Remain
  • Emissary
  • Hobbit-stature
  • Friend of Man
  
  
• Virtue trait stat values for Ranks 11 and higher have been updated.
• Players who previously encountered issues with acquiring the final Class Trait slot unlock from the LOTRO Store should now be able to see this offer and get the final class trait slot set bonus.

UI

• A Frill Density slider has been added to the Advanced Graphics tab under "Scenery". This option adjusts the amount of frills loaded onto a scene as a percentage.
• The Advanced Graphics tab now has an added Particle Effects header with three options: Dynamic Particle Rendering, Precipitation Effects, and Static Environmental Objects.
  
  • Particle Rendering allows the player to choose which particle effects to render. The options are None, Me, Me + Targets, Targets, and All.
  • Precipitation Effects will disable weather effects, such as rain and snow.
  • Static Environmental Objects will select whether to draw particle effects on immobile objects.
  
  
• A second 10 Year VIP Portrait Frame is now available to qualified players.
• Settings that are saved in the userpreferences.ini file, such as graphics preferences, are now saved to disk when the character options panel is closed. This aims to reduce occurrences of settings being lost due to client crashes.
• The Yes emote now appears in the Chat Window Emote Menu.

Miscellaneous

• The music at Character Generation has been updated.
• Fixed a floating chest in East Rohan.
• Finesse has been updated to reduce the cap to 50%.
• The game credits have been updated.
• The number of saved logins on the game launcher have been increased from 10 to 100.
• Players using Windows Vista, XP, and 2000 no longer need to download a TurbineLauncher.exe.config file in order to use their legacy game client. There is now an option to "Use Legacy Client" in the launcher options. The Legacy client will be used on Windows Vista and prior systems if no action is taken. This option cannot be changed if you currently have an overridden TurbineLauncher.exe.config file. NOTE: Players using the Legacy Client will not be able to open the LOTRO Store in-game, but will continue to open the Store using an external web browser.

Known Issues:

• Some quests are not translated in French and German clients.
• The movie that plays at the end of the dwarf/Elf starter area also plays when the High Elf starter area is completed.
• Ugrukhor is using an incorrect appearance.
• Many Doomfold items have identical tooltips for normal versus critical results in the crafting panel. However, the items are created at their correct level.
• Burglar - Skills - Exploit Opening doesn't trigger a Fellowship Manoeuvre.
• Quests - Talath urui - The Pit-fighter, Day Three - Orc fanatics sometimes jump into the fire pit and cannot be attacked.
• High Elf - Zooming in the dressing room zooms too close.
• High Elf - Quests with race-specific text show the Race of Man version instead of the Elf version.
• Volume 4 Book 9 Vignettes are not playing in German game clients.
• Elf Male and High Elf Male do not display properly in the Barber Shop UI.
• Some visual issues remain on new avatars.
• The High Elf video is only available in the English client.
• The quest “Reclaiming Udûn: Maudhúl Târ Overlook” is not yet available.