Optionally, Northern Misty Mountains: r1 lx1526 ly1035 ox129.73 oy78.55 oz1138.88 h296.7.
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to South-western Elderslade, near Angmarim town: r2 lx788 ly1597 ox90.37 oy117.04 oz802.71 h167.3.
One more route to traverse the mountains would be nice, and to me it seems to go well with the narrative, since there must be a reason the Angmarim were interested in fortifying this area in particular and having a back gate from Dûn Traikh with a pathway leading West.
This is already an existing easy-to-miss pathway in the Misties but collapsed, and unlikely to be used for anything in the future, so great idea to have an additional connection to Elderslade through this pass:
This could be turned into a rocky pathway into the mountains and an exit point, so the Angmarim of Dûn Traikh have a strategic reason to fortify near the lake and secure this less known pass (other than training bats lol):
FIX THE TERRIBLE BEFORE/AFTER TELEPORT
(in Ithilien)
South to North Ithilien connection is in the right spot but...
It's super confusing if a newer player who made a mistake/was just curious got teleported. They are thrown into the unfamiliar "after battle" landscape that is the exact copy of the area they were just questing in and in order to get back to their version they gotta ride all the way South to the bridge and get teleported, and then gotta backtrack North to where they were at. It's terrible.
So, without getting overly complicated and without changing anything, what I propose is fairly easy:
Near the exit point, in After Battle North Ithilien: r4 lx1429 ly629 ox100.95 oy114.63 oz281.35
Place some kind of interactive item (scattered maps?) or a traveler NPC here, with a dialogue box upon interaction, something like "Are you lost, fellow traveler? You have no idea where you are? Then use that horse (or that map here) to get back to where you came from!" So either a swift horse teleport or item teleport that can take you back to the exact entry point in the earlier "Before" version of the map.
This mechanic could be used for other such confusing transitions when transitioning from Before to After - maps that cover the same landmasses, so can be very confusing when entered prematurely. But the swift horse/item method is not essential from After to Before, since players who experience After regions already have an idea of what such connections mean, so they wouldn't go through accidentally. This method would also allow to do more of these transitions to fully connect the world without fear of trapping lower lvl players in the "After" maps.
THEN, ADD THE MISSING BEFORE-TO-AFTER TELEPORTS
1.
Either from here, in South Ithilien beyond the Crossroads, as a side pathway in the direction of Morgul Vale, like in the picture below: r3 lx1430 ly605 ox135.29 oy103.48 oz270.81 h33.8.
Or maybe from here, near the Morgul Vale gate with trolls?: r3 lx1437 ly604 ox116.00 oy87.70 oz255.14 h16.9.
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to the path before Smeagol's Stairs in After Battle Morgul Vale, which offers a great view of Minas Morgul in the distance once you emerge from beyond the corner: r4 lx1455 ly605 ox157.07 oy105.19 oz270.56 h140.6.
(with the "Are you lost?" horsy/item here to get back to "Before" version entry point!)
That way, we can make a continuous journey, like the one Frodo took, and organically reach Morgul Vale/Cirith Ungol from Before the battle version of the landscape. The wooden gate in before the battle version of Ithilien would be closed as it is now, but wonderers and RPers could take a more secret approach though a windy pathway and that works just fine! After all, Frodo couldn't just enter through a gate guarded by trolls and watchtowers... they needed to be more sneaky and probably circumvented through some rocky pathway. Morgul Vale really could use a connection with the wider world, rather than be reachable only from the "After" layer despite being directly adjacent to the Before layer.
2.
from Isengard, which would require to soften the slope here to mirror the Flooded version of this slope that's climbable (but it doesn't need to be perfectly mirrored): r1 lx1473 ly434 ox35.98 oy53.32 oz498.03 h21.1.
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to Isengard Flooded but on the pathway towards Western Rohan: r2 lx629 ly785 ox108.50 oy27.64 oz750.80 h80.2.
(with the "Are you lost?" swift horsy/item here to get back to "Before" version entry point!)
Because this pathway between Isengard and Western Rohan through the mountains is - surprisingly! - one of the most beautiful paths I've seen in the game, no idea why, but makes you feel that way, and it also leads to Entwood/Fangorn. So would be great to be able to transition from regular Isengard to Western Rohan here, rather than just through the Fords of Isen. Would provide a great wonderer's alternative!
ADD THE MISSING AFTER-TO-BEFORE TELEPORTS
(to further connect the After Battle map with the larger world and make fully organic transitions from After battle version possible, no asset/terrain work needed here!)
from Northern After Battle Pelennor, beyond the wall and the broken bridge: r4 lx1306 ly655 ox53.65 oy145.18 oz160.88 h282.7.
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to Talath Anor: r3 lx1296 ly660 ox15.70 oy98.25 oz181.30 h312.2.
from After Battle Pelennor, on the ready pathway across the river and up the slope: r4 lx1300 ly508 ox91.08 oy99.61 oz171.24 h174.4.
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to South Ithilien, near Duindir: r3 lx1300 ly501 ox93.53 oy117.72 oz260.48 h203.9.
[UNLESS we're getting after battle version of South Ithilien, so then not needed)
ADD THE MISSING TRAVERSABLE PATHS
Or teleports for some of these, if too much work (I will take teleports, no problem!).
North Ithilien/Wastes, gently lower the slope here: r4 lx1338 ly828 ox55.09 oy86.80 oz240.27 h123.8.
Great way to have these areas feel more natural and connect a bit more than just through Aragorn's camp. It's almost perfectly connected here, it just needs a traversable slope!
Northern Wildermore: r2 lx802 ly935 ox49.78 oy144.69 oz577.50 h12.7.
to Great River, through this broken bridge/platform: r2 lx801 ly963 ox34.85 oy76.56 oz371.50 h182.8.
The platform doesn't need to be repaired because the other side is reachable, only the pathway needs to be opened. It looks like there is already a perfect traversable narrow pathway here between Wildermore/Great River, that was made with this connection in mind but never got opened up! Which makes sense, since both areas are parts of Rohan, and it makes perfect sense for there to be roads into Wildermore from Stangard. Just please please, let's open it all up! Or at least make a teleport between those two points, if there was something technically challenging that perhaps prevented this open-world connection in the past?
Northern Wildermore: r2 lx760 ly941 ox17.36 oy114.99 oz528.65 h57.7.
to Limlight Gorge next to Old Sawmill, requires a small bridge across the river but the height is right: r2 lx768 ly954 ox5.66 oy52.66 oz417.95 h170.2.
Based on the tarrain map, this one also looks like it's already a viable pathway that leads from Wildermore to Limlight, except it's artificially sealed off on the Wildermore side and yeah, it would need a bridge here:
Optionally, as the teleport, from the Limlight Glade: r2 lx745 ly948 ox33.79 oy86.01 oz494.52 h195.5.
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to somewhere deep in Northern Balewood? So there is a more visible continuity between this part of Great River that involves the ents, Balewood and Fangorn forests
From Wildermore to Fangorn: r2 lx768 ly861 ox18.18 oy104.80 oz459.91 h1.4.
Seems like there is enough space here to create a windy path and enable a functional road to Fangorn, the loc I provided I was actually able to reach just by jumping here and I jumped this way into Fangorn, which wasn't too far below. Would be cool to have an actual connection somewhere here that could be reached from both sides.
Optionally, from deep in Balewood to Fangorn with an exit somewhere here? : at r2 lx721 ly883 ox23.37 oy76.71 oz485.14 h4.2. (could be as a teleport)
Pretty please!~~
All of these would improve travel options across the world SIGNIFICANTLY! Would make it all feel less of a tunneling experience, if one wishes to traverse freely. For example, with most of these in the game, one could choose to continuously travel from Eriador to Rhovanion through Isengard and then take a turn through Fangorn, Balewood, parts of Wildermore and Limlight, so circumventing Rohan entirely, and then through Dwarven ruins into Moria or travel East into Lothlorien and beyond. So many new routes and directions possible!