Lord of the Rings Online

The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria

Mines of Moria is the first expansion pack for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online.

Mines of Moria is due for release on November 18, 2008.

The major updates provided in Mines of Moria are summarized as follows:

  • Three new regions will be added to the game: Moria, Eregion and Lórien.
  • The level cap will be raised to 60.
  • Two new classes will be added: Rune-keeper and Warden.
  • Six more books (comprising Volume II) will be added to the storyline.

New Classes

The two new player classes added by The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria are Wardens and Runekeepers.

Wardens

The Warden is a protector class that will rely heavily on its special abilities. Wardens will use a new "Gambit" system to set a list of abilities or attacks to use in sequence. Certain sequences of moves will result in a final special attack.

Wardens will essentially be damage dealers, but will rely on spike damage from special abilities rather than a set amount of damage per second.

Rune-keepers

Rune-keepers will deal damage and offer healing and buffs through magic-like use of runes. They will yield elemental rune-stones and harness the energy from the writings on them. The Rune-keeper's strengths will be presented on a sliding bar, with damage on one end, and healing on the other. Through the use of one type of abilities, your strengths in that area become stronger and new abilities become available.

Therefore, Rune-keepers will be strongest when they choose either an attack or support stance, and in group events they may be best off sticking with one role in each battle. For this reason, Rune-keepers may be an ideal job to make up for any gaps in a group.

Legendary Items

In the way that weapons from The Lord of the Rings books are closely associated with their owners, Mines of Moria will introduce a way for players to create weapons that are uniquely theirs. The Legendary Item Advancement System will see Forge and Relic Master NPCs added to the game to aid in the customization and development of player weapons.

Players will then be able to forge (and later re-forge) their weapons with custom attributes. The weapons themselves will gain experience and levels as characters do, and will become stronger as they are used. Rare items dropped from raids can also be added to legendary items.