Runekeeper Rumination: Volume 1

Rune-keepers are one of two new classes added with Mines of Moria. I thought it would be nice to play a bit as one and give you an idea of what to expect if you’ve not tried one out yet.

Starting out as a Rune-keeper is just like starting out as any other class. You begin in an introduction area, which you can skip as you like. As I’ve played this as a Dwarf a couple of times now, I skipped it and was handed the items you’d typically get for completing the introduction. I quickly equipped my new tarnished rune-stone. Rune-keepers use rune-stones as their main weapon type and each one is affiliated with a certain attack type. The tarnished rune-stone that I have right now does lightning damage.

As a Dwarf, my early life pretty much focuses on Thorin’s Hall. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary here, aside from the addition of Warden, Rune-keeper and Crafting Hall trainers. The local Town Crier told me about Moria and Eregion, but at this point those are just distant dreams.

Continue reading ‘Runekeeper Rumination: Volume 1′

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Random Screenshots: 11-19-2008

With Mines of Moria officially out, you were probably expecting a screenshot from one of the new areas. Sorry!

I actually spent my time playing in Forochel yesterday. My brother has a Guardian he’d really like to get caught up and he isn’t getting Mines of Moria until later today. I figured the least I could do is help him out. Plus, in the meantime, I get some rep points with the Lossoth.

You also have the bonus of a free rant!

Continue reading ‘Random Screenshots: 11-19-2008′

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New Mines of Moria Interviews

A few interviews with Turbine’s Jeffrey Steefel have made their way online.

The first is a short one conducted by Massively. It deals with his general feelings on how the expansion’s development has been going. To me, the biggest point of interest is that they’re already working on Volume 2, Book 7 with plans for it to hit sometime in the first quarter of next year.

The second is up at IncGamers, a site I’m not actually too familiar with. This interview deals with the new additions to the game, with questions about entering Moria, the new classes and the Legendary Items system. Steefel is asked about new Raid content, where he talks briefly about their new “Raids” that use a smaller number of players and don’t take 6 hours plus. He does mention, however, that they are working on two new large raids that will be available shortly after the expansion’s launch.

The third is actually part two of the last one. IncGamers and Steefel discuss Eregion, changes since the beta, launch dates, the lifecycle of LotRO, the development team, working with the Tolkien estate and more. It briefly gets into LotRO’s success, wherein Steefel claims the game is within the top few MMORPGs out there (which seems hard to prove from our end because Turbine isn’t very forthcoming with the numbers).

Their console work is also discussed, although no real details are given. It pretty much comes down to the typical “we’ll talk about it more when we’re ready”.

Anyway, it’s nice to hear a bit about their plans for the future of the game.. LotRO being a successful title certainly makes me happy as I don’t want it ending any time soon.

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Getting to Eregion and on to Moria

If you’re like me, you’re way behind on your Volume 1 Epic quests and, as such, Book 15 is unavailable to you.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t go on to new things if you wish. Despite some misinformation going around, Volume 2 is completely separate from Volume 1.  You can start on Volume 2 no matter where you are in Volume 1.

Obviously there’s benefits to completing the Epic quests in Volume 1 first, but that’s up to you. You’re likely to find quite a few players who want to catch up on Volume 1 with you, but just in case no one is available you don’t have to just sit around.

In order to proceed, you’ll need to head to Eregion. This area is the bridge to Moria and is pretty large in and of itself. I noticed a few people in-game unsure of where they should be going next, particularly people returning to the game after a long hiatus.

You may have noticed the two bits of text on your Trollshaws map saying “to Eregion”. Now these pathways actually lead somewhere, instead of simply turning into dead ends. One is in the Giant Valley and one is south of Echad Candelleth.

At level 50, neither path should give you any issues. However, the path south of Echad Candelleth leads directly to the first point of interest in Eregion, a town called Gwingris, where you can gather up several new quests.

If you choose to go the other way, you can just keep following the road. On the way, take out a worm and a Dunlending man as both drop items that start quests. As you head west you’ll eventually hit Gwingris and can be on your way.

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