There are very few constants in the gaming world, but LOTRO expansions and in-game tours are just about the closest things you'll get! Join us this time as we check out Book 9: Siege of Mirkwood and watch Middl

There are very few development teams in the MMO world that can boast of being able to release new content on a consistent basis, but it seems as though Turbine and their Lord of the Rings team has gotten that down pat, as December 1st will see the launch of their next digital expansion: The Siege of Mirkwood. The Siege of Mirkwood is also quite special for LOTRO fans, as this will act as the conclusion to Volume II: Mines of Moria, thereby suggesting that we may see a new expansion coming in the not so distant future.

Either way, just as constant as the dev team is with their content updates, their PR guys work equally hard, making sure that with every coming book release also comes… an in-game tour! So today, Turbine invited ZAM.com to sit down with Adam Mersky, Director of Communications, and Aaron Campbell, LOTRO's Live Producer, to check out what makes Book9: Siege of Mirkwood one of the most action-packed expansions to come along in quite some time.

First of all, for anyone who hasn't been following Turbine's consistent flow of content updates, The Siege of Mirkwood follows players as they join the Army of Lothlorien to invade Mirkwood and drive the baddies out, as well as swinging by Dol Guldur (the Hill of Sorcery) to convince one of Sauron's Nazguls to vacate the premises (eviction notices were sent and ignored, I suspect). What's really interesting about this new Siege of Mirkwood expansion, however, is that players will really get the feeling that all of Middle Earth is going to war. Players will be joining Lothlorien's "A" team, their strike force, so to speak, to lead the Elvish armies to victory.

One very welcome change (at least for me) that became noticeable as soon as the tour began was  that Turbine has really streamlined their combat system. Now players will find that their skills will be more responsive, as each time you use an ability, it will be used immediately while your auto attack damage will be relegated to the background. In this way, players may discover that combat has definitely become smoother with the launch of Siege of Mirkwood.

In terms of other game play upgrades, the team also notes that legendary items will be buffed to level 60, and items will be reworked to give more information up front, so players can determine if it's worth keeping from early on. As well, mounts have been transformed into learnable "abilities," to free up a bank slot. Finally, the team noted that a fourth relic slot has been added for players; a crafting relic slot!

Getting back to the tour, as the team brought us further and further into the depths of Mirkwood (towards Dol Guldur), it was really cool to see how the landscape became more and more barren as we moved through it. Starting from the gorgeous banks of Lothlorien, players will immediately see how the forest withers and dies as they move further away. Thematically speaking, the team noted that the Siege of Mirkwood is really about challenge, loss and the dangers of overreaching. This goes back into the overarching theme of Moria, relating to the penalties of greed and what reaching too far can do to you (and has done to the Dwarves!). This is really about Middle Earth going to war, and players will definitely feel this as they journey through Mirkwood and experience the new skirmish system.

With the skirmish system, players can instantly revisit older locations to defend their homelands from invading forces. For example, we decided to take up the defence of Bree skirmish, and we were instantly transported to defend the idyllic town of Bree from invading raiders and demonic beings. What was great about the skirmish system was that the encounters were entirely random, and there are many random 'mini-objectives' that can be completed within the skirmish to gain more rewards. This makes skirmishes a fantastic choice for players 'on the go' who want to experience something new each time they just want to smash some monster's face in. Skirmishes can be engaged by a single player, a three-person team, a six-person team and even a 12-player raid.

Another welcome addition to skirmishes is the new ally NPCs that can be summoned by players as they enter the skirmishes. Each player will be able to get a single NPC to aid them in combat, and these NPCs can be upgraded in a wide variety of ways, to meet the individual players' needs. While I only got to see the herbalist NPC (a healer ally) and the archer NPC, there are a fair number of other archetypical NPCs that can be brought along, and each of these NPCs can be customized even more. The whole concept behind the skirmishes was to really hammer in the point that Middle Earth was at war, and I can only imagine just how awesome it would be to have a six-person team transformed into a 12-player army as each player summons his or her respective NPC. It really will feel like your own personal army!

What also comes with this skirmish system is their new reward system, which goes under the concept of skirmish marks. As they complete any of these skirmishes, players will be rewarded with a set amount of marks, depending on what objectives they meet, and these marks can then be used to purchase items and equipment from a huge array of choices. In addition to purchasing equipment, players can also buy abilities and upgrades for their NPC buddies, to help them as they fight more skirmishes. You can engage in these skirmishes from pretty much anywhere in the game, and these can be accessed as early as level 30.

Finally, no content update would really be complete without a nice addition of new classic dungeon crawling content, and Siege of Mirkwood comes replete with three 3-person instances, one 6-person instance and one 12-person raid. While we didn't have the time to check out the new raid, many of the new instances were incredibly impressive in their scope and décor. We checked out the Sword-halls, a gladiator style instance where we faced off against three very difficult bosses, one at a time (and there's a challenge option to fight all three at the same time!), as well as exploring one of the towers of Dol Guldur. It's quite easy to see how much the team learned about high spaces and expansive landscapes, as Dol Guldur really shows this off as players battle along castle ramparts and peer out across the landscape.

Ultimately, Siege of Mirkwood is one of Turbine's most action-packed expansions so far, as they really do a great job of stressing the concept of Middle Earth going to War while also opening up even more content for players to explore. With the entertaining prospect of skirmishes and the freedom to explore the daunting dungeons of Dol Guldur, it's hard not to take up arms and join the Lothlorien army as they smash their way through Mirkwood.

Christopher "Pwyff" Tom
Editor
ZAM.com