Welcome to our first open preview of Update 21: Mordor. These notes are for Bullroarer, released on Friday, June 23rd.
Both the notes and the update are a work in progress, so you should expect things will change over time.
The Bullroarer database was wiped at the end of April in preparation for U21 open beta. Please feel free to copy your live character to Bullroarer using the LIVE transfer wizard.
- We do not currently have a Bullroarer client available for Windows XP / Vista users. We hope to have one for the next preview weekend.
- The High Elf race will remain locked for this first open beta weekend.
- New Epic Volume 4 Book 9 will not be available during the U21 open beta.
- New Black Book of Mordor story will not be available during this first open beta, but will be available in a limited fashion on future Bullroarer preview weekends.
- The Allegiance system panel is available (Reputation - Allegiances), but the items that allow you to progress your allegiance are for the most part not yet available in the game.
- Most higher level and endgame quest content is not yet available.
- Deeper levels of shadow have not yet been placed in most of Gorgoroth.
- The Human Male body type/size slider is currently disabled while we work on avatar improvements. The avatar updates are not yet visible on Bullroarer.
- There is currently a bug where some Beorning male faces are being duplicated and superimposed.
We would love your feedback on Mordor and would particularly appreciate any comments or bug reports you may have about
:
- The level cap increase: including the speed of levelling, the combat power change across levels, and the difficulty of level 106 - 115 mobs in Mordor (please visit Vastin in the Eyes & Guard tavern to pick up gear for your level).
- The new Doomfold crafting tier (you can pick up resources and some recipes in the Eyes & Guard Crafting Hall).
- The new barber shop UI with expanded options.
- The Ash of Gorgoroth gear recycling system (please keep in mind that ash values for recycling and for bartering are placeholder).
- The entrance to Mordor: Including the appearance of the Black Gate and Udun area and the quest flow through the area.
For preview purposes, the quest gating for the level 115 crafting resource instances has been removed. There are 5 new resource instances for solo players (you can also go in with 2 players): 2 wood (Bhol Rûdh & Kála-murg), 2 scholar (Barad-dûr & Durthang), 1 ore (The Burning Mountain). To get into the resource instances, go speak to Candur in the Udun Foothold.
For preview purposes, a special quest gating the visible destruction of the Black Gate has been created by MadeofLions. Go to the Battle of Morannon version of the Wastes (via teleport horse from the Slag-hills) and speak to test-server-only Boromir who will give you a bypass quest. Once you return to the regular version of the Wastes, the gate will appear destroyed.
Release Notes:
Explore Mordor
Explore Gorgoroth, including:
- Udun, 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 Urui, 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! Currently you can access the system, but the items required to advance progress in an allegiance are not yet available in game.
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.
Classes
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.
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.
Emotes
- The Smoking animation will no longer hitch when starting, and the character will immediately move when breaking out of the emote.
Items
- Landscape treasure containers can be found throughout Gorgoroth, and can be found in both common and uncommon versions.
- Item levels in Mordor now range up into the 300s.
- Ash of Gorgoroth system: 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.
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.
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.
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: Particle Rendering, Weather Effects, and Static Immobile Objects.
- Particle Rendering allows the player to choose which particle effects to render. The options are None, Me, Me + Targets, Targets, and All.
- Weather Effects will disable precipitation effects, such as rain and snow.
- Static Immobile 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 should reduce the risk of settings being unexpectedly lost.
Miscellaneous
- Fixed a floating chest in East Rohan.