Update 40 Release Notes

Here are the Release Notes for Update 40: Beneath the Surface, released on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.

Of Special Note

Season 10 of the Legendary Items Reward Track has arrived!

The latest Legendary Items Reward Track has arrived with new rewards! The 10th Legendary Items Reward Track begins at 10:00 AM Eastern (-4 GMT) on May 15th and runs until 10:00 AM Eastern (-4 GMT) on August 14th. Make sure to claim your rewards before the 11th Reward Track begins!

Welcome to Umbar-môkh, the Neaths, beneath Umbar Baharbêl, the City of the Corsairs!

It is a new dawn for Umbar. At the request of Hármelak, the Golden Queen, the Kindred of the Coins has reopened the great meeting-hall of Dâr Laja so they can better hear the voices of their people. And yet, beneath the city in Umbar-môkh, there are some who feel threatened by this new order, working in the darkness until their plans bear fruit. 

Speak to Jaith outside the Meeting-hall of Dâr Laja in the Upper Ward of the City of Umbar to begin Chapter 9 of "The Song of Waves and Wind", a new on-ramp for the story! We recommend you complete chapters 1 through 8 of "The Song of Waves and Wind", but it is not required to begin Chapter 9.
There are also new side quests in each of the five sections of Umbar-môkh. Each side quest chain is started by a member of the Kindred of the Coins inside of Dâr Laja.

  • Tâkhdar; the Cellars, where shady business deals and black market sales take place.
  • Ilmabiri; the Wells, where the sewers beneath the city are filled with a variety of dangers.
  • Kamrabezûr; the Vaults, where it is rumored that escaped gladiators dwell.
  • Khabârkhad; the Crypts, where the ancestors of Umbar's past rest - or do they?
  • Dil-irmíz ; the Berths, a flooded area that is deemed so dangerous that adventurers are discouraged from travelling there alone.

This new Quest Pack “Beneath the Surface” is FREE to VIPs and available in the LOTRO Store! Includes all content in Umbar-môkh plus full access to 'The Song of Waves and Wind' storyline. Players do not need ownership of the expansion “Corsairs of Umbar” in order to play “Beneath the Surface” content. Players who do not own “Corsairs of Umbar” can travel to Umbar Barharbel by speaking to a harbour town Dock-master in King's Gondor.  These quests are for players at level 150.

This summer, the machinations of the Kindred of the Coins continue!

Beginning on May 22nd, 2024 and unlocking every week for two months, new quests in the Tales of the Kindred series will take place in the city of Umbar Baharbêl and the passages of Umbar-môkh beneath the surface. New quests will become available from a member of the Kindred every Wednesday at 10:00 AM Eastern (-4 GMT), beginning with Khôltekh the Cunning on his dais in Dâr Laja, the Meeting-hall of Umbar in the Upper Ward.

It is recommended, but not required, that you have played Chapters 1-9 of 'The Song of Waves and Wind' before playing this new quest series. Entitlement to the "Beneath the Surface" Quest Pack is required for access. This quest pack is included with your VIP subscription.

News and Notes

Classes and Skills

  • Beorning
    • Wrathful was incorrectly increasing Beorning crit chance by 4% starting at 1 Wrath rather than 21 Wrath. It now correctly increases your Critical Chance by 4% every 20 wrath, starting at 21 wrath and maxing out at 81 Wrath. The Wrathful trait tooltip has also been updated so that it correctly reflects this effect.
    • Ferocious Roar now interacts correctly with Trample, Nature's Wrath, Rush, Sacrifice, Vicious Claws, and Hearten.
  • Captain
    • The Lend Courage tooltip now displays the correct value for Morale restored.
    • The Lend Resolve tooltip now displays the correct values for Morale and Power restored.
    • The Oathbreaker's Shame tooltip now has a disclaimer that its effect will not stack with other potent Incoming Damage debuffs.
    • Captains could end up in a temporary state where Rallying Cry and Rousing Cry were both disabled after using Time of Need and subsequently defeating a monster, This has been fixed so that Defeat Events from kills correctly refresh the 15 second duration even when following the use of Time of Need.
  • Champion
    • The tooltip of the Umbari Armour of a Thousand Blades now clearly states that it only changes the effect applied by Great Cleave.
  • Guardian
    • Bastion of Light, when modified with both Radiate and Flash of Light, failed to spread debuffs applied by the guardian. This has been fixed.
    • We fixed a string error that was reintroduced to the Protection by the sword skill.
    • Shield-swipe now correctly reduces the cooldown of Pledge while wearing the Umbari Armour of the Protector.
    • The Umbari Armour of the Protector's bonus to Max Morale should no longer reset momentarily when you would have earned a new tier of Fortifications while already sitting at the max Fortifications tier.
  • Lore-master
    • Shield of the Raven's Wing buff reduced to 1/5 its current value. The Mitigation Rating from this buff was erroneously increased too much when it was fixed recently so that it scales with player level correctly. It now scales correctly and has the intended potency.
    • The Ancient Craft Duration Legacy no longer increases Ancient Craft's duration by 1 second longer than its tooltip suggests.
    • The Murder of Crows tooltip now has a disclaimer that its effect will not stack with other potent Incoming Damage debuffs.
    • The Trait 'Ancient Craft' now clarifies that it gives Ancient Craft bonus damage for your next Lightning Storm or Lightning Strike, but does not apply bonus damage for any Lightning Skills other than those two.
    • The skill tooltip for Deep Lore now refers to the fact that affected enemies may summon tentacles which will heal you and your allies.
  • Mariner
    • The trait 'Relaxing Wind' now displays the correct information on rank 1 of its tooltip.
    • The trait 'Keen Sight' now clarifies that it improves only your Melee Damage.
    • The trait 'Rare Ingredients' now displays the correct number of additional Diseases cleansed per tier.
    • The trait 'Test Defences' now more clearly states how many times its effect may tier up per trait rank.
    • The skill 'Rummage: Scrap of Music' now gains the bonus healing from the trait 'Enheartening Songs.'
  • Rune-keeper
    • The tracery 'Self-motivation Cooldown & Power Restore' now correctly improves Self-motivations Power Restore by 10% (it was only improving it by 5% prior to this).
    • Combustion now benefits from Master of Connotation
    • Armour of the Graven Word now correctly increases Ceaseless Argument damage, and no longer suggests that it lowers Ceaseless Argument's Power cost.

Combat and Monsters

  • Monster Power Use: Monsters with skill power costs were using significantly too much power per skill play. These power costs have been adjusted to a more appropriate scale.

Crafting

  • The Umbari Crafting Daily quests were not bestowing properly for characters that had left and then rejoined a Profession. This has been fixed.
  • The description for the word 'Luck-stone Socket' has had a typo fixed.
  • Umbari Guild Earrings of Bright Sea Star as well as its recipe have had their names fixed.
  • When you leave a profession in which you have achieved access to the Umbar guild you will now only need to level that profession back to Tier 15 to regain access to the Umbar Dailies.
  • Eastemnet Oaken Mariner's Flute no longer has an extraneous, duplicate recipe output.

Quests, Deeds, and Adventure Areas

  • Five new level 143 quests have been added to Lond Cirion. They can be obtained from Lindil, near the entrance in upper Lond Cirion as well as others within the city.
  • 'Forged Anew' no longer requires you to reforge your Legendary Item to progress. Players who reforged their Legendary Weapon too early or have an old LI are no longer blocked from completing this quest. This fix required the quest to be versioned, so if you had it underway you'll want to pick up the quest again from Dithalion at the Forges of Rivendell.
  • Forester Event
    • Carry Caber slow now properly allows players to carry the caber at a walking pace.
    • Beornings can now use Carry Caber - Fast and Carry Caber - Slow while not in bear form.
    • Beornings can now use the logger emote. This only functions while not in Bear form.
    • There is now a message letting players know that there are two minutes before the forester event begins.
    • Forester event now appropriately states the Combe Lumber Camp.
    • You should no longer drop the caber before passing through the final gate in the forester event. Unless, of course, you run out of time.
  • The Posted Notice involved with the quest 'The Isles: The Knight Nauriel' should now display properly on the outskirts of Mar Naphra.
  • Fixed some assorted typos in Umbar quests involving specific crew members.
  • U40: Updated the name of the competitive forester trait 4 accomplishment to Competitive Forester IV.
  • U40: The objective counter should no longer exceed the number needed in Continuous Supply.
  • "Continuous Supply" and "Burgeoning Business": The counter for tracking crab meat, shells, and claws continued to advance beyond the requirement. This has been fixed.
  • King's Gondor West -- Added a sound effect for ringing the bell in 'Stalking to Gaerland'.
  • Completing the Cryptic Note quest will now correctly prevent the Cryptic Note from appearing for you again on the Cape of Umbar.
  • Revised some text to make it more clear what you need to do to complete two of the Volume II Epilogues (specifying that you need to complete 'The Paths of Caras Galadhon' quest).
  • Adjusted the Orders From Magith for 'The Valley of Ghosts' so they won't go into Pending Loot where it's easy to overlook them.
  • Circle of Wrath - Gothmog's Captain was spawning in the wall, but now he won't and can be successfully attacked.
  • Grami and Belg will no longer fall through the floor at Maergrind, the Noble Gate.
  • Expanded the Quest Guide area for 'Surely Almost There' in Evendim.
  • Fixed a typo in the Hytbold quest 'The West Gate: Defenders'
  • Removed some of the skills that Arifael didn't have corresponding animations for in "The Further Adventures of Bilbo Baggins, Chapter 3".
  • Adjusted the animations for the boss in "Trouble At The High Crag" so they will display properly.
  • Reduced the chance that "Mission: Trouble At The High Crag" might become stuck after defeating the boss.
  • Adjusted the timing for when the boss spawns during the instance "Honour and Treachery".
  • The honey pot will now display properly during "The Stinging Harvest."
  • Now the Dourhand allies of Arnmorth the Exacting in the Icereave Mines will attack you no matter your level.
  • Adjusted "Instance: Whispers of the Forge" to clarify what you're supposed to be doing to progress.
  • If you're defeated at the Rusted Gate during the Stout-axe introductory experience, you will no longer be stuck in a blackout.
  • The Elderslade quest "Letter From Léothred" now requires the "Introduction: Elderslade" quest to be at least underway before bestowing. 
  • Fixed an issue where Léothred did not appear in the "Letter From Léothred" quest.
  • Pages 1 and 5 for Lost Lore of Gorgoroth: Naerband Prison are now easier to pick up inside "The Dungeons of Naerband",
  • The daily quest "Claws for Excitement" now has updated directions in the quest comments.
  • A typo in "A Price to be Paid" has been corrected.

Instances and Skirmishes

  • Thaurisgar, the Vile Apothecary: Players can no longer be knocked out of the instance by the Thaurisgar Troll Knockback attack.
  • The Depths of Mâkhda Khorbo
    • Belondor's Exultation of Battle potency increased.
    • The likelihood of two crushing tentacles spawning during the "Head-up" phase of the Boss 3 fight in the Raid is reduced on tiers 1-3.
    • The time that it takes for the next boat to be crushed has been increased to 30 seconds to allow players more time to recover and deal damage to the kraken's head in the final boss fight of the Mâkhda Khorbo,
    • Small adjustments have been made to the timers on adds that arrive when boats are destroyed or tentacles take too long to kill.
    • Active tentacles wrapping boats in the final boss encounter of Mâkhda Khorbo are now disabled when the kraken submerges so the head cannot be struck when it is underwater.
    • Dulgakhó's Hungering Flame can no longer be a scion.
    • Belondor's chest no longer gives a greater chance at earning his shield, Varnëvëa, from soft-lock chest pulls. The soft-lock chance now matches the chance of receiving the shield from the favoured chest pull.
    • Corrected the tooltip descriptions on B1 Jadazin's 'Focused Enemy' effects.
    • In the final encounter with Umshûra on tiers 1-4, Greater Crushing Tentacles were errantly appearing 30 seconds after an emergence phase. We fixed this issue and additional Crushing Tentacles only appear after a boat is destroyed, or when Umshûra returns from being submerged.
    • The final boss should no longer reset if you leave the room completely and then return to the room after defeating Umshûra.
    • The skill reset at the outset of Umshûra should no longer reset each time you step outside of the battle arena.
    • Crushing tentacles on tier 5 should now always spawn 2 at a time.
    • The billboard for the Foetid wave in the fight against Umshûra is now replicated to the chat field.
    • Billboards for tentacles crushing boats will cease when there are no more boats to crush.
    • Corsair adds in tiers 4 and 5 are now more consistent in their appearance after failing to eliminate the slapping tentacles quickly enough.
    • Shadow Tendrils deal more damage when they are killed.
    • Fire Arrow now correctly deals much more damage on Tiers 4 and 5.
    • Players can no longer interrupt Vile Scream or Deep Scream with Fellowship Manoeuvres.
    • Umshûra's Ancient Hide now reduces Incoming Damage by 130%.
    • Lesser Crushing Tentacles now die after 45 seconds rather than despawning directly. This prevents players from becoming stuck in the 'grabbed' state if they were incapacitated by a tentacle that despawned.
    • Players are no longer required to have the Mâkhda Khorbo - Tier 4 deed completed in order to barter Menacing Tentacles for equipment.
  • The Streets of Râhal Bakh
    • Entombed in Ichor now has a 5 second immunity grace period after it expires or is removed. This should prevent you from immediately being re-Ichor'd when you are freed while still standing in or adjacent to an Ichor puddle.
    • Hounding Fear's tooltip no longer has incorrect, extraneous descriptive text.
    • Rothog may no longer use Heavy Stone, Leaded Stone, or Get Over Here on player pets. (Get Over Here will still affect pets, but they will not be considered when Rothog is evaluating targets to decide whether or not to use this skill)
    • Ulanor should now correctly use Word of Flame more slowly.

Missions and Delvings

  • New Mission: Securing Salvage - Malthak, in Umbar Baharbêl's Bloody Eagle Tavern, has a new Mission available for players levels 20-150. Delvings are also available for this mission.
  • The Ritual Obelisk in 'Mission: The Bloody Ritual' should now behave properly.

Housing and Decorations

  • "The 'Doorbell' housing item has had it's name changed to 'Hanging Bell'"

Items and Rewards

  • Captain trainers will now allow you to barter mithril coins for hobbit herald appearances.
  • Lore-master trainers will now allow you to barter mithril coins for a small bog-lurker appearance.
  • The minimum level to use Umbari Greater Athelas Essence has been corrected to level 150.
  • Fixed an issue where Petrified Essences displayed an incorrect maximum socket level.
  • Legendary Items now indicate if they are ready to be reforged in the examination tooltip.

Localization

  • German voice over audio has been added for Rothog and other areas of Corsairs of Umbar where it was missing.
  • The layout of the Class Traits screen has been adjusted to correct an issue where the German description of the Loremaster traits would be cut off at the bottom of the screen.

PvMP

  • Errant terrain texture issue in the Ettenmoors has been resolved.

Landscape

  • New Travel Destinations have been added in and around Umbar Barharbel: Swain's Guild-hall, The Bloody Eagle Tavern, the Gate of Sorrow and the Fleet-gate, Aradâr Hunter's Expedition Camp (plus a milestone at the camp)
  • The landmark for the Fleet-watch Tavern in the Fleet-fast of Umbar Baharbêl has been moved to its correct location.
  • Great River - Parth Celebrant and Atburg now have ambient sound effects.
  • Misc floating objects have been grounded
  • Misc z-fighting have been resolved
  • Misc Physics/Stuck Spot issues have been resolved

Miscellaneous

  • Players may now apply custom names to their Carry-alls. These names will not appear when stored in the Vault.
  • The Virtue Tier has been increased from 90 to 92.
  • Store: Open store sessions will now be terminated at character logout to prevent confusion about what character purchases are delivered to
  • Bill Rosewood and Bert Goldenleaf, Stable-masters in Bree-town, now have consistent appearances.
  • Removed deprecated Legendary categories from the Auction House.
  • Fixed a bug that caused female avatar ears to always display flattened against the head as if wearing a helmet.