Update 22: Legacy of the Necromancer Release Notes

Here are the Release Notes for Update 22, released on Tuesday, March 6th

Of Special Note

The Black Book of Mordor Continues!

Chapters 5 and 6 of the Black Book of Mordor are now available! As the Golden Host moves toward Dol Guldur, others come that way too, in search of things lost and forgotten. Players who have purchased the Mordor expansion automatically have access to this new Black Book of Mordor content. Players who have completed Chapter 4.4, "Union of Evil", can speak to Mithrandir in the wreckage of the Black Gate to begin Chapter 5 of the Black Book of Mordor.

Strongholds of the North

Visit the Strongholds of the North! Encounter the Elvenking Thranduil, discover what is causing trouble in Dale and Lake-town in the Dale-lands, and help the renewed dwarven kingdom of Erebor. Accomplish unique goals with new deeds, and defend yourself against the scourges of these three kingdoms. This update includes over 125 new quests and deeds, which can be accessed by travelling to any hub in the Strongholds of the North. Access this content in the new Legacy of the Necromancer adventure pack, available in the LOTRO Store and FREE for VIPs!

Eryn Lasgalen

The name Mirkwood is no longer. The Wood-elves are reclaiming their forest with the name Wood of Greenleaves, but all is not cleansed yet. Trouble lurks in corners, and mysteries confound the Elves. Where have the spiders gone? Who would steal from the Raft-elves goods? What else has long dwelled, unseen, within the woods?

The Dale-lands

Nearly eighty years have passed since a company of Dwarves, a Wizard, and a very short burglar woke a dragon and Lake-town was set aflame. A new Lake-town has been built, Dale has been re-settled, and the Kingdom under the mountain thrives, but change has not lessened its pace. Mere days have passed since Jangovar Easterlings were repelled from Dale. However, new Easterlings have arrived from far Rhûn, dressed in rags, and telling tales of sorrow.

New Episodic Content

The Lay of Rust and Rime is a series of Strongholds in the North end game episodic quests that will become available on Wednesdays starting March 14th!

News and Notes:

Classes

• Dwarven avatars have been updated. Players can continue to keep their existing look for themselves using an option on the character select screen if they prefer.
• Humans and elves now have more facial avatar choices. These new looks are available in the character select screen.
• The Minstrel Call to Ioreth animation has been adjusted and polished. The Minstrel skill "Call to Ioreth" should no longer significantly delay the next queued skill. The Minstrel Skill "Call to Ioreth" animation now blends while moving.
• Minstrel - The Coda of Melody animation was adjusted to smooth it out.
• Captain - You can now purchase a Receipts for Armament Exchange for silver from any captain trainer. You no longer need to trade in a crafted armament. This receipt can be used to barter for the Herald skill appearance of your choice from the captain trainer.

Client & UI

• The Character selection and Character generation screens have received a UI update.
• The Character select backgrounds for Men, Elves, Hobbits, and Dwarves have been updated.

Crafting

• Crafting - New crafting resources are available throughout Lasgalen, Dale, and Erebor. They all provide tier 11 (Doomfold) materials. The new region ore and scholar nodes will drop the same Doomfold materials as were found in Mordor. The new region lumber nodes will drop new Lasgalen logs that can be processed into Doomfold boards.
• The crafting Quartermaster in the Strongholds of the North has new Helm, Necklace, Pocket, and Essence recipes available.
• Doomfold Fiddle woodworker recipes are now available from the Conquest of Gorgoroth Crafting Quartermaster.

Featured Instances

• You can now receive a Blemished Symbol of the Elder King from any Featured Instance Box of Spoils.
• The Featured Instances available with Update 22 are The Bells of Dale, Sari Surma, Ost Elendil, Webs of the Scuttledells, The Northcotton Farm, and Ost Dunhoth - Wound and Fear Wing.

Items & Equipment

• "Ashes of Gorgoroth" have been renamed "Ashes of Enchantment".
• Chests in level 106-114 scaling Instances now reward items when opened.
• Featured Instance boxes will now drop tier 11 crafting materials instead of Long-lost Coins.
• Númenóreans, Uruks, and Spiders in the Gorgoroth resource instances now have a chance to drop coin. This is in addition to their chance to drop equipment.
• Various housing decorations will now respect house owner decoration usage permissions: The various Bingo housing guards, the treacherous hole, the snowball field, the fell goat housing guard, and the High Elf visitor.
• The item level 326 rings originally acquired from the High-enchanter have been renamed to "Enchanter's Turca", "Enchanter's Linta", and "Enchanter's Iswa" to differentiate them from the rings of the same name acquired from a Gorgoroth Steel-bound Lootbox.
• If you take some time in the Strongholds of the North to enjoy fishing, you will find that there are new species of fish in this land.
• The Helmet of the Armoury should once again display on your character's head instead of above your shoulder.
• Drop rates for Fragments of the Abyss in T2 have increased, and no longer compete with other gear drops.
• Abyss of Mordath: Fragment of the Abyss crafting components now have a small chance to drop off of the first and third bosses in T1.
• Virtue Tomes will no longer auto-consume if the result would push you over the current virtue cap of 20.
• The Heavy Nadhin Jacket's look on high elf females has been fixed.
• The minimum required level for several musical instruments has been reduced to increase access to the /music system:
  
  • Manuals of the clarinet, drums, flute, harp, and horn can now be used at level 10 (reduced from level 30)
  • Basic Bagpipe now has a minimum level of 15 (reduced from level 25)
  • Manual of the Theorbo can now be used at level 15 (reduced from level 30)
  • Moor Cowbell now has a minimum level of 20 (reduced from level 40)
  • Basic Pibgorn now has a minimum level of 25 (reduced from level 65)

LOTRO Store

• The LOTRO Store now allows up to 100 Epic Battles Promotion Points to be obtained via Promotion Points +10.
• Lower tier crafting recipes will now be visible for Doomfold crafters in the LOTRO Store.

Legendary Items

• You can now deconstruct all unlocked Legendary Items at a Relic-master by pressing the Deconstruct All button.
• When applying XP Runes that are part of a stack to a Legendary Item, you can now designate how much of the stack to apply to the LI. The system will not consume more than is needed to reach cap.
• Relic-masters will now refine a complete stack of relics if you click the Refine Stack button.
• To destroy an imbued legendary item, you must now confirm by entering the name of your item.
• You can no longer imbue Legendary Items while mounted.
• You can now unlock multiple imbued legacy tiers at once using Mithril.
• Forge-masters can now identify all unidentified Legendary Items in your inventory at once.
• Relic-masters can now now auto combine relics in groups of 10 or 50.

PvMP

• The player character exit from Delving of Fror in the Ettenmoors can now be used by High Elf characters.

Skills & Traits

• All races now have a passive skill Fiddle Use Instrument Proficiency at level 5.
• There is now a 30 second cooldown after switching to saved class trait configuration before you can swap again. This change addresses server performance issues caused by too-frequent Trait swapping.
• The "Smell the Roses" effect cannot be applied whilst mounted. You must dismount, apply the effect, then re-mount for it to work.
• Fixed an issue that required relogging to see Passive Traits properly applied

Quests and Adventure Areas

• Various areas in Southern Mirkwood have been updated with new trees, frills, rocks, and textures. An Orc camp in the Mirk-eaves was also modified.
• Swift travel for silver between Thangulhad and Tham Taerdol in Northern Mirkwood only requires discovery, and does not require a current or previous subscription status.
• Waterfall basins in the Dwarf Allegiance Hall should now have water that splashes.
• A Reflecting Pool can be found in Felegoth, and it contains many of the instances from 'Strongholds of the North' for you to replay.
• Galadriel no longer poses incorrectly when viewed from a distance in Lothlorien.
• Something secret will become available on March 21st. Good luck!
• The city of Dale's Jolly Bell tavern stage is now available for stand-up humour and singer-songwriter evenings. There is no cover charge.
• The cosmetic shield "Fingar's Lost Scale" has a chance to drop when defeating Fingar on Challenge difficulty in the Abyss of Mordath raid.

Races

• Male Beornings sit a bit higher in the water while treading.

Tasks

• Tasks from Rohan through the level cap now require turn-in at a "65-Cap" Collection Box. These Collection Boxes can be found in housing areas and at all Tasks boards from Rohan through current level cap content. Tasks up through level 65 can be turned in at their respective Collection Boxes.

UI

• The Quest Filter icons have been reduced in size and repositioned in the Quest Bestow and Quest Log panels.

Miscellaneous

• Playable Fiddle instruments have been added to the game. All races now have a passive skill Fiddle Use Instrument Proficiency granted at level 5. The Student's Fiddle is purchasable from a Bard, while the other fiddles will be appearing in festivals soon.
• Tasks from Rohan through cap content now require turn-in at a "65-cap" Collection Box. These collection boxes can be found in housing areas and at all tasks boards from Rohan through current cap content.
• Ettenmoors: The player character exit from the Delving of Fror can now be used by High Elf characters.
• Many typos throughout the game have been corrected.

Known Issues:

• Instruments are invisible on the Minstrel when using the Coda of Melody skill.
• The Cosmetic Armour Slayer's Raiment Helm and Boots do not change color, but do accept dye.
• The Northern Mirkwood map does not accurately display your avatar's location.