This was an email we received from one of Merric and my kinmates, Rufidoc of Landroval. He asked if it was ok to send submissions like this in for CSTM and I thought that there would certainly be folks out there who would love to read his poem!
A couple of nights ago, members of the Council of the Secret Fire assaulted the black walls of Carn Dum, This is their tale…
The night was dark and cold and grim,
In black Iron-home; the land of sin.
To hunt, to slay the Angarim,
Six kin went in, six kin went in.
For those who are not yet familiar with LOTR:WITN, it is a co-operative play "slice and dice" action game from Snowblind Studios. I have been keeping an eye on its development and have written two previous postings which are completely unbiased and devoid of any preconceptions. You can read them here.
A new developer video diary is currently showcasing some of the "exotic" locations in Eriador that Snowblind have been developing for the game. They take great pride in highlighting the huge steel sanctuary of Carn Dum, home of the Witch King. Let us take a moment to ponder this "achievement. Firstly it obviously did not deter Snowblind that in TA 1975 Angmar itself fell under an assault by the Dúnedain of Gondor, the survivors of Arnor, and Elves of Lindon. Subsequently Carn Dûm was utterly destroyed. But why be troubled by such inconsequentialities as facts and adhere to the lore?
How would you rank the lvl-50 dungeons on a scale of 1-10 according to difficulty? I have an alt nearing 50 who may have a good group to run dungeons with, unlike my first two toons I took past 50.
Angmar back in it’s hay day used to be the place where dungeon-crawling raiding end-gamers would spend most of their time during the “good old days” of Shadows of Angmar. This region offered many ways to spend your time running through quest, dungeons/raids, hunting for ore, wood, and beryl shards. This look at the Angmar Hub will consist of a brief overview of the dungeons and raids available to any would be adventure seeker.
Tipped off by my kinnie Havborn, I have come across an exclusive album of Siege of Mirkwood screenshots at The Madhouse Tavern (a European LotRO fansite). I strongly recommend heading over to the site to peruse the pictures yourself as they reveal a lot of small but relevant tidbits relating to the Mirkwood region and skirmishes! Some of the most relevant information includes:
Hunters and Wardens will be able to port/muster to Mirkeaves if they gain acquaintance reputation with the Malladhrim.
Recently I had the opportunity to traverse into one of my favorite old Shadows of Angmar stomping grounds. Carn Dum. A few of my kin mates and two friends still needed a few items to complete their level 45 class quests. I for one have always enjoyed strolling through Carn Dum (CD). The entire instance was very well designed and implemented. Pivotal boss fights and of course the hornblowers.
Lately I began feeling very nostalgic about the old Angmar instances, CD and Urugarth. Barad Gularan was fun as well, though I have only run it once, but I was fortunate enough to down the "Onion" on that run. I really do not know BG that well, and it's hard to get a group together to learn. I will work on that. Thinking back on how the "end game" instances were run in the past, I reflect that, with how they are now and see a few major differences.
Recently I had the opportunity to traverse into one of my favorite old Shadows of Angmar stomping grounds. Carn Dum. A few of my kin mates and two friends still needed a few items to complete their level 45 class quests. I for one have always enjoyed strolling through Carn Dum (CD). The entire instance was very well designed and implemented. Pivotal boss fights and of course the hornblowers.
Lately I began feeling very nostalgic about the old Angmar instances, CD and Urugarth. Barad Gularan was fun as well, though I have only run it once, but I was fortunate enough to down the "Onion" on that run. I really do not know BG that well, and it's hard to get a group together to learn. I will work on that. Thinking back on how the "end game" instances were run in the past, I reflect that, with how they are now and see a few major differences.
This is a very large (17,000 x 8,500 pixel) composite photomosaic map of East Angmar, from Garth Fornir to Carn Dum and Urugarth inclusive. It is in the form of a 32.5 MB JPEG file; once downloaded, it can be overwritten, printed, viewed onscreen and so forth.
You can download it from this link: http://rapidshare.com/files/140723301/Carn_Dum.jpg. Even if you don't have a Rapidshare account, it can be downloaded for free after a 30-second wait. Personally, I found it very helpful both for navigating and as a way of getting a sense of how the various parts of this very complex area relate to one another.Read the rest of this entry »
The night was dark and cold and grim,
How would you rank the lvl-50 dungeons on a scale of 1-10 according to difficulty? I have an alt nearing 50 who may have a good group to run dungeons with, unlike my first two toons I took past 50.
