The first round of public testing for next month’s Lord of the Rings Online expansion popped up on the Bullroarer test server yesterday as SSG made the first three (of four) Corsairs of Umbar zones available.
Until Friday evening, testers can check out Update 38’s King’s Gondor West, Outer Gondor, and the Shield Isles — but not, it should be noted, the epic story that will run through these regions. As they do this, players will experience the next iteration of main stat changes, a normalization of melee range, and a new format for essence gear.
Another big change coming with the expansion is the start of a big overhaul to LOTRO’s crafting system. The first step here is to decouple professions from bundled vocations, allowing players to mix-and-match crafting skills as they like. Unfortunately, SSG admitted this week that its previously stated desire to offer an independent Umbar crafting tier isn’t possible because of the “wall of ancient code,” requiring everyone to complete previous tiers before getting to the latest tier of crafting.
