The Lord of the Rings Online Update 16 Released
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We may need to take a break from our time exploring The Temple of Elemental Evil to spend some additional time with Turbine's other fantasy MMORPG, as The Lord of the Rings Online has received another significant content patch with Update 16: Ashes of Osgiliath. New regions, new instances, a new legendary item imbuement system, and more are contained within, so let's go ahead and do some quoting around these bigger additions from the official patch notes:
Legendary Item Imbuement is live!
Imbuement is an opt-in process available at level 100 that permanently transforms a Legendary Item. Once Imbued, it never needs to be re-forged or reconfigured again. That means an item that feels more, well, legendary. Read more about it here!
A new instance cluster has arrived!
It has been some time since we said those words, (new Instance Cluster.) Ask and ye shall receive. For some time now players have been asking for new instances, so based on that feedback we have added three new instances with Update 16: The Sunken Labyrinth, The Ruined City and The Dome of Stars. You can read more about these new instances here.
New Regions
Spanning the rolling fields that run between the rivers Sirith and Erui, Upper Lebennin is a lakennd still mostly unscarred by the wars that have ravaged the surrounding provinces. For this reason, many folk have traveled west from the great citadel of Minas Tirith to take refuge in the fortified mountain-vale of Tumladen. Meanwhile, dark rumors are spreading that something fell lurks at the Crossings of Erui, where long ago Castamir the Usurper met his end.
Among the fiefs of Gondor, Lossarnach is widely considered the most beautiful. A land whose people are proud of ancient traditions, it is ablaze with flowers and blossoming trees. Forlong the Fat, beloved by all, has ridden to war from his stronghold of Arnach, and most of its people have fled to the refuge of Imloth Melui, renowned across the kingdom for both its healers and its vast gardens of rosebushes. Here, too, lies the Harlond, the river-harbor that serves the city of Minas Tirith, where the Corsairs of Umbar once planned to make their landing . and where Aragorn now plans to sail with his captured fleet.
Long ago, South Ithilien was one of the realm's mightiest and fairest regions, but now, though still lovely, it lies forlorn, abandoned by its people. Orcs and worse haunt its overgrown ruins, and the great refuge of Bâr Húrin -- ancestral home of the House of the Ruling Stewards -- crumbles among the hills of Emyn Arnen. Only the Rangers, commanded by Captain Faramir, remain to keep watch on the Enemy in the shadow of the Mountains of Mordor.
The grand city of Osgiliath, once Gondor's capital, has seen many woes. Standing athwart the River Anduin, it is a shattered shell of its former glory, long forsaken and left in shambles. The orcs of the Morgul Vale now teem in the city's eastern half, under the command of the Lord of the Nazgûl. At last word, the defenders of Gondor still hold the western shores, but how long they can endure the Witch-king's hosts is a question whose answer will likely prove grim.
Epic Volume IV, Book 3: '˜Voices of the Past'
The Battle of Pelargir has ended in victory for Aragorn and the Grey Company, and now the Chieftain of the Dúnedain turns his eyes toward Minas Tirith. How can he come to the White City in time? He enlists your aid to keep secret the defeat of the Corsairs and to learn what has become of Faramir, son of the Steward, and the city he was charged to defend.
