ByJustin Olivetti

Lord of the Rings Online’s winter instance update went into a third round of testing this week with one of its four dungeons — The Streets of Râhal Bakh — still unavailable for preview.

However, it should be noted that Update 39 isn’t just three instances and a new raid; Standing Stone Games is cranking out a host of class changes with the patch. Every round of testing provides more of these, and some are pretty significant such as Beornings getting 50% more Bash bleed damage, Burglars’ Knives Out no longer taunting, the Lore-master’s Ents Go to War hitting harder, and several classes seeing lower power costs for their skills. So the moral (morale?) there is that you really should read these preview notes to see how your class will be affected.

In a different forum thread, SSG’s senior world designer explained why Minas Tirith and Umbar have such different city designs: “Minas Tirith is the monument city of LOTRO — and there likely won’t be another city built like it. The Pier and Tower of Ecthelion are these massive, imposing structures. Minas Tirith is a spectacle. Whereas Umbar Barharbel is built like an urban sprawl and is meant to be more of an adaptation of an actual city instead of a landmark-driven fantasy city. Its scale and complexity is where it shines.”