Massively^™

Along with everything else we've talked about to be expected with Book 12, the official Lord of the Rings Online website has now confirmed that a brand new PvMP dungeon will also be introduced with The Ashen Wastes. It will be called the Delving of Frór, and is reached by going through the Ettenmoors -- but it won't be as simple as just walking in. Either the Freeps or Creeps will need to control a minimum of three out of five points in the Ettenmoors before they will be allowed access. Even while one faction is inside, leader status can change hands, resulting in the flushing out of one faction by the other. The former controlling faction inside the dungeon will no longer be able to receive reinforcements from outside, and death will cause them to respawn outside as well.

There's plenty of reasons to want to gain entry to the Delving, as there will be five raid bosses, more than fifteen group bosses and even lots of solo content inside. Anything killed inside will not only have a chance to drop the same loot as Ettenmoors mobs, but there will also be a new set of barter items to collect. Freeps use these for new weapon and armor sets, and Creeps can obtain new skills (full list posted after the break).

This whole system is very reminiscent of Dark Age of Camelot and Darkness Falls, which also centered around controlling areas to be allowed access to a dungeon with great rewards, and the inevitable flushing out of an opposing faction when control changed hands. Nevertheless, it looks as though this will provide lots to do for fans of PvMP when Book 12 hits.

Monster Players

Monster players use these new barter items to purchase new racial skills, corruptions, and items. We have implemented a new suite of corruptions for purchase with the Delving of Frór. These second-tier corruptions promise to further enhance monster players in battle on the Ettenmoors. In addition, we have introduced new food, items, potions, and other goodies for the monster player in all of us. We didn't stop there, however, and have also included new racial skills for all monster players! This expands the number of racial slots available to monster players to three per character.

New Monster Skills

Here is a smattering of some of the new skills available to monster players.

Orcs

• Dying Rage: As the orc nears death, he can spend his remaining energies to launch one last savage attack against his foes. He becomes immune to stuns, dazes, knockdowns, and fear as his fury reaches a peak. Unfortunately, there is no escaping the death that the expenditure of such rage brings.
• Front-line Fodder: Increases parry, block, and evasion.

Spiders

• Born of Shadow: The spider cloaks herself and her nearby warband in deep shadows. She gains the benefit of a bit of damage reflection and mitigation to damage from Light-based damage. Only her warband can share in this protection against the Light.
• Eight-legged Menace: Increased movement speed and parry chance.

Uruks

• Get a Grip!: Heals a fellow for a large portion of their health.
• New Breed: Increases armor, morale and power.

Wargs

• Pack Hunter: Marks a target for the pack to attack, increasing damage dealt to the target from all warband sources.
• Pack Mentality: Increases parry and evasion and increases defense against tactical and physical sources.

New Monster Items:

A number of items (too many to list here) have also been added to assist monster players. Some of these items will increase speed or armor for short periods, and some are increased healing potions or increased power recovery potions. In addition to these, a new invoked item can be purchased to gain temporary immunity to negative combat states.

Free Peoples Players

Not to be outdone, Free Peoples players obtain new barter items to gain access to a new suite of class-based set items. These include new armor sets, weapon sets, jewelry sets and a host of other items meant to assist players in the Battle of the Ettenmoors.

New Player Items

Class Weapon Sets: New weapons geared toward assisting your player while in the battlefield. Each is based on the signature weapons of your class and may enhance your damage against the foes you face in the Ettenmoors.

These weapons are geared to deal more damage against the monster player types found throughout the Ettenmoors.

Class Armor Sets: Built with PvMP in mind, these new armor sets are based off the Helegrod set in looks, but garner set bonuses that are meant to enhance the overall experience within the Ettenmoors.

Each of the set bonuses enhances a skill used by the class that is very useful in PvMP.

Jewelry Sets: New jewelry sets are meant to augment one of three aspects of your character: damage output, healing output, or overall effectiveness.

Items: New items include new potions for players to use and consume while fighting in the Ettenmoors, and also a new invoked item that will grant them short term immunity to negative combat states.