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The new year brought Book 12: The Ashen Wastes on February 13, 2008. This was the first major update that didn't include the introduction of a new region. What it did bring to the table is a mix of revamps and new features.

The high level adventuring area Angmar received a major overhaul, making it significantly more solo friendly. many elite mobs were taken out of the solo area population. And the boars, oh the boars, were mostly removed in favor of more menacing mobs. Finally, the questlines were smoothed out to move players along to area more appropriate to their leve.

PvMP players received a new PvE dungeon, the Delving of Frór. The Creeps and Freeps battle for control of the dungeon and should one gain access while the other was battling a raid target within, well, that's when the real fun begins. New armor and items were also made available to the player side.

Cosmetic enhancements were introduced to the game in Book 12 as well. The outfit system allowed players to choose one set of armor for stats and another for display. The barber system allowed players to change their hairstyle and facial choices, even adding a few new hairstyles to the game.

Finally, three classes got a revamp this time. Guardians received a mix bag as their defenses were both nerfed and buffed, they received a dps stance and gained some utility. Burglars got a buff to nearly all their functions including damage, debuffing, trickery and crowd control. Champions also got an extra pass that gave them a stance that was part offensive and part defensive. This round concluded the class revamps planned by Turbine.

The Lord of the Rings Online website has a new "Point of Interest", and we're treated to a look at the unreleased area of Forochel, due in Book 13. As this region was not heavily fleshed out by Tolkien, the designers at Turbine had a lot of freedom in creating it.

Although it's undoubtedly very cold in Forochel, we learn that it is still home to many animals, and the Lossoth faction of Men who live off of some of this wildlife. We're also told a bit about Arvedui (seen in a few of the Book 13 screenshots) and his mysterious past -- he'll definitely be worth keeping an eye out for. Perhaps he will play a part in the continuation of the epic quest line?

Before the Lord of the Rings Online team rolls out their first expansion, there are still two more free content patches coming down the pike. The first one of those two is Book 13, Doom of the Last King being released later this week. It introduces not only a new part of Middle-earth, Forochel, but also a healing class to Player vs Monster Play, the Orc Defiler, and the first Hobby in the game, Fishing.

Click on the first image below to join us for a walkthrough of Forochel, meet the ice people of the area, the Lossoth and get a look at the new features and monsters coming to the game. And after you're done, don't miss the video of our tour we posted a few days back.

We could write reams of text that describe in loving detail all the features that await you in Lord of the Rings Online's Book 13 content patch. We could lay out screenshot after screenshot that could perfectly capture the chilly northlands that are being introduced, the eerie agent of Angmar who is tearing apart the land or the monstrous beasts that roam the wintry tundra.

Or you can just click after the jump and watch a video that sums it up in less than 5 minutes. Plus, glimpses of Fishing, new trophies and new environmental effects.

Don't worry you lovers of words and pictures, a write up is coming your way in the next day or two complete with a gallery of shiny shots to accompany the purple prose.

We've long since known the new area being introduced in the newest Lord of the Rings Online's Book 13 patch was Forochel. The fact that Forochel has an enormous water mass (that players can't swim across) makes it perfect for the new fishing mechanic being introduced to the game. If players aren't in the mood for fishing, it's not as though they can't level up on their own instead. Forochel is very solo-friendly.

There's also been the recent revelation that Book 13 will have a pretty cool name, "Doom of the Last-King" and will be the first zone in LotRO to have it's own faction reputation to earn. So expect to be at an 'unfriendly' status with the Lossoth in the region, at least upon first entering. Improving your faction level with said survivors of the Forodwaith will be rewarded with treasures such as new armor sets, a new mount, weapons, housing decorations, and some class-specific items as well. All very cool stuff, but there's still some more to be seen.

Today Turbine has released some rather enticing new screens for the upcoming Book 13 patch and we've got them right here for your visual enjoyment.

Following the recent release of The Ashen Wastes, we now have LotRO's Book 13 to look forward to very soon. In a recent dev diary, not only has the name of the new book been revealed, but also much more. We learn about some unique creatures in Forochel, including moose, winter-worms, and Gauredain war-mammoths, just to name a few. These new creatures in Doom of the Last-King will also have their own brand of monster skills introduced specifically for them.

In Book 13: Doom of the Last-King, the content team introduces something they've been waiting a long time to do: implement a new region with its own reputation. This means that your character will start out as "Unfriendly" to the Lossoth who inhabit the region. In order to improve reputation, players will need to complete quests and collect item drops for the Lossoth. This is actually the first time a region was created with reputation built-in. Lossoth reputation rewards include unique armor sets, weapons, a new mount, housing decorations, and even a few class specific items! Be sure to check out a recent dev interview for more information on Book 13, and remember, there is only one more content patch after this before the Mines of Moria expansion!

Recently we sat down with Lord of the Rings Online's Executive Producer Jeffrey Steefel to shake him down for every last bit of Mines of Moria expansion info he was holding back from us. We were confident his resolve to deny us exclusive information would crumble under our steely gaze and he would gush forth with exhaustive overviews of the new classes as well as divulge the closely held secrets of the Middle-earth adventures that would await us this Fall.

Ok, it didn't quite go like we planned, but at least we learned more about what they had planned for their upcoming Book 13 free content update. And that's just as good as leet beta infoz, right? Right?

Over at the Lord of the Rings Online European forums, the developers gave players a chance to ask any questions they had about the new Forochel region that will be introduced with Book 13. All sorts of things were asked over a number of days, and the question time is now over. We've had a read through the thread, and compiled the answers that the developers gave in bullet-point format, so check after the break to see what the players managed to find out -- short answer, a lot!