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| The Lord of the Rings Online: Before the Shadow | |
|---|---|
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| Developer | Standing Stone Games |
| Publisher | Daybreak Game Company |
| Engine | Turbine G3 |
| Platform | Microsoft Windows |
| Release | November 15, 2022 |
| Genre | MMORPG |
| Mode | Multiplayer |
The Lord of the Rings Online: Before the Shadow is the tenth expansion for theMMORPGThe Lord of the Rings Online, released on November 15, 2022.[1] It did not raise the game's level cap or advance the current storyline, but instead added a new starting zone for the new player experience, with a storyline set prior to that of theShadows of Angmar.[2]
Before the Shadow added two new game regions:Swanfleet andCardolan, described by the game developers as one of the largest landmass additions across the entire history of the game.[3] Both are located inEriador and are adjacent to the original game regions such asBree-land, Lone-lands andTrollshaws. The two regions contain quests in the level range of 1-30, thus providing new characters with an alternate leveling path to that fromShadows of Angmar. Newly created characters of all races can select to bypass their race-determined starter area in favour ofBefore the Shadow, the storyline of which is chronologically a prequel to theShadows of Angmar.[4] Existing characters can also travel there and experience all quests except the starting instance.
For high-level characters, the expansion introduced a "Delving" mechanic to theMission System, enabling players to increase the difficulty of the Missions by up to ten tiers in exchange for progressive rewards.[4] It also added a new 6-man instance and a new skirmish for theskirmish system.[2]
Music for theBefore the Shadow expansion was composed by Standing Stone Games' in-house composer Bill Champagne who has been responsible for all new LotRO music since 2018. The complete score of almost four hours in length was released as a playlist on the game's officialYouTube channel.[5]
The expansion was positively received despite it limited benefits for the level-capped characters. Justin Olivetti ofMassively Overpowered described it as having "so much stuff to explore that you hardly know where to start".[6] Joseph Bradford of mmorpg.com described the new areas as "beautiful" and "absolutely breathtaking", while expressing that the new starter experience provided a much-needed contrast to the comparable regions from 15 years ago.[7] Mark Steighner of COGConnected concluded that the expansion "continued to evolve the look of the game while keeping with the original vision".[4]
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