pineleaf

Mission Preview

As Squirle discussed in his Quick intro to missions, missions are a new feature currently planned for the War of the Three Peaks expansion (Update 28). I have played several missions using two characters: a high-level warden and a low-level Rune-keeper. Below is a video highlighting a pair of missions with my warden.

Note that this is the first test release, so there are naturally a few bugs. The worst (in my mind) is that the opening missions is very difficult (perhaps even impossible) to complete due to an issue with an NPC. Fortunately, you can run other missions without running the opening mission. [Ed: This issue has since been corrected]

Also, as Squirle noted, the morale levels are a little off. When compared to skirmishes, the morale levels of the standard mobs are well below par. I would expect standard-mob morale levels to be twice as high as those of swarm mobs (the swarm morale levels look comparable to those in skirmishes). I don’t know whether this is a bug or is a design decision.

Twists

One new feature introduced by missions are twists. A twist a a mechanic that is present during the mission run. In the missions I ran for the video, I ran into the following twists:

Some mobs are able to summon reinforcements.
A possible ambush at the end of the mission (though, based on the video, it’s not a certainty).

Two done? I suppose that means that there are 78 to go.

Update

Since this article was posted, the Bullroarer build was updated that addressed several issues. The one I can confirm for the moment is that The Main Gates mission can now be completed.

Poems of the Pine: The Tower of Webs

We now head into a sticky realm.

Chapter 3, Part 1 – The Tower of Webs

We sped to a land
Of spiders and bugs
Where Atli sought
To sweep them away.
There we headed to a tower
Terrorized by spiders
To seek some orders
Of Ugrukhôr of the Pit.

The tower’s old garrison
Was torn asunder
As they fought for trinkets
Found on prisoners.
A second force
Now fills the halls
Who fight spiders
That spilled into the keep.

We snuck past orc
And spider both
To find a note with news.
A tale of treachery
In the tower we read
That imperiled the power of the Pit.

Next, we head into the hottest sector of Mordor.

Pineleaf Needles

Poems of the Pine: Madness in Mordor

Exploring Mordor can drive you mad.

Chapter 2, Part 2 – Madness in Mordor

From the east there came
A clatter that told
That Rhogrin went mad
In a raging fury.
We found our friend
Near a fetid pit
Where Barad Dûr’s
Basement Gaped.

We knocked some sense
And soothed his mind
Then Rhogrin left
Rotten Mordor.
Thus Covadil learned
That the land’s too dark
To stay and study
The stinking realm.

We returned to the gate
Where Gandalf reported
That a messenger came
From the Mouth of Sauron.
Dulgabêth had a deal
To divide the realms
So that the Mouth would rule
In Mordor alone.

Aragorn refused
The false promises
For Mordor was marked with disunion.
Let the foul forces
Fight each other
For we are weary of war.

Next, we will head deeper into the Black Land.

Pineleaf Needles

Poems of the Pine: A Light for the Darkness

It is now time to learn more about the trinket we found.

Chapter 2, Part 1 – A Light in the Darkness

We travelled afar
With the treasure we gained
To learn its lore
And links to the past.
It was a source of hope
Before Sauron’s forces
Brought it to Mordor
And muddied its light.

When the taint was cleansed
By our quest to the source,
To Elrond we brought
This bauble of the past.
He infused the artifact
With the Flame of the West
So we could bring brightness
To the bounds of Mordor.

With this gift we passed
Into Gorgoroth the dark,
A land of ash
And lasting doom.
We went to Lûghash
Where learned Covadil
Studied the ash
For the stories it held.

We found a finger
Of fractured metal
From times when Gondor was great.
Such pieces of Lore
Were precious to her
As she studied the stories of the waste.

What evil awaits us in the Plateau of Gorgoroth.

Pineleaf Needles

Poems of the Pine: Ayorzén

We serch for the missing Ayorzén.

Chapter 1, Part 4 – Ayorzén

We galloped to the gate
To Gorgoroth the dark
To learn if Ayorzén
Had left Udûn.
The gate was open
But guards blocked the way
So wily Ayorzén
Still wandered within.

We searched the camps
Of his countrymen
But found no sign
Of the sneaky thief.
Yet soon we learned
That the sneak was caught
By Annoth who searched
The sides of the roads.

We took the tainted
Trinket to Gandalf,
Who said it was made
Far from Mordor’s realm.
To Ayorzén we offered
The option of pardon
But he still feared
The foul dread lords.

Ugrukhôr the Cruel,
The Captain of the Pit,
Plus Urudanî whose kiss is death.
But direst of all
Was Dulgabêth the Mouth
Who sought to be heir to Sauron.

Just what is this trinket?

Pineleaf Needles