This week I started playing around with arguably (with the exception of perhaps the Lore Master pet tree) the trait line that has endured the most changes for the Helm’s Deep expansion: the hunter’s Trapper of Foes line. I’ve never given Trapper of Foes much of a chance, mostly because it was widely seen as boring and ineffective. Boy, was I...

When the Riders of Rohan expansion was announced, one of the major things that got me excited about it was the music which was to be composed by Chance Thomas(the man behind a lot of other music in LOTRO). With Helm’s Deep he was not invited to compose again, for whatever reason, Turbine instead electing to have the music created in-house. Having heard a...

We’ve had a lot of community generated videos lately. In this article is a list of Helm’s Deep Beta preview videos created for each class, and their respective authors: Burglar: http://lotroplayers.mymiddleearth.com/2013/11/09/helms-deep-burglar-a-first-look/By Pineleaf Captain:...

Here we have the next in the line of class preview videos being created by the LOTRO community. This one is done by LOTROChris, and in it he covers the changes and the trait trees for the Guardian class! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPr-YxWbHZo

Having seen others making preview videos of their own class changes for Helm’s Deep, I decided to take a crack at it myself. Bear in mind this is the first video I’ve ever made by myself, so don’t expect incredible quality. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJyA8wXqN24

Today Turbine has released their latest Dev Diary; this one covering the landscape and story of West Rohan as a whole. In this edition the devs talk about the ‘Big T’, that is to say getting involved with major Tolkien characters, locations and events. When it comes to West Rohan they are more in sync with the books than they have ever been before,...

Today IGN released a video containing an interview with some of Turbine’s developers.  They explain how the Epic Battles system started out, the thought process and the technology behind it. Later on they run through a couple of the Epic Battles, explaining the various aspects of them. If you’re still unsure of how Epic Battles function and how they...

The superb LOTRO community has been produced yet another video today talking about the major class changes coming with Helm’s Deep. This one is by Cithryth, and covers the changes affecting the Captain class. She compares the Live version of the Captain to the one currently in Beta and walks you through the new trait tree...

Today the  LOTRO YouTuber known as Kazcovall released a video detailing the Rune-Keeper changes for the upcoming Helm’s Deep expansion. He covers all three pure builds(Healing, Lightning and Fire), testing them out in the small group area of the Great River, the Limlight Gorge. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La3GUUHVdsc

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then is a video worth a million? Regardless of the exchange rate, sometimes there’s just no substitute to seeing something for yourself. I made this video to show the new skill trees in action, and to specifically show how they will influence the hunter class in battle. Enjoy, and let me know your thoughts!  ...

Today, Lord of the Rings Online developer Turbine announced the lifting of the Non-Disclosure agreement (NDA) associated with the beta testing for their Helm’s Deep expansion. Players who have been participating in the closed beta can now freely discuss their experiences.     Be prepared for a flood of opinions and information (including on...

Today Turbine has posted a thread in the forums detailing which LI legacies will be discontinued on the launch of Helm’s Deep. As the Blue name points out, this is done to avoid people buying legacies in the Store that may change to something undesirable a few weeks later. They also state that all to-be-discontinued legacies will be automatically...

With the next LOTRO expansion a mere weeks away, it’s time to start getting excited about the new additions to the game we hold so near and dear. I’ve jotted down a list of things that I’m looking forward to in the Helm’s Deep expansion: Getting closer to the Lord of the Rings story in the epic story-line once again. One of the game’s major strengths over the...

Today Turbine has released a video talking about the major class changes coming with the Helm’s Deep expansion.     Much of the information given is already known to those of us who keep an ear to the grapevine, but we did get a good look at how the trait tree interface looks and functions, as well as a small look at the development tech for the...

Earlier today, Turbine released their latest developer diary focused on the upcoming class changes for the Helm’s Deep expansion. This diary was written by HoarseDev and attempts to answer only one question: Why are the classes changing? HoarseDev gives several reasons for the upcoming changes. Here is a bullet list of the reasons, each followed by my...

Today on Twitter, Turbine revealed the Turbine Point pricing of the upcoming Helm’s Deep expansion pack.   As the tweet reads, the expansion will be available in the in-game LOTRO store at the cost of 4295 TP. This is the entire expansion, so the epic story will be included along with all epic battles. This is the same Turbine Point pricing used for...

Want one of those oft-sought Helm’s Deep beta keys? Turbine has a Facebook promotion going on now that makes the process easier than ever. Clicking on the not-so-secret public link on their Facebook page sends you to an app that will grant you a beta code. @Lotro tweeted about the promotion today:     This is an interesting move, but not...

  Today Turbine released the next Dev Diary in line for its series of class changes, this one being for the Lore-master. Hey folks! I’m Deviled_Egg and I’m going to fill you in on some of the goodies the Lore-master will be receiving in the Helm’s Deep expansion. The Lore-master will feature three distinct specializations, each one catering to a different...

Today Turbine released the developer diary that details Helms Deep changes to the Hunter class. Although we’ve had previous hints about the three trait trees and what they entail, the diary provided some new information about skills within each of these of which we were not previously aware. Below are some of the highlights that I picked out: The...

Verizal has released the latest Developer Diary regarding the changes coming to the Guardian when Helm’s Deep goes live. At the request of Andang (may you live ever in fear of He Who Leads the Creeps), I’m touching on some of the points discussed in the article and how they compare to the current Guardian traits and abilities. My own experience...