The Lord of the Rings Online Book 11 Preview
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The big new twelve-man raid takes place in three areas known collectively as The Rift: the mines, the city, and the chamber. Angmarians are muscling in on the Eldgang (fire giant) race, who have been living peacefully in these mines for some time. Why? Well, a long time ago an elf and some wizards locked up a real live Balrog and they want to have that kind of insane power on their side. Thaurlach's his name, and after battling past fire-breathing Drakes, lunky World-Eaters, and "the dust bunnies of Angmar," the Darklings, your ultimate mission is to defeat him with the help of Glathl¿rel, the original elf who sealed him away. She'll be able to purify the poisoned water, but once he breaks free and starts whipping you with his chains and slashing with a huge sword-- why didn't someone take that away when they imprisoned him?-- it'll be all the twelve of you can do to not cower in what experienced players will recognize as in-game fear.
Two new raid mechanics also go into play. First is the opportunity to barter with NPCs in the area rather than always grinding for those massive drops. Sometimes you'll get loot, but sometimes you'll get obsidian shards, which are apparently worth a lot to the Eldgang. It adds an element of choice, and might lessen the amount of repetition necessary to score the item you're looking for. Second, they've thrown in AI patterns that change depending depending on what order you tackle the different parts in, so in addition toflexible difficulty (which you'll have to feel out as you go) it will also make the raid more interesting to replay if you did happen to miss out on that one must-have drop.
