Developer Diary: Introducing: Dol Guldur
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Well met, friends! Tsieng Liu here from the LOTRO Dungeons Team with some info on our latest cluster of instanced content: Dol Guldur! We have some exciting new mechanics, some great new artwork, and a good variety of gameplay experiences to share with you in our latest expansion, Siege of Mirkwood™. So without further ado...
What is Dol Guldur?
Dol Guldur is the fortress where Sauron dwelt when he was known as “The Necromancer.” It’s an old fortress that is now full of the foul servants of the Enemy on the edge of Mirkwood forest. It is in this region that the elves of Lothlórien are mounting an offensive in order to keep the Enemy from penetrating their forests.
How Many Dungeons are there?
· Three 3-person dungeons:
o The Dungeons of Dol Guldur
o The Sword-hall of Dol Guldur
o The Warg-pens of Dol Guldur
· One 6-person dungeon:
o Sammath Gul
· One 12-person raid:
o Barad Guldur
A Quick Rundown:
We approached the 3-person dungeons of the cluster with looser expectations on group make-up due to the smaller group size. As such you should expect to see much more varied gameplay in these spaces.
Prime example: The Dungeons of Dol Guldur
Here in the Dungeons of Dol Guldur you’ll be asked to free nine prisoners. As you scour the dungeons for these captives you’ll have to do your best to avoid the jail guards rather than fight them directly. Getting caught by the guards gets you put in jail and counts as one of your attempts to free prisoners from that guard’s wing. There are three wings in all, each with its own prisoners to free. Do your best to free as many prisoners as you can and you’ll succeed at the challenge mode for the dungeon. Fail too often and you’ll miss out on the extra rewards!
The Sword-hall of Dol Guldur
The Sword-hall of Dol Guldur pits you against various champions of the Enemy and features our most drastic challenge mode of the cluster. In the normal version of the dungeon you’ll face waves of enemies and bosses in turn; in the challenge mode you face all three bosses at once! Rest assured that each boss’ mechanics work in a way that requires awareness of what each one is doing at any given time. Expect many a repair bill as you learn this one. ;)
The Warg-pens of Dol Guldur
The Warg-pens feature a more orthodox design for a three-person instance (but will be no less challenging). Here, the goblins have managed to raise many different breeds of warg each with its own unique ability. Figuring out how to deal with the different breeds will prove to be the difference between an efficient clear and a warg’s next meal! What’s more, the wargs you encounter each time you enter the instance will be chosen randomly so each clear will be different than the last. Learning to deal with proper kill order, crowd control priority, etc. will provide a constant challenge for dungeon explorers.
Sammath Gul
Sammath Gul is our six-person dungeon and will feature a behind the scenes look at the former chambers of the Enemy itself. Players will fight three unique bosses with substantial coordination mechanics as they attempt to discover the mysteries behind the Necromancer’s former abode. Successfully complete the challenge mode and you’ll face off against a fourth boss!
Barad Guldur
No war effort can be sustained indefinitely, and the elves’ efforts here are no exception. The elves are looking for a brave fellowship of adventurers to storm the tower of Dol Guldur and drive out the leadership behind its forces. Are you up to the challenge?
New Mechanics
The Dol Guldur cluster features two new mechanics: Splash Damage and Terror.
Splash damage is a new area of effect damage type that splits its damage evenly amongst the targets within its area of effect. Expect to see fights that require groups to either spread out or group up based on skills that use both our old area-based damage and this new splash damage type!
Terror has two effects on players: cowering and fleeing. All victims of Terror will first cower as they are overcome with inner terror and then flee as they have lost control of their mental faculties. Fights using this mechanic will wreak havoc on positioning. Have fun!
Challenge Modes
We’ve really pushed to make sure our challenge modes provide a different challenge than the normal mode provides. Our goal is not to have players simply approach the dungeons the same way, only more efficiently. Each of our challenges will require that players purposefully make strategic decisions that make the fight more difficult. Completing challenge modes will reward you with more barter tokens and a chance at rare loot.
Radiance
The radiance requirements for the new raid zone can be met by acquiring enough barter tokens from the cluster. These tokens can be acquired regardless of completing challenge modes; but succeeding at the cluster’s challenges will reward you with bonus tokens which will get you outfitted in radiance gear that much faster.
The “Tier” Set
As with any cluster, Dol Guldur features a new tier set of gear for each class. The pieces of this set can be acquired within the raid zone exclusively. Further, those players wishing to acquire the entire set will need to complete each of the raid’s three challenges!
Deeds
Moving forward, each of our dungeons and clusters will feature an entire suite of deeds revolving around successful completion of each dungeon and its challenge modes. Successfully complete all of the deeds for a given cluster and you’ll find yourself with an extra special reward!