By: Joe ‘jwbarry’ Barry, Staff Content Designer

A new story in a familiar place

If you’ve read MadeOfLions’ recent developer diary, you already know Volume III, Book 1: Oath of The Rangers is capped off with a new Skirmish. For those who haven’t read it (and you really should if you haven’t!), Book 1 will see you gathering up the Grey Company and the various Rangers scattered about Eriador. One of the Rangers you are tasked with gathering is Corunir, in Angmar. Throughout the course of events with Corunir, you find yourself on a rescue mission in a place many a LOTRO player has fond memories of: The Rift of Nûrz Ghâshu.

You will find yourself staring across a moat of lava, attempting to gain access to the Coliseum hidden within. As you progress, several Torechs, ancient fumaroles, will erupt to block your path. Corunir will seek out their weaknesses as you protect him from the denizens of the Rift, new and old alike. Once he finds the weakness, he will call out for you to deliver a crushing blow by landing a specific Fellowship Manoeuvre. Corunir’s study of the fumarole will cause even the smallest of strikes to trigger an opportunity for a Fellowship Manoeuvre, but only the one he called out will successfully cause damage. For solo players, simply strike the Torech when the opportunity arises.

Rescue in Nûrz Ghâshu is also the first place we’re playing with the notion of the selected difficulty Tier affecting the Skirmish beyond a buff to the monsters. Within this Skirmish, Tier will affect the randomization and amount of information you are given about the Fellowship Manoeuvre you’re asked to perform. On Tier I, there’s a small subset of Fellowship Manoeuvres and the billboard Corunir shouts out will tell you the name of the Manoeuvre and the correct composition required to execute it. On Tier II, there’s a larger set of potential Fellowship Manoeuvres and Corunir will continue to give you the name and the correct composition. Tier III uses the same set of potentials as Tier I;, however, now Corunir will only give you the name and it is up to you to figure out or remember the composition.

Once you have bested the Torechs, you will gain access to the Coliseum, discover who you’ve come for, and face down the evil now commanding this section of Nûrz Ghâshu. Once again, Fellowship Manoeuvres will feature heavily into the boss-fight for groups, as will Corunir and the individual you’ve come to rescue. I won’t spoil those details though; boss fights are always more fun to learn about by actually experiencing them.