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The underground area that contains the Mines of Moria is not simply a vast series of dark tunnels and crowded zones; this entire map was created with the lore in mind. Until you see it for yourself, it’s really difficult to describe exactly how large this is. Not only is this a completely seamless world, with no zoning in between, but Jeffrey Steefel describes it as the largest underground space ever created in any game. It’s treated as a landscape, both above and below your character, which helps alleviate any hardware performance problems that would arise otherwise.

The entrance to the mines is 200 steps, just as it describes in the books. Once you enter, you will soon notice the effect that generations of Dwarven life has had on this underground kingdom. The architecture changes from an angular Dwarven style to a bit of an Elvish influence from the age when the Dwarves and Elves were allied.

There will be ten new areas of Eregion, nine of which will be accessible to anyone. The final area will be the trip to the actual Hollin Gate itself, which will only be available to those with the expansion. At this point you will fight the Watcher in the Water, but you won’t get very far with him. While mending your wounds, the Dwarves will let you know that you’ll need some more powerful weapons to defeat it, which brings us to the Legendary Items.

The Legendary Item system brings a whole new set of gameplay additions to Lord of the Rings Online in what Steefel says may be the largest and best system they’ve ever created at Turbine. It’s basically a layered system which introduces many new features, but also works retroactively to enhance existing items. These items include anything from weapons, armor pieces, armor sets, shields, etc. They are marked as having Legendary potential, so not just any item can utilize this system.

Once you receive a Legendary item through a drop, quest reward or whatever, you will need to take it to a Forgemaster to identify it. This will reveal a set of randomly-generated modifiers, also known as runes or relics, that can be enhanced or removed to place onto other Legendary items. These relics are kept in an area separate from your normal inventory slots, so there’s no panic about consuming even more of your precious bag space. Take note that once you deconstruct an item to remove its rune, that item will be destroyed in the process.

You will have the opportunity to work on up to six Legendary items at a time. You can possess more than six, but these workable six are the only one you can regularly upgrade and level just as you would a hireling or pet. Yes, that’s right, these Legendary items are much more than just items. They can level up, gain rank, gain XP and even grant special deeds and quests for your character throughout their lifetime. This opens up a whole new realm of possibilities for end-game adventuring and character development.

Now, the XP you get for your items will be distributed among all six items you’re working on. You can choose to turn off XP gain for a certain item that may be maxed out or you don’t want to level for whatever reason. Once the XP bar is maxed out for a particular level, you’ll need to reforge the item, which acts as a level-up. This opens up new possibilities for achievement options and advancement opportunities within the item itself. For instance, if you have a rank 1 sword and it has reached its maximum XP for that particular level, when you reforge it, you’ll get increased DPS, damage range or whatever else you have applied to that weapon through runes. This will make weapon skins more valuable and cut back on that dilemna most current MMOs have when you get that constant influx of loot through drops that it’s too easy to swap out after every new battle or quest. Your weapon will be your own personal companion and you’ll feel more of an attachment to it.

You can also name your item at this point, but keep in mind that the names are based on a unique system where no two players on one server can have the same names for their items. Steefel acknowledged the complexity of this feature and says it’s still being refined.

Full review here.