Minas Morgul Expansion Review

Point System: So after playing through the expansion, I've come to the conclusion that there are a lot of good points and bad points. I personally feel the expansion was worse than Mordor but I wasn't exactly sure how much worse. So I decided to try and figure out a rating system that balances what Standing Stone Games tried to advertise. And remember that the points don't matter... like that exercise bike in your extra bedroom. 

 Instances (Nicely designed with dumb mechanics)

• +4 Music: The library music in Black Lore is glorious. The battle music is also very interesting. The clicking sounds in Deep-Barrow is also very interesting. The battle music inside Houses of Lamentations is also fascinating. The other instances are actually pretty forgettable. The great news is you can easily trade for music boxes to be placed in your home.
  
  +2 Housing Decorations: I actually do like the fact you get a housing decoration from Black Lore questline. You are supposedly able to get a nest from Roost but I have yet to see one drop. Like Mordor, a lot of the decorations aren't that attractive. There are a few that drop from the raid but those are slim pickings.
  
  +1 Quests: I like how the zone naturally leads you up to the instances. It gets a little rocky when finding that one ranger only guides you to the entrance of Roost and only a string of pages, absolutely no quests lead you to Houses of Lamentations.
  
  +2 Variety: You have a total of 4 3-mans and 3 6-mans. There is a mix of settings, battle mechanics, and story to keep you entertained.
  
  +3 Soloable: Instances can now be done soloable. This is a drastic change but a necessary one now that the resource weekly quests are tied to them. Not only can you lower them to level 121 and still get credit but you can actually do them before doing any quests as long as you discover the entrance. In certain boss fights, like in Black Lore, they practically make you invincible.
  
  +3 Art Design: Every instance has some huge level of detail. You can see orcs decaying in cages in the oozing pits of Filth-Well. You can spot the tree in Houses of Lamentations several times while climbing the tower. Showing you spikes ahead of time in Deep-Barrow let's you know what to expect. I like this kind of detail.

 

• -5 Balancing: There seems to be an issue with scaling the difficulty for all types of classes in all sizes. Forcing a hunter to wait around for 4 minutes to remove all 5 corruptions of the tree in House of Lamentations is a nightmare. Has anyone defeated that dwarf in Black Lore with a full fellowship in T1? How can Harrowing and Roost be so easy for T3 when House of Lamentations be so darn difficult in T1? Instances have undergone various patch-work after being released (which shouldn't happen in my book) and some are still broken. Why can't I see the floating names of those stupid horns on the ground when fighting the ice giant in Black Lore?
  
  -5 Unfair Mechanics: A lot of my rage goes towards the raid but the instances in general have their own little issues. I find it rather ludicrous that Deep-Barrow drains all your power and then returns it after-the-fact. I really don't understand how bosses can instantly kill you for making one false move. Stupid fire stage in Remmorchant. The rage removal was a step in the right direction in Roost but the way the final boss can have you "slide" off the cliff is a step back. Even if you have the best gear in the world, no amount of armor or mitigations will help you when you only have a couple minutes to bring something down before they kill you.
  
  -4 Random Rewards: A lot of gear is tailored to your class, guaranteed to drop, and matches the difficulty of the tier. I don't like how you have a random chance to get them, or any endgame item for that matter. Sure you do get a crafting box in T3 but I don't like how you can run 10 instances and not have another one drop. This goes for Anfalas Star-Lit Crystals, Runic Boxes, and Anfalas Empowerment Scrolls. The biggest sin is how Remmorchant side-bosses only have a chance to drop any type of gear. And it is the only way to get set-pieces too! Although there is a good chance you will at least get something out of your efforts, but most of the time those 6 sigils or common earring that deconstructs into 6 uncut gems is not very welcoming.

 

• 0 Discover Method: I really do think they wanted to try their best in making people discover these instances naturally. That being said, I find it utterly repulsive when I see day-after-day people asking where to find a place or whether I could summon them there because they chose to level to 130 without doing any of the quests in the expansion. A part of me wishes they would have only made the places discoverable after doing the questlines, but I guess that is a little too much to ask for people with 10 characters.

 

Crafting (Almost worthless)

• +2 Housing Decorations: I love the fact that they are following suit with what they did with the Vales. There are plenty of accessories to make. What I don't like is locking it behind guilds! I feel you should be able to make those type of decorations simply by having the vocation. That said, I am happy they have a full set of weapons, shields, cooking utensils, painting, and map table of all things. They recently added another tier of weapons in conjuction with the release of Remmorchant but I feel like that's a bit overdoing it. Though I guess a few decorations like the table and caskets are pretty worthless.
  
  +2 Universal Optional Crit Item: I find it adorable that turning in task items will now net you this neat little reward after not providing a way to 100% chance crit your craft. This means you can potentially triple your bulk output or increase the stats on almost any item. Of course this item was meant as a way to "potentially" get a trigger essence out of a crafted essence box. These items have also been placed as rewards from the festival.

 

• -5 Barter: If you look at your current list of things to craft, you'll notice that it boils down to a couple of class items or essences. There are barely any recipes for sale from the crafter vendor. The only recipes you can barter for with sigils are instruments! No, these recipes require a huge set of 1,000 reputation tokens that you get from completing the weekly quest that is only offered after you complete all the quests in the zone. You cannot get them from scrolls or drops. There is seriously no point in getting these recipes.
  
  -3 Material Requirements: I don't mind the 15 to 30 crafting reagents that is required for nearly every recipe. I'm talking about the insane 3 or 5 Ithilharn Shard requirement or the 10 or 12 rare crafting items that you can only get from instances. I'm also not too pleased that the essences require 1 to 3 universal solvents, an item so rare that I may have only gotten 40 in my entire lifetime. It is already difficult enough obtaining the recipes, or being allowed one or two teal recipes per guild. The least they could do is lower the amount. I also don't really understand why 90% of the recipes from a jeweler doesn't require a cut gem. Seems like the only point to cut them is to get experience, and by that time the only use for them is to give it to the vendor.
  
  -3 Resource Requirements: Among all the questions that pop up, the thing a person will ask as soon as they look up that "uber loot" is "Where can I get these special crafting items?" Well they tied them to a box, that doesn't stack, that will become bound the moment you open it up. That's right. So instead of seeing the item in AH, you have no idea that its from this little crafting box. This box will randomly drop from Minas Morgul instances only, guaranteed T3 or higher. Remember when you could have crafted a guild item with a token you made with a handful of supplies? I miss those days.
  
  -2 Guild Shortage: If you explore the Tier 13 guild recipes, you might have come to the realization that you can only craft one or two items. Tailor doesn't have the option to craft a cape. Jeweler only gets to craft a necklace. I can't tell you the number of cooks and scholars extremely disappointed with their one guild recipe.
  
  -2 Recipe Shortage: I still think at one time they will introduce the ability to craft relics. I just really, really hope its a little more than the pitiful Artifacts of the Vale stunt they pulled that are only obtainable from Rimes of the Anvil that only can be occasionally obtained from Anvil of Winterstitch T2 or T3. Tying the relics to a reagent from the raid is really uncool. That said, I also really wish they would add recipes within the 121-129 levels. I guess it's a little sad how difficult it is to get gear outside The Black Book of Mordor or quests in Minas Morgul. They must really want people to buy an expansion or something.
  
  -2 Trigger Essences: The way this system was in place on the bullroarer was probably ten times worse than what came to live servers. Not only did you have to get a critical chance with a T4 Essence and another completely low-chance of obtaining a trigger essence, but it was completely random. There was no box to choose from. That said, they also changed it from one from 4 seperate categories "on hit" (Fury), "on being hit" (Composure/Fellowship), "on heal" (Beneficience) to 2 categories with only one allowed of each of the fellowship essences: "on hit" (Fury/Fellowship) and "on heal" (Beneficience). I appreciate what they have done but the system is still pretty crazy. For example, "on heal" only comes from "heal" type abilities; So all of the hunter restore effects and a captain's strike heal effects don't count. There are also still reports of the essences not working and then suddenly working again when placed on another slot. This isn't supposed to happen.
  
  -2 Disenchantment: Right now disenchanting standard gear from solo instances pretty much only gives you 6 uncut gems. There is a rare chance you will get other material or a crafting box. I get that this system was put into place so people couldn't easily farm chests. But those uncut gems will haunt you. Rarer items will provide you with around 100 - 400 ember, which is a much better system.

 

• 0 Guild Quest System: I must say that I love the fact we can instantly level up our guild to the highest level in the same day with the help of 4 quests that give 50,000 reputation to the 200,000 reputation required. What I don't like is not giving people the option to level up if they have never bought to unlock the guild vocation after all these years. I know its like 395 lotro points but you could have given it to them, especially since you tied housing decorations to the guild system. I once asked why have the quests in the first place when you have a perfect system to craft guild tokens already. Then I realized it was to allow people to rank up with their guild without buying the expansion the long way.

 

Landscape (Worth the trouble)

• +2 Vantage Points: You'll be questing along and an npc will say "Look at that" and you press the /look button. But SSG made this a clever ruse for you to take a moment and actually look at what they are pointing out. When Frodo and Sam goes up those stairs, the developers want you know that they are constantly seeing the looming fortress of Minas Morgul every step of the way. It is creative and gorgeous. I liked to see the valley of Lhringris too when venturing up into the high peaks of Rath Duath.
  
  +5 Atmosphere: Most people will only think of that white glow from Minas Morgul but honestly there is so much more than that. When you are going up the Windy Stairs, all you hear is that ambient sound of the wind. The spider cave isn't just a big tunnel but a wide-network of spider webs and bugs crawling on the walls. There are strange swirls happening in the Circle of Sorrow. The way the tower constantly rotates like a giant lighthouse is all breath-taking. Seeing the face of death as you run through the forest of Thuringwath or seeing the castle overlooking the valley before venturing deeper inside it. Then there's also the places inside Minas Morgul you visit like The Wrecking-Hall or those in the Circle of Sorrow. I like every bit of it. I am disappointed they haven't offered weapon glows to the public but that is something I can live with.
  
  +2 Enemies: Most of the enemies recycle the same models you've seen a dozen times, but I'm pretty sure there is a new wight archer model in there I've never seen before. I personally like how each tier of Minas Ithil has a different set of enemies to fight. I love the fact that some of the merrovil hang upside down or stalk in the shadows. The bats flying high in the air and can bypass straight over the stairs to chase after you is pretty cool. The kergrim in the fortress are constantly eating and what you might call regurgitating the guts of their victims. I find it funny how the suits of armor always have to salute before charging after you. The enemies are actually way more balanced when comparing to those of Mordor when it was released.
  
  +2 Updated Content: While leveling up one of my alts, I found a pleasant surprise. The session play where you play as Gollum and talk to Shelob has been updated. The enemies in the background are the exact ones from the expansion and so is the landscape. You no longer just go up some rickety ol' steps to an empty cave. I'm pretty sure the animation from Shelob's perspective has been updated as well. I wonder if it has been updated for when you play as Sam as well. You can now enter Tower of Cirith Ungol through the spider cave.

 

• -2 MisAdventure: Although Minas Morgul has many tiers, you might want to think twice before taking that "shortcut" off the side. I have died plenty of times by jumping into a hole or a structure that I shouldn't have gone to. This insta-death is merely a cop-out of proper landscape building and wouldn't be so terrible if the respawn point wasn't outside the walls.
  
  -2 Loading Times: Venturing through each tier seems to run pretty smoothly. The problem is they dump all the pre-rendering the moment you enter Minas Ithil, no matter which tower you might leave at. This can be disastrous and incredibly jarring when you engage with a stray enemy and fight without seeing your target, seeing you animate, or hear any combat for a full minute. You might be able to pick out the exact spots when this happens, like the second group of mobs inside Remmorchant. Things also get really bad when entering Estolad Lan. Try timing yourself the next time you start the game in that place.
  
  -2 Mordor Besieged: I'll talk more about this in the quest section but I would like to point out that there is no way getting to this area outside The Black Book of Mordor or having someone summon you there. This goes hand-in-hand with the problem people run into when discovering the instances. The banners that teleport you aren't even visible until you do the Black Book of Mordor and the housing item doesn't teleport you right away either! Honestly, this wouldn't be so bad if you didn't have to start the questline in The Vales of the Anduin, way in the middle of nowhere. So I guess the developers really don't want you to skip visiting all the wonderful areas they formed. Opening The Black Gate in the epic was way easier than that.
  
  -2 Traveling: Again, some of the fault can be applied to the questlines. I realize that you are supposed to "experience" the dread of going up the stairs or perfectly getting lost inside the fortress of Minas Ithil. It just isn't that fun. Just like mighty Moria, the 3D geometry can be exhausting. I give them perks for adding the tower system, but you will have to fight your way up every single time without the questlines to claim them. Thuringwath can also be annoying and only doubly painful without any quests to lead you in. Campfires seem extremely limited for hunters. The only ones I could find also have a stable point. And don't get me started with that spider cave. You can't ride in with a goat or steed. There is no stable point. They have a mailbox but they can't throw in a campfire? This is like... Far Anorien bad.

 

• 0 Control Points: Control points has always been an interesting concept for me in MMOs. What do you get if you claim one? Ettenmoors provides you with buffs, and experience for the rest of the world. Do we make mobs easier? Actually the only benefit to having these control points is extra reputation upon monster kills. Something like 8 points instead of 6? There are quests tied to these points but they aren't very rewarding. They also "flip" after an hour anyways. So I'm pretty neutral when it comes to the concept in general. I like the challenge and I like the deed. That's about it.
  
  
  

Quests (Gifts that take too long to unwrap)

• +5 Tower System: How do you incorporate the stable system in Minas Tirith in the enemy territory of Minas Ithil? Well you fight what is inside, take down the boss, and setup camp. Isn't that what you are supposed to do in an RPG? This "Elevator" they put in where you can stable from one tier to the next is rather ingenious. They logically allow you to stable (or campfire) to "Minas Morgul", a small camp outside the walls and pop right inside. Going inside skips the whole walking sequence up the stairs to the very camp you seek. I can see they were going with a little bit of variety in each level to lessen the monotony. They also provide you a map that you can check to see if you are going the right way around to the camp.
  
  +3 Tier System: Minas Tirith was notorious for sending you between levels. Every person I know hated the Merry Swan because they would send you two tiers over to grab some staff and bring it back. That was a city. This is war. So you clear out each level, one at a time, until you reach the top. They typically come in sets of 10, offered by the tower system, and have you run to the end and back. Depending on the population at the time and your level, you might have to kill everything twice. I'm actually fine with this to some extent. They reward you with constantly respawning chests, task items, and slayer deeds.
  
  +1 The Black Book of Mordor: Before this whole virus debacle, the developers allowed people to have access to the whole questline if they bought either Mordor or Minas Morgul expansions. This was nice! People complain when you can't access the epilogue without doing every chapter but the whole concept of it is to revisit what you've experienced after doing every chapter anyways. The gear rewards are always decent and the story is pretty interesting (when only taking into consideration Chapters 11-14). Chapter 14 does require you to be level 124, but that's fair. There are some people who had issues with Gothmog's Rage private instance, but I think the general public understands the concept. I wish they would have at least let a second member join in through the Reflecting Pool but logically it is a face-down with you and Gothmog, I guess. The one thing I don't really care for is the talking! So much talking.

 

• -4 Flow: I'm not sure what they were going for in Mordor: Besieged. The number of times I've seen people confused on how to get that 50-quest count for the deed. There are bounty boards tucked away in odd corners. Quests that only unlock after doing the epic. Quests that aren't found unless you are following the epic. Half the quests are auto-bestowed. They tried to incorporate a system into Minas Ithil where you port around or walk on the walls to get back with mixed success. I really hated the fact that Legolas suddenly ports you back to camp when there's a couple of pages and rare chests to get right behind him in Cirinth Ungol. You can't get them while you are in the private instance. I guess they wanted to "revisit" the area after you gain the raid quest at the camp, but for some reason I have a feeling that it doesn't get offered until later after you log back in. Don't get me started on collecting the urns and water clashing with the standard quests.
  
  -2 Story: I don't know about you but it felt like there was an imbalance in the amount of effort that went into questlines. Quests in Cirinth Ungol were the best, especially "She Who Walks in the Darkness" instance while Mordor: Besieged felt like it was thrown under the bus. The Black Book of Mordor had way too much talking and the "grand" feeling of Black Lore and Lamentations got boring after hearing the same speech a second time. I liked the concepts of each of the questlines but have you read some of the quests? There just isn't any depth to some of them other than "go kill them because they scary". This isn't always the case but I would have liked a little more flavor in my quests, especially since there were only 200 compared to the 250 Mordor had. I also don't like the fact that the only instance not from the epic available from the Reflecting Pool is "Raiding Party." There were so many awesome private instances that it felt like a waste when I couldn't revisit them.
  
  -1 Escorts: This is something I have to include. Followers still have pathing issues around stairs and rocky areas. Please fix this. I don't like when my rangers can't go up with me in Black Lore or Legolas gets confused going up the Windy Stairs.

 

• 0 Auxilaries: I have a certain itch that I can't scratch when it comes to revisiting areas. Forcing you to do The Black Book of Mordor to visit Mordor: Besieged is a complicated matter. But going back to each camp after doing Chapter 11 is another one entirely. There is nothing vectoring to the trap questline without the epic. At least they port you around when "telling the story" of the seige. I love the fact that the majority of your task items can be turned in at the task board in Estolad Lan. None of this baloney about keeping Shattered Spears or Rusted Scimitars for the next zone. Then I remember that's the way it should be in the end. The dailies are unlocked after the expansion is complete which then provide you access to the Vales of Sorcery questline. The reputation grind is a grueling one but within reason if you buy small reputation tokens. I would probably be more upset with the whole process if the weekly rewards didn't offer a Ithilharn Shard (offered later), 70 sigils of Imlad Ithil, two 1000 reputation token, and 3000 virtue experience for each of the three weeklies.
  
  0 Challenges: I have to say this with a grain of salt but I kind of miss having T1 for everyone, T2 for challenge attempts. Now the instance deeds are T1, T2, T3, and slayer. They barely give you any reward other than the horse if you do them all. I would have liked something like "No Rage Removing" in Roost, "Didn't fall into water" in Filth-Well, or "Didn't break a single vessel" in Lamentations. There aren't any creative deeds like "jumping across the broken bridge" from Vales or "walked the entire way up the stairs" (at least that I know of).

2020-03-30