Mordor Besieged
Highlights: The Black Book of Mordor, Mordor Besieged
Getting There: The number one issue I think I have seen over and over again is "How do I get to Mordor Besieged?" only second to "Is there anything between Vales of Anduin and The Morgul Vale?" Levels 120 - 123, 50 quests to fulfill the deed quota, is actually inside a pocket of time when Great Alliance still occupied Dingarth. But for some reason nobody seems to figure out the method of getting there or knowing that such a place exists. There are a few reasons for that:
- Blazon of the Great Alliance - There is a banner that is supposed to teleport you in and out of Mordor Besieged. The problem is that the banner doesn't even become visible until you do The Black Book of Mordor Chapter 11.2. There is one in Dingarth, within the old Mordor expansion, that will teleport you to Mordor: Besieged Dingarth. The one by the stable-master, in turn, will send you back. There is also one located in Echad Uial that will teleport you to Adambel (and one there that teleports you back). There is one more that you get from the "Ultimate Fan Bundle" that you can place inside your house and teleports you to Dingarth but it too requires the chapter to be done first. I recall several posts of people demanding refunds because of this. I even tried finding a cave of some sort high in the mountains of Dor Amarth before realizing how stupid the whole experience was.
- The Black Book of Mordor Chapter 11 - "Where do I start the Black Book?" is an all-too common question I see in World Chat. It makes me wonder whether or not the developers could incorporate a better way of letting those who use Aria to instantly get to level 120, those not willing to do The Black Book of Mordor, or those trying to figure out where they left off to find the right spot to begin anew. Even now I'm not too sure where it picks up on. Though I've seen several replies in the forums to go to Beorninghus or inside Grimbeorn's House. This is supposed to be the "proper" way since technically the area is in a story-telling format. Can you imagine people coming back from Mordor expansion, eager to start Minas Morgul, be forced to wander all the way up to the Vales of Anduin just to start it?
- Location - I must insist on adding this because there are still people who don't have a clue where to go to "start" the expansion. Although the Morgul Vale is east of Osgiliath and west of Lhringis, there are plenty who try to find it in other places. I recall one explicitly trying to cross the clearly broken Rushgore bridge in Ered Mithrin. Don't ask me why. It feels like Estolad Lan should be the central hub with all the crafting guilds, task board, and wayfare. Besides, it is just a hop across from After-Battle Osgiliath, so why wouldn't it be? As you can see, the Minas Morgul expansion forces you to do the Black Book of Mordor. Then again I guess you could get a captain to summon you there and use the milestone but you would be missing out on the whole point of the area.
Quests: There are a few things that I do like about the content, little there is. When you strip away The Black Book of Mordor and The Scourges, you have 10 Bounty Boards (0-3-4-3 in each zone), around 15 quests around town having you do miscellenous tasks to prepare and 15 auto-bestowed quests that pop-up when you enter the areas. There are around 10 quests sending you into the landscape and legitimately 10 quests with some actual substance. Some of these quests you would never know unless you were following along with The Black Book of Mordor. 10 quests actually requires you to unlock them by completing Chapter 11.9 and sends you back to each of the areas with a New Recruit. The task boards are very well written both when accepting them and completing them. Otherwise the obligatory "Go here" and "Your captain appreciates your efforts" bored me greatly. The best part only came at the very end of the unlocked quests when you get matched up with a full Instance: Raiding Party. And you can re-experience it at the Reflecting Pool in all its glory.
Landscape: There are a few locations that are nice to explore. It has a little bit of nostalgia comparing old Dingarth to new Dingarth. Anything killed counts towards the Slayer Deed as "Learn of the Great Battles". At one point I was caught off-guard when I noticed 3 random Gondorian defenders killing things as they spawned. I tried out one of the new elf heralds; her name is Salt (used to be the name of my frost mage in World of Warcraft when my brother's fire mage was Pep). Because of the Ill Omens Event, I chose Harbringer of Autumn Night as my horse. I also felt Arbitrator of the Dead was a fitting title. There is a quest by the tunnel you probably wouldnt know about if you did the epic quest before buying the expansion. It leads to a chain of other quests. I was pretty disappointed the traps I put inside the camp not only didn't work but disappeared after placing them. Would have been interesting to actually use them.
Scourges: There are nine scourges, properly given titles for legal reasons, that contribute to the "Continued Efforts" weekly quest. You can get a cape that is the blackest black for completing the deed. There is actually quite a bit of lore in the quests if you read them, explaining the background of each one. They are well-voiced, maybe a little too much since they seem to die before completing their threats. The really interesting part is recently they seemed to add an eye animation when you get feared by the Witch-King. They require for you to be level 125. If you do defeat them all, it will open up the The Fallen Kings instance.
The Black Book of Mordor: I felt like 75% of the effort went into forming the epic quests. Just look at how long those guys talk! Chapter 11 is required to get in, Chapter 12 unlocks some quests, and then they port you to the next area for the beginning of Chapter 13.4. That's sort of when you want to hold-off doing the rest of it. I also found it humorous watching 10 Things You Might Have Missed that the princes were renamed on purpose. The two chapters in this area were certainly interesting. I just wish they would have divided up the writing a little more. And stop calling me mellon!
2020-03-14