Did you get defeated by that Shadowy Wraith that popped up out of nowhere? Well, according to a new post by the developers, those occurrences will be less frequent in The Lord of the Rings Online's new Legendary Angmar and Mordor worlds.
Shadowy Wraiths, which pop up periodically to take out unsuspecting adventurers, are one of the defining features of the new Angmar and Mordor Legendary Servers, which launched last Thursday. Wraiths will appear periodically to menace players, often taking them unawares and in the middle of something else, like what happened to me multiple times last night.
Well, it seems the community pushed back a bit on the frequency of these Wraith appearances, with players reporting instances of Wraiths appearing right after one is dropped, or, liwhile fighting other mobs. Wraiths have also been known to appear even in instanced areas, which can ruin a story adventure if it's too much to handle (imagine a Wraith dropping while fighting the boss of the Great Barrow, for instance).
It seems that this feedback was taken to heart, as community manager Cordovan announced on the forums yesterday that the frequency of Shadowy Wraiths has been reduced. However, this is only the variant that seems to pop in and out of existence to harass players, not the world-event-style Nazgul fights that crop up every once in a while.
Reducing the frequency of these encounters is sure to be a big hit among those who felt they were a bit too much - especially at lower levels where you simply do not have enough resources or skills to deal with the Dread and Corruption Wraiths can bring with them. For players who have the landscape difficulty set up pretty high, they are even more dangerous and can start to grate on the good graces of your average Middle-earth adventurer.
All said, though, the new Wraith mechanic is a ton of fun, especially as it adds such a dynamic element to regular overworld leveling. Having to be ready for a Wraith to appear at a moment's notice has changed the way I've approached adventuring and playing on the new Angmar server has been reinvigorating, to say the least.
